'An Inspector Calls': Mr Birling Character Analysis (animated)

Summary

In this animated analysis by Mr. Bruff, we delve into the character of Mr. Birling from J.B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'. The video highlights Priestley's use of theatrical elements to provide insight into Birling's personality. Through small details, such as his fondness for expensive port, Priestley depicts Birling as someone eager to impress and climb the social ladder. His capitalist ideology and disregard for social responsibility are underscored by his dismissive attitude towards war and economic realities, highlighted by dramatic irony. Despite the unfolding drama and personal revelations, Birling remains unchanged, embodying the critique of the older generation's refusal to adopt more empathetic, socialist ideals embraced by the younger characters.

Highlights

• Mr. Birling's character is introduced as someone who desires wealth and social status through seemingly small details like his choice of expensive port 🍷.
• Priestley uses dramatic irony effectively, as Birling's views on war and economy are proven wrong by historical events 🚢.
• Despite dramatic family events, Birling's concerns center on business and reputation rather than family issues 💼.
• The younger generation in the play is depicted as more impressionable and open to change compared to the older one 🎭.
• Mr. Birling embodies the capitalistic ideology criticized by Priestley for its lack of empathy and social responsibility 👴.

Key Takeaways

• Mr. Birling is a social climber, eager to impress and move up the social ranks 🍷.
• Dramatic irony is used to reveal Mr. Birling's flawed perspectives and ignorance 🚢.
• Priestley critiques capitalism through Mr. Birling’s character and highlights his lack of social responsibility 💼.
• The play contrasts the rigid views of the older generation with the younger's openness to change 🎭.
• Mr. Birling remains unchanged by the end of the play, focusing more on money than family 👴.

Overview

Through the lens of Mr. Birling’s character, Priestley gives us a rich tapestry of societal commentary within 'An Inspector Calls'. His obsession with material wealth is highlighted right from the start, with details such as his choice of expensive port pointing to his desire to be seen as a social equal to the aristocracy. This is cleverly constructed by Priestley’s narrative crafting, setting up Mr. Birling as a representation of capitalist ideals.

What’s fascinating is Priestley's use of dramatic irony to deliver his critique. As the audience, we know that Mr. Birling's confident assertions about war and the economy are laughably inaccurate, making his perspectives look ignorant and outdated. This clever use of irony not only entertains but also underscores a serious point about the delusions held by individuals wrapped up in capitalist endeavors.

Despite the unfolding drama surrounding his family, Mr. Birling remains largely unchanged by the play's end. His fixation on money over the emotional turmoil of his family members paints a stark picture of his moral and ethical standpoint, which serves as a critique of the older generation’s resistance to change and acceptance of social responsibility—as embraced by the younger members of the Birling family.

