How Is Mr Birling Presented In An Inspector Calls

546 Words3 Pages

In “An Inspector Calls,” Priestley presents Mr Birling as a selfish, arrogant, proponent of capitalism who is consistently inconsiderate to other people’s feelings in favour of business or money. This is especially present when regarding the lower class. The play is set pre-World War One, in 1912, before the world went into a time full of social change and unrest. During this time, new politics emerged, including the rise of the Labour Party. This might show Mr Birling’s age and stubbornness as his beliefs can be seen as outdated and ignoring the changing times. He has no compassion to the lower classes and is presented as an individualist who believes that, “a man…has to look after himself – and his family too of course.” Priestley uses the auxiliary verb, “has” to show Birling’s stubborn attitude to his own egotistical beliefs. …show more content…

Moreover, Birling only mentions his family at the end of the phrase – as an addition. This implies he puts himself first over his family, and that they are only an afterthought. Birling has a clear obsession with social hierarchy, and becoming socially superior, which leads to his dismissal of responsibility for anybody other than himself. His obsession with social status is clear with his continuous boasting to the Inspector about his connections to important people, such as the Chief Constable. He believes the lower class and beneath him, making then not worthy of his attention or care, which adds to his dismissal of