Old Generation Vs New Flashcards
Birling family is split into two generations: the parents and the children.
The generational divide doesn’t just refer to the relationship between a parent and their child in a familial context. Priestley examines how your life experiences and the era you grow up in affects your morals and political identity.
There is a clear distinction between how the children react to the Inspector’s visit and how the parents react. The way each generation views the other is also a key aspect of the family’s dynamic.
The generational divide in Britain in 1945 was possibly the most severe it had ever been.
Why?
• There were those who had fought in either of the World Wars, those who had been too young to fight, and those who had been too old to fight.
• There were those who had known life before war (as they had reached adulthood before 1914) and those who had only known war.
• Priestley was born in 1894, making him a member of this latter generation - often called the Lost Generation.
How Priestley portrays the generations
drastic variations in experience and generational identity = Priestley explores through the parents and children of the play.
- older generation-stuck in their old ways, used to their comforts and conservative values. refuse to be self-aware or accept responsibility, caring only for themselves.
- In contrast, younger generation- curious and compassionate, and quick to rectify their ignorance. suggests the younger generations should learn from the mistakes of their elders for a more peaceful progressive future for Britain.
Beginning of the play
At the beginning of the play, the family appears to be a unified front. There are small disputes and disagreements, but overall they are all on the same page. They all occupy the same role in society as ignorant, complacent, upper class people.
The younger generation seem to be curious and inquisitive, but they don’t want to challenge their parents’ authority. Instead, they want to emulate (imitate) them.
effect of the Inspector
to split the family permanently down generational lines. The two sides and their respective ideologies can’t be reconciled. This may mimic the drastic impact the World Wars had on society. Priestley suggests society is at a crossroads or tipping point, where change has to happen and a choice has to be made.
Character development
Both Eric and Sheila undergo character arcs
-starting immature desire to follow their parents
-ending with a mature understanding of the real world. out from under parents’ shadows, capable of independent thought.
transformations are contrasted with the stasis of the older generations. As Sheila notes, Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, and Gerald are all prepared to continue in the same way once the Inspector has left. Gerald even offers Sheila her ring back, as if he never cheated on her and broke her trust.
How does the play end
What does it suggest
The play ends how it started - the family
gathering is interrupted by a phone call to say an Inspector is coming to the house.
On the surface the mirroring suggests that nothing much has changed, however the audience knows that the family has divided and changed since the first act.
Furthermore, the cyclical structure could allude to the two World Wars, evoking the same idea of “pretend[ing] all over again” (Act 3, pg 65). Priestley suggests history will keep repeating itself until people learn.
patriarch of the Birling family, Mr Birling is a symbol of the older generation’s power and influence in society.
He has made his own money (nouveau riche) instead of inheriting it like Mrs Birling and Gerald and is very satisfied with his accomplishments. He is resistant to criticism and gets angry with anyone who challenges his opinions or authority.
He believes his life experiences make him wise and infallible, meaning he thinks poorly of the younger generation whom he thinks are foolish and naive. A large part of his identity in the play is his capitalist views and loyalty to business and wealth over community.
Mr Birling as a teacher
Priestley shows how Mr Birling thinks of himself as a teacher to the younger generations because of his age and experience. At the beginning of his toast, he tells his children and Gerald, “Now you three young people, just listen to this - and remember what I’m telling you now,” (Act 1, pg 7), showing how seriously he takes his own advice.
- The imperatives “listen” and “remember” emphasise Mr Birling’s desire for attention and for his children to be his disciples. He wants to have an impact on the younger generation.
Arrogance of the older generations
Priestley shows how the older generation were arrogant and controlling, as they wanted to influence the younger generation.
In a similar way, Priestley suggests the older generations were overconfident, particularly the men. He claims “We don’t guess - we’ve had experience - and we know,” (Act 1, pg
7) which shows that the possibility of being wrong is completely foreign to Mr Birling.
- As he has grown up in a successful era he believes his generation paved the way to a better world, and he trusts it wholeheartedly.
His hubris (excessive self-confidence) leads him to make bold claims. He tells his family,
“Some people say that war’s inevitable. And to that I say - fiddlesticks!” and “| say there isn’t a chance of war,” (Act 1, pg 6). He presents his predictions with absolute certainty even though he is no expert, showing how men were taught their opinions were always valuable.
- Priestley uses the dramatic irony in these claims to express how deluded the ego of the older generations was. He implies arrogance and overconfidence caused these disasters, as they refused to see them coming.
Older generation and capitalism
Finally, Priestley uses Mr Birling’s businessman persona to associate the older generations with selfishness and right wing conservatism. His toast and “lecture” to Eric and Gerald are introduced at the start of the play to establish the capitalist ideologies of the family to the audience.
Mr Birling tells them, “The way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense […1 a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own,” (Act 1, pg 10). This suggests the older generations were focused on self-preservation and privacy rather than community.
- Furthermore, the use of derogatory (insulting) words like “cranks”, “bees in a hive” and “nonsense” show how Mr Birling actively mocks socialists, rather than just disagreeing with them.
Priestley suggests the older generations did not respect Socialism as a valid political system. This presents them as cruel and narrow-minded.
As the children of the family, Eric and Sheila represent the changing face of British society.
Though at the beginning they are mouthpieces for their parents’ beliefs, they quickly break free and think independently. They accept responsibility for their actions and try to encourage others to do the same. Their characters are largely linked with Socialist ideologies. Priestley shows how the younger generations are capable of starting a revolution. The children are presented as empathetic and compassionate which shows the audience how the younger generation are more capable of taking care of others (and enacting socialist policies).
Fights and Clashes Between Generations
As well as presenting the parents and the children in certain ways, Priestley examines the direct conflicts between them.
This mimics the tensions and divides in British society, and explores the dynamics of the generational divide. The ways the parents insult their children present the older generations’ scornful view of the younger generations. The way the two generations interact and argue shows how the two sides view each other.
Why is there tension?
older generation thinks the younger generation have an easier life than them
Mr Birling frequently references Eric’s “easier” upbringing and later accuses him of being “spoilt” (Act 3, pg 54). It is possible Mr Birling resents Eric for having the lifestyle he couldn’t have when he was young.
Mr Birling is “rather angry” after Eric questions his claim that “it’s a free country”. He tells him, “It’s about time you learnt to face a few responsibilities. That’s something this public-school-and-Varsity life you’ve had doesn’t seem to teach you,” (Act 1, pg 16).
- There is some hypocrisy in Mr Birling’s insults because, as Eric’s father, he would have been responsible for spoiling him.
Priestley suggests the older generations are incapable of respecting the younger generations. They expect them to go through the same hardships they did, which is
The scene that unfolds once the Inspector leaves emphasises the generational divide.
The most immediate, notable impact of the Inspector’s visit is to split the family irreversibly, with the two generations turning on each other. Two options face the family: either they change their ways, or continue as they were. The children choose the first option, the parents the other.
