Mr Birling

Question 1

What seven deadly sins does Mr Birling represent

Answer 1

METAPHORICALLY represents
Gluttony ans pride

Question 2

Adjectives describing mr Birling

Answer 2

• rich
• irritable
• traditional
• self centred
• impatient
• controlling
• arrogant
• obsessed with social status

Question 4

What is mr Birling mainly used for

Answer 4

He is used to METAPHIRCALLY used to discredit capitalism

Question 5

“Hard-headed, portentous and provincial”

Answer 5

All of these adjectives foreshadows his inability to change his mindset and beliefs.
May highlight how he is one dimensional and undergoes no changes

Question 6

“You’ve brought us together”

Answer 6

-> may mean that he is happy for Sheila and Gerald’s engagement, but could also mean that he is glad that the two businesses are brought together
-> uses his daughters marriage ad a business alliance and opportunity
-> very greedy and money Hungry

Question 7

“Lower costs, higher prices”

Answer 7

-> punctuation overemphasises the juxtaposition of the adverbs ‘lower’ and ‘higher’

-> can allude to disparity between the higher and lower classes

-> suggests that everyone who works with him gets taken advantage of, those who work for him and those who buy from him

-> audience gets the notion that a capitalists businesses consists of the exploitation of the lower class through immoral actions

-> helps promote Priestleys socialist views, as the whole end point of capitalism is to make as much money as possible, with no regard for those who are suffering

Question 9

“It’ll be an even better time”

“Labour trouble”

Answer 9

-> dramatic irony

-> adjective ‘better’ makes his claim sound even more ludicrous to the 1945 audience

-> massive industrial unrest after the war and Great Depression

-> his claim is highly inaccurate, again reminding us of him being a ‘hard-headed business man’

-> the Labour Party won by a landslide

-> he is incorrect jn every prediction