What type of character is Mr Birling?

What type of character is Mr Birling?

Mr Birling is a “heavy-looking man” in his mid-50s with easy manners but “rather provincial in his speech”. He is firmly capitalist, and right-wing in his political views. ​He has no concept of value other than wealth or social status, as he himself is a social climber.

How is the character of Mr Birling presented?

In An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents Birling as a greedy capitalist, who is driven by the desire to make money (prizing profit over people), is obsessed with class identity and is, in all, a rather ignorant being. In the opening of Act One, Priestley presents Birling as an arrogant and ignorant individual.

What is Mr Birling a symbol of?

Mr Birling represents greedy businessmen who only care for themselves. Priestley uses him to show the audience that the Eva Smiths of the world will continue to suffer if people like Birling remain in positions of power.

How does Mr Birling describe himself?

Birling describes himself as “a hardheaded practical business man” (notice the similarity to hard hearted) and believes a “man has to make his own way”. Priestley uses dramatic irony to make Birling look stupid and therefore belittle the views of capitalists.

How is Mr Birling insecure?

Mr Birling’s insecurity is revealed by his feeling of inadequacy due to his lower social status, compared to the Crofts. Therefore, he feels the need to compensate with boasts of a potential knighthood.

How did Mr Birling change?

Mr Birling has improved his social status by becoming Lord Mayor and accepting the duties of a magistrate. He hopes to improve his social status further by being awarded a knighthood. Mr Birling is delighted that Sheila is engaged to Gerald Croft at the start of the play, because this will improve his social status.

How is Mr Birling presented as powerful?

Mr Birling is described as being a “heavy looking, rather portentous man”, which immediately indicates to the audience that he has significant wealth. Much of his dialogue centres around capitalist viewpoints, as he claims that it is every man’s duty to “mind his own business and look after himself”.

How is Mr Birling presented as ignorant?

In this extract Mr Birling is shown as being ignorant; he makes a joke out of young peoples’ behaviour, suggesting “you don’t know what some of these boys get up to nowadays” but he does not know that his own son has been drinking heavily and mistreating Eva Smith. Finally, Mr Birling shows that he can be quite sexist.

How does Mr Birling speak?

Here, Mr Birling speaks in the​ third person​in an attempt to create a philosophical element to his speech. “It’s my duty to keep labour costs down.” Priestley uses the ​noun​​“​duty​”​ to emphasise Mr Birling’s dedication to capitalism and profit. people, they’d soon be asking for the earth.”

How is Mr Birling presented at the end of the play?

Ending: By the ending of the play, Mr Birling has not changed. He is delighted when he discovers the Inspector is a fake, shown by the repeated stage direction ‘triumphantly’. Priestley reveals that capitalists like Mr Birling are too selfish to change.

Why was Mr Birling happy at the start of the play?

In Act One, Mr Birling is extremely happy that he is soon to be aligned with the Crofts through marriage, because it will benefit him financially. The families will no longer have to be rivals in business but they can unite to make more money.

How does Priestley present Mr Birling as irresponsible?

Priestley reinforces the idea that Birling is socially irresponsible when Birling claims, “Every man has to look after himself.” Given that his initial predictions were proved wrong, this leads the audience to question whether he is again wrong in his view of not looking after other people.

How is Mr Birling described in the play?

Mr Birling is a prominent character in the play and is a ‘heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech. ’ His physical appearance is similar to Winston Churchill; Priestly may be trying to prove a point here.

Who is Mr Birling an Inspector Calls?

Mr Birling Cheat Sheet: Quotes + Notes The head of the Birling household… Mr Birling’s character is central to An Inspector Calls. But before we can understand his key quotes, we must analyse his character. Arthur Birling is a man with some reputation in the town. He is the owner of Birling and Co., a factory business.

How difficult is it to write about Mr Birling?

Working with a student the other day, I realised that writing about the character of Mr Birling in ‘An Inspector Calls’ is probably the most difficult. When teachers who have taught AIC for years tell me it is ‘too clumsy’, ‘too obvious’, ‘too preachy’, they are referring in part to Arthur Birling and I can see what they mean.

Who is Arthur Birling?

Mr Birling is also a Magistrate and he was Lord Mayor of Brumley two years ago. And ​Arthur is the husband of Sybil Birling (Mrs Birling) and father of Sheila and Eric Birling . J. B. Priestley also describes him clearly.