Mr Birling

• The sin of greed (from the 7DS) in embodied by Mr Birling. He is used as a construct by Priestley to place emphasis on greed and selfishness being capitalistic traits.
• "Wretched girl's suicide"

  • Derogatory tone - signifies the cruelty & disregard the UC had for the WC. The WC were dehumanised & treated with disrespect.
  • Clarification of "girl" demonstrates how women were viewed as inferior within a patriarchal society.
  • "Wretched" - suggests that the death in an inconvenience & nothing else. The Birling's don't consider Eva's death as their concern - there is no impact or importance behind the death of this girl.
• "Lower costs & higher prices"

  • WC is exploited by UC - they're an expense, a commodity.
  • Capitalism - focus of the UC is the production of their wealth.
  • Highlight's the selfishness of Mr B - he uses the union between Sheila & Gerald as a business contract. Shifts the conversation to focus on his materialistic desires. Reinforces his role as a capitalist.
  • Family bonds are weak as Birling cares more about money. The Birling's are shallow, seemingly only bonded by wealth.
• "It's my duty to keep labour costs down. Our labour costs."

  • Personal pronouns represent the individualistic nature of Birling and by extent, the ruling classes in the patriarchal society of 1912.
  • The fact that he sees it as his "duty" suggests that perhaps he is being conditioned into being selfish by the pernicious effect that capitalist society has.