character notes Mr Birling's Key Quotes Bank
a man with some reputation in the town. Act 1
owner of Birling and Co., a factory business. He believes that his worker's pay is reasonable. 1. ‘Arthur Birling is a heavy looking, rather portentous man’
Oblivious that his actions will have consequences, he states that he pays the normal wage for his industry. 2. Showing off to Gerald Croft ‘Giving us the port Edna?’
Mr Birling is a Magistrate and was Lord Mayor of Brumley two years ago. Arthur is the husband of Sybil Birling and 3. Showing off to Gerald Croft 'You ought to like this port, Gerald [..] the same port your
father of Sheila and Eric Birling. father gets from him.'
a "heavy-looking man" in his mid-50s with easy manners but "rather provincial in his speech". 4. Capitalism, Selfish ‘we may look forward to a time when Crofts and Birlings are working
firmly capitalist, and right-wing in his political views. together – for lower costs and higher prices. ’
Birling describes himself as a "hard-headed practical man of business". 5. undermines women "Are you listening, Sheila? After all I don’t often make speeches at
no concept of value other than wealth or social status, as he himself is a social climber. believes that he and his you-'
wife uphold right values. 6. Naive, ‘The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war.’
7. Dramatic Irony "Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’
Priestley's message (Intended effect on audience)
8. Capitalism 'man has to mind his own business and look after himself.'
The author favours socialism and these views are displayed prominently throughout An Inspector Calls.
9. Arrogance, 'Just a knighthood, of course'
Priestley was concerned about the consequences of social inequality in Britain.
10. ‘So as long as we behave ourselves don’t get into the police court or start a scandal -eh?’
This includes the disparity caused by wealth as well as the class divide. He believed that this disparity creates
11. ‘Clothes mean something quite different to a woman. not only something to make 'em
the very characteristics shown in Mr Birling. This includes selfishness, inability to admit responsibility for his
look prettier, but a sign or token of their self respect.’
part in Eva's death, exploitative tendencies and power lust.
12. 'I'm not defending him. But you must understand that a lot of young men-' justifying
Priestly used the character of Mr Birling to represent how the upper class frowned upon people below them in
Gerald's behaviour as acceptable.
society.
13. Remorseless ‘It has nothing whatever to do with this wretched girls suicide.'
wanted to encourage his audience to dislike Mr Birling and to see him as a fool. And by rejecting the attitudes
14. ‘I can't accept any responsibility.'
held by Mr Birling, Priestley’s audience could lead a better life
15. Looks down on the Inspector 'I don't like that tone'
Throughout the play, Priestley proves there are consequence for every action:
16. ' if they didn't like those rates, they could go and work somewhere else. It's a free
1. Mr Birling's thoughtless actions of firing Eva Smith.
country, I told them.'
2. His inability to admit his partial responsibility in Eva’s death.
17. Capitalist View 'my duty to keep labour costs down.' “If you don’t come down hard on
3. Birling wanting to cover up for Eric stealing money. AN INSPECOR CALLS
these people they’d soon be asking for the earth.”
Priestley portrayed the evil side of capitalism and an obsession with money.
He disliked capitalism due to 'the resultant lack of care in society for the poor'. MR BIRLING 18. Patronising ‘Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along’
Character Development/Changes Act 2
Mr Birling has not changed by the end of the play – he refuses to learn/take on board the Inspector’s lesson and 1. Patronising '(to Mrs Birling) What's the matter with that child?'
responsibility. 2. 'And I do not propose to give you much more rope’
Priestley may be warning his audience of the dangers of not learning the lesson (of social responsibility) themselves. 3. ‘A young unmarried girl is being dragged into this-'
Social responsibility 4. '(angrily, to Inspector) Look here, I’m not going to have this, Inspector. You’ll apologise at
prime example of someone who thinks he has no obligation to care for other people - he is not socially responsible. once.'
