How does Priestley present the character of Mr. Birling in the opening of the play?

Mr. birle is presented as irresponsible and a brotherly climber by means of the point directions at the start of the play. He is described at the start, in the stage directions, as a heavy-looking, rather exceptional man in his middle mid-fifties but rather provincial in his speeches. This implies that Birling is a man who was innate(p) in the countryside and that he is not from a very alpha background. This shows that beca apply of Birlings history, hes a grandiloquent man and he tries to show everybody how important he actu every(prenominal)y is this is because of how his status use to be when he was growing up as a child.Priestley also conveys Mr. Birling as a pitiful social climber through what he says and his mannerisms at the start of the play. Priestley shows that Birling is aware of the state who are his social superiors, which is why he shows off about the port to Gerald, it is exactly the same port your father gets. He is proud that he is worryly to be knighted , as this would move him even higher(prenominal) in the social circles. He claims that the companionship is one of the happiest nights of my life. This is not notwithstanding because Sheila go away be happy, but also because a merger with Crofts Limited willing be good for his business.Through this Priestley presents Mr. Birling as egoistic and very self-centered, showing that he moreover cares about himself and his business. Priestley does this to show that all capitalists were akin to Birling as they too only cared about their social status at the time. The use of dramatic sarcasm in Mr. Birlings speech presents him as foolish and Priestley is clearly mocking capitalist values. Priestley sets the play in 1912 because that year was onwards a lot of significant historical events took place. This makes it easy for Priestley to use dramatic irony to display Mr. Birlings presumption and foolishness.He confidently states that nobody wants war and that it will never happen, and he has great assent that the unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable ship large will never sink. Priestleys use of the repetition of the adjective unsinkable promote accentuates Mr. Birlings arrogance. Obviously all these things really did occur much to the fun of the 1945 audience, who now know not to assimilate Mr. Birling as an intelligent, thoughtful person. overall Priestley uses the character of Mr. Burling as a exemplification of capitalism, showing that capitalists were foolish and arrogant, just like Mr. Birling.