Arthur Birling

• Arthur Birling, owner of Birling and Co., a factory business, believes his workers' pay is reasonable. He is a Magistrate and Lord Mayor of Brumley. Birling is a heavy-looking man in his mid-50s, provincial in his speech, and a capitalist and right-wing political figure. He believes in upholding right values and wealth, as he is a social climber.

  
•  ‘Arthur Birling is a heavy looking, rather portentous man’
• ‘Now you have brought us together, and perhaps we may look forward to    a time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together – for lower costs and higher prices. ’
• ‘Fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war.’
•  'I'm talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business. And I say there isn't a chance of war.'
• ‘The titanic- she sails next week’-‘Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’
• “If you don’t come down hard on these people they’d soon be asking for the earth.”
•  'Nonsense! You’ll have a good laugh over it yet! Look, you’d better ask Gerald for that ring you gave back to him, hadn’t you? Then you’ll feel better'
• Priestley, co-founder of the Socialist Party, emphasized his political views in An Inspector Calls, highlighting the consequences of social inequality in Britain. He used Mr. Birling, a character characterized by selfishness, exploitative tendencies, and power lust, to represent the upper class's disapproval of lower-class individuals. Priestley aimed to encourage his audience to dislike Mr. Birling and reject his attitudes, aiming to lead a better life by rejecting his actions.