'An Inspector Calls': Mr Birling Character Analysis (animated) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 in this 1947 Book Theater Outlook JB Priestley wrote in a good theatrical production we're offered a piece of life so shaped and colored and contrived that everything in it down to the smallest detail is significant he continues the shape and color of a room the way the light falls through a window the choice of Furnishings the very relation between a chair and a stall all mean something so in this video we're going to analyze the character of Mr Burling starting by
• 00:30 - 01:00 looking at one of those small details the use of port in the place first line of dialogue Mr Burling says giving us the port edner that's right you ought to like this port Gerald as a matter of fact Finchley told me it's exactly the same port your father gets from him the drinking of Port is significant due to its cost it is something that was associated with the wealthy in society the price alone would have been prohibitive and therefore Out Of Reach for the working class and let's not forget the characters have been drinking champagne before the play begins in her
• 01:00 - 01:30 fascinating book drinking in Victorian and Edwardian Britain Thor Hans States the domestic context of alcohol consumption was governed by rules of social etiquette which both demonstrated and reinforced social class and gender values within middle and upper class homes purchasing serving and consuming good quality wines and spirits were key ways to demonstrate levels of cultural capital and good taste instantly the audience sees Mr Burling as someone who wishes to sh show off to others and
• 01:30 - 02:00 Priestly uses the name dropping of Finchley to illustrate how Berling is Keen to impress his future son-in-law it's important to note that in speaking to Gerald the son of upper class Lord and Lady Croft Burling is actually speaking to his social Superior this imbalance of power has reduced him to name dropping in an attempt to endear himself to a family whose social position is one to which he personally aspires Burling himself has moved from working class to middle class through the success of his business that's why he occasionally has to be told how to
• 02:00 - 02:30 behave socially by Mrs Burling his social Superior as the stage directions put it early in Act One Priestly surprises the audience when Berling delivers a speech to his family during the engagement meal that does not as you would have thought focus on his love for his daughter or his fondness of his future son-in-law instead his speech centers around his opinions on the economic future of the country and the failings of neighboring Nations this speech is an excellent example of Priestly presenting Mr Burling as a flawed misled and pompous man he refers
• 02:30 - 03:00 to himself twice in very similar ways first as a hard-headed businessman and then moments later as a hard-headed practical man of business and this deliberate repetition on priestley's part emphasizes how Mr burling's self-perception is entirely built upon how he sees himself in terms of work and money Mr burling's priorities are not with people or family but with how much wealth he can accumulate this results in a lack of empathy for those he exploits in order to grow his fortune unee as he
• 03:00 - 03:30 himself puts it a man has to make his own way has to look after himself Mr Berling can be seen to represent the ideology of capitalism a system where business is privately owned for the sole purpose of making profit of course to make this profit business owners have to keep labor costs down as Berling explains as we go on to learn burling's capitalist agenda will be one of the causes of Eva Smith's death burling's Viewpoint will be directly contrasted by the message soon to be delivered by inspector ghoul who Berling himself will
• 03:30 - 04:00 dismiss as being probably a socialist Priestly uses an almost ridiculous amount of dramatic irony to criticize the character of Mr Berling dramatic irony is where the audience knows something the character on stage does not given that the play was set in 1912 but first performed in 1945 the audience knows that much of what Mr Burling asserts in the plays opening moments is simply incorrect his confidence that the Germans don't want war for example is doubly wrong given that not one but two world wars would in fact to take place
• 04:00 - 04:30 in the coming years like many others in the early 1900s Mr Berling claims the idea of war is nonsense and Fiddlesticks his dismissive tone reveals how confident he is in his ideas his error filled predictions about war economic growth and the Titanic being absolutely Unsinkable do not simply make the character seem ill-informed and ridiculous no the errors about war the economy and the Titanic mean that when we hear Mr burling's views on the treatment of his own employees and on on business we consider his opinions on
• 04:30 - 05:00 these matters to be just as incorrect priestley's effective use of dramatic irony here means Mr burling's opinions are instantly devalued structurally these examples of dramatic irony occur so early on in the play even before the arrival of the inspector to make it very clear that Mr Burling and everything he stands for is wrong initial impressions of Mr Burling are not good but that can also be said of other characters for example see my video on Sheila however what is so noticeable about Mr Burling
• 05:00 - 05:30 is how he ends the play in the same manner in which he started for example near the end of the play Burling discovers that his son Eric is an alcoholic who's stolen money from the office and impregnated Eva Smith it might therefore be surprising to the audience that the majority of his dialogue with Eric focuses solely on recovering his lost money Eric's slight against him and the impact upon his business causes Mr Berlin conation not the death of his grandchild or the alcoholism of his son Priestly employs contrast between the older and younger
• 05:30 - 06:00 generations to make a point about capitalism and socialism unlike his children Mr Burling fails to accept responsibility for the death of Eva Smith telling Eric there's every excuse for what both your mother and I did Burling fails to learn the inspector and priestley's lesson of social responsibility reinforcing the inspector's earlier comments about how it is the young ones who are more impressionable Priestly is criticizing the behavior of the older generation implying that they are fixed in their ways in cont the younger generation of
• 06:00 - 06:30 the biring family are open to new socialist ideas everything I go through in this video series can be found in the second updated edition of Mr Bru's guy to An Inspector Calls and you can pick up a copy through following the links in the description if you found this video useful please do give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel