Mr. Birling

Birling is a key character within the play An Inspector Calls.  Throughout the play, Priestly pokes fun of him and his beliefs, which helps to reinforce his own ideals, that capitalism is bad and that socialism is a fairer way of life.

Mr Birling is a successful business man, but has lost his moral and social compass.  He believes he's important and wants to continue his success in his life.  This is clearly displayed when he congratulates Sheila on finding such good fiancé, as it'll further his own post in life.

He demonstrates that he's incapable of change - throughout the play he expresses his views clearly and doesn't deviate from them.  He only cares if it'll negatively impact on him and will continue to voice his views in order to further his own position in the conversation.

As well as this, he also enforces the gender stereotypes of the time - he tells the women what to do and is quite patronising to them.

In this first example, look at the way Birling speaks to and about the women - he's highlighting how he believes he's superior and that they should listen to his opinions.

Again, Birling is commenting on his ideals and beliefs on women - that they're trivial and can only discuss and comment on trivial things.

Here, Birling is reinforcing his capitalist ideals, which means he doesn't have to take responsibility for his actions or the actions of Eva Smith.

Another example of his patriarchal beliefs.

Here's an example essay response looking at the importance of Birling to the play as a whole.  While it makes various references to context, the reference to language is a bit weak.  TASK: can you add a language comment to make this essay stronger?