Mr. Arthur Birling

Mr. Birling is a character in An Inspector Calls

is the head of the Birling household. He is described in the play as a “heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties but rather provincial in his speech”. He has made his own way in life, and has an inflated opinion of himself and his social class; but his less comfortable upbringing ensures that he has less social nous than either his wife or Gerald, shown by his praise for the cook’s quality of cooking. However, he does acknowledge almost sycophantically that he is not of as high a rank as the Gerald and his parents, Lord and Lady Croft, as well as admitting that “Crofts Limited are both older and bigger than Birling and Company”, and tries to impress Gerald by boasting about the possibility of his receiving a knighthood in the next Honours List; in the same section, Birling tries to get Gerald on his side, by saying that he will only get a knighthood “so long as we behave ourselves, don't get into the police court or start a scandal”. He is dedicated to his business, which is involved in producing furniture, and it is implied that he enjoys the engagement of his daughter and Gerald Croft because it allows for the possibility of Crofts Limited and Birling and Company working together in the future. He is also a magistrate who has been active in social politics, having been Lord Mayor two years previously.

Priestley portrays him as a selfish capitalist who cares more about his knighthood and money than his own family, as even after finding out about Gerald's affair with Eva he still encourages Sheila to stay with him because Gerald's family business is merging with the Birling business. This is evident in his speech at the beginning, in which he declares that “we employers at last are coming together to see that our interests are properly protected”. This suggests that Arthur only cares about himself, and Priestley enforces this view with the revelation of Mr. Birling's sacking of Eva Smith after she demanded higher pay, as it would have “added about twelve per cent to our labour costs”; being staged a time of significant industrial unrest, Birling wants to take a stand against the unions and strikes that were occurring, and he makes an example of Eva Smith, something which the Inspector is not at all happy with. Although he wants to protect Sheila from the unpleasant tale of the girl’s life, he feels no remorse at not having given the girl anywhere near a similar level of shelter, despite their having been of a comparable age. Although Gerald agrees with his chosen course of action, Eric, Sheila and the Inspector do not.

Mr. Birling also makes several mistakes when trying to predict the future: not only does he ridicule the suggestion of war (which was to begin a mere two years later), but he also declares the Titanic, which was to sink on its first voyage, as “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” and that there is economic “prosperity to come” – this was to be followed by the resource-draining war and the Great Depression. He is far more optimistic about the future than others, who, by the time the play was first performed, had been proved to be right. He blunders ahead with his own views, but is never quite as in control, or correct, as he would like to be seen to be; because Priestley wrote the play in retrospect, 30 years later, he can use his knowledge of what occurred in between times to make the audience doubt Mr. Birling's judgement and that of capitalists in general.

He tries to worm his way out of any blame as soon as it is suggested that Inspector Goole may not be a real inspector, despite still being under the impression that a girl has died as a consequence of his actions. He is strongly aware of the possible implications for his reputation - and the chances of his being awarded a knighthood - the case might cause, and says “I've got to cover this up as soon as I can”.