The play begins as the family have finished their dinner. Edna, the parlour maid, is clearing champagne glasses and dessert plates, replacing them with “a decanter of port, cigar box, and cigarettes.” This distinction establishes the social standing of the family, revealing both their ability to afford these luxuries and their upholding of the traditional after-dinner split where men stayed in the dining room to drink and smoke while women went through to the drawing room. Mr Birling’s first line to Edna is an assertion of power, praising her for giving them the port, and proceeding to recommend it to Gerald as the same port his father drinks. Priestley also specifies in the stage directions that, upon Edna’s exit, Mr Birling “clearly relaxes” when no longer in the presence of his servants. This furthers the class divide present onstage as it suggests to the audience that, despite being her social superior, Mr Birling only truly relaxes around his own people, demonstrating his prejudice against the working classes.
