Arthur Birling
wealthy factory owner
respectable middle-class life, in an industrial city
Quotes
"hard-header, practical man of business"
Description
heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech
his upbringing was not as grand as the lifestyle he now has
"good dinner too, Sybil. tell cook from me."
by Mrs Birling, considered to be in bad taste.
lacking appropriate background
//to Gerald// "Lady Croft... feels you might have done better for yourself socially"
Opinion of himself
He might get a knighthood
He was a magistrate
Appearance of respectability matters
his importance has been recognized
"a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own"
he maintains the attitude throughout the play
adamant that he bears no responsibility for Eva's decision to commit suicide
believes that his duty is to keep labour costs down and not to consider the needs of his workers
tries to intimidate the inspector, with his importance.
''Alderman''
''Lord Mayor''
''Magistrate''
''on the bench''
old friend of the chief constable, and they play golf together
designed to influence the inspector's treatment towards the family in its favour
wants to avoid scandal
not affected by death of Eva Smith, but by the fact that his son has been stealing funds from the business
motivated by material things
Audience views
discredited
when he speaks about war or Titanic, the audience knows he's wrong and applies that to his views on socialism
Others' opinions
Eric finds him unapproachable
adds to the unsympathetic view of him
"But the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you'd think everybody has to look after somebody else as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense."
Development.
At the end of the play, he had not developed at all, and remained selfish throughout.