Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Eric Birling - Coggle Diagram
Eric Birling
act 1
sat alone, isolated from his family.
-
-
-
-
'not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive
he shows his assertiveness by standing up to his Father and questioning and standing up for Eva, asking 'why shouldn't they try for higher wages?'. But Eric lacks confidence to completely stand up to him
Upbringing
-
raised by a “cold woman” and a father who is “not the kind of father a chap could go to when in trouble
-
-
-
act 3
eric confesses that he got the girl pregnant and that he stole money from his fathers firm to try and support her
After the truth has come out, Eric show that he has grown up enough to confidently state his point 'I did what I did. And mother did what she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her', the repetition of 'I did', 'she did' and 'you did' shows that Eric is clear in his mind who is to blame for the death of Eva Smith
In Act 3, Eric does not let his Father interrupt him as he did in Act 1. Eric continues his speak despite his Fathers interruption
act 2
-
In this act is unravels that Eric is at the centre of the predicament and Sheila realises that Eric is the Father of the baby.
key quotes
“early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half
assertive”
-
-
At the beginning of the play, Eric is a symbol of how the younger generations of men were taught the misogyny of their fathers.
J B Priestley uses Eric as he does Sheila - to suggest that the young people of a post-war Britain would be the answer to a hopeful future. With Eric he also addresses some concerns he had about the dangers of immoral behaviour. Through Eric, Priestley shows that excessive drinking and casual relationships can have consequences.
JB Priestley presents Eric in a sympathetic light through Eric’s opposition to Mr Birling’s
capitalist and individualistic attitudes.
Remorse and regret is clearly shown by Eric while he accepts responsibility for his
actions, yet he rejects taking sole responsibility for her suicide.