An Inspector

Calls
J.B. Priestley
LESSON 9 REMOTE LEARNING

Mr Birling
 Using these key words, explain key events and quotations that link to Arthur Birling’s
Do Now
character as the protagonist.

egotistic callous entitled domineering

Challenge: How does dramatic irony have a key role

to play in shaping the audience’s impressions of
Arthur’s character?

Super
Super Challenge:
Challenge: How
How does
does Priestley
Priestley deliberately
deliberately set
set
up
up Arthur’s
Arthur’s protagonist
protagonist status
status in
in Act
Act 11 to
to be
be ‘knocked
‘knocked
down’
down’ byby his
his foil?
foil?

Key words: Euphemism, egotistical, stock, aristocracy, miner’s strike, social-class, dramatic irony
 Egotistical
New Concepts Jung’s theory of archetypes

Driving Question: How does Priestley portray Arthur Birling’s character?

Success Criteria:

To summarise Birling’s character as a protagonist in the play and how

he has an impact on interrogations of the family.

To be able to explain why Priestley includes dramatic irony to depict

his character.

To examine Priestley’s intentions in presenting Birling in such specific

ways through ironic use of dialogue.

Key words: Euphemism, egotistical, stock, aristocracy, miner’s strike, social-class, dramatic irony
 Misconceived judgements about Mr Birling

Birling is stupid
Birling’s incorrect predictions about the future don’t necessarily show that
he’s stupid.  Limited, perhaps, but not stupid.  However, they do highlight
his arrogance.  He speaks with a misplaced confidence and won’t entertain
Eric’s (reasonable) attempts to challenge him – ‘You’ve a lot to learn yet.’

Birling did nothing wrong

In a legal sense, Birling did nothing wrong.  He acted within his rights as an
employer.  However, his dismissal of Eva for causing ‘trouble’ is morally
questionable.  As Eric points out, his father could’ve ‘kept her on instead of
throwing her out’ – particularly because, by his own admission, she was a
‘good worker’.
 Key moments to talk about in Birling’s character

Birling’s description at the exposition

Family engagement celebration

Introducing the Inspector

Firing Eva from Birling Co.

The rest of the interrogations

Key words: Euphemism, egotistical, stock, aristocracy, miner’s strike, social-class, dramatic irony
 Applying critical theories to the play
Individual Task: Research what
Marxism is and how it links to
Birling’s character and status in An
Inspector Calls, e.g.
Mr Birling (the bourgeoisie)
usurpes his workers like Eva
Smith (the proletariat) for their
labour and pays them little for it.
Profit is not shared and is kept
with those in power. This is the
capitalist model Britain works by.

http://www.mrbuddhistory.com/uploads/1/4/9/6/14967012/marxism_for
_dummies_real_melanie_and_adrian.pdf
 “there’s a lot of wild talk about labour troubles in
1 the future. Don’t worry. We’ve passed the worst Birling’s view of Edwardian Britain
of it.”
“we’re in for a time of steadily increasing
2 prosperity.”

“Nobody wants war.”

3 “I say there isn’t a chance of 1. How is Birling presented as foolish
war.” through euphemisms and dramatic irony? In
“the Titanic...unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.” what ways does Priestley employ Birling’s
4
emphatic tone in an ironic fashion?
“you’ll be living in a world that’ll have forgotten
5 all these Capital versus Labour agitations and all
2. How does this connect to Birling’s
these silly little war scares.”
hamartia? (Link to Ouspensky/Dunne and
“Russia, which will always be behindhand
6 naturally.”
the play’s wider structure)
“We can’t let these Bernard Shaws and H. G.
7 Wellses do all the talking.”
“so long as we behave ourselves, don’t get into
8 the police court, or start a scandal – eh?”
In this part of the play, Birling is describing Eva
Smith, one of his former factory workers. Firing Eva
Inspector: Because what happened to her then may have determined what happened to her
afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of
events.
Birling: Oh well – put like that, there's something in what you say. Still, I can't accept any 1. How and why does
responsibility. If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we'd had Birling oppose
anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn't it? social/collective
Inspector: Very awkward. responsibility?
Birling: We'd all be in an impossible position, wouldn't we?
Eric: By Jove, yes. And as you were saying, Dad, a man has to look after himself-
2. How does this
Birling: Yes, well, we needn't go into all that.
Inspector: Go into what?
discussion mirror the
Birling: Oh – just before you came – I’d been giving these young men a little good advice. Now beliefs of the
– about this girl, Eva Smith. I remember her quite well now. She was a lively good- looking girl Edwardian British
– country-bred, I fancy – and she'd been working in one of our machine shops for over a year. upper-class and their
A good worker too. In fact, the foreman there told me he was ready to promote her into what opposition to
we call a leading operator – head of a small group of girls. But after they came back from their communism and
holidays that august, they were all rather restless, and they suddenly decided to ask for more socialism?
money. They were averaging about twenty-two and six, which was neither more nor less than
is paid generally in our industry. They wanted the rates raised so that they could average
about twenty-five shillings a week. I refused, of course.
 “Birling’s dismissal of Eva in September 1910 is
the tragic downfall to her character. If this did
not occur, she wouldn’t have fallen into
‘disrepute’. Therefore, the whole debacle is
Birling’s fault as he was the catalyst.”

Key words: Euphemism, egotistical, stock, aristocracy, miner’s strike, social-class, dramatic irony
 How and why does Priestley employ these foil characters (Birling & The Inspector) to
showcase his socialist views?

Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition
Antithesis
Antithesis
Symbolism
Symbolism
Priestley’s
Priestley’s political
political mouthpiece
mouthpiece
Moral
Moral message
message
Omnipotent
Omnipotent
Omniscient
Omniscient
Polemic
Polemic
Didactic
Didactic
Dysphemism
Dysphemism & & Euphemism
Euphemism

Key words: Euphemism, egotistical, stock, aristocracy, miner’s strike, social-class, dramatic irony
 Foresight: Critical Thinking

Did such an epiphany take too long?

Has Britain changed today or do these

authorial messages still need realising
today?

How might the message have only been

realised on a short-term level?

Knowing that Priestley deliberately aimed to shrink the gap

between social-classes and poverty in Edwardian Britain,
how might Dickens have reacted realising that his own
moral message had been “realised” 102 years later?

Key words: Euphemism, egotistical, stock, aristocracy, miner’s strike, social-class, dramatic irony
 Task question answered

1. Priestly presents Mr. Arthur Birling and an ignorant and foolish character with us use of Dramatic Irony. As Mr. Birling was delivering
his speech at his daughter, Sheila's engagement, he mentioned that the titanic, was ''unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable''. As the play
was written in 1945, we know that this bold statement is far from correct. Instantly, Priestley use of dramatic irony not only proves
that it is a mistaken view, but it allows the audience to understand that Arthur Birling is not wise, but in fact a rather stupid and
injudicious character. The titanic was a ship for the rich aristocrats of 1912, those who thought they were the hierarchy of society,
much like what Mr. Birling would like to see himself as. So, for priestly to use the titanic as an example suggests that Birling is also an
arrogant and pompous character. Alternatively, the dramatic quote ''unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable'' is Priestly foreshadowing
the Birlings sinking fate. Mr. Birling is so certain that he knows about everything, yet he is not aware that soon he will have a
mysterious visitor at the door.