First Five Pages Arthur Birling example essay topic

In the first five pages Arthur Birling comes across as a modest, only thinks about himself and money type of man. Mr Birling is the working type, who isn't rich through ancestors but by earning it. Priestly describes Arthur in the prologue for Act one (the first page) as a rather portentous man, in his middle-fifties, with easy manners but has a rather narrow mind. Arthur Birling's role in the play is that of a family man, who takes up the dominant male position throughout.

Later on we hear that Birling sacked the ever-mysterious character of Eva Smith / Daisy Renton from his factory, just because she asked for a little more money. The inspector points this out as one of the starting factors, which then led to the young girl's death. Priestlys use of irony on page two shows how much Birling actually knew about his son, Eric. We learn later on in the play that Eric is an alcoholic, and had had the problem years.

The stage direction 'He pushes the drink towards Eric' (on page two) is the perfect use of irony because his own dad is encouraging him to drink; unbeknownst to his father that he is an alcoholic. Page three shows Birling as a family man that is treating Gerald as one of the family. From Birlings personality it is clear for the reader to see that he is only overjoyed about Gerald being united into the family because of business. Arthur is well aware that Crofts Limited is a bigger and better company than Birling and Co. and feels that Gerald has brought the two together. Birling then goes on to say that within time Birling and Crofts will no longer compete, but work together, which is what he secretly wants. Birling knows that Crofts is better than his company and he knows that they always will be unless something is done about it, and now his time has come - Gerald.

Birling follows up saying that Gerald is the Son-in-law that he always wanted, we wonder why?! In page four, Priestlys use of language shows Birling as a modest bighead. He talks far too much throughout about his popularity especially that of royalty at the time, which comes across as if he's boasting constantly. A perfect example of this happens to be in page four when Birling says 'It's a pity Sir George and Lady Croft can't be with us, but they " re abroad so it can't be helped'. Page four also shows another of Priestlys irony, for Birling, as he says 'Eric when you have a daughter of your own'. Not only does this quotation show irony but going back it also shows again something else that Birling didn't know about his son, the bond between them obviously isn't that strong.

On this page Birling again implies money and wealth as he says 'that Sheila's a lucky girl's uggesting that the only reason she's lucky is because she is marrying into a richer family. Birling realises that Crofts is a wealthier family because of how big their business is compared to Birling and Company. Throughout pages one to five Priestly shows Birling's relationship with his wife, Sybil, as a steady marriage between two people who think that they are superior to everybody else. As I have already mentioned, Arthur is very proud of himself because of all the money that he has earned over the years and due to his wealth, he has endured many rich, famous friends on the way which boosted his ego tremendously. Sybil however is portrayed as socially superior towards her husband. This is seen by the reader on page two, when Sybil says 'Arthur, you " re not supposed to say such things'.

This quotation suggests to us that Sybil frequently tells Arthur what's right and what's not right to say, because obviously she's ALWAYS right!! I noticed that throughout pages one to five Priestly presents Birling as a Lancashire-born man, which is then followed through for the rest of the play, whereas the rest of Birlings family are all posh Londoners of the time. This suggests to the reader that Birling was brought up from a working class, normal family in Lancashire. When he grew up he obviously moved to London with his wealth and started a prosperous family. This shows why Sheila and Eric are posh and rich, they didn't work for their money (like their father did) they were just born into it.

My final thoughts and opinions on Arthur Birling (in the first five pages) are that he thinks of business and money before family, this makes him selfish and greedy. Priestly might portray and make it look as if Birling is your typical family man but you need to look closely and between the lines to see otherwise. He babbles on about family and how thrilled he is about having a son-in-law like Gerald, but judging by his personality you can see that's only because Gerald has brought the two companies together. Also his smug, modest figure is shown in pages one to five, as he talks far too much about his wealth and famous friends.

Priestlys good use of irony, adjectives and stage directions at the start of the play show what Birlings true colours really are!