mr birling essay act 1

An Inspector Calls

J. b. priestley, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

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• 14 August 2020 24 April 2023
• 10 Comments on Mr Birling, a character analysis.

Mr Birling, A Character Analysis

This is the first in our series of character analyses of the main characters in the play, ‘An Inspector Calls’.

It follows on from our series of articles on the themes of the play and the two, the themes and the characters are closely related and cannot be understood without each other. The themes cannot be understood without seeing how the writer Priestley, uses the characters to highlight certain themes and of course vice versa, the themes and issues being explored in the play naturally affect the characters and also play a big part in their way of looking at things.

To read the articles on the themes you can click on each of the links below:

1. An Inspector Calls’, themes, part 1: Class division and social responsibility

2. An Inspector Calls’, themes part 2: Gender

3. An Inspector Calls’, themes part 3: Age

The role/function of the Mr Birling character in the play.

To really understand Mr Birling and his role and function in the play, we need to understand what his ‘creator’ , J.B. Priestley is trying to do and why he ‘created’ Mr Birling.

Mr Birling, it can be argued, exists in the play to represent the wealthy capitalist class of modern Britain and to critique that class. Birling is similar to Ebenezer Scrooge in the Christmas Carol in that he is a wealthy businessman but far from generous. Priestley like his predecessor Dickens is attempting to encourage social responsibility and active assistance of the poor by the wealthier in society and using literature to do so by highlighting the plight of the poor and critiquing the wealthy who at times neglect them.

How successful were they in this? Well millions have heard of them and their works and continue to ready, study and discuss their plays today and Priestley himself was a politician involved in socialism, a political ideology which focuses on a more equal distribution of wealth and heavy government assistance for the poor but often by taxing the wealthy. People such as Priestley helped to create the ‘Welfare State’ in Britain which included free medical treatment for all and government money paid to people without jobs.

Click on the Link to Read About: Mr Birling Key Quotes

Arthur Birling, a brief description.

Priestly described Birling as a ‘heavy-looking man’ which means that he is big or maybe even slightly overweight. He also has a ‘provincial’ accent. What does provincial mean? Well in modern Britain, the ‘correct’ (in many people’s eyes) way of speaking or accent is what is called ‘RP’ which stands for Received Pronunciation. This is the way middle class people from the south-east of England or those educated in elite private schools (ironically in Britain called ‘public schools’ though you have to pay to study there) speak.

Accents different to those are considered by many to be ‘incorrect’ or at least less prestigious. Such regional accents include:

• Cockney, accent originally of working class Londoners but now many throughout the south-east.
• Scouse, accent of Liverpudlians.
• ‘Brummy’, accent of people from the second biggest English city, Birmingham.
• Geordie, accent of people from Newcastle or the north-east.
• Mancunian, accent of people from Manchester.
• Yorkshire, accent of Yorkshire.

In modern Britain, perhaps slightly less than a few decades back, people who want to progress upwards socially have to ‘soften’ their regional accent and make it more ‘neutral’ or more similar to the standard RP accent. In fact speaking with a very ‘thick’ Cockney, Brummy, Scouse accent would make you be considered a bit ‘uneducated’ or less sophisticated even by people who maybe from those areas, who may be fine with the usage of Cockney, Brummy, Scouse in an informal context but not in a more serious or official context. That is purely speaking about the accent and not even various slang words in those dialects.

Birling’s ‘provincial’ accent, the word Priestley himself uses clearly indicates that though he may have money now his roots are more humble and that he maybe what some call ‘nouveau riche’, a French term used in the English language which literally means ‘nouveau’ i.e. new, ‘riche’ i.e. rich or ‘new rich’.

It’s a slightly negative term implying that the person became rich recently but does not have the upbringing or culture to spend his wealth wisely and may use his money in flamboyant and extravagant clothes with inappropriate dress sense which a person from a traditionally rich family wouldn’t.

There is no mention of Birling and his dress sense but Birling occupies an intermediate space between the traditionally rich classes and the working class poor. He may have come from a poor or not so wealthy background and managed to become wealthy. This however is not enough, Birling still wants more.

An inferiority complex?

One of the most interesting questions that can be asked about Mr Birling, is does he have an inferiority complex?

What is an inferiority complex?

An inferiority complex can be understood in different ways, but one way it can be understood is that sometimes someone is missing or lacking something in order to gain social approval. You can also be very conscious that you do not have a particular quality e.g. the correct accent, income and so forth and this makes you feel uncomfortable (a complex) and this can result in exaggerated attempts to gain that ‘correct accent’, status and so on.

Mr Birling it could be argued occupies a sort of ‘no-man’s land’  between the working classes, whom he may have originally been from and whom he does not seem to care about much, and between the traditionally rich who would have a different accent and upbringing to his and also different ancestors and family, some of whom might look down on him as ‘nouveau riche’ or as ‘new money’ and as sort of inferior. We can see a glimpse of this in the quote:

““ I have an idea that your mother – Lady Croft – feels you might have done better for yourself socially ” (Act 1)

This is in relation to his suspicion that Gerald Croft’s family might feel that the Birlings are not as ‘good’ as them socially, a clear reference to the social hierarchy of that time.

