Discuss Priestleys depiction of the Birling household and Gerald :: English Literature

Discuss Priestleys depiction of the rotate household and GeraldCroft, prior to the arrival of quizzer GooleIn this submission I hope to fully discuss Priestleys depiction ofthe Birling household and Gerald Croft, prior to the arrival ofInspector Goole. The play is set in the fictional town of Brumley, anindustrial town in the North Midlands. It is evening in the town, inthe spring of 1912. At the moment the play starts the characters arecelebrating the betrothal between Gerald Croft and the Birlingfamilys only daughter Sheila. They are all very pleased withthemselves and are enjoying the occasion.The house is described as being a middling large suburban house. Thefurniture in the rooms is described as being, undecomposed solid furniture ofthe period. The general effect is substantial and heavily comfortable, and not cosy and homelike. As you will see later Mr. Birling alwayswants to overhear the impression that he is better than his guest, or atleast is his guests social equal. The furniture in the house may beanother one of Birlings attempt to make the guest intent this way. Hedoesnt want to make the guest feel comfortable in his home he wantsto make them feel small and insignificant in comparison to himself.Mrs. Birling is, herself, a somebody that is obsessed by social class,she may have selected the furniture herself as a way of showing offtheir status and again making their guests feel as if they arent asgood as the Birling family. Birling as you will see later is thestereotypical capitalist of the time. He will do anything to makehimself look and feel as if he is better than his guest. The furniturerepresents the Birling families longing for status.In the early 1900s social status was virtually everything. This wasbecause communism dominated the whole of the United Kingdom. Thevertical social ladder of status was what controlled who was asomebody and who was a nobody. The description of the house is agood example of how unsocial many families were during this timebecause all anybody, who was anybody, wanted was to show how wealthythey were, and to climb the social ladder.I shall now talk about the characters themselves.Mr. Birling is described as being, a heavy-looking, rather portentousman in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather idyl in his speech. He is a prosperous factory owner and is aself made man. He follows all the capitalist traits of the time and kit and caboodle heavily under the capitalist business mentality, build themcheap, sell them expensive.