https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki LO: To analyse how Priestley uses techniques to present characters. en-us 2018-03-09 00:23:24 UTC 2025-12-30 16:27:54 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240730750 In An Inspector Calls Mr Birling is presented as having very patronising views about women. This is when he says 'clothes mean something quite different to a woman. Not just something to wear - and not only something to make 'em look prettier.'" This presents to the audiance that Birling is quite sexist by suggesting that clothes are somehow more important to women than to men. The fact that he thinks clothes 'make 'em look prettier' shows he objectifies women too. He has a stereotypical view of women here and does not see them as individuals but suggests that all women think in the same way.]]> 2018-03-12 08:37:36 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240730750 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240754416 Priestley's reference to the Titanic (which sank, despite Mr Birling's faith in its sturdiness) proffers Mr Birling's arrogance and pompous attitude. This is evident from "unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable" in reference to the Titanic. However, From Act 1, the audience gets to know that Arthur Birling is very proud of the fact that he is a self-made man of business and bears the confidence of a successful industrialist in his lengthy speeches and confident eulogising on subjects ranging from the possibility of war to the new super liner, "Titanic". However, as the play was written in 1945, the audiences knows that this bold statement is far from correct. Instantly, Priestley's use of dramatic irony not only proves that it is a mistaken view, but it allows the audience to understand that Arthur Birling is not wise, but in-fact a rather injudicious and egotistical character. Priestly at the same time conveys that Arthur is very narrow minded, and as a result Priestley tries to showcase the themes of power of wealth and the ills of capitalism. ]]> 2018-03-12 09:55:50 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240754416 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240757526 Priestly uses Mr Birlings to convey his socialists views to the audience. Mr Birling portrays his narrow minded views on war when he says '"there isn't a chance of war". The play was written around the time when the second world war was coming to a end, so the audience are aware that Mr Birlings optimistic views are again, incorrect. Thus portraying him as unknowledgeable. The audience lose their trust in Mr Birling when they realise that Mr Birling does not know what he is talking about.]]> 2018-03-12 10:06:08 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240757526 ainaaleeya_azri https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240772075 In the play 'An Inspector Calls', Priestley uses Mr. Birling as a call for the need to change from capitalism to socialism as a society. During his capitalist speech Mr. Birling says 'there isn't a chance of war' which is an example of dramatic irony as a war did break out in 1914, which is two years after this play is set. He further explains his opinion on the titanic being 'unsinkable' which is another example of dramatic irony as the titanic sank during its maiden journey. These phrases deem his beliefs and knowledge as untrustworthy and unreliable which could represent Priestley's opinion of capitalism and the way it is executed. An audience in 1945 would have experienced the war and its effects, further understanding that Mr. Birling is a foolish, complacent and outdated character. Priestley's intention is to illustrate the idea that capitalism is an individualistic and unintelligent system as it works for individual success at the expense of others. ]]> 2018-03-12 10:50:00 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240772075 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240777185 In 'An inspector Calls', Priestley presents Mr. Birling as an arrogant man through dramatic irony. During his speech at the celebration dinner, he predicts that there would be 'no chance of war' and that the Titanic is 'unsinkable'. These claims make him look arrogant as his speech goes on for a long time while making many false predictions. This demonstrates to the audience that as he is a socially superior, he is close-minded and unaware of the fact that he could be wrong. Futhermore, as he is in the upper class and a social superior, he assumes that problems such as war wouldn't affected him. The audience in 1945 would see Mr. Birling as a fool with these claims, as just two years after 1912, World War One began, thus making the audience lose trust in him as a character and as a capitalist.]]> 2018-03-12 11:08:14 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240777185 juliaadaniah_johannis https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240796942 Priestly demonstrates Mr Birling to posses a pompous attitude throughout the play especially during his capitalist speech. He treats his opinions as fact due to the dramatic irony presented with the quote , " the Titanic is unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable." The repetition of the word "unsinkable" exhibits a egotistical behaviour as the repetition shows that he is reassuring his views. He treats his opinions as facts. The use of the word "unsinkable" could also foreshadow future moments of the play as by the end of it his reputation and status as sunk by his crimes to Eva Smith. This form of dramatic irony is seen as a sign of foolishness for a 1945 audience as they would find Mr Birling's views to be absurd. The 1945 audience knows that the Titanic wasn't "unsinkable" as it sank in 1912, implying that Mr Birling is untrustworthy as he was false with many of his predictions such as "the Germans (not) want(ing) war". Priestly hints to the audience that Mr Birling shouldn't be trusted in his 'facts'. ]]> 2018-03-12 12:02:16 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240796942 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240799429 In An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses Mr Birling as a direct contrast to his own views, to convey the need for change. Mr Birling is presented "as a hard headed, practical man of business", alluding to the idea of individuality, as he isn't talking to his family as a father, but rather a man of business. "Business" connotes to no-nonsense, which to an audience, seems distasteful, as he is treating his family as a business: treating his son as an employee and using his daughter as a tool to achieve higher class. Furthermore, "business" also connotes to dependable, which is ironic as Priestley uses dramatic irony to highlight Mr Birlings undependability. "Isn't a chance of war" is foolishly said by Mr Birling, making an audience infuriated, as there had been two world wars. Priestley may have intended on making the audience think about socialist and capitalist views, forcing them to conclude for themselves how flawed having a capitalist mindset was.]]