...In an inspector calls Priestley presents Mr Birling as being a successful business man who is ruthless. He is also very proud and boasts lots to make him have more social authority. Another reason is that Priestley is very optimistic. Moreover he is very selfish and only cares about himself and his family. Mr Birling comes across as being a successful business man who is ruthless. For example he plays golf with Chief Constable Colonel Roberts, golf is a luxury and is very expensive, he also plays with Colonel Roberts who is rich and Birling would only like to be seen with Rich high social class people “we play golf together sometimes up at the West Brumley” This shows that he is most likely a member of the club and would only be able to afford it if he is rich. We know he is ruthless because he fired Eva smith and a group of workers only because they wanted two and a half more shillings. This is a very small amount and he says himself “cheaper costs and higher prices” if he should get more for less then why can’t the workers get more for less. He is also presented as being very proud and boastful. For example he shows off to Gerald about the port “this is the same port your father has” this shows that he wants Gerald to think he is as important as his father as to the public Gerald’s fathers company is better and Mr Birling wants to be like Gerald’s father. Another example of him being boastful is when he boast about how he was “lord mayor two years ago when Royalty visited...
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...How Does Priestley Present Mr Birling Priestley presents the character of Mr Birling as a symbol of the capitalist ruling class and the need for socialist ideals. Priestley begins by presenting Mr Birling as a successful, albeit 'hard-headed businessman'. It is clear from the stage directions which describe 'The dining room... of a fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous manufacturer' that Birling is rich and materialistically successful. In terms of capitalism, he is therefore a role model in the fact that he has reached the capitalist goals of making a financial profit. Once Birling's worldy success is established, Priestley undermines his character through presenting Mr Birling as ignorant. With the play being set before WW2, dramatic irony is used when Birling exclaims 'there isn't chance of war'. Here the audience know he is wrong, and therefore realise that Birling's confidence is misguided- he is an ignorant man. This is further proven when he claims that the soon to sail Titanic is 'absolutely unsinkable'.The audience may feel there is a contradiction in this character - worldly success and power coupled with stupidity and ignorance. However, Priestley has deliberately presented Birling in this way to criticise the capitalism for which Birling stands. Being a co-founder of the Socialist Commonwealth Party, Priestley felt that his political views on socialism were very important and the play 'An Inspector Calls' is his vehicle from which to promote these...
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...which have structured the play since the Inspector’s arrival (in order: Birling, Sheila, Gerald, Mrs. Birling, Eric). Each of the Birlings has played a part in Eva Smith’s death, and each of them must take part of the responsibility for what happened to her and for her final, sad choice. This motif, as well as the structure of the play and of Eva Smith’s life (though, to get the order of events right, Mrs. Birling was the last, not the penultimate, character to affect Eva in reality), points to two of Priestley’s key themes: the interrelationship of cause and effect and, more generally, the nature of time. The “chain of events” that the Inspector outlined as leading to Eva Smith’s death in Act One is a key idea in the play. The chain of personal and social events is not simply a metaphor for the way the class system holds people like “Eva Smiths and John Smiths” firmly in their subservient positions in society, but it is also a neat encapsulation of the Inspector’s key moral: that everyone, contrary to what Birling explains, is indeed bound up with everyone else “like bees in a hive.” As much as we like to think of ourselves as individuals, we are also social beings. The Birlings and Gerald Croft are chained together by Eva Smith’s death. Birling sets off the chain which makes possible Sheila’s bad deed against Eva, which in turn throws Eva into the path of Gerald and then Eric and, finally, in front of Mrs. Birling’s committee. Each deed is tied to the deed before it and the...
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...How does Priestley use time as a dramatic device in ‘An Inspector Calls? An Inspector calls can be seen as one of Priestley’s ‘time’ plays because it explores the relationship between the past, present and future; some schools of thought have even suggested that the Inspector is some form of ‘cosmic time-lord’ or have compared him to ‘The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’ from Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. At the beginning of the play, time is used to undermine Arthur Birling, as he makes a series of misplaced predictions about the future. This dramatic irony serves not only to belittle Birling, but to criticise the idea of capitalism, which he represents. The first audience to watch the play in 1946 would be well aware of his miscalculation when he states that the Titanic, a ship that sank in its maiden voyage in 1912, the same year that the play was set, was “absolutely unsinkable”. Time is also used to highlight the theme of contrast or opposition in the play. The Inspector enters the play just after Birling claims “that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”. Placing the Inspector's arrival here is a dramatic device, which challenges Mr Birling's capitalist views on society. In the exposition, we only really get a sense of the capitalist viewpoint, as Arthur Birling, due to the fact that he is head of the house, is allowed to spew his message unchallenged. The “sharp ring” on the door bell interrupts Birling’s speech on social...
