Eric Birling quotes

“not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble”

• Noun “chap” shows he is making excuses for his behaviour; he is positioning himself as a victim rather than taking responsibility

• Priestley encourages the audience to view Eric as the product of poor parenting. Through denying Eric care or compassion throughout his childhood, his parents have condemned him to treating others with the same callousness by offering no support, they have stunted his moral development

• Shows the distant relationship between father and son. Children who were born into upper class families were often raised by nannies during the Edwardian era

• Mr Birling is not the ideal guardian or head of a family as a father figure. If such capitalists cannot be great fathers or leaders of a family, how can they then lead society in general? If sons cannot turn to such wealthy industrialists in times of trouble then how can society rely on such people. Despite Mr Birling having made money and won titles and important positions he is a failure as a father. Perhaps the poor parenting from his father contributed partially to the void that Eric might be feeling which he attempts to fill by alcohol and other things.

“And that’s when it happened. And I don’t even remember - that’s the hellish thing”

• Pronoun “it” is ambiguous, it allows the audience to fill in the gaps about what “it” is that Eric did the Eva. thus, Priestley manipulates the audience into perceiving Eric as redeemable as they retain their own opinion of whether he actually did rape Eva

• “hellish” - by the choice of language we know that Eric has realised he has done something awful, something so bad he now believes him (and maybe his family) are destined for Hell

• His vagueness in his description could be due to the fact his recollection of the event was affected by him drinking, or could be the fact that he cannot actually bring himself to describe to his parents what he has done because he is so ashamed, hosing remorse and regret for his actions

“I hate these fat old tarts around the town”

• Reveals his disgust at his won hypocrisy in frequenting at the Palace Bar. Priestley implies for all men it is a social norm to pay for sex

• Priestley demonstrates how upper class men condemned prostitutes while simultaneously using them. He suggests women, particularly lower class women and sex workers, were scapegoats that men used to disguise their own mistakes or flaws

“She wasn’t the usual sort”

• Priestley reveals Eric’s previous experiences with prostitutes

• Adjective “usual” implies that visiting prostitutes is normal for Eric

“[Half shy, half assertive]”

• Adjective “shy” connotes nervousness and a lack of confidence. This contrasts with “assertive” which implies confidence and dominance

• Priestley creates a sense of confusion, suggesting that Eric is a very secretive person

• "Shy" and "assertive" are very opposite characteristics; suggesting he is quite a complicated and troubled character who carries two identities. At the beginning, this may confuse and audience as to what type of character Eric is

“you killed her - and the child…your own grandchild”

• Priestley encourages the audience to sympathise with Eric

• By merely placing all the blame upon his mother, Eric attempts to absolve any involvement from himself

"I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty”

• Third person - attempting to distance himself

• Uses alcohol as an excuse for the rape of Eva

• Noun “chap” makes it seem relatable

• Priestley uses a euphemistic phrase as a substitute for Eric’s admittance of being drunk. The use of colloquial language normalises Eric’s lack of restraint which implies that it’s the alcohol which caused him to act in such a way, not his lack of morals. This prompts the question of whether he would have abused Eva if he was sober

• Throughout the play, the audience is encouraged to contemplate whether Eric’s actions are truly reflective of his character, or whether society has conditioned him to behave in this manner

“Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages?”

• Eric condemns his father’s capitalist view of his workers

• The upper classes’ internal corruption and hypocrisy is acknowledged by Eric, explicitly, throughout the play

• Eric is growing in assertiveness and his consciousness has awoken as he highlights and criticises the contradictions and sheer hypocrisy within the bourgeois society (relating to or typical of the middle class) to which he belongs to.

• Not only will the rhetorical question resonate with both the modern and post-war audience, but it is fundamental as it reflects the idea that Eric is gradually rejecting the capitalist ideology as he begins to mirror and favour Priestley's more ideal socialist society. This demonstrates how Eric is not only maturing as a character, but is also being enlightened to the corruptness of the very hypocritical capitalist system.

"I wasn't in love with her or anything - but I liked her - she was pretty and a good sport."

• "good sport"- in a sport, you play a game where there is a winner and a loser. In this game, Gerald and Eric use her for their pleasure and no matter how they might've “cared” for her by giving her stolen money, they used her and moved on, forgetting about her which again emphasises how capitalists used people from other classes as commodities.

• J.B Priestley uses this quote to represent the privilege that men (especially rich men) had over women in 1912 England. Eric publicly addresses this and there was no backlash because it was the norm.

• It makes the quote more shocking as the definition or connotations of sport is a hobby or something you do to pass the time. When relating that to what he did to Eva, this is very insulting, and shows how Eric felt it was okay to use her at the time; and make it seem as if she was a "hobby", almost objectifying her.

“[involuntarily] My God!”

• Eric’s emotional response to the news of Eva’s death shows that he has morals

• The use of the adverb “involuntarily” demonstrates the moral nature of Eric as he could not suppress his emotional response. Eric would not choose to reveal his emotions within a patriarchal society which condemns feminine traits such as excessive emotion (e.g. hysteria)

• Here, Priestley attempts to convey the message that emotion is human and thus necessary for society to improve

• Eric’s reaction is contrasted with Mr Birling’s who dismisses her suicide with “yes yes. Horrible business”

• Priestley makes the clear distinction between the older and younger generation and their differing attitudes to the lower classes