mrs b

• Who is Mrs Birling married to?

  Mr Birling
• Who are the children of Mrs Birling?

  Eric and Sheila
• What public role does Mrs Birling hold?

  She sits on the council for charity organisations
• How does Priestley use Mrs Birling as a symbol?

  To represent upper-class hypocrisy and need for welfare
• How is Mrs Birling described in the stage directions?

  As "about fifty, a rather cold woman"
• