National 5 English SQA

Character: Mr Arthur Birling

Character Overview: Arthur Birling

• Arthur Birling is a very proud and self-important man.
• He is a successful, hard-headed businessman who is more focused on his own prosperity and status than on the welfare of his employees.
• At the start of the play, he appears to be well-respected and intelligent, with strong beliefs in capitalist principles.
• As the drama unfolds, the Inspector's interrogation reveals him as complacent, narrow-minded and unjust.

Key Traits and Actions

• Arthur Birling is extremely materialistic. His primary motivation is to increase the family's wealth and status.
• Birling is unsympathetic towards his employees, demonstrating a lack of compassion for the working class. This is evident when he dismisses Eva Smith without hesitation for demanding a wage increase.
• Despite his negative traits, Arthur Birling also demonstrates a degree of naivety. His firm belief in the inevitable progress of mankind highlights his inability to foresee the potential for disaster.
• He is also stubborn and defensive, persistently refusing to take responsibility for his actions even in light of damning evidence.

Importance and Influence

• Arthur Birling represents the pitfalls of capitalism and selfishness, with Priestley using him as a symbol of the upper classes' disregard for the welfare of others.
• He is the forefront of the family's disregard for their socially inferior, demonstrating a vast divide between social classes.
• His attitude sets the tone for the rest of the Birling family's responses to their interrogations.
• Ultimately, even in the wake of the Inspector's revelations, Arthur learns no meaningful lessons and adjusts none of his attitudes.

Key Quotes

• "A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own." This highlights Birling's self-centered worldview and his lack of social empathy.
• When talking about war, "You’ll hear some people say that war's inevitable. And to that, I say - fiddlesticks!" This showcases his ignorance and arrogance.
• In regards to Eva Smith's dismissal, "If you don't come down sharply on some of these people, they'd soon be asking for the earth." This quote further emphasizes Birling's disdain for the working class.