Mr Birling is the head of the Birling household. He is described in the play as a “heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties but rather provincial in his speech”. He has made his own way in life, and has an inflated opinion of himself and his social class; but his less comfortable upbringing ensures that he has less social nous than either his wife or Gerald; He makes a few social fax paus in the play, for example, his praise for the cook’s quality of cooking. However, he does acknowledge almost sycophantically that he is not of as high a rank as the Gerald and his parents, Lord and Lady Croft, as well as admitting that “Crofts Limited are both older and bigger than Birling and Company”. He also tries to impress Gerald by boasting about the possibility of his receiving a k