Act 3 Mr Birling Analysis

Birling, just like his wife, only fears a blow to his reputation. This is conspicuous in ‘So as long as we behave ourselves don’t get into the police court or start a scandal -eh?’ this delineates that the only thing he cares about is how the public views him and his family. The noun “scandal’’ further evidences that Mr. Birling is afraid of any nasty thing about his family being publicized, therefore creating conflict as he displays no other interest than in money. The hyphen suggests that Mr. Birling is trying to befriend the inspector and possibly trying to bribe him into forgetting everything and dropping charges, which was quite common in the 1945. Where capitalists like Birling would assume that everybody has a price and can be persuaded by money. Additionally, birling proves to fiercely believe that money can solve all issues even bring back Eva Smith. This is further evident in '(unhappily) Look, Inspector - I'd give thousands - yes, thousands – ‘. The same man who wouldn’t pay 3 extra shillings to Eva Smith would now pay thousands and thousands to cover this all up. This further conflicts as he goes against his own word. The dramatic irony presents how a man who one wouldn’t pay a little, now has to pay the price. The repetition of ‘thousands’ emphasises how birling strongly believes money can solve everything. The contemporary audience would be enraged and distressed as birling finally gets what he

“But take my word for it, you youngsters - and I've learnt in the good hard school of experience - that a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own - and - We hear the sharp ring of a front door bell.”This shows the power of Mr.Birlings and how he is a capitalist he always thinks that he is correct no matter what but when the moment when the inspector arrives it's now accidentally it arrives at that time to cut Mr.Birling's speech so he could stop with his capitalism, the inspector, the contrary of Mr.Birling decides to arrive at the perfect time to make tension in the family.

I consider ? is a trifle impertinent Inspector?, indicating she does not like it when she is not superior to others or is undermined in some way. Throughout being questioned, Mrs Birling is reticent and has to be asked small details so the Inspector can extract the right information out of her, ?And if I was, what business is it of yours?? indicating that she may have something to hide. Like her husband, Mrs Birling refuses to accept any responsibility for her actions and is constantly in denial when questioned, ?I?ve done nothing wrong and you know it?. Perhaps this could be because she actually believes she has done nothing wrong, or because she is hiding what she has done wrong. However, not a completely cold-hearted or self-absorbed woman, she does not knowingly place the blame on the rest of her family, but on the father of Eva?s child, who she later learns is Eric. She asks the Inspector to force the father of the child make a ?public confession of responsibility? and so Mrs Birling is really condemning the family to bad publicity, exactly what Mr Birling has not wanted all throughout the play.

The character Mr Birling in ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B Priestley is a greedy, arrogant and selfish ‘hardheaded businessman’, father of two, Sheila Birling and Eric Birling. Through Mr Birling Priestley shows what upper middle-class men were like in 1912. I believe Priestley set the play in 1912 and first performed it in 1946 because this date represented an era where everything was different. In 1912 there was a strict class system and gender roles, Priestley took the chance the end of the war had given them to create a different, more equal society.

Mrs Birling is also held responsible for the death of Eva Smith in various different ways. She is selfish as she won’t accept any blame for it, and once again, she is also doing the same as Mr Birling. She is taking the two generations and differentiating then according to how responsibilities are taken.

By using a play by play of the scenes in the play, the article pays close attention to the “trifles” the women paid close attention to while the men ridiculed them for it. The article also mentions how, “women’s responsibilities and concerns tend to remain somewhat distinct from men’s.” Because of this

“Perhaps I ought to warn you that he’s an old friend of mine, and I see him fairly frequently.” This stats that he tries to cover what he did with an excuse of personal connection. Furthermore, Mrs. Birling is just saying straight out to the inspector “I don’t think we want any further details of this disgusting affair-”. The word disgusting is described when a person doesn’t like something or someone to talk about usually it shows the negative impact. Thus it is harder for the old generation to admit their faults since they have lived the life in this way for

Mrs Birling is a “cold” woman. This is show by her not wanting to take responsibility for her part in the death of Eva Smith. This is also show as when Eva comes to her organisation looking for help she not only refuses her herself but used her “influence , as the most prominent member of the committee” to have everyone else refuse her help too. This makes her seem a heartless woman that uses her power of being rich and upper class to get thing her way. She refuses Eva for the petty reason that she comes to the committee under the name of “Mrs Birling”.

But then the inspector comes in and gradually shows them how wrong Birling is and how we should feel and show responsibility for one another. In the play the Inspector conveys Priestly message that everyone should take responsibility instead of pushing it aside. He expresses this clearly when he interrogates each of them. ‘A nice little promising life there, I thought, and a nasty mess somebody’s made of it’.

     The other view that Glaspell shows in this play is a sympathy that the reader grows for the women. How they are forced to follow the men. Like when they are asked to get close to the fire, they do it even though Mrs. Peters

Social snobbery transcends social duty through when she admits to being put off Eva/Daisy’s claim purely because she went under the name of “Ms Birling”. Consequently this reflects her shallow nature, lack of social awareness that equivalents to her lack of responsibility. It is evident that the upper class showed no need to change the status quo. Ultimately as shown in her ignorance to responsibility, even towards her own children, the irony in Mrs Birling’s demands for the baby’s father to take responsibility is

In melodrama the weak and the innocent often fall prey to the evil villain, who is rich and powerful. Birling is a caricature of the grasping capitalist. Eva Smith is a caricature of the poor, downtrodden victim who retains her dignity and nobility of spirit. She is too good to be true .Mr and Mrs Birling remain the archetypical villains to the end because they fail to learn the moral lesson of the play.

In the society of the 1920s when the play was written, the confinement of women was at an all-time high, however the breakout of women’s rights was just starting. The tone of this play helps show just this view, by promoting a character such as Mrs. Peters, who is stuck on whose side be on in the mystery of the murder. As they uncover the motive of Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Peters character begins to understand her, although the deceased husband was murdered in such a gruesome way, and know there should be a punishment for the crime for the crime because of her background with her husband as sheriff, who said she is “married to the law”, she comprehends the “stillness” that Mrs. Wright must have felt, with the house being as gloomy as it was on a bright character such as she before she was married. Such as

Mrs. Birling, in the opening stage directions by Priestley is introduced as a “rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior”. This is important since readers realise early on in the story that Mrs. Birling is a representative of the aristocracy and her cold nature would be reflective of her pride on that fact. She is portrayed to be very conscious about her social status and extremely authoritative. She clearly likes being in control of things and demonstrates this trait repeatedly in the play. She is also constantly seen correcting flaws and contradicting members of her family. An example of this would be when she responds to Arthur’s statement about the cooks reproachfully, stating, “Arthur, you’re not supposed to say such things”.

Birling is also very dismissive of Sheila; we witness this when he says “nothing to do with you, Shelia. Run along”, the way in which he speaks to her is quite belittling and we are made to believe that although she is his daughter, women are second class to men, he truly believes that she is not worthy of being spoken to with regard to the inspectors visit. Birling is a very single minded man who does not take kindly to opposition to his beliefs. This is seen when he says “we’ve had experience – and we know” this shows he is no longer prepared to discuss the topic any further, when discussing war with his son Eric.