Another of Birling’s most interesting quotes is.

‘You! You don’t seem to care about anything. But I care. I was almost certain for a knighthood in the next Honours List’ (Act 3) 

This follows on from earlier in the play where Birling says:

‘I was an alderman for years – and Lord Mayor two years ago – and I’m still on the Bench – so I know the Brumley officers pretty well’ (Act 1)

We can see from this that having lots of money, a nice house, a wife (Mrs Birling) from a socially privileged background and children, are not enough. Birling is constantly seeking to get more and more in terms of his status and social standing. First an alderman, then a lord mayor and next to be knighted i.e. to be called ‘Sir Arthur Birling’.

Is this because Mr Birling is a competitive person who relishes challenges and just being more and more successful, or is it because something is eluding him, there is something elusive? Perhaps by getting a certain level of prestige he will not feel uncomfortable around wealthy people from traditionally wealthy families, such as the Crofts. Or is it a combination of both?

What is interesting is that Birling does indeed seem to think status is based not on how moral or virtuous or generous your character is but by how high you are in the social hierarchy.

The problem with this constant pursuit for being higher and higher in the social hierarchy is that it always be a source of pain. Once you become a knight you are still ‘inferior’ to the traditional landed aristocracy, to the barons and earls and counts of England, and even if you became one of those you might be ‘junior’ aristocracy as opposed to ‘higher aristocracy’ who themselves are lower to ‘royalty’, something which Mr Birling could never have become even by marriage in 1912 England (when the play was set) or 1940s Britain when the play was first shown, as in that time society was far more traditional and the royal family could only marry from senior aristocracy/royalty.

The pursuit of position and status does not guarantee happiness and maybe a constantly elusive one forever generating a feeling of inferiority. The opposite of that would be to be happy with who you are and rather than enrich yourself at the expense of others (e.g. the low wages Birling gives to his workers), help others, and through this helping of others you might gain a feeling of happiness and reward by the betterment of those worse off than you.

As we can see ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a very deep and profound play and perhaps Priestley is attempting to show that despite his big physical stature and rough and tough exterior constantly focusing on money and position, Birling is actually a weak individual.

Birling, the capitalist.

Birling however despite seeming to come from a humble background is nevertheless in this play a representative of the capitalist elite. He is a wealthy businessman and as we saw also a type of politician when he used to be lord mayor.

As discussed in a previous article where it is written:

“So Mr Birling is far from a figure of any credibility. What Priestly is doing on a deeper level is showing that wealthy capitalists despite being able to make money are not necessarily intellectually superior to ordinary people, that they are not always right. Therefore they have no automatic claim to intellectual leadership or priority in saying how society should operate.  This is a very important point which many analysis of the play miss or do not mention.” ( click here for original article )

Priestley shows that despite Birling being rich and a wealthy factory owner he is not necessarily that clever or smart. In fact he makes wildly foolish statements such as:

‘Fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war.’

“And I’m talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business. And I say there isn’t a chance of war. The world’s developing so fast that it’ll make war impossible.”

As we all know and as everyone who watches the play knows, Birling was totally wrong. The Germans did engage in war and so did the British.

17 million people died.

This alongside Birling’s belief that the Titanic would never sink, ‘The titanic- she sails next week’-‘Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable ’ (Act 1),   any credibility or respect that we might have for Birling, and also on a deeper level Priestley might have been hoping that we would extend that to thinking that just because someone has made a lot of money he is not necessarily that clever or have a right in us listening to him and him playing a key role in deciding how society should be governed. Remember Birling is an influential man and close to powerful people who would decide how society should be.

Birling, as we have seen above, cares about labels and titles, Alderman’, Lord Mayor, knight but also about numbers and statistics.

“…we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together – for lower costs and higher prices .’ (Act 1)

‘Well, it’s my duty to keep labour costs down, and if I’d agreed to this demand for a new rate we’d have added about twelve per cent to our labour costs. ‘ (Act 1)

This is all said during a night which was originally to celebrate the union of two young people, a man and a woman who were in love with each other. A night to focus on love, family happiness, romance but Birling talks about twelve per cent to our labour costs ‘, hardly romantic or emotionally-inspiring language.

Would a daughter really want a father like Birling, or at least a father behaving like that during a special night such as the one in the play to celebrate an engagement?

For Sheila this would be a night to engage in happiness, joyous conversation about her relationship with the man she loves and wants to spend the rest of her life with.

Birling instead speaks about ‘labour costs’

Birling does not talk about having grandchildren and how fun it would be to play with them but on the business aspect of the marriage.

Birling is competitive.

Capitalism is competitive.

Birling is about numbers, profits, labour costs and prioritises that above the human aspect, in this context the emotional connection between his daughter Sheila and Gerald Croft.

Capitalism is about numbers, profits, labour costs. Does it prioritise numbers and money above human beings and their feelings?

Is raw, absolute, unchecked capitalism somewhat inhuman, devoid of emotional feeling and compassion?

