Exam (elaborations)
AQA GCSE Grade 9 Exemplar Essay on Mr Birling from An Inspector Calls
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This grade 9 GCSE essay can be used as an example to revise the character of Mr Birling for AQA English Literature.
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Mr BirlingIn Priestley’s enigmatic morality play, “An Inspector Calls”, Mr Birling is an unlikable
“prosperous factory owner” who is presented a quintessential, upper class man whose self-
serving attitude is Priestley’s criticism of capitalism and the ignorant views of the older
generation. Clearly, Priestley uses Mr Birling as a dramatic vehicle to encourage his audience
to embrace the socialist views becoming more prevalent in society at the time, and coerce
them towards accepting sense of collective responsibility themselves.
In the exposition of the narrative, Mr Birlings verbose orations dominate the conversation as
he uses his dialogue to make a series of outrageously pompous an foolish claims. Priestley
deliberately mixes Mr Birling’s capitalist ideology with dramatic irony to make his claims
inaccurate, and his character therefore unappealing when he says that the Titanic is
“unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”. Here, his use of the premodifying adjective “absolutely”
undoubtedly implies that Mr Birling has total conviction in his beliefs. It foreshadows that his
obstinance will prevent him from learning his lesson at the end of the play. Priestley sets the
play in 1912, the same year that the titanic sank on her maiden voyage. Therefore, an the
original audience in 1945 would have been aware of this tragic dramatic irony. In this way Mr
Birling’s short-sightedness undermines his claim and by proxy, his capitalist ideology. His lack
of self-awareness would be hugely unpopular with a post war audience.
This is emphasised by the intentional repetition of the adjective “unsinkable”, which conveys
how assured Mr Birling is of his own beliefs and ultimately makes him seem foolish. Clearly
he believes that wealth and power make a person untouchable, thus demonstrating his
naivety.
As the action of the play unfolds, Mr Birling’s reaction to his daughter’s engagement is unusual
as his main focus is on the benefits the union between the couple will have on his business.
He shows little concern for his daughter’s happiness, instead gleefully describing “lower costs
and higher prices”. This cynical explanation makes him a distasteful personality as it is
abundantly clear that he values business over humanity. The comparative adjectives “higher”
and “lower” indicate that Mr Birling is driven by profit and will take advantage of any situation
for his own financial gain. There is the implication Mr Birling views those who work for him as
“lower” than himself and therefore worthy of “lower” wages. Following a loss of life on a scale
never seen before during the WW2, the audience would be hyper aware of the need to
prioritise humanity and potentially hyper critical of Mr Birling’s astounding avarice.
Perhaps the most disturbing characteristic Mr Birling displays in the play is his reckless and
uncaring attitude towards Eva Smith’s suffering as the play moves into its denouement. Upon
realising that he himself will face no formal consequences for his unsavoury actions towards
Eva, he declares (“jovially”) that “the whole thing’s different now”. With the adjective
“different”, Mr Birling excuses his actions and his celebratory tone makes it clear to the
audience that he is unwilling to learn a lesson or take responsibility. Notably, the use of this
stage direction, “jovially”, highlights Mr Birling’s lack of empathy, humanity or emotional
understanding in relation to the suffering of Eva Smith and the wider working classes. Once
again, a post war audience would most likely have craved a much more humanitarian attitude
to the suffering of mankind, following the atrocities of WW2”.
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