For one, he sees his workers purely as cheap labour, not people, and pays them low wages – he believes his 5. ‘Is there any reason why my wife should answer questions from you. Inspector?’
responsibility is to make as large a profit as he can muster from his business. “Lower costs, higher prices,” he tells 6. "when this comes out at the inquest, it isn’t going to do us much good."
Gerald. He does not care that the lower he pushes his labour costs, the worse their standard of living will be. 7. 'Be quiet Sheila’
Furthermore, the remarks made by Birling at the beginning of Act One highlight his falsity about the disastrous
events in the first half of the twentieth century, such as the Titanic – “Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable!” and the Act 3
occurrence of a war, making him seem both arrogant and ignorant. Priestley reinforces the idea that Birling is 1. ‘I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can’
socially irresponsible when Birling claims, “Every man has to look after himself.” Given that his initial predictions 2. attempts to bribe Inspector '(unhappily) Look, Inspector - I'd give thousands - yes,
were proved wrong, this leads the audience to question whether he is again wrong in his view of not looking after thousands -'
other people. In this way, Priestley forces the audience to recognise the message of social responsibility by showing 3. ‘You’re the one I blame for this’
them a socially irresponsible character in a negative light. 4. Arrogance ' I care. I was almost certain for a knighthood in the next Honours List'
5. Feels no guilt ‘There’ll be a public scandal’
Themes 6. ‘You ought to have stood up to him'
sexism and class divide : sees Eva as just one of “several hundred young women” who worked at his factory. This 7. ‘This makes a difference, y’know. In fact, it makes all the difference’
shows that in his view, all of his workers have no value. By saying “they keep changing” he shows the audience he did 8. 'You’ll have a good laugh over it yet! better ask Gerald for that ring you gave back to him,
not even care if he dismissed Eva as she was just cheap labour to him. hadn’t you? Then you’ll feel better'
Social responsibility : continues to refuse responsibility for his workers and their working conditions, as well as 9. Foolish 'We’ve been had, that’s all.'
refusing to take any blame for Eva's death 10. ‘The famous younger generation who know it all. And they can’t even take a joke.’
The final line: [As they stare guiltily and dumbfounded, the curtain falls.]
a man with some reputation in the town. Act 1
owner of Birling and Co., a factory business. He believes that his worker's pay is reasonable. 1. ‘Arthur Birling is a heavy looking, rather portentous man’
Oblivious that his actions will have consequences, he states that he pays the normal wage for his industry. 2. Showing off to Gerald Croft ‘Giving us the port Edna?’
Mr Birling is a Magistrate and was Lord Mayor of Brumley two years ago. Arthur is the husband of Sybil Birling and 3. Showing off to Gerald Croft 'You ought to like this port, Gerald [..] the same port your
father of Sheila and Eric Birling. father gets from him.'
a "heavy-looking man" in his mid-50s with easy manners but "rather provincial in his speech". 4. Capitalism, Selfish ‘we may look forward to a time when Crofts and Birlings are working
firmly capitalist, and right-wing in his political views. together – for lower costs and higher prices. ’
Birling describes himself as a "hard-headed practical man of business". 5. undermines women "Are you listening, Sheila? After all I don’t often make speeches at
no concept of value other than wealth or social status, as he himself is a social climber. believes that he and his you-'
wife uphold right values. 6. Naive, ‘The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war.’
7. Dramatic Irony "Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’
Priestley's message (Intended effect on audience)
8. Capitalism 'man has to mind his own business and look after himself.'
The author favours socialism and these views are displayed prominently throughout An Inspector Calls.
9. Arrogance, 'Just a knighthood, of course'
Priestley was concerned about the consequences of social inequality in Britain.
10. ‘So as long as we behave ourselves don’t get into the police court or start a scandal -eh?’
This includes the disparity caused by wealth as well as the class divide. He believed that this disparity creates
11. ‘Clothes mean something quite different to a woman. not only something to make 'em
the very characteristics shown in Mr Birling. This includes selfishness, inability to admit responsibility for his
look prettier, but a sign or token of their self respect.’
part in Eva's death, exploitative tendencies and power lust.
