Character Profiles for an Inspector Calls

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Arthur Birling He is married to Sybil Birling and is the father of Sheila and Eric. J.B Priestley describes him as a "heavy-looking man" in his mid-fifties, with easy manners but "rather provincial in his speech." He is the owner of Birling and Company, which is probably some sort of factory business which employs many working class girls to work on the machines. He is a Magistrate and two years ago he was Lord Mayor of Brumley. So he is definitely a man of a high social status in the town. He describes himself as a "hard-headed practical man of business," and he is a very strong capitalist in his political views. He is aware of people who are superior to him (socially), which is why he shows off about the port to Gerald, "it's exactly the same port your father gets." He is proud that he is likely to be knighted, as that would move him even higher in terms of social class. He is optimistic for the future and confident that there will not be a war. As the audience knows there will be a war, we begin to doubt Mr Birling's judgement instantly. (So if he is wrong about the war, what else will he be wrong about?) He claims the party "is one of the happiest nights of my life." This is not only because Sheila will be happy, but mainly because a merger with Crofts Limited will be good for his business. This implies that he is also a very selfish man, he wants to protect himself and his family only. He believes that socialist ideas that say that there is a big importance in a community are "nonsense" and that "a man has to make his own way." He wants to protect Birling and Co (his business). He also did not think that he did anything wrong when he fired Eva Smith - he was just merely looking after his business interests and in his eyes was completely innocent. His reputation is very important to him and he wants to protect it. As the Inspector's investigations continue, his

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