Maybe this is what Priestley wants us to either think, ask or explore?

Mr Birling,  social mobility & social responsibility?

Mr Birling, is a capitalist, a wealthy businessman who makes money for himself and for the government as from the money he makes he pays the government taxes. We know that he has a ‘provincial accent’ and is clearly not from an aristocratic or ‘old money’ (a family which has been very wealthy for generations) family. So he has clearly progressed his way upwards. The ability to move from one social class up to a higher one is called ‘social mobility’. In the medieval era this was virtually impossible for most people. If one was born a serf or peasant working growing crops they would die as a serf.

However social mobility was made easier after the industrial revolution as sometimes what mattered was not your bloodline or your family lineage but how clever you were at making money by producing goods and doing business. For example Richard Arkwright the man who invented the water frame had a family who did not have enough money to send him to school but later on in life he became immensely wealthy and opened his own factories. Birling is similar to Richard Arkwright, but by lineage, something his ‘provincial’ accent clearly indicates he is not of ‘noble blood’ but he has worked his way upwards. However does Birling want to make a more equal society and help people from the working class from which he seems to have come from? Far from it. Quotes from Birling include:

‘man has to mind his own business and look after himself.’ (Act 1)

Priestley believes in the exact opposite of this and shows Birling as a foolish, stubborn and selfish man, an example of what is wrong with capitalism.

Birling is an ‘aspirational capitalist’ In his pursuit of money and status Birling has become so engrossed with his relentless struggle for greater and greater profits e.g. the Birlings and Crofts marrying in to each others families and making more profits for their business and becoming a knight, that he cares very little for the working class in society or helping them.

He has also married Sybil Birling whom Priestley calls his ‘ social superior ‘ once again indicating that he  is maybe constantly trying to elevate himself higher and higher on the social ladder, including marrying someone from a higher social background.

What Priestley might be trying to highlight here is that even if people from wealthy backgrounds become financially successful they should not forget the rest of society including the poor and that ‘honour’ in the form of titles and status does not matter as much as the dishonour of contributing to a woman’s suicide.

That profits, titles, money and influence should never take priority over us helping our fellow human beings and being compassionate to them and their suffering.

There are other things that we can say about Mr Birling in addition to the fact that he is:

• competitive
• status conscious
• makes wildly foolish predictions and is arguably not that intelligent.

We can also see he is:

• old-fashioned and somewhat sexist
• lacks compassion, when dealing with the death of Eva Smith.

But Mr Birling in this play is personifying capitalism and the plutocracy. A plutocrat is someone super-rich who is very powerful, and a plutocracy means rule of the rich. The adjective is plutocratic.

Here are some more useful words when speaking about Mr Birling, some mentioned above.

Useful vocabulary for GCSE students in essays and exam questions.

• Dramatic irony – e.g. in the way Priestly shows Birling’s stupidity in saying WW1 would not happen.
•   Capitalist – of capitalism, a system where rich businessmen control society and where society is governed for their interests. A capitalist is also a rich businessman like Mr Birling.
• Status-obsessed – To be very concerned or obsessed with your status in society, your reputation or your image e.g. “Mr Birling is clearly a status-obsessed individual who makes reference to a possible knighthood and being a former lord mayor”
• Status conscious – To be very conscious about your status.
• ‘nouveau riche’ – ‘New rich’, people who have become rich recently and often don’t know how to spend their money or dress ‘properly’ or lack taste or maybe very ostentatious in their very blatant display of money.
• Devoid – Birling at times may not be completely devoid of feelings or emotions but seems to care very little about the death of Eva Smith. When you are ‘devoid’ of feeling, it means you have no feeling or compassion for someone.
• Credibility – Birling has little credibility in the eyes of the audience as he makes very foolish and wrong predictions about there being no war or the Titanic not sinking.
• Competitive – Mr Birling is very competitive
• Inferiority complex – A feeling of not being good as others or not having their approval and working hard to get it. Birling arguably has an inferiority complex.
• Elusive – the adjective of the verb, ‘elude’ which means to miss something or not get it.
• Old-fashioned – Birling is an old-fashioned man stuck in his ways unlike the younger Birlings or Gerald.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below!

(10) Comments

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Thanks, this is a very rich and well-written analysis and explanation of Mr Birling and some of the issues in the play e.g. his possible ‘inferiority complex’. Would you say we could even see Mr Birling as some sort of victim to a degree?

Thank you for your compliment.

The issue of perpetrators of wrong being ‘victims’ can be taken to extreme levels and sometimes is. For example murderers are sometimes said to be victims of their upbringing or society. In this way we can say that Mr Birling is a victim of a system that emphasises status and social exclusivity with the rich and powerful being actively encouraged to keep a distance from the power and being discouraged from mixing with them.

However even at that time and before, many of the rich did engage in some sort of philanthropic activity to try and make society better including for those less well of, something which Mr Birling himself does not appear to be active in, though he is obviously a fictional character but nevertheless based on real life figures similar to him.

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Mr Birling Analysis

Role of mr birling.