12. 'I'm not defending him. But you must understand that a lot of young men-' justifying
Priestly used the character of Mr Birling to represent how the upper class frowned upon people below them in
Gerald's behaviour as acceptable.
society.
13. Remorseless ‘It has nothing whatever to do with this wretched girls suicide.'
wanted to encourage his audience to dislike Mr Birling and to see him as a fool. And by rejecting the attitudes
14. ‘I can't accept any responsibility.'
held by Mr Birling, Priestley’s audience could lead a better life
15. Looks down on the Inspector 'I don't like that tone'
Throughout the play, Priestley proves there are consequence for every action:
16. ' if they didn't like those rates, they could go and work somewhere else. It's a free
1. Mr Birling's thoughtless actions of firing Eva Smith.
country, I told them.'
2. His inability to admit his partial responsibility in Eva’s death.
17. Capitalist View 'my duty to keep labour costs down.' “If you don’t come down hard on
3. Birling wanting to cover up for Eric stealing money. AN INSPECOR CALLS
these people they’d soon be asking for the earth.”
Priestley portrayed the evil side of capitalism and an obsession with money.
He disliked capitalism due to 'the resultant lack of care in society for the poor'. MR BIRLING 18. Patronising ‘Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along’
Character Development/Changes Act 2
Mr Birling has not changed by the end of the play – he refuses to learn/take on board the Inspector’s lesson and 1. Patronising '(to Mrs Birling) What's the matter with that child?'
responsibility. 2. 'And I do not propose to give you much more rope’
Priestley may be warning his audience of the dangers of not learning the lesson (of social responsibility) themselves. 3. ‘A young unmarried girl is being dragged into this-'
Social responsibility 4. '(angrily, to Inspector) Look here, I’m not going to have this, Inspector. You’ll apologise at
prime example of someone who thinks he has no obligation to care for other people - he is not socially responsible. once.'
For one, he sees his workers purely as cheap labour, not people, and pays them low wages – he believes his 5. ‘Is there any reason why my wife should answer questions from you. Inspector?’
responsibility is to make as large a profit as he can muster from his business. “Lower costs, higher prices,” he tells 6. "when this comes out at the inquest, it isn’t going to do us much good."
Gerald. He does not care that the lower he pushes his labour costs, the worse their standard of living will be. 7. 'Be quiet Sheila’
Furthermore, the remarks made by Birling at the beginning of Act One highlight his falsity about the disastrous
events in the first half of the twentieth century, such as the Titanic – “Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable!” and the Act 3
occurrence of a war, making him seem both arrogant and ignorant. Priestley reinforces the idea that Birling is 1. ‘I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can’
socially irresponsible when Birling claims, “Every man has to look after himself.” Given that his initial predictions 2. attempts to bribe Inspector '(unhappily) Look, Inspector - I'd give thousands - yes,
were proved wrong, this leads the audience to question whether he is again wrong in his view of not looking after thousands -'
other people. In this way, Priestley forces the audience to recognise the message of social responsibility by showing 3. ‘You’re the one I blame for this’
them a socially irresponsible character in a negative light. 4. Arrogance ' I care. I was almost certain for a knighthood in the next Honours List'
5. Feels no guilt ‘There’ll be a public scandal’
Themes 6. ‘You ought to have stood up to him'
sexism and class divide : sees Eva as just one of “several hundred young women” who worked at his factory. This 7. ‘This makes a difference, y’know. In fact, it makes all the difference’
shows that in his view, all of his workers have no value. By saying “they keep changing” he shows the audience he did 8. 'You’ll have a good laugh over it yet! better ask Gerald for that ring you gave back to him,
not even care if he dismissed Eva as she was just cheap labour to him. hadn’t you? Then you’ll feel better'
Social responsibility : continues to refuse responsibility for his workers and their working conditions, as well as 9. Foolish 'We’ve been had, that’s all.'
refusing to take any blame for Eva's death 10. ‘The famous younger generation who know it all. And they can’t even take a joke.’
The final line: [As they stare guiltily and dumbfounded, the curtain falls.]
