One evening of happiness and bliss brings the Birling Family and Gerald Croft to distress and truth, as they are celebrating the engagement party of their Daughter Sheila to Gerald until an inspector calls regarding the death of a young girl who had poisoned herself due to her unhappiness. It turns out at the end of the play that each character played a part in the cause of her death. The family in the dining room surrounding the dining table; one of the objects of their ‘good solid furniture’ from their period. The atmosphere is significant and deeply secure, but not cosy and homelike. The family are clothed in evening dress, the men in white ties and tails; not dinner jackets. The lighting at the beginning of Act 1 is pink and intimate, which creates a warm, welcoming and friendly feeling, until the inspector arrives and the lighting changes and becomes brighter and harder. This makes the setting superior but the mood more disputed when the Birlings and Gerald find out the reason behind the inspectors arrival.
The role of Arthur Birling is as a social climber, with a lot of businesses. He is former mayor and magistrate. He is very ecstatic with his position and the last thing he would want is change. Birling has achieved success in certain aspects of his life such as his business, his wealth and his class but has failed in being a good father, an employer or in any moral sense. The characteristics of his roles are those such as, he is hard-headed and practical, which he admits himself when he has a conversation with his wife, Mrs Birling, and son Eric; ‘I’m talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business.’ Arthur Birling has become an increasingly self-centred man. Ever more, his ego has enlarged after there being an opportunity of him being put on the honours list to be knighted. The main characteristic of Arthur Birling, which occurs throughout the play, is his selfishness and uncaring personality. This is part of the message J B Priestly is trying to give out to the audience not to ignore the situations around you and the feelings of others, regardless of your status or wealth. He had no conscience of how he unfairly sacked the girl who had an unhappy life with no family and no money to help her survive; all for the reason that she started a strike for a pay rise. That was the cause of the girl being sacked and the effect it had on her resulted as one of the reasons of her suicide. The fact that Birling had no guilt of what he did and no care for what happened to the girl was the other message J B Priestly is giving out to the audience.
One part of Arthur Birlings Character is his sarcasm. When he, and his family were having a conversation with Gerald, Birling mentioned his business rival, Sir George Croft, who is also Gerald’s father, and said at there celebration party to Gerald ‘It’s a pity Sir George and - er – Lady Croft cant be with us, but they’re abroad and so it can be helped. As I told you, they sent me a very nice cable – couldn’t be nicer’. Throughout the play Birlings language has been Humorous but sarcastic which brings out his arrogance. Also, a dramatic device Priestly has used is Dramatic Irony. Arthur Birling is very egotistical about himself and his wealth, and is always boasting about how his position is supreme and it could only get better. Birling has used dramatic irony a few times in his speech such as when he says ‘We’re in for a time of steadily increasing prosperity’. Another dramatic device used is Foregrounding. Priestly has used foregrounding in the play many times to signal to the audience something which is going to happen, he has also use it in the language of Birling for instance when Birling is speaking bout his possible knighthood, ‘I gather there’s a very good chance of a Knighthood – so long as we behave ourselves’.
Arthur Birling has progressively become selfish and ignorant to his family. In the era of which the play is set, Alcohol is a sign of status and is a popular source in the Birling household. Arthur is always offering his son Eric ‘another glass of port’ which has pushed Eric to continue drinking more and more and he has become an alcoholic for some time now and his father still hasn’t realized. Arrogance is a major characteristic of Arthur Birling. When the inspector arrives to their house on the subject of the young girls death, Arthur Birling begins to get irritated with the inspectors questioning and then begins to assure himself he and his family have no part in the girl’s death and so it would be necessary for the inspector to leave but then finds out he and his family played the most important part in the girls death, and even after hearing that, he still tries to turn a blind eye.
Some ideas and themes J B Priestly was trying to convey through the character of Arthur Birling were Cause and Effect and Social conscience. Clues, which are given in the play to the audience about the result of Arthur Birling as the play progresses, are all found with the language Birling uses to speak about himself. Also, His characteristics show that as the story progresses, when Birling is hit with a mistake he thinks he never made, he will face a major downfall in his position in the society, and will lose respect from family members employees and everyone else who has respected him.