Mr Birling is head of the household and family and displays a stereotypical upper-class pre-war attitude.

Role in the family

• He is the head of the household and family in a patriarchal (male ruled) society.
• He is in charge of the finances (money).
• He is the owner of a factory.
• He encourages Sheila’s marriage to Gerald to secure his links to the upper-class Croft family.

Role in the play

• He portrays a stereotypical upper-class pre-war attitude – people should only help themselves and not take responsibility for others.
• His priorities are to make money and cement his high social status.
• He is only concerned about himself – he wants the knighthood and the marriage to take place so he can improve his social status.
• He believes that people have to make their own ways in life, and that everyone should look after themselves.

Connection to Eva

• Mr Birling fired Eva Smith because she led a group of workers in seeking a pay rise and going on strike.
• He takes no responsibility for his actions.

Mr Birling - Character Development

Here's an overview of how Mr Birling's character evolves (or does not evolve!) over the play:

• Priestley highlights Mr Birling as an ultimately foolish character, who likes to tell everyone how great their future will be.
• Priestley uses dramatic irony (when the audience knows something the characters don’t) here to show the audience that Birling was naïve and idiotic.

Obsessed with power

• Mr Birling is shown as being in control and in charge right from the start of the play.
• Mr Birling tries to intimidate Inspector Goole into leaving or changing his questioning. He doesn’t know how to cope with the fact that Goole isn’t impressed, or intimidated, by him.

Obsessed with social status

• He is furious that a man of a lower social class treats Birling like everyone else – he doesn’t receive special treatment because of his higher social class, something he cannot accept.
• Mr Birling is obsessed with his future knighthood, as he feels that this will increase his social status and make him look great among his upper-class peers.

Unwilling to change or learn from actions

• When the family discover that Inspector Goole does not work for the local police force, Birling is very happy to forget the whole thing and to forget any possible consequences of his actions.
• Mr Birling does not learn from the story of Eva Smith – instead, he only cares about it when he fears that the story might be made public, which could damage his reputation.
• He cares about himself, not about how his actions affect others.
• By the end of the play, Mr Birling has not changed at all – is this why they get a second visit from a real police inspector? Does Inspector Goole act as a warning, which they do not take?

• We also learn that Mr Birling has alienated (isolated) his son – when he tells Eric he should have come to him for help, Eric replies that Birling isn’t the type of father a son could ask for help.
• Even within their family, their relationships are fragile (could break easily) and fake – Birling seems to be the caring father so he looks good, but is actually not.

Significance of Mr Birling

Priestley uses Mr Birling to show the negative aspects of wealth and capitalism. Mr Birling represents the older, upper-class generation that caused many deaths in war. Priestley also uses Mr Birling's character to explore ideas such as the oppression of women and the consequences of our actions.

Dangers of capitalism

• Mr Birling represents higher class, wealthy businessmen who only care about making money.
• Priestley created him as a villainous character to highlight the dangers of selfish capitalism.

Actions have consequences

• Priestley uses Mr Birling to present the initial idea that every action has a consequence – something as seemingly simple as firing someone can have a huge impact on their life.
• Priestley makes the audience dislike Mr Birling because he will not accept that he did anything wrong.

Exclusion of women

• This is characteristic of pre-war society, which tried to shield and protect women because they were viewed as less intelligent than men, more emotionally unstable, and more fragile.

Older, upper-class generation

• Mr Birling represents the older, upper-class generation, who would go on to cause numerous deaths in World War One and Two.
• They did not care about the welfare of the lower-class, even though the lower-class men were the ones fighting the war for them.

1 Plot Summary

1.1.1 Act 1 Summary

1.1.2 Act 1 Key Quotes

1.2.1 Act 2 Summary

1.2.2 Act 2 Key Quotes

1.3.1 Act 3 Summary

1.3.2 Act 3 Key Quotes

1.3.3 Act 3 More Key Quotes

1.3.4 End of Topic Test - Acts 1, 2 & 3

2 Context & Key Themes

2.1 Context & Key Themes

2.1.1 Social Class & Equality

2.1.2 Class Tension

2.1.3 Abuse of Power & Corruption

2.1.4 Socialism vs Capitalism

2.1.5 Blame & Responsibility

2.1.6 Attitudes to Women

2.1.7 Characterisation of Women

2.1.8 Dramatic Function of Characters

2.1.9 End of Topic Test - Context & Key Themes

2.1.10 End of Topic Test - Context & Key Themes 2

2.1.11 Grade 9 - Key Themes

3 Key Characters

3.1 Mr Birling

3.1.1 Mr Birling Analysis

3.1.2 Mr Birling Quotes

3.2 Mrs Birling

3.2.1 Mrs Birling Analysis

3.2.2 Mrs Birling Quotes

3.2.3 Exam-Style Questions - Mrs Birling

3.3.1 Sheila Analysis

3.3.2 Sheila Quotes

3.3.3 End of Topic Test - The Birlings & Sheila

3.4.1 Eric Analysis

3.4.2 Eric Quotes

3.5.1 Gerald Analysis

3.5.2 Gerald Quotes

3.6 Inspector Goole

3.6.1 Inspector Goole Analysis

3.6.2 Inspector Goole Quotes

3.6.3 End of Topic Test - Eric, Gerald & Inspector Goole

3.7 Grade 9 - Key Characters

3.7.1 Grade 9 - Key Characters

4 Authorial Method

4.1 Arrangement & Structure of the Play

4.1.1 Setting, Lighting & Dramatic Irony

4.1.2 Structure & Chronology

4.1.3 Structure & Chronology 2

4.1.4 End of Topic Test - Authorial Method

Jump to other topics

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Grade 9 - Key Themes

Mr Birling Quotes

Exemplar Essay: Arthur Birling

How does Priestley present Arthur Birling?

