This essay focuses on the character of Arthur Birling in An Inspector Calls, as one of the key characters in the play. This essay was marked as Grade 9 and comtains detailed analysis (with no context as it was not need for my exam board). It was written for Eduqas but can be adapted for any exam bo...
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this question.
You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole play to answer this question.
In your response you should:
refer to the extract and the play as a whole;
show your understanding of characters and events in the play.[40]
5 of this question’s marks are allocated for accuracy in spelling, punctuation and the use of
vocabulary and sentence structures
An Inspector Calls was written by J.B Priestley based in an Industrial city in 1912.
Priestley presents Mr Birling as an example of the patriarchal upper class, hard-
hearted and cruel concerned only about profits and social status. His philosophy
is based on capitalism and throughout the play his character does not change at
all; he remains egotistical and arrogant, refusing to accept responsibility to his
part to play in the death of Eva Smith.
In the stage directions, Priestley describes him as a ‘heavy-looking, rather
portentous man in this middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather
provincial in his speech.’ The adjective ‘heavy-looking’ demonstrates that he is
quite over-weight, a sign of wealth. Alternatively, deeper connotation could
suggest he is quite stubborn, and takes a lot of effort to change his views,
hinting at his behaviour as the play progresses. The adjective ‘portentous’ is
highly significant as it portrays his pompous and arrogant personality, however it
could also imply that he is like a portent- which is a skilful technique used by
Priestley to illustrate how he is almost like a warning or a sign of something bad
to happen. This could suggest that his behaviour is an example of the very worst
of society, and what it could turn into if capitalists like Mr Birling are not dealt
with. Mr Birling could also be used by Priestley as a comparing figure to the
Inspector as both men are in their fifties- foreshadowing they are going to be
contrastive figures as the play moves further on. The adjective ‘provincial’
highlights that Mr Birling is from the country side therefore alluding to the fact he
is unsophisticated and narrow-minded in his views of the world, which
emphasises that he is not willing to accept other pinion and beliefs. This makes
the audience take an immediate dislike to him, as he is described as self-
important, and with no capacity of change at all.
In Act One, Priestley exhibits Mr Birling’s narrow-minded views of the
world and concerned only about the financial and social gain in a situation – even
that of his daughter’s marriage. He states ‘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.’ This illustrates how Birling sees the marriage like
, a business deal – driven by money and profit. The noun ‘costs’ emphasises his
hard-hearted and uncaring attitude to the working class – as the ‘costs’ he
mentions are really the wages of his workers. The adjective ‘lower’ highlights
how he exploits his workers, compromising his workers lives and pay to save
money. Here, the audience see the greed and selfishness of Mr Birling, as he
clearly shows how his priority for the marriage is to earn more money. Priestley
uses dramatic irony to present the foolishness and arrogance of Mr Birling. He
states ‘And I’m taking as a hard-headed, practical man of business. And I say
there isn't a chance of war...fiddlesticks!’ The confidence and complacency he
uses make it clear he is confident in his predication, further depicting his
complacent and ignorant attitude. The adjective ‘hard-headed’ indicates his
tough, practical personality. His exclamative ‘fiddlesticks’ reveals how he
belittles other people ideas and is dismissive to any opinion that is not his own.
He also presents a similar attitude when he talks about the Titanic: ‘The
Titanic...unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.’ The repetition of the verb
‘unsinkable’ and the intensifier ‘absolutely’ emphasise how his over confidence.
However, the sinking of the Titanic could be symbolic of him as he believes he is
untouchable until the Inspector comes and interrogates him. As the play was
based in 1912 but written in 1945, the audience are aware of the fact the Titanic
sank which presents Birling as foolish again and undermines his credibility, as all
his predictions are wrong. As the horror of the Titanic sinking would be recent in
the audience’s memory in induces an even stronger dislike towards him, as he
denounces a tragic accident.
Priestley also presents Birling’s selfishness and capitalist views, when he
gives a speech to his Eric and Gerald Croft. He states ‘a man has to look after
himself-and his family’. The position of the pronoun ‘himself’ and the noun
‘family’ illustrate the typical capitalist views and the selfishness of Birling – he
puts himself before his own family. He also expresses his disapproval and
dismissive attitude towards socialist views: ‘you’d think everybody has to look
after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up like bees in a hive – community
and all that nonsense’. The repetition of the pronoun ‘everybody’ demonstrates
how he thinks he is better than the working class and doesn’t think people from
different classes should mix. The noun ‘nonsense’ describes his dismissive
attitude and how he finds it hard to care and empathise with others. However, a
soon as the Inspector arrives his capitalist views are interrupted by the doorbell:
‘look after himself and his own – and – (we hear the sharp ring of a door bell.
Birling stops to listen.)’ The fact Mr Birling stops speaking as the door bell rings
emphasises how the Inspector will challenge Birling’s capitalist views with his
socialist ones, and is already starting to disrupt them. The adjective ‘sharp’
implies something painful and invasive which foreshadows how the Inspector will
cut through Birling later on in the play.
When the Inspector arrives, Priestley presents Birling as insensitive
towards the death of Eva Smith and to the working class. He states on the topic
of Eva’s death ‘(rather impatiently) Yes, yes. Horrible business.’ The adverb
‘impatiently’ illustrates how he is not sympathetic towards or affected at all by
hearing the suicide of this young woman, and is irritated at the Inspector. He also
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