Mr Arthur Birling 💸🐷

• Mr. Birling describes the politics of the day as revolving around “Capital versus Labor agitations”
• Mr. Birling is a representative Capitalist who cares only about his company’s profit
• He sees himself as “a hard-headed, practical man of business” and looks forward to the prospect of being knighted
• Mr Birling


  • Firmly entrenched within 1912 ante-bellum (before the war) English social elite
  • Owner of Birling and Co. which only employs young women at extortionately low wages
  • Married to Mrs Birling (Sybil), who accepts her own domination by Mr Birling
  • Indifferent to his daughter's (Shelia) concerns regarding Gerald's alleged affair as this could compromise the economic relationship between the Croft business and his own
• Capitalism personified


  Mr Birling is the living embodiment of the capitalist ideology (everything revolves around profit at all costs)
• Mr Birling's physical appearance is a reflection of capitalism; he wears formal clothes, he is "heavy looking" (symbolises greed) and frequently displays his "portentous" attitude (he tries really hard to impress people)
• Birling's clearly pompous perspective (self-absorbed) is evidenced through his immediate reclamation of the spotlight after Sheila and Gerald's engagement is announced
• Mr Birling values Sheila on her capacity to further the family company


  He objectifies her as a bargaining chip
• Mr Birling's business is of greater importance than his own family


  This foreshadows Mr Birling's indifference to Eva Smith's suicide, which is initiated through his refusal to grant her a pay rise
• Mr Birling attempts to bribe the Inspector "(unhappily) Look, Inspector - I'd give thousands - yes, thousands -", to prevent losing wealth and social status through a criminal record
• Insecure in his own social position

  Mr Birling's humble beginnings are evident from the stage directions as his tendency to be "provincial in speech" (he speaks with a noticeable accent) reveals his lower-class origins
• Mr Birling constantly reminds people of his status in society, through bringing up former roles as "Lord Mayor" and suggesting "there's a very good chance of a knighthood"
• Mrs Birling is Mr Birling's natural "social superior" and is embarrassed by Mr Birling acknowledging his staff
• Seeming superficiality of wealth

  The Birling's wealth seems unnatural as Mr Birling is not from a traditionally wealthy background and instead made his own money
• Priestley's opening description of the Birling household through stage directions as "substantial and heavily comfortable but not cosy or homelike" immediately indicates the great wealth of the Birlings, yet the lack of feeling like home reinforces the cosmetic nature of their comfort in their own wealth
• Nouveau riche


  Mr Birling's character is condemned and looked down upon by higher-class men and those from respected families due to his lack of an aristocratic (noble) background
• Priestley uses the character of Mr Birling, not only as a method to critique capitalism, but to reveal the cycle of oppression caused by social divisions and classism
• Mr Birling has worked for his high social status and sees himself as proof that if the lower classes work hard enough they too can succeed like he did: "a man has to make his own way - has to look after himself"
• Mr Birling's desire to dismiss Eva's suicide is catalysed by the pressure of maintaining his public image and ensuring that he is not rejected from the society he worked so hard to enter
• Mr Birling's "provincial" speech bears connotations of conservatism and an unwillingness to change, which is reflected in his rejection of socialism (a concept of community and equality in society) as "nonsense"
• Gerald's theory of the Inspector not being real is "eagerly" and "triumphantly" accepted by Mr Birling, despite his actions being real
• For Mr Birling to accept social responsibility, he would have to sacrifice the profiteering methods of exploiting labourers and paying subsistence wages (just enough to live on)
• Priestley's use of the adverb "eagerly" to describe both Mr Birling's denial of the Inspector's existence and also Sheila's agreement with Eric that "this girl's still dead" emphasises the divide between the generations
• Mr Birling, and the older generation as a whole, intend to live in the same fashion as they did before the arrival of the Inspector
• The cyclical structure of Mr Birling's outlook creates a static character, who cannot change
• Priestley manipulates the audience into siding with his personal preference of socialism, as they turn to this alternative in disgust of Priestley's presentation of Mr Birling as uncaring, self-absorbed and manipulative, all traits we come to associate with capitalism
• Priestley ends the play, also, with another phone call - perhaps this time from a 'real' Inspector. This cyclical device is used to warn the audience of not taking on board social responsibility themselves
• Priestley immediately creates a divide between Mr and Mrs Birling through the stage direction "her husband's social superior"
• Mr Birling married Mrs Birling for her social status rather than love. Their marriage was a transaction - Mr Birling's financial stability in exchange for Sybil's reputable family
• The lack of love and intimacy in their relationship is demonstrated through Mrs Birling "reproachfully" (disapprovingly) ordering Mr Birling to sit in the "drawing room"
• Preference of socialism


  Disgust of Priestley's presentation of Mr Birling as uncaring, self-absorbed and manipulative, traits associated with capitalism
• Priestley ends the play

  With another phone call, perhaps from a 'real' Inspector
• Cyclical device


  Used to warn the audience of not taking on board social responsibility themselves
• Marriage to Mrs Birling

  Priestley immediately creates a divide between Mr and Mrs Birling through the stage direction "her husband's social superior"
• Mr Birling married Mrs Birling

  For her social status rather than love, their marriage was a transaction
• Lack of love and intimacy in their relationship


  Demonstrated through Mrs Birling "reproachfully" responding to Mr Birling
• Mr Birling's relationship with his son Eric


  Lacks a sense of familial connection
• Eric opposes the way his father runs Birling & Co. and is against the way his father exploits the employees


  Yet he accepts his privileged life
• Father-son divide


  Symbolic of the divide between the older generation and the younger generation
• Mr Birling exclaims "we try for the highest possible prices"


  Eric demonstrates his disgust with the rhetorical question "why shouldn't they try for higher wages?"