Early in the play, Priestley presents Arthur Birling as selfish. During Birling’s speech about how he runs his factory, Priestley has Birling state ‘a man has to mind his own business, look after himself and his own’. In other words, Birling is saying that he must only use his money to help himself and his own family. Priestley’s use of the words ‘his’ and ‘himself’ reveal how selfish Arthur Birling is. It is clear that he is not interested in taking care of his workers, which is not what you’d expect from someone in Birling’s important position. Priestley uses Birling to criticise selfish upper class businessmen in 1912, who did not do enough to help the working class people who worked for them.

As the play continues, Priestley presents Arthur Birling as irresponsible . When the inspector questions Birling, the audience learns that he ‘refused of course’ when Eva Smith asked for a small pay rise. Priestley’s use of the word ‘refused’ demonstrates that Birling didn’t even carefully consider giving the pay rise, which reveals how irresponsible he is. As a factory owner, he should have been taking responsibility for his workers but, instead, he was only interested in looking after himself. He was too worried that a small pay rise would eat into his profits, so he didn’t allow it. When the inspector tries to make Birling feel guilty that his actions contributed to Eva Smith’s death, Birling says ‘I can’t accept any responsibility’. In other words, Birling is stating that he doesn’t believe his actions led to Eva Smith’s death. It is clear from Birling’s presentation that Priestley wishes to criticise upper class people for not taking enough responsibility for working class people. He wants to convince his 1945 audience to take more responsibility and build a fairer society for everyone.

Later in the play, Priestley presents Arthur Birling as unwilling to learn. Priestley has Arthur Birling say to the inspector ‘I’d give thousands’. It is clear from these words that Birling is trying to pay the inspector to keep quiet about his involvement with Eva Smith because he wants to protect his reputation. Even though Birling has realised that his actions helped kill Eva Smith, he is still only thinking about himself, which indicates that he hasn’t learned at all. Priestley contrasts Arthur with his daughter Sheila, who says ‘I started it’, which demonstrates that she takes full responsibility for her actions. Unlike Arthur, Sheila recognises that her actions helped trigger the chain of events that led to Eva Smith’s death. Priestley does this in order to show the difference between younger and older characters. Whereas the older characters are unwilling to learn, the younger characters learn and mature throughout the play. Perhaps he aimed to show his 1945 audience that it was up to the younger generation to change society because they were more willing to learn from their mistakes.

In ‘An Inspector Calls’ Priestley presents Arthur Birling as selfish and stubborn. Through Arthur Birling’s character, Priestley not only challenges the capitalist viewpoint that dominates society but also criticises the irresponsibility of the wealthy, older generation.

Before the inspector arrives, Priestley portrays Arthur Birling as a selfish and foolish man to challenge his capitalist view. Just before the inspector enters, Priestley has Arthur Birling confidently deliver a speech to Eric and Gerald about his views on society. In this speech, Priestley has Arthur confidently declare that the Titanic is ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’. Through the repetition of the words ‘unsinkable’, Priestley suggests that Arthur Birling is extremely confident in the new streamliner. By using dramatic irony, Priestley is able to immediately show the audience that Arthur Birling’s views are foolish and arrogant because they would have known that the Titanic did sink. Perhaps Priestley wanted to instantly convey that Birling is foolish and wrong so the audience learns not to trust his views from the beginning. After Birling wrongly states that the Titanic will not sink, he boasts that a ‘man has to mind his own business, look after himself and his own’. As an arrogant businessman, Arthur believes that a man should work hard to be successful in life and has no interest in helping his workers or the wider community. Priestley’s use of the pronouns ‘himself’ and ‘his’ indicates that Birling is only interested in himself and supports the capitalist view that a man should only care about himself. By structuring Birling’s speech in this order, Priestley has already revealed to the audience Birling is wrong so that they do not trust the capitalist views he proudly shares with Gerald and Eric. Additionally, Priestley has the inspector enter at this moment to demonstrate that Arthur’s views are foolish and deserve to be interrupted.

