The play ‘An Inspector Calls’, was written by J.B Priestley in 1944. In the play, the author presents the character Mr. Birling as a successful business man. Through this essay, I’m going to be talking about how he presents Mr. Birling by being powerful and rich, optimistic and small-minded, guilty, arrogant, by blaming others and unintelligent. One of the ways in which he presents Mr. Birling is by him being guilty by just looking after his business interests. He cares more for success than for others and don’t consider the harm he may cause to people because of his attitudes. Birling fires the character Eva Smith from the play. He says ‘she was one of my employees and I discharged her’. He wanted to make more money and higher profits, but …show more content…
Birling is by him being powerful and rich. He’s the owner of a manufacture in which employees girls to work on machines, so people sees him as a rich man by being the owner. He also describes himself as a ‘hard-headed, practical man of business’, so Priestly uses this style of speech, ‘hard-headed’ and ‘practical man’ to show the reader respect for Birling due to his power. Priestly also presents Mr. Birling by blaming others. When he says ‘the girl killed himself and died a terrible death. But each one of you helped kill her. Remember that’. When he says ‘each one of you’ he mentioned each one of the characters he was talking to that was part of the girl’s suicide.’ This is one of the ways how Mr. Birling is presented by the author by blaming others. Another way Priestley presents Birling is by Birling being arrogant. When he’s talking about Gerald Croft and Sheila Birling’s engagement, he speaks that it was really ‘one of the happiest night of his life’. But right after that, he says how it means that the Crofts and the Birlings will be able to work together ‘for lower costs and higher prices’. The matter of money is the reason for Birling’s enthusiasm. Priestley uses this effect of arrogance to make Birling a ridiculous
In the beginning, Priestley describes the Birlings’ house as ‘a fairly large suburban house’ with ‘good solid furniture of the period’, showing they are upper-middle class and that they have money. They also have servants such as a maid and a cook. Priestley wants to give us an idea that the Birlings are upper class both in possessions and attitudes.
This caused workers to become better organised and strikes were becoming more frequent as they demanded better conditions and higher pay. J.B. Priestley was writing the play for a middle class audience and was trying to speak up for the working class by showing how the Birlings and Gerald Croft were all involved in making a young working class girl's life a misery. Priestley wants to show us that we have a responsibility to others to act fairly and without prejudice and that we do not live in isolation. Our actions affect others.
Mr Birling is a very cruel man. I think this because of what he did to
It has no antique furniture that shows that Mr Birling has. only recently acquired his money and has not inherited any family. heirlooms. Mr Birling sees himself as a ‘hard-headed businessman’ and ‘I speak a lot’. a hard-headed practical man of business’ whose opinion is important. and that he is always right.
As the play was meant to be produced on stage, rather than to be written as a book format, 'An Inspector Calls' is very dramatic; to capture the audiences' attention, and to keep them thinking as the play develops. Each of the three acts are very dramatic, but I am choosing to analyse the first half of Act One of 'An Inspector Calls', because in my opinion, this is where J.B. Priestley's use of dramatic devices is most evident. This part of the play is very important, because it is the opening scene. Not only must the opening scene of the play grab the audiences' attention, it must also give impressions and introductions to the main characters. J.B. Priestley has used the scene to capture the audiences' attention and imagination, and gives a good introduction to the characters and their personality.
Many women living alone and supporting themselves (for example by working in factories- like Mr Birling's) and their families demonstrate this, whereas the upper class women are totally dependent on their husbands for money and accommodation. The play shows that the treatment of working class women is degrading. For example it portrays the assumptions that the working class women who are jobless are quite willing to turn to prostitution. " Have you any idea what happened to her after that? Get into trouble?
Priestley explores the relationships between men and women as he shows that the Birlings look at people's gender to judge them. Sheila is a representation of stereotypical girls during that time period, who obsess over pretty clothing and expensive things. As when she gets the ring, she describes it as "a beauty". Moreover, Priestley shows that men have a higher status than women and they make all the decisions as Sheila asks Gerald "is it the one you wanted me to have?" Furthermore, in the play, it's shown that the expectations of women were to act innocent and pure and that they should seek protection from "unpleasant and disturbing" things. In addition, Priestley shows the stereotypical traits of women as when Sheila gets sacked, it's because
She is referring to Eva Smith when she refused to take money off Eric, as he was stealing it from his father, making out that she is worthless and needy. Throughout the play the Birlings make comments like these implying that they are far more superior than lower class people. We can relate to this in our society when people are prejudiced towards one another because of where they live or what sort of clothes they wear. People who read this play might realise what sort of world they really live in. Everyone should be treated equally.
...ating “Why am I trying to become what I don’t want to be… when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am” (Miller 1842.) Biff is accepting of who he is and that he does not have to follow in family traditions. Work provides as a building block for family values and expectations, and shapes the community around it.
Birlings, as they find out that they have all played a part in a young
Through his play Priestley endeavoured to convey a message to the audiences, that we could not go on being self obsessed and that we had to change our political views. He used the Birling family as an example of the Capitalist family that was common amongst the higher classes in 1912, who took no responsibility for other people and he showed this with the power of Socialism, represented by the inspector; the uneasy facade put on by the Birling family to cover up their real flaws and how they have treated those whom they considered to be lower class could not stand up to any scrutiny without shame for what had happened, showing that they know they have been wrong.
Priestley presents Birling as an ignorant business oriented social climber, who is obsessed with bettering himself in the industrial city of Brumley. This claim is backed up by the fact that on page 7, act one, Birling says that war will be impossible, and the Titanic is unsinkable, which leads the audience of the 1940s to view him as a fool who holds forth about subjects that he does not know about. He is known to be a social climber as on page 8, act 1, he is talking to Gerald about his social status which he obviously cares more about than truth or law.
Goole. Some the Birling family are used to show how we are not to act
It is stated by Standage that, “Sandage believes Willy Loman was a success. But the message of the play, he says, is that “if you level off, you have to give up. You might as well not live”” (Baird 25). This is quite ironic because all Willy does is push to be successful and he when he can’t he puts expects his son’s to follow through so he gives up. He constantly reminds them, “the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead” (Miller 67). This is also ironic because Willy is the man who creates personal interest in the business world, but when everyone passes away he is left with nothing but the past to remember. This false reality that Willy creates for Biff brings on the conflicts between the father and son duo due to the fact that Biff fails as a result of the way he was raised. So by the time Biff goes to interview for his first job he thinks that his success will come with no effort
In the play “An inspector calls” by J.B priestly, Mr Birling and Shelia Birling have contrasting attitudes to social issues. The author uses this to difference to highlight the diversity between generations and their reaction to situations faced. Arthur Birling is the father to Shelia Birling and is presented as the old fashion generation whereas Shelia is the young generation, who is more aware of the responsibility she has towards other people.The play begins with Mr birling and his family celebrating the engagement of Shelia and Gerald. The atmosphere is happy and light-hearted. Before the inspector arrives, Mr Birling is happy with life and himself “It’s one of the happiest nights of my life.” This shows that Mr Birling is quire selfish because he only thinks that it is one of the happiest nights of his life and not of Shelia and Gerald.