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An Inspector Calls - Mr. Arthur Birling

            An Inspector Calls is a play set in 1912 and was first performed in 1945. Arthur Birling is a 'heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech' as described by J. B. Priestley in the play. He is the owner of Birling and Co. which is a factory that employs several hundred young women. He is also the husband of Sybil Birling and the father of Sheila and Eric Birling. He was an alderman for years and Lord Mayor two years ago, as of now he is a Magistrate. This shows that he is quite a powerful and influential man in the days.
             In the beginning of act one, the Birling family and Gerald Croft are celebrating for Sheila's engagement to Gerald. Mr Birling sees this engagement as a chance for business expansion and merging Birling and Co. with their rivals. He said that he 'looks forward to the time Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together for lower costs and higher prices.' He stated that the family party is 'one of the happiest nights of my life.' not only because his daughter, Sheila is getting engaged but also the merging of Birling and Co with Crofts Limited. He is very pleased with his achievements and calls himself 'a hard-headed businessman'. When the inspector arrived, he bragged about having been 'an alderman for years and Lord Mayor two years ago' to impress him. He intimidated the inspector saying 'I know the Brumley police officers pretty well.' He even looks down on the inspector saying 'I don't like your tone.'.
             Arthur Birling is an absolute capitalist. He pictures a socialist community 'as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive' and he thinks socialist ideas that emphasises on 'looking after everybody else' are 'nonsense'. He strongly believes that 'a man has to make his own way - has to look after himself - and his family too'.


Essays Related to An Inspector Calls - Mr. Arthur Birling

1. "The success of "An Inspector Calls"

... message to members of the upper class about their actions and how they can effect other people. The main characters are that of the Birling family and the inspector. Arthur Birling is a wealthy man in the upper classes who runs his own manufacturing company. As well as being rather pompous he is described by ... this is noticeable at a few points during the play in the way she speaks to him; after his portentous speech in Act 1 Sybil Birling comes out with "Arthur!" Mr. Birling stops his speech and turns his attention to his wife, at this time it is unlikely a women would have talked to ...

  • Word Count: 5428
  • Approx Pages: 22
  • Grade Level: High School

2. An Inspector Calls" Analysis of Dramatic Events

... take place in Act three and consider their effect on the audience. An Inspector Calls is a play which investigates the themes behind honesty, fairness, social justice and hypocrisy. It is about a family which consists of Arthur Birling, a wealthy, successful manufacturer, his wife, also his social superior, Cybil Birling and their children, Eric Birling and Sheila Birling. Eric's behaviour can be described as peculiar due to the fact that ... how you must look after your own family as well, when, in fact, he doesn't know Eric is drunk and he provides no back up for Eric, his own son. Mr...

  • Word Count: 1261
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

3. An Inspector Calls

"An Inspector Calls" "Show how J.B Priestly creates dramatic tension in "An Inspector Calls"? "An Inspector Calls" written and created by J.B Priestly, the play is based on trust and responsibility, taking responsibility for your own actions. That actions people take can be wrong and lead to bad things happening. The play is written and set just before World War 1 in an upper class family. At the beginning of the play Mr Birling is having ... Gerald in strict confidence from the rest of the family, about his mother Lady Croft. Arthur says that he has the idea - "while she doesn't object to my...

  • Word Count: 1442
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Compare the Characters of Arthur and Sheila Birling.

Compare the characters of Arthur and Sheila Birling. How does Priestly get them to face up to their involvement in Eva Smith's suicide? An Inspector calls is deliberately set in 1912 to demonstrate Priestly's message which is "We are responsible for each other" 1912 was two years before World War one. Many people were aware that ... great changes were about to take place. Britain was in a state of upheaval, there were others, such as Mr Birling, thought quite complacently that they had ... life, that a man should look out for himself. The doorbell rings when it does because everything Birlin...

  • Word Count: 2117
  • Approx Pages: 8

5. An Inspector Calls

... going to ask them some questions about the suicide of a young girl. List of the characters: - Arthur Birling. - Sybil Birling. (his wife) - Sheila Birling (his daughter) - Eric Birling (his son) - Edna (the maid) - Gerald Croft (engaged to Sheila) - Inspector Goole. - Eva Smith (the one who have made suicide) An essay about "An inspector calls": The story takes its place in the fictive industrial town Brumley, in the North Midlands in ... very concerned about manners, and tells what the other shall do or not, because she is far too interested in the family's reputation. Mrs. Birling is ...

  • Word Count: 999
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

6. An Inspector calls

An Inspector Calls- Who in my opinion is most responsible for Eva Smith's death In this play I attend to all the characters to which I think are most responsible for Eva ... enough she decided to commit suicide with disinfectant. I will be looking at the people most responsible and least responsible towards Eva's death. Arthur Birling is a rich and successful man; at the beginning of the play Mr. Birling is in a good mood but cannot resist making speeches. His comments show how wrong he can be: the Titanic would sink on its ... had bigger worries than getting sacked from Mr. Birling's infirm...

  • Word Count: 1005
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. An Inspector Calls

... who is the most responsible of Eva Smith death?. I'll be investigating the characters by who I believe is the most responsible to the least. In the play "An Inspector Calls" in Act Three, the Inspector tells the Birling family "The girl killed herself and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it". I will now examine each character ... and long hours, although he refuses to accept any responsibility for her death, "If we were all responsible for everything that had happened to everybody it would be very awkward." Arthur Birling actually ha...

  • Word Count: 1941
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Inspector Goole

... , but not cosy and homelike". Summary of plot: An Inspector Calls is the story of the visit by an Inspector to an apparently normal family, the Birlings. They are celebrating Sheila Birling's engagement to Gerald Croft, who is also present, when the Inspector arrives telling them of the suicide of a young girl ... called Eva Smith. At first they deny any knowledge of the girl, but as the play goes on the Inspector manages to show that they all helped kill her. Mr Birling ... very low esteem by Sheila and her parents after he tells the details of his affair. Eric: is the son of Mr. and M...

  • Word Count: 1526
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

9. An Inspector Calls - Tension in the Birling Family

Throughout the course of this play, we can see Priestley using tension not only as a force of attraction between the audience and the play but also to elevate the situation at hand whether it be according to Eva's death or the social status that all the characters represent. Priestley demonstrates this tension not only at the heart of the Birling family but also surrounding the Inspector and his political counter-comments against Arthur. We can see through the eyes of the Birlings, the tension between all the characters involved especially through the Inspector who lays the foundation for crea...

  • Word Count: 1029
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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