Eric Birling 🍾👠

• Eric Birling is the son of Mr and Mrs Birling and is employed by his father's company, Birling and Co.
• Eric is portrayed as having a drinking habit, possibly to drown his sorrows
• Stage directions describe Eric as in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive, demonstrating his naivety
• Priestley uses Eric as symbolic of redemption, showing that anyone can change and improve
• Eric is presented in a sympathetic light through his opposition to his father's capitalist and individualistic attitudes
• Eric is portrayed as naive and ignorant of the true extent of the suffering of the lower class
• Eric shows remorse and regret for his actions, accepting responsibility but not taking sole responsibility for Eva's suicide
• Eric is portrayed as a source of optimism, representing the potential for change for the better
• Eric is portrayed as innately moral, able to distinguish between right and wrong throughout the play
• Eric's emotional response to Eva's death demonstrates his morals, as shown through the stage directions
• Eric's emotional response contrasts with Mr Birling's impatient and dismissive reaction to Eva's death
• Eric is portrayed as having personal views that are inherently socialist, challenging his father's capitalist views
• Eric condemns his father's capitalist view of workers and empathizes with the lower classes
• Eric is presented as morally superior, capable of empathy and emotion that other characters lack
• Eric is aware of the hypocrisy and corruption in society, recognizing the exploitation of workers by capitalism
• Eric reluctantly conforms to the class system, unable to stand up to his father's treatment of the lower classes
• Eric's discomfort with his family's lifestyle and privilege is evident through the stage directions
• Eric is portrayed as eager to be done with the engagement talk, showing his disapproval of the capitalist nature of the marriage
• Eric is initially portrayed as a positive character with morals, but his actions reveal the capability of immorality in anyone
• Eric's behavior is influenced by his environment, including his father's capitalist and patriarchal values
• Eric's immoral actions are partly excused by the societal norms and expectations of the time regarding women and class distinctions
• Eric's unreliable narration may affect the audience's perception of his actions and character
• Eric's upbringing and lack of care or compassion from his parents are suggested as factors contributing to his behavior
• Eric's narration about what he did to Eva is likely unreliable, as he may be biased to make himself look less bad
• Eric's use of the pronoun "it" in his narration allows the audience to fill in the gaps about what he did to Eva, manipulating their perception of him as redeemable
• Priestley intends for Eric to be favored by the audience and serve as a medium for socialist ideas and converted capitalists
• Priestley uses euphemistic language to substitute for Eric's admittance of being drunk, normalizing his lack of restraint and prompting questions about his actions if sober
• Throughout the play, the audience is encouraged to consider whether Eric's actions reflect his true character or if society has conditioned him to behave in a certain manner
• Eric is portrayed as repentant and remorseful for his immoral actions towards Eva, showing genuine regret
• Priestley presents Eric as only partially accepting responsibility for Eva Smith's death, evading full responsibility and feeling sufficiently guilty
• Eric's evasion of responsibility, blaming external factors like immoral men or intoxication, causes him to be perceived as avoiding responsibility and unsympathetically depicted
• Priestley portrays Eric in direct opposition to Mr. Birling ideologically, reflecting the conflict between capitalism and socialism
• Eric challenges Mr. Birling's opinions and capitalist attitudes, standing up for worker's rights and exposing corruption and exploitation of capitalism
• Priestley portrays Eric as lacking a caring and maternal mother in Mrs. Birling, who diverts blame onto Eric for Eva's suicide and values the family's reputation over her son's well-being
• Eric and Sheila appreciate the Inspector's message, aligning with socialist ideas and showing the difference between the younger and older generations in their attitudes towards society
• Eric's agreement with socialist ideas is not as comprehensive as Sheila's, showing ambivalence in his mindset and potential superficial agreement influenced by emotional overwhelm or intoxication
• Priestley encourages the audience to consider how they would respond to death and question the morality of their response, reflecting on their own life decisions
• Priestley prompts the audience to consider the consequences of different attitudes held by characters in the play
• He intends for the audience to compare their attitudes to those of the characters, leading them to view the physical manifestations of their beliefs
• Priestley's portrayal of Eric's relationship with Eva challenges tradition due to its inter-class nature