During the inspector’s questioning, Priestley presents Arthur Birling as irresponsible to criticise the behaviour of wealthy businessmen. Upon being questioned by the inspector, Arthur selfishly admits that he ‘refused’ to give his workers higher wages ‘of course’. Rather than choosing to be a responsible employer and giving his workers a rise that he could easily afford, Arthur Birling proudly refuses to give his workers any more money. Priestley uses the words ‘of course’ to demonstrate that Birling believes he was right in refusing his workers any more money and that it was the obvious decision to make. By suggesting that Birling thinks this was obvious, Priestley implies many wealthy businessmen adopted the selfish model of paying their workers a minimum amount of money so that they could benefit from a higher profit. Not only does Birling not fulfill his duty of looking after his workers, he also refuses to admit that he played a role in Eva Smith’s death. As the inspector continues to interrogate Birling, Arthur Birling admits that he ‘cannot take any responsibility’ for Eva’s death. Despite knowing that by firing Eva he could have contributed to her death, he chooses not to acknowledge this. Priestley’s use of the word ‘any’ could be used to imply that Birling is unwilling to take even a small part of responsibility in her death which shows he is unsympathetic of the difficulties faced by the working class. Not only does Priestley use Birling to criticise the wealthy businessmen who did not take responsibility for their workers, he also criticises the way in which the older generation were too stubborn to learn from their mistakes. Perhaps Priestley wanted to encourage his audience to see the consequences of selfish behaviour in order to encourage them to take more responsibility.

As the inspector prepares to leave, Priestley demonstrates that Arthur Birling is unwilling to learn in order to challenge the stubborn nature of the older generation. Just before the inspector leaves, Arthur Birling states that he would give ‘thousands’ in order to make the situation with Eva Smith disappear. Not only does Priestley reveal here that Birling is wealthy enough to pay his workers more money, he also insinuates that Birling only uses his money for selfish means. Rather than feeling guilty about his treatment of Eva Smith, Birling offers the ‘thousands’ in order to protect his own reputation, showing that he has learnt nothing from the inspector. Priestley makes clear to the audience that Birling only wants the situation with Eva Smith to go away so that he can maintain his reputation and still be in the running for a knighthood. A knighthood is awarded for achievements and commitments to your country so by having Arthur Birling in the running for a knighthood, Priestley could be suggesting that Arthur Birling is hypocritical. Birling is willing to accept his knighthood and judge other people based on their moral and responsible behaviour but is unwilling to accept his responsibility in Eva’s death. Priestley might also be criticising society for being hypocritical because selfish, wealthy men like Arthur Birling are celebrated while moral working class people are often ignored and mistreated. As people in England were beginning to notice, and campaign against, the fact that society was unfair, perhaps this would have given Priestley’s audience even more motivation to fight back against the inequality in society.

Overall, through the character of Arthur Birling, Priestley encourages his audience to move away from capitalism and towards socialism. Priestley’s portrayal of Arthur as irresponsible and selfish highlights the foolish and destructive nature of capitalism and puts forward the need for a more equal society where people are responsible for each other.

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An Inspector Calls Act 1 Revision Lesson Essay Practise

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

9 January 2024

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Covers Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, Sheila, Eric, gender, and class. Fully differentiated and ready to go lesson, which can be done in 2-4 hours depending on which slides you use.

This lesson covers key context, an audience and reader’s expectations and reactions, extensive analysis and questioning of key ideas, key quotes chosen with analysis notes, as well as a writing frame to support all students.

Key vocabulary, terminology, and paragraph structuring is included, as are targets for students to use to mark and improve their own work.

Quotes include: “substantial and heavily comfortable but not cosy and homelike” “The lighting should be pink and intimate until the INSPECTOR arrives and then it should be brighter and harder.” “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.” “a man has to make his own way—has to look after himself—and his family, too, of course” “I’m talking as a hard headed, practical man of business.”

Works towards: How does Priestley present the theme of social class in An Inspector Calls?

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — An Inspector Calls — Mr. Birling in “An Inspector Calls”: A Character Analysis

Mr. Birling in "An Inspector Calls": a Character Analysis

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Published: Sep 7, 2023

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Mr Birling Character Analysis in An Inspector Calls Essay Example

In the play An Inspector Calls, Mr birling is the father and leader of the contemptuous Birling family. Priestly presents him as a dislikeable individual who is out of touch with society. Throughout the play, we see Arthur Birling being conveyed by the play write as a rather pompous and injudicious character. He shows no remorse or concern for his wrongful actions unless they affect his social status. Birling is also portrayed as a defiant capitalist and is extremely narrow minded.

Mr Birling being the first to meat Eva smith. He had released Eva from her first job at his factory, when she had requested a higher pay.

He only acknowledges faults in others and not in himself, this makes the audience dislike him and therefore all upper-class men. The quote ‘these people’ determine that Mr birling is generalising looking down at them despite being a hypocrite. When someone like Eric criticises him for this he replies ‘rather angrily’, which emphasises how Mr birling cannot accept his mistake. Perhaps he looks down on Eric, thinks he is wiser. As we usually see, the younger generation is more transformative whereas the older is too stubborn for their own good. Once again Mr birling has not changed and is still greedy, as seen earlier in the play. When Eric returns, he asks if he could have a drink before speaking to the inspector, Mr Birling says no however the inspector insists. This is followed by Birling looking interruptingly explosive. Responding to the inspector obviously very angrily, as the adverb ‘explosively’ may suggest. Yet the inspector is calm and serious, therefore birling is presented as not taken seriously, a fool. This humours the audience.

