Mr Birling Flashcards
‘We hear a sharp ring at the doorbell..
Birling stops to listen’
Happens after his rant about ‘All mixed up together like bees in a hive’, ‘A man had to look after himself - and his family too, of course’
Inspectors arrival cuts him off mid sentence as he says ‘and-‘ showing the clash between the two idealogical positions which they hold - capitalism and socialism.
‘The titanic…
Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’
Adjective, clumsy dramatic irony (we know that the titanic sunk in 1912, killing 1500 people. He doesn’t know this)
Intensifier of ‘absolutely’ exaggerates his certainty alongside the repetition, further deepening the excruciating irony.
Shows the inspector calls is a morality play, and is obvious what each character represents. He and everything he stands for is so wrong.
Shows birlings ignorance.
Also shows this in the quote ‘the germans don’t want war’
Giving us the port..
edna?’
In edwardian britain, alcohol consumption demonstrated and reinforced social class and gender values. Purchasing and consuming good quality wines and spirits was good ways of showing cultural capital and good taste.
Instantly, it shows mr birling as a person to show off to others.
‘hard headed business man’ and
‘hard headed practical man of business’
Deliberate repetition shows his self perception is purely based off of work and money.
His priorities are with how much wealth he can accumulate.
A man had to make his own way.
Has to look after himself
Self centeredness
Capitalistic view , same with when he says ‘keep labour costs down’
How is he cyclical?
After finding out his son is an alcoholic and he made eva pregnant, he only cares about recovering the money - ‘I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can’
Shows contrast between older and younger generations as he fails to have responsibility.
There’s every..
excuse for what both your mother and i did.
Lack of social responsibility
