1) Arthur Birling
a) He is described at the start as a "heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties
but rather provincial in his speech."
b) He has worked his way up in the world and is proud of his achievements. He boasts about
having been Mayor and tries (and fails) to impress the Inspector with his local standing and
his influential friends.
c) However, he is aware of people who are his social superiors, which is why he shows off
about the port to Gerald, "it's exactly the same port your father gets." He is proud that he is
likely to be knighted, as that would move him even higher in social circles.
d) He claims the party "is one of the happiest nights of my life." This is not only because Sheila
will be happy, but because a merger with Crofts Limited will be good for his business.
e) He is optimistic for the future and confident that there will not be a war. As the audience
knows there will be a war, we begin to doubt Mr Birling's judgement. (If he is wrong about
the war, what else will he be wrong about?)
f) He is extremely selfish:
i) He wants to protect himself and his family. He believes that socialist ideas that stress the
importance of the community are "nonsense" and that "a man has to make his own
way."
ii) He wants to protect Birling and Co. He cannot see that he did anything wrong when he
fired Eva Smith - he was just looking after his business interests.
iii) He wants to protect his reputation. As the Inspector's investigations continue, his
selfishness gets the better of him: he is worried about how the press will view the story
in Act II, and accuses Sheila of disloyalty at the start of Act III. He wants to hide the fact
that Eric stole money: "I've got to cover this up as soon as I can."
iv) At the end of the play, he knows he has lost the chance of his knighthood, his reputation
in Brumley and the chance of Birling and Co. merging with their rivals. Yet he hasn't
learnt the lesson of the play: he is unable to admit his responsibility for his part in Eva's
death.
2) Mrs Sybil Birling
a) She is described at the start as "about fifty, a rather cold woman and her husband's social
superior."
b) She is a snob, very aware of the differences between social classes. She is irritated when Mr
Birling makes the social gaffe of praising the cook in front of Gerald and later is very
dismissive of Eva, saying "Girls of that class."
c) She has the least respect for the Inspector of all the characters. She tries - unsuccessfully - to
intimidate him and force him to leave, then lies to him when she claims that she does not
recognise the photograph that he shows her.
d) She sees Sheila and Eric still as "children" and speaks patronisingly to them.
e) She tries to deny things that she doesn't want to believe: Eric's drinking, Gerald's affair with
Eva, and the fact that a working class girl would refuse money even if it was stolen, claiming
"She was giving herself ridiculous airs."
f) She admits she was "prejudiced" against the girl who applied to her committee for help and
saw it as her "duty" to refuse to help her. Her narrow sense of morality dictates that the
father of a child should be responsible for its welfare, regardless of circumstances.
a) He is described at the start as a "heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties
but rather provincial in his speech."
b) He has worked his way up in the world and is proud of his achievements. He boasts about
having been Mayor and tries (and fails) to impress the Inspector with his local standing and
his influential friends.
c) However, he is aware of people who are his social superiors, which is why he shows off
about the port to Gerald, "it's exactly the same port your father gets." He is proud that he is
likely to be knighted, as that would move him even higher in social circles.
d) He claims the party "is one of the happiest nights of my life." This is not only because Sheila
will be happy, but because a merger with Crofts Limited will be good for his business.
e) He is optimistic for the future and confident that there will not be a war. As the audience
knows there will be a war, we begin to doubt Mr Birling's judgement. (If he is wrong about
the war, what else will he be wrong about?)
f) He is extremely selfish:
i) He wants to protect himself and his family. He believes that socialist ideas that stress the
importance of the community are "nonsense" and that "a man has to make his own
way."
ii) He wants to protect Birling and Co. He cannot see that he did anything wrong when he
fired Eva Smith - he was just looking after his business interests.
iii) He wants to protect his reputation. As the Inspector's investigations continue, his
selfishness gets the better of him: he is worried about how the press will view the story
in Act II, and accuses Sheila of disloyalty at the start of Act III. He wants to hide the fact
that Eric stole money: "I've got to cover this up as soon as I can."
iv) At the end of the play, he knows he has lost the chance of his knighthood, his reputation
in Brumley and the chance of Birling and Co. merging with their rivals. Yet he hasn't
learnt the lesson of the play: he is unable to admit his responsibility for his part in Eva's
death.
2) Mrs Sybil Birling
a) She is described at the start as "about fifty, a rather cold woman and her husband's social
superior."
b) She is a snob, very aware of the differences between social classes. She is irritated when Mr
Birling makes the social gaffe of praising the cook in front of Gerald and later is very
dismissive of Eva, saying "Girls of that class."
c) She has the least respect for the Inspector of all the characters. She tries - unsuccessfully - to
intimidate him and force him to leave, then lies to him when she claims that she does not
recognise the photograph that he shows her.
d) She sees Sheila and Eric still as "children" and speaks patronisingly to them.
e) She tries to deny things that she doesn't want to believe: Eric's drinking, Gerald's affair with
Eva, and the fact that a working class girl would refuse money even if it was stolen, claiming
"She was giving herself ridiculous airs."
f) She admits she was "prejudiced" against the girl who applied to her committee for help and
saw it as her "duty" to refuse to help her. Her narrow sense of morality dictates that the
father of a child should be responsible for its welfare, regardless of circumstances.
