How Does Priestley Establish Birling's Character Prior To The Arrival Of The Inspector

How Does Priestley Establish Birling’s Character Prior To The Arrival Of The Inspector?

In this play of An Inspector Calls, Priestley tries to establish the character of Birling as much as possible before the arrival of the Inspector, so therefore the scene is set for us.

The way in which he does is this is that Birling is given speeches which imply information about his character. An example of this is when he is addressing Gerald’s parents “it’s a pity Sir George and – er - Lady Croft.”

This is a sign which tells us that Birling is not fully aware of the manner in which he should address high class people. This also shows that he has risen to the class but still does not know how to behave in the higher class.

After this, Birling has his first long speech in which we realise that this marriage is not really between Gerald and Sheila, but Crofts Limited and Birling & Company – “are no longer competing but are working together.” With this, Priestley shows us that Birling thinks about himself and business, rather than his daughter and son-in-law-to-be. As well as this, we realise that Birling does not really care about the wedding as long as his business is joined with Crofts Limited.

Slowly, we are forming a picture of what Birling is like, but there are some other views he has which gives us some more information, enabling us to broaden the picture we already have of him.

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Slowly, we are forming a picture of what Birling is like, but there are some other views he has which gives us some more information, enabling us to broaden the picture we already have of him.

There are then a number of views which show that he is very optimistic about the future at that time. The first one is where he is stating that there would not be any more strikes – “we’ve passed the worst of it.” But in 1926, there was the Great Strike where every working person was on strike, which makes Birling incorrect. He then mentions that no-body wants war, even the Germans, except “some half-civilized folks in the Balkans.” As well as this, he says that there would never be another war as there is “too much at stake these days.” This is ironic because this is where the Great War started. And again, his opinion is once again proved wrong.

Priestley is now showing us that Birling is giving us speeches and statements that we know are incorrect, but the fact that Birling believes in what he says shows that he thinks that he is always right. This is shown when he says – “I’m talking as a hard – headed, practical man of business,” meaning that he thinks that as he is a businessman, he is right. Priestley puts a lot of ironic phrases into what Birling says, such as the “Balkans” example.

In Birling’s next speech, there is dramatic irony. In this speech he talks about the Titanic being “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.” He also means that the upper classes are unsinkable – “every luxury.” He says this with confidence but we know that the Titanic has indeed sunk, meaning he is again wrong. Everything Birling has said so far has been wrong. He then mentions that in 1940, kids will be partying – “in 1940, you may be giving a little party like this,” but instead, there was a war – The Blitz. Priestley is showing that Birling is always wrong, therefore too complacent, as he does not question anything – he believes everything that he is told and what he believes himself. He said that “there’ll be peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere,” which is incorrect as there was violence soon afterwards.

Birling believes that “hard-headed practical business men must say something sometime,” because he thinks that they are all right, which is false. This is one of his views on socialism, which tells us more about his character; him believing that practical business men are always right. Birling is shown as a capitalist, meaning that business men should get all the money.

Up until the inspector arrives, Priestley establishes the character of Birling as much as he can and tries to broaden the picture that we get from Birling as much as he can. I have explained the extracts from the play which give us the main information about Birling’s character. The main picture we get from Birling is that he cares mostly about himself and his business, as well as giving his thoughts about the future, which have been all incorrect. He is too complacent, and gives too much credit to business men, meaning his views on socialism may not be agreed with by most.

Niral Patel

10 D