> 2018-03-12 12:07:24 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240799429 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240810626 Priestley uses Mr Birling to contrast with Priestley's mouthpiece in the play,  The Inspector. This is shown during the capitalist speech at the very start of the play where Mr Birling claims that a 'man has to mind his own business and look after himself.' This is used by Priestley to show the level of selfishness present during the 1900's by the richer upper class. Mr Birling is a businessman first even when dealing with his own children. This is evident through Eric's scandalous behaviour of raping a girl and stealing money from his father in order to support Eva Smith. The Inspector heavily contrasts with Mr Birling when he asks everyone to be "members of one body" and "responsible for each other." Priestley used Mr Birling's contrast to his views to help show the complete failure of the capitalistic mindset and suggests a more socialist one would allow a society to flourish. Both a 1945 and modern day audience would be more likely to agree with the views of The Inspector rather than the 'every man for himself' mindset of a capitalist such as Mr Birling.]]> 2018-03-12 12:30:28 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240810626 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240814742 In An Inspector Calls, Priestley portrays Mr Birling as an archetypal character of a rich capitalist at the time. Priestley shows this through Mr Birling's capitalist speech in act 1, where he very pompously says that "the Germans don’t want war" and that the Titanic is "unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable." This is a form of dramatic irony as the audience in 1945 have already been through two World Wars and have stood attestant to the Titanic sinking. This is a form of dramatic irony as the audience in 1945 have already been through two World Wars and have stood attestant to the Titanic sinking. This shows the audience in 1945 how foolish Mr Birling is and causes the audience to lose trust in his convictions from then on. Priestley may have done this to show how Capitalism is misleading and should not be trusted, as it only offers a rose-tinted view and ignores the harsh realities of life, as suggested when the lighting was "pink and intimate" at the time of the Birling dinner scene.]]> 2018-03-12 12:38:38 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240814742 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240858825 Priestley created the character Birling to portray just how foolish and ignorant, 'hard-headed... [men] of business' in 1912. Through the use of dramatic irony in act one, where Birling blindly predicts 'Titanic sets sail today... unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable', Priestly generated an unreliable feeling from Birling to the audience of 1912, 1945, and modern days as they would have just gone through war and lost their loved ones. The adjective 'unsinkable' further contributes to the dislike from the audience, as his tone is arrogant and pompous. This is contributed by the hyperbole adverb 'absolutely', where Priestley has evoked the audience to perhaps curse Birling and his family to 'sink'. Also, by foreshadowing that he will continue to make bad decisions later on in the play, it is as if Priestley hopes to direct people in the upper classes- represented by Birling- to care about lifes of the working class more, as he is a powerful 'man of business'.]]> 2018-03-12 13:47:40 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240858825 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240916168 Priestly presents the role of Mr Birling as someone whom contradicts with the Inspector's socialist views. In An Inspector Calls, Mr Birling is described as a "capitalist crank" where he claims that it would be awkward if "we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we'd had anything to do with". The 1910s society had been very socialist, including the Inspector who is Priestly's mouthpiece, Mr Birling is used as a device to divide the 1912 society into two. The verb of "crank" gives the connotations of an increase in something, this shows that Mr Birling is seen as an capitalist extremist which could be used as a superlative, emphasising on Mr Birling's "only care about yourself and your family" motto. Mr Birling was used as a contradiction to show the audience that the chain of events that led to Eva's death was because of Mr Birling who failed to see the well being of people of the lower class. ]]> 2018-03-12 15:09:13 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/240916168 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/241147091 Priestley present Mr BIrling as a stark contrast of himself and his views, portraying him as a pompous and arrogant man who doesn't take responsibility for the society. His pompous attitude outshines when Mr Birling suggests that "titanic is unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable" and how "the German's don't want war". The word unsinkable might suggest how he tries to sink everyone else views with his own by being a "hard headed business man". Also, the hyperbole used when he says "absolutely" suggests how Mr Birling should never be trusted with what his saying since he was very confident with his views towards capitalism which may deter the audience from thinking that capitalism is good. This also foreshadows how his lack of judgements in the play would puppet him and his family throughout the play through the Inspector and Eva. The dramatic irony used is to further emphasise on Mr Birling's foolish implements and predicaments since the audience of 1945 would have already been through war and have moved past the Titanic's disaster thus making Mr Birling a complete fool. Priestley intends on showing his views on capitalism and how it is an utterly idiotic system that should be broken by using Mr Birling.]]> 2018-03-12 22:53:10 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/241147091 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/241156223 Priestley presents Mr Birling as a representation of the capitalist society in the 1910s, and uses him as a tool to represent capitalism whilst highlighting the importance of socialism in modern society. 

Priestley first presents the ignorance and foolishness of capitalism by using a dramatic irony in Mr Birling's speech. Mr Birling arrogantly predicts that 'the German's don't want war', and how the 'titanic is unsinkable'. These statements would resonate with the audience watching the play in 1945, who have suffered the lost of both the titanic, and the first and second world war. Priestley does this to dissuade the audience from siding with Mr Birling, allowing them to be more open to socialist viewpoints.


]]> 2018-03-12 23:45:35 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/241156223 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/822934992 2020-10-12 21:23:39 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/822934992 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/844976962 2020-10-20 14:20:42 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/844976962 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/949520611 2020-11-22 11:12:53 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/949520611 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/1437836112 2021-04-20 13:35:53 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/1437836112 https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/1448904032 2021-04-22 18:46:37 UTC https://padlet.com/caroline_tighe/q4fn6kq57bki/wish/1448904032