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...highlights the conflict and aggression, as the tension progresses. The scenes intensify when the powerful, controlling father figure feels his authority has been challenged by a child in the family. Firstly, in 'Romeo and Juliet' Lord Capulet expresses his forceful, vicious side when Juliet commits an act of disobedience. She decides to not follow her father's ‘decree’ to marry Paris, stimulating her father to act violently. Similarly, in 'An Inspector Calls', Priestly presents Mr Birling as a pompous man initially. However, as the tension increases, the atmosphere begins to change, and he becomes agitated as Sheila begins to answer back, revealing all of their crimes. There is a sense of hostility towards his children, as he feels they are to blame for the monstrosities that had occurred that night, potentially putting him at a disadvantage. Shakespeare and Priestly use a variety of techniques to present the relationships and theme of parental control and authority. Act 1: Scene 2 In this scene, Shakespeare presents Lord Capulet as a man who cares deeply for his pride and reputation, but above all his daughter. However, Lord Capulet seems to have a deceptive nature, when speaking about his daughter, and Paris’s marriage proposal. Firstly, Lord Capulet's attitudes towards Paris’s marriage proposal are negative, to an extent. When Paris eagerly asks “what have you to say about my request to marry your daughter?” Capulet responds in an aggravated manner, saying “but saying o’er...
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...How does Priestley present Mr Birling in ‘An Inspector Calls’ J.B. Priestly presents Arthur Birling as a self obsessed, work oriented “hard-headed business man” in Act 1. The stage directions describe him as a “heavy-looking, rather portentous man” giving an impression that he looks rather threatening. He speaks formally, even around his family. He has worked hard to raise himself up the social ladder and is proud to think that he’s going to be knighted. Even at his daughter’s engagement party, Birling only has a mind for business, and this is evidently shown when he says “Your father and I have been friendly rivals in business for some time now.... and now you’ve brought us together, and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing….” He also states that the party is “one of the happiest nights of my life” but this could have a double meaning for not only is Sheila getting married, but it can be seen as a business opportunity. Shelia marrying Gerald will help his social standing as well as his businesses. These quotes show that Birling is very work oriented and uses Sheila’s marriage for his own selfish reasons. As well as being selfish, Birling is rather overconfident in his opinions. His mistaken view of the “unsinkable Titanic” is an example of dramatic irony. This is ironic as the Titanic actually sank but only the audience is aware of this. Another example of the use of dramatic irony is when Birling says “The Germans...
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...political messages as well as social messages. J. B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen to be a good way to go. It was a common way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was to influence the unconvinced in society. The Inspector, straight form his introduction, is commanding and authoritative. Upon his entrance he creates, “…at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.”(PG.11) The Inspector continues to create this impression as he progresses through his speeches and through his interrogation of the family. The Inspector remains confident, sturdy and composed, while people around him crumble and fall to pieces. His ‘solidity’ is proven by the fact he remains on task despite numerous attempts from Birling to digress from the points he is making. The Inspector is told to appear ‘purposeful’; this is shown where he explains to Birling that Birlings way of thinking “Every man must only look out for himself,” is not the case, and all warps of society are interlinked. The view is best illustrated in the Inspectors final speech, where he says, “We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”(p.56). This idea is one that Priestley, himself believed in deeply, and many of Priestleys writing shared this very theme. The history...
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...presence and also show his intention in coming to the Birling household. I am also going to express whether I think, in the play, the inspector is supposed to be a real person or something other. When exploring the effects that the inspector has on the other characters I will describe the characters personalities and characteristics before the inspector arrives, and then after, once the moral has been introduced, to then find out whether they have engaged in becoming a better person or not. The social and historical perspective of the play is very important as it was written in 1945 and set in 1912. There are lots of events that happened between those times that the audience would have known at the time. Most of these are mentioned by the deluded Mr Birling, who says facts that the audience know not to be true, but he says them in such a confident, superior manner that it makes the audience dislike him. He says things such as “just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two, or a few German officers have too much to drink and begin talking nonsense. The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war, except some half-civilised folk in the Balkans. And why? There’s too much at stake these days. Everything to lose, and nothing to gain by war”. Even when Eric, who is a lot more sensible than his father and sees things the way they are, and not like he wants them to be, interrupts and says “ Yes, I know- but still-” Mr Birling just says “ just let me finish, Eric. You’ve got a lot...