In the play we can see that Mr Birling patronises women, for example when Gerald elaborates on his relationship with Eva Smith, Mr birling expresses his reluctance to have Sheila in the same room. ‘I really must protest’, shows that Birling sees Sheila as someone to be protected from unpleasant topics such as unfaithfulness in a relationship. For context, in a patriarchal society, people feel that these topics are serious and should be managed by men. Perhaps Priestly is implying that birling sees Sheila as weak and therefore assumes she will become hysterical and would not understand.

In the rising action Mr birling is presented as obsessed with money. This is shown by Mr Birling refusing to give his women workers higher wages so that he could keep all his profits. The quote “they’d soon be asking for the earth”, which is a hyperbole that emphasises this hypothetical greed, shows that Mr Birling is trying to justify his actions by suggesting the workers will become greedy and ask for more. Priestly implies that upper class men see themselves as righteous and faultless members of society.

Mr Birling also has a need to be accepted by the upper class throughout the play. For example, he tries to impress Gerald Croft by saying, “There’s a fair chance that I may find myself into the next honours list”. This reveals his insecurity of feeling inadequate due to his lower social status, compared to the Crofts. Therefore, feels the need to compensate with boasts of a potential knighthood.

Furthermore, Birling tends to be overconfident in his opinions. His mistaken view of the “unsinkable Titanic” is an example of dramatic irony. This is ironic as the Titanic actually sank but only the audience is aware of this. Another example of the use of dramatic irony is when Birling says “The Germans don’t want war. “I say there isn’t a chance of war” This is also ironic as two years after this play was set, WWI began, followed by another. Priestly uses this device, in this sense to show how foolish and naive Birling is and therefore the audience will begin to question his other views. 

In conclusion, Mr Birling displays the same arrogance, priestly would expect to see from a capitalist. An Inspector Calls is really a morality play, as you could see Birling representing the deadly sins of greed and pride, both things that Priestly attacked capitalists for.

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How Does Priestley Present the Character of Mr Birling in Act 1?

English - An Inspector Calls

Mr Birling is presented as a successful businessman, who has been active in local politics and was Lord Mayor of Brumley (although it may become clear that he does not care about the local community). Mr Birling is also wife of Sybil Birling and the father of Sheila and Eric. From the first set of stage directions we know that the family is comfortable in their wealth and also found out that Arthur Birling’s wife is his social superior, implying that he began in a lower class and worked his way up to the upper class he is in now. Arthur Birling likes to inform others of his wealth and of the important people he knows, which may be understandable considering how hard he has worked to be where he is, and would like to bask in the glory.  

From the very first stage directions we see, at the start of the play we found out that Priestly described Arthur Birling as a, “heavy-looking, rather portentous man”. From these stage directions it reveals that Mr Birling is quite large in size which may help to give him a threatening appearance. However, this appearance does not seem to intimidate the inspector, because during some parts of act one the inspector has the higher status and controls the scene; this shows that his appearance is quite ironic.

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We all know that Arthur Birling is the father to Sheila and he in act one he is hosting an engagement party for his daughter and her fiance, Gerald Croft. Gerald makes a  few speeches throughout act one, during one of them he says, “Gerald...your engagement with Sheila means a tremendous lot to me...Crofts and Birling are no longer competing but are working together - for lower costs and higher prices.” This suggests that maybe Mr Birling cares more about his business than he does about his daughters future. Priestly is therefore presenting his character as rather pompous and very self centered, something you wouldn’t normally expect to find in a father figure, possibly indicating the time in which this play is set; work was possibly more important than mans children especially as he has worked from lower class to the upper class he is in now.

After reading act one, we know that Mr Birling announces many speeches, much to the rest of the families dismay! During one of his speeches he says, “Yes, my dear, I know - I’m talking too much”. This implies he defiantly likes to air his views and is aware that he tends to monopolies the conversation, suggesting he has a high opinion of his own importance.

Mr Birling has been involved with the public, we know that he was the Lord Mayor, a magistrate and has been a member of the town council and is very friendly with the important people of the town, including the head police officer. He said in act one that, “[he is] a public man”. This is said to the Inspector, implying that he expects respect from the public affairs he has been involved with. However, we know also that Arthur Birling is very self obsessed which suggests he was only such an important man in the community for his own social advancement, yet again highlighting his incredible selfishness.

The character of Mr Birling is presented by Priestley as a very pompous, self obsessed and rather boastful in act one. I think that the character is full of negativity and is quite a contrast to other characters in the play such as, Sheila and Inspector Goole. I believe that Priestly is trying to highlight the theme of responsibility, as Arthur Birling refuses to take any for Eva Smith, and how great his social conscience is, resulting in an unpleasant personality to the audience through this character.

