Unable to grasp link between actions and consequences, or wider

No concepts of value other than money and position (speech pg. 4 -

Proud of his status and is a social climber (Daughter's marriage for status

Sees him & wife as upholding 'right' values and as guardians of 'proper'

Is blind to issues of the day and has a false optimism for the future based on his

inability to analyse the world around him (Future speeches pg. 6, 7). Speeches

are used as a device by Priestley to show Birling's naivete (ignorance), as all

that he predicts is wrong (play written with benefit of hindsight in 1945).

Mr. Birling is almost a stereotype/caricature of the capitalistic businessman its

inherent callous heartlessness. Note references to capitalism (pg. 6, 7), business

(pg. 6 "hard headed businessman," 10 "mind his own business") and profit (pg.

He is proud of his status and reminds other of it (pg. 8 "knighthood" p.10

"Bench"), especially when trying to put the Inspector in his place (p.16 "golf").

He is so uneasy about these matters that he is uneas

parents see this as disloyalty, but Sheila sees no point in hiding the truth (Eric's

Eric first arouses our curiosity in Act 1 with his strange guffaw, which indicates he

hypocrisy of society - the revelations cause her to reject this hypocrisy.

the truth as necessary to keeping up the image of upper class society life? Is her

Some common words found in the essay are:
Birling Eric, Priestley Birling's, Gerald A1, Birling Regards, Sybil Arthur, Sybil Birling, Eva Smith's, Gerald Eva, Joe Meggarty, Consider Sybil, character profile, sybil birling, pg 54, arthur birling, pg 6, smith/daisy renton pg, 6 7, play gerald, lower class, pg 50, proud status, pg 6 7, eva smith/daisy renton, pg 13 15, 13 15 16,
Approximate Word count = 1239
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)