Arthur Birling - Act 1 Key Quotations Flashcards
Birling’s description in the stage directions (his appearance suggests his self-important, arrogant approach to life):
“a heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties”
Birling’s selfish views about the engagement of Sheila and Gerald (capitalist, selfish views):
- “You’re just the kind of son-in-law I always wanted.”
- “lower costs and higher prices”
- The engagement is an opportunity for Birling to expand his business and improve his social status, exemplifying his self-important nature.
Birling calls himself this to assert his dominance and appear as an experienced, knowledgeable man in an attempt to increase the credibility of his statements:
“a hard-headed, practical man of business”
Priestley uses dramatic irony to discredit Birling’s judgement, by presenting his highly mistaken predictions about the near future (perhaps to encourage the audience to lose faith in his selfish, capitalist viewpoints):
- “we’re in for a time of steadily increasing prosperity”
- “some people say that war’s inevitable […] - fiddlesticks!”
- “there isn’t a chance of war”
- “the Titanic […] unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”
Birling dismisses his son’s interruptions, and asserts his power and dominance over him:
“Just let me finish, Eric. You’ve a lot to learn yet.”
Birling’s concern over marriage in the same social class:
“might have done better for yourself socially”
Birling boasts about his knighthood (social status):
“I might find my way into the next Honours List. Just a knighthood, of course.”
Birling’s main capitalist views:
- “a man has to make his own way - has to look after himself - and his family too”
- “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”
Birling disrespects socialist views:
“as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense”
Birling uses the technique of namedropping in order to assert his dominance and authority over the Inspector from the very start of their encounter:
“I was an alderman for years - and Lord Mayor two years ago - and I’m still on the Bench”
Birling’s dismissive, indifferent response to the news of the suicide:
“(rather impatiently) Yes, yes. Horrid business.”
Birling’s capitalist attitudes to labour costs:
“it’s my duty to keep labour costs down”
Birling’s reluctance to accept responsibility for his contribution to the suicide:
“I can’t accept any responsibility”
Protective of Sheila, treats her like a child, typical of an aristocratic household where women were sheltered from the “real world”:
“Why the devil do you want to go upsetting the child like that?”
