Key Quotations

Illustrates his arrogance. He speaks at lengths about politics, which would be an inappropriate subject for an engagement party, showing his selfishness through his focus around his own interests and not the celebration of his daughter and son in law.

The word “fiddlesticks” further emphasizes this point about him being arrogant. He is so dismissive of the idea that the Germans would want war that he mocks the very idea of it.

This is all a strong example of dramatic irony. The play would have been first performed just after the ending of the first World War, meaning that the audience would easily recognise that Birling is very wrong, making him seem foolish. This is done by Priestly both to mock both the character of Mr Birling and the society that he represents.

Birlings ignorance could also be argued to extend as far as racism. By saying “half-civilised folk in the Balkans”, he is most likely meant to be referring to the first Balkan War, which took place at around the time the play is set. The Balkan league consisted of the forces of all of Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro, so through Birling’s speech, he is potentially condemning a wide range of people as “half-civilised”. This is yet another aspect of his character that would turn the audience against him.

The titanic, which Birling is referring to, sank just a week after this play is supposed to be set in, killing over 1500 people. The ship was regarded as an important symbol of capitalist accomplishment, technological advances, and luxury. The ship fostered great pride, as evidence by Arthur Birling, who functions as Priestley’s personification of capitalism.

This is one of the clearest examples of dramatic irony in the play. Once again, the audience is invited to mock the attitudes of Mr Birling and what his character represents: capitalism.

Due to the recency of the titanic sinking, the audience are likely to be sensitive to the subject as many of them may had have relatives or loved ones die in the events of it, making them even more likely to despise Birling’s character and perceive him as ignorant and foolish. This once again pushes Priestly’s socialist message and paints capitalists in a bad light.

The repitition of the word unsinkable, coupled with the intensifying adverb “absolutely”, reinforces Birling’s certainty and, in the light of the dramatic irony, his misplaced arrogance.

This repetition across Mr Birling’s quotes highlights how his capitalist arrogance needs constant reinforcement in order for Mr Birling to maintain credible and how he is insecure about the fragility of his status and authority.

The arrogance that he shows is not a mark of his true character, but rather a facade that crumbles when his authority is questioned by the Inspector later in the play.

Priestly presents Mr Birling in this way as a way of exposing the instability of a system that values profit over people (capitalism) and therefore pushing his socialist message upon the audience at the time.