GCSE English Literature A* / 9 An Inspector Calls notes - Mr Birling
Booklet of notes for Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, Sheila, Eric & Gerald available.
For each character, there is an overview followed by every quote in order related to that character, with a detailed analysis beneath the quote w...
Birling is a Magistrate and he was Lord Mayor of Brumley two years ago
and his reputation is very important to him, being keen to receive a knighthood.
He describes himself as a "hard-headed practical man of business," and he is
firmly capitalist, and right-wing in his political views. He has no concept of
value other than wealth or social status; he himself is a social climber. He
believes that he and his wife uphold right values.
Priestley's message (Intended effect on the audience)
Being co-founder of a Socialist Party, Priestley felt strongly about his political
views in favour of socialism and these views are displayed prominently
throughout 'An Inspector Calls'.
• Priestly used the character of Mr Birling to represent how the upper class
frowned upon people below them in society.
• Priestley was concerned about the consequences of social inequality in
Britain, and the disparity caused by wealth and class divide. He believed that
what resulted from this were the very characteristics shown in Mr Birling
(selfishness, inability to admit responsibility for his part in Eva's death,
exploitative tendencies, power lust etc.) Priestley wanted to encourage his
audience to dislike Mr Birling and to see him as a fool - by rejecting the
attitudes held by Mr Birling, Priestley's audience could lead a better life.
• Throughout the play, Priestley makes it clear that there is a consequence for
every action. Through Mr Birling's thoughtless actions of firing Eva Smith,
his inability to admit his partial responsibility in Eva's death, and Birling
wanting to cover up for Eric stealing money, Priestley portrayed the evil side
of money and capitalism, as well as his dislike for capitalism due to the
lack of care in society for the poor.
Character Development/Changes
Mr Birling has not changed by the end of the play - he refuses to learn/take
on board the Inspector's lesson. As a result, the play ends with another phone
call and the announcement of a second visit -perhaps from a 'real' Inspector.
Priestley may be warning his audience of the dangers of not learning the lesson
, (of social responsibility) themselves.
Mr Birling's Key Quotations
Act One
Pg 1: “Arthur Birling is a heavy looking, rather portentous man in his
middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech.”
Provincial = having or showing the manners, viewpoints, etc.,
considered characteristic of unsophisticated inhabitants of a
province.
Portentous = put on so as to impress.
The opening tableau makes clear the personalities of the main
characters. The 'portentous' quality of Birling, ties in with his
personal appraisal of himself as a 'hard-headed man of business',
but his 'provincial' speech indicates that his position in society is
something he has risen to rather than born into. The tension
between husband and wife is implied by the social gap which
Priestley indicates with his stage direction, 'her husband's social
superior'.
Mr Birling’s size helps to give him a threatening appearance, yet
Priestly’s adjectival choice reveals him as a thickset, pompous man
(full of himself).
His prominence is immediately revealed to the audience by his
being head of the table, furthered later on in act 1 as he dominates
much of the dialogue.
First Stage Direction - The self-satisfaction Birling feels at this
expositional point in the play is communicated through the
stage directions 'beams at them'. He feels masterful and relaxed as
he surveys his family and the repetition of 'nice' suggests that,
despite his obvious pleasure at the scene assembled before him, he
does not have language to adequately express this: his limitations
are subtly implied.
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