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• Word Count 666
• Page Count 2
• Subject English

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How does Priestly portray Mr Birling in Act 1

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Mr Birling is presented as a successful businessman, who has been active in local politics and was Lord Mayor of Brumley, although it may become clear that he does not care about the local community. Mr Birling is also wife of Sybil Birling and the father of Sheila and Eric. From the first set of stage directions we know that the family is comfortable in their wealth and also found out that Arthur Birling’s wife is his social superior, implying that he began in a lower class and worked his way up to the upper class he is in now.

Arthur Birling likes to inform others of his wealth and of the important people he knows, which may be understandable considering how hard he has worked to be where he is, and would like to bask in the glory. From the very first stage directions we see, at the start of the play we found out that Priestly described Arthur Birling as a, “heavy-looking, rather portentous man”. From these stage directions it reveals that Mr Birling is quite large in size which may help to give him a threatening appearance.

However, this appearance does not seem to intimidate the inspector, because during some parts of act one the inspector has the higher status and controls the scene; this shows that his appearance is quite ironic. Arthur Birling is the father to Sheila and in act one he is hosting an engagement party for his daughter and her fiance, Gerald Croft. Gerald makes a few speeches throughout act one, during one of them he says, “Gerald… your engagement with Sheila means a tremendous lot to me…

Crofts and Birling are no longer competing but are working together – for lower costs and higher prices. ” This suggests that maybe Mr Birling cares more about his business than he does about his daughter’s future. Priestly is therefore presenting his character as rather pompous and very self-centered, something you wouldn’t normally expect to find in a father figure, possibly indicating the time in which this play is set; work was possibly more important than man’s children especially as he has worked from lower class to the upper class he is in now.

After reading act one, we know that Mr Birling announces many speeches, much to the rest of the families dismay however, Mr Birling is described as being ‘rather provincial in his speech’ this further confirms how he was not always of a high social status and explains why he is not very good with light-hearted social conventions, ‘tell cook from me,’ Mrs Birling does not approve as it is not customary to thank the staff for it was believed that they did a good job regardless, however Mr Birling thinks this utterly acceptable.

One of the first things Mr Birling says is quite inappropriate for him to mention, ‘exactly the same port as your father gets,’ Mr Birling is trying to impress Gerald and therefore his father as they are of a higher class as him and also a rival company he hopes to join with. During one his speeches he refers to Sir George’s Wife as ‘er-Lady Croft’ this uncertainty of what her name is, implies that they are unlikely to have met even though his daughter is marrying her son.

Mr Birling, obsessed with social status seems to put Gerald’s happiness before that of his daughters, ‘she’ll make you happy and I’m sure you’ll make her happy’ he says this as if Sheila’s contentment is a mere after thought just so long as she is marrying above herself she’s expected to be pleased. Mr Birling as a ‘hard headed businessman’ thinks his opinion is fact and believed by all and those who do not share in his view are ‘cranks’.

Priestly as a socialist uses Mr Birling’s to undermine this conservative way of thinking, ‘The Titanic… Unsinkable absolutely unsinkable’ Priestley’s love of dramatic irony is evident here, and his irony is never more mocking than in these comments of Birling’s, which, to his original audience in 1946, must have seemed more controversial than they do today because the sinking of the ship was within people’s memory, Priestly manages to turn the audience against Mr Birling and his views.

In the speech that heralds the inspector’s arrival Mr Birling was saying ‘that every man has to mind his own business and look after himself’, this selfish attitude is the exact flaw that the inspector tries to amend when he arrives although he doesn’t quite succeed in Act 1 for when told of Eva Smiths death Mr Birling simple replies ‘yes, yes horrid business’ this is a very dismissive response showing that Mr Birling is unconcerned of others misfortunes. Even after he found his role in her death he refuses to take any responsibility as he sees that it was his duty to fire her to ‘keep labour costs down’.

Mr Birling almost immediately dislikes the inspector for interrupting his evening and the spotlight is immediately taken off Mr Birling when the Inspector walks in which discomforts him. The Inspector looks somewhat superior to Mr Birling, Mr Birling hates this as he demands social status because of how rich he is. The inspector speaks like a judge or prophet. He continually makes comments about the actions of the characters in the play. The Inspector seems to care a lot about other people. He believes everyone should act as a community and all have responsibility for their actions against anyone.

This is in deep contrast to the morals of Mr Birling. Mr Birling thinks that he has no responsibility over his employees. If he fires them then it is their responsibility what they do. He is very ‘right wing’ in his thinking and does not believe that everyone is equal. This Makes Mr Birling increasingly more angry with the Inspector. “If they are poor, it is of their own fault” Mr Birling believes in inequality depending on wealth and thus also social status whilst The Inspector is very ‘left wing’ and believes in equality of all people no matter the status.

The character of Mr Birling is presented by Priestley as a very pompous, self-obsessed and rather boastful in act one. I think that the character is full of negativity and is quite a contrast to other characters in the play such as, Sheila and Inspector Goole. I believe that Priestly is trying to highlight the theme of responsibility, as Arthur Birling refuses to take any for Eva Smith, and how great his social conscience is, resulting in an unpleasant personality to the audience through this character.

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