Authur Birling Flashcards
(20 cards)
Stage directions quotes
“a heavy-looking, rather portentous man, in his middle fifties”
“With fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech”
Act 1 Quotes (before inspector arrives)
“You’re just the kind of son in law I always wanted” (to Gerald)
“you’ve brought us together …for lower costs and higher prices”
Describes himself as “a hard-headed practical man of business” (repeats this multiple times in his speech)
“there’s a very good chance of a knighthood - so long as we behave ourselves” (only says it to Gerald)
“a man has to make his own way - has to look after himself - and his family too, of course”
“mixed up together like bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense”
What does Mr Birling say in his speech in act 1 that the audience knows is wrong (dramatic irony)?
“We’re in a time of steadily increasing prosperity”
“The Germans don’t want war”
“Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” (about Titanic)
What does Mr Birling say before being interrupted by the inspector’s arrival?
“a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own - and -“
What does Mr Birling say after being told what happened to Eva Smith?
“[rather impatiently]: Yes, yes. Horrible business. But I don’t understand why you should come here, Inspector-“
How does Mr birling describe Eva Smith?
“She was a lively good-looking girl - country-bred, I fancy”
“A good worker too.”
How did Mr Birling react to his workers asking for a raise and striking?
“I refused, of course.”
“We were paying the usual rates and if they didn’t like those rates, they could go and work somewhere else. It’s a free country.”
(About Eva specifically) “She’d had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go.”
“If you don’t come don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth.”
How does Mr Birling try to threaten the inspector?
“How do you get on with our Chief Constable”… “Perhaps I ought to warn you that he’s an old friend of mine, and I see him fairly frequently. We play golf together”
How does Mr birling try to undermine Eric in Act 1
“You’ve a lot to learn yet.” (to Eric)
“[Moves restlessly, then turns.] You’ve had enough of that port Eric.” (Said to try and reassert his authority after disagreeing with inspector)
“Just keep quiet, Eric”
“[rather angrily] Its about time you learnt to face a few responsibilities. Thats something this public school… doesn’t seem to teach you”
What does Mr Birling say when Sheila breaks off the engagement with Gerald (Act 2)?
(Tries to excuse Gerald’s affair)
“Sheila, I’m not defending him. But you must understand that a lot of young men -“
How does Mr Birling react to what Mrs birling did (Act 2)?
” when this comes out at the inquest, it isn’t going to do us much good. The Press might easily take it up -“
What does Mr Birling say when he finds out Eric stole money from him?
“I’ve got to cover this up as fast as I can. You damned fool” (to Eric)
What does Mr Birling offer the inspector before he leaves?
“Look, Inspector - I’d give thousands - yes, thousands -“
How does Mr Birling shift the blame away from himself after the Inspector leaves?
(Angrily to Eric) “You’re the one I blame for this”
“There’ll be a public scandal”… “who here will suffer from that more than I will”
“I was almost certain for a knighthood”
(to Eric) “There’s every excuse for what both your mother and I did - it turned out unfortunately, that’s all”
How does Eric mock Mr Birling after the inspector leaves?
“[ERIC laughs rather hysterically, pointing at him.] [laughing]: Oh - for God’s sake! What does it matter now whether they give you a knighthood or not?”
“You told us that a man has to make his own way, look after himself and mind his own business… [Laughs bitterly.] I didn’t notice you told him [the Inspector] that it’s every man for himself.”
How does Mr birling react to the theory that the Inspector wasn’t really a police inspector?
“if he wasn’t, it matters a devil of a lot. Makes all the difference.”
“We may have been recognising different girls”
“The whole damned thing can have been a piece of bluff”
How does Mr Birling react when the theory about the Inspector not being an inspector is confirmed?
“[triumphantly] The whole story’s just a lot of moonshine.”
“[Has his drink now, and raises his glass] Well, here’s to us.”
How does Mr birling mock and belittle Sheila and Eric at the end of the play?
“You all helped to kill her… I wish you could have seen the look on your faces when he said that.”
“you’d better ask Gerald for that ring you gave back to him, hadn’t you? Then you’ll feel better.”
“go to bed then,”
“the famous younger generation who know it all. And they can’t even take a joke -“
What does Mr Birling say at the very end of the play?
“That was the police. A girl has just died - on her way to the Infirmary - after swallowing some disinfectant. And a police inspector is on his way here - to ask some - questions -“
What reason does Eric give Mr Birling for not telling him about what he had done?
“Because you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble”
