Arthur's Birling himself as a 'hard-headed practical man of buisness'. How does Priestley present this and other views of Arthur Birling in An Inspector Calls?
Arthur Birling is a successful buisness man and throughout the play Mr Birling represents his capitalist views and how he believes it's 'every man for himself'. Priestley presents Mr Birling as a symbol of capitalist.
Mr Birling gives the impression that he only cares about Sheila and Gerald's marriage because it will benefit him and his buisness. " Sheila means a tremendous lot to me". This could be seen as Mr Birling showing affection towards his daughter. However, this could be seen as Sheila being worth a lot to him financially wise, meaning that Sheila marrying Gerlad will bring him and his buisness a lot of money. The word 'lot emphasises the idea more that Birling only cares about the marriage because it will give him profit and secure future buisness opportunities. This represents the idea of how much Birling is a 'hard headed piratical buisness man of buisness' as he shows a lack of happiness for his daughter getting engaged and more happiness about the fact his buisness is going to grow.
Preistley intentions of presenting Mr Birling as a character who cares more about money than his
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If you don't come down sharply on theses people they'd soon be asking for the dart". The use of the exaggeration/hyperbole just implies that Birling thinks that the lower class always ask for more and are greedy. However it's Birling that treats Sheila and Gerald's engagement like its a buisness deal so that his buisness deal grows bigger, which emphasises his greediness making him a hypocrite. Priestley makes Mr Birling look like an hypocrite in the eye of the audience so that any other opinion that Birling has in the future in the play is