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...Eric Birling What do you think is the importance of Eric and how does Priestley present him? How does he change throughout the play? At the start of the play we see Eric as a naïve alcoholic who seems to want to follow his father into his rich and successful business. We see Eric as immature and at the start of the play we see his anxiety, as if he knows that something will go wrong that night. As Eric and his family learn more about his shocking relationship with Eva, he seems to undergo a dramatic change in which he accepts responsibility for his vile treatment of Eva and breaks away from the capitalist limitations that his parents have set him. Towards the end of the play we see Eric agree with the inspector, who seems to be the righteous view of morality and also agree with Sheila who has undergone the most dramatic change and has accepted social responsibility forever. In order for us to recognise Eric’s change, his flaws first have to made abundant to the audience. Priestly obliges through the stage directions he set for Eric. He describes him as “not quite at ease” showing that he could be uncomfortable at the prospect of an evening with his mother and father or more likely that he is worried, that events with regards to Eva will be revealed. Priestly also describes Eric as “half shy, half assertive”. This seemingly duel personality, could highlight Eric’s drinking problems, which through drunkenness, has left him unsure of himself and without a set personality. From...
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...Introduction: In An Inspector Calls, Eva Smith dies a horrible death, she drinks a strong disinfectant which gives her a painful death. The fact that she is not actually presented in the play by Priestly gives an impression that people don’t really care about and don’t treat her well. On the other hand Steinbeck gives Curley’s wife a peaceful death in Of Mice and Men. But the fact that she isn’t given her own name shows that she was a possession of Curley, and it also makes us feel that No-one sees her as a person and Steinbeck didn’t want the reader to either. Also she died because she was enjoying having someone to talk to and someone to pay attention to her, which means that no one wanted to listen to her or talk to her, which can make her feel rejected/depressed and nobody cares about her. Section 1: Of Mice and Men was published in 1937 just before the Second World War and a couple years after the Great Depression which swept the world in to poverty and decline. The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic downfall proceeding up to the Second World War. It varied across many nations and started in the 1930s and ended during the late 1930s up or the middle of 1940s. The Depression originated in the U.S. when the fall of the stock market prices fell dramatically and trade plunged by 50% along with personal tax, tax revenue and other tax related money expenditures dropped, as well as that the unemployment in the U.S. rose by 25%. Everybody was hit hard and...
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...question in Section A and the question in Section B. INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES The number of marks is given in brackets after each question or part-question. You are reminded that assessment will take into account the quality of written communication used in your answers. JD*(S-2011 Higher) Turn over. 2 SECTION A 1. Of Mice and Men Answer part (a) and either part (b) or part (c). You are advised to spend about 20 minutes on part (a), and about 40 minutes on part (b) or part (c). (a) Read the extract on the opposite page. Then answer the following question: With close reference to the extract, show how John Steinbeck presents Curley here. [10] Either, (b) Steinbeck uses three specific settings on the ranch: the bunkhouse, the harness room and the barn. Choose one of these settings and show how it is important to the novel as a whole.[20] Or, (c) How is the character of Candy important to the novel...
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...Министерство образования и науки Республики Казахстан Кокшетауский государственный университет им. Ш. Уалиханова An Outline of British Literature (from tradition to post modernism) Кокшетау 2011 УДК 802.0 – 5:20 ББК 81:432.1-923 № 39 Рекомендовано к печати кафедрой английского языка и МП КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, Ученым Советом филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, УМС КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова. Рецензенты: Баяндина С.Ж. доктор филологических наук, профессор, декан филологического факультета КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова Батаева Ф.А. кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры «Переводческое дело» Кокшетауского университета им. А. Мырзахметова Кожанова К.Т. преподаватель английского языка кафедры гуманитарного цикла ИПК и ПРО Акмолинской области An Outline of British Literature from tradition to post modernism (on specialties 050119 – “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages”, 050205 – “Foreign Philology” and 050207 – “Translation”): Учебное пособие / Сост. Немченко Н.Ф. – Кокшетау: Типография КГУ им. Ш. Уалиханова, 2010 – 170 с. ISBN 9965-19-350-9 Пособие представляет собой краткие очерки, характеризующие английскую литературу Великобритании, ее основные направления и тенденции. Все известные направления в литературе иллюстрированы примерами жизни и творчества авторов, вошедших в мировую литературу благодаря...
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