Question How does Priestley explore ideas about the BIrlings using the opening stage directions?
A-A* Question: How does Priestley explore ideas about the Birlings using the opening stage directions?
Priestley’s opening direction “not cosy and homelike” has many connotations on the audience’s mind and ideas about the Birlings. It suggests the Birlings are overcompensating – “substantial and heavily comfortable” – as we know that they aren’t upper class from their “fairly large suburban house” but rather lower-upper class therefore going back to my point – they’re overcompensating through materials as if to say that they have ‘money to burn’. The use of the adjective “cosy” really puts forward the idea that although the family looks good on the surface, behind closed doors the family is distant and have their priorities lay in materialistic possessions, their reputation, money success and riches. “Homelike” brings the idea that their house is a house rather than a home to mind; it’s nothing more than a play – a clever play on context through one perspective. The opening house and opening stage directions are nothing but mere stage directions; the family is putting on an act for the world to portray themselves as ‘perfect’. In fact it’s almost a paradox; the play portrays a play that a family are performing daily to the world.
This all suggests that Priestley may have done this to put the Birling family in a selfish and artificial like, instantly planting the idea and assumptions that the Birlings are shallow, selfish and most of all fake. This could be perhaps due to the fact that Mr Birling was not born into riches and had to work his way up breaking the cycle he would normally have had to fall into, marry an upper class girl thus finding balance society would have labelled them as upper middle class or –when generous- lower upper class: when looking at historical context seeing as women were in charge of the house Mrs Birling was hiding a sort of shame that although she married her love, she is not a rich or as higher up in the hierarchy as she was
Priestley’s opening direction “not cosy and homelike” has many connotations on the audience’s mind and ideas about the Birlings. It suggests the Birlings are overcompensating – “substantial and heavily comfortable” – as we know that they aren’t upper class from their “fairly large suburban house” but rather lower-upper class therefore going back to my point – they’re overcompensating through materials as if to say that they have ‘money to burn’. The use of the adjective “cosy” really puts forward the idea that although the family looks good on the surface, behind closed doors the family is distant and have their priorities lay in materialistic possessions, their reputation, money success and riches. “Homelike” brings the idea that their house is a house rather than a home to mind; it’s nothing more than a play – a clever play on context through one perspective. The opening house and opening stage directions are nothing but mere stage directions; the family is putting on an act for the world to portray themselves as ‘perfect’. In fact it’s almost a paradox; the play portrays a play that a family are performing daily to the world.
This all suggests that Priestley may have done this to put the Birling family in a selfish and artificial like, instantly planting the idea and assumptions that the Birlings are shallow, selfish and most of all fake. This could be perhaps due to the fact that Mr Birling was not born into riches and had to work his way up breaking the cycle he would normally have had to fall into, marry an upper class girl thus finding balance society would have labelled them as upper middle class or –when generous- lower upper class: when looking at historical context seeing as women were in charge of the house Mrs Birling was hiding a sort of shame that although she married her love, she is not a rich or as higher up in the hierarchy as she was