Mr Birling Quotes And Anaylisis

Question 1

“Are you listening, Sheila? This concerns you…I don’t often make speeches at you”

Answer 1

• direct address to Sheila show he demands utmost attention to listen to his materialistic ideologies
• presents Birling as manipulative and calculated, also the dominance over Sheila

Question 2

“exactly the same port your father gets”

Answer 2

a sycophant when speaking to Gerald because of his status and parents, fickle

Question 3

“i can’t accept any responsibility”

Answer 3

adverb ‘any’ shows complete lack of morality, his involvement has no impact on driving Eva to suicide

Question 4

“asking for the earth”

Answer 4

hyperbole is an attempt for him to explain his rejection of Eva’s pay rise but the absurdity of the statement reflects the absurdity of his refusal to pay a decent wage

Question 5

“socialist or some sort of crank”

Answer 5

concrete noun ‘crank’ is an attempt for Arthur to condemn socialism but the dramatic irony causes the audience to oppose his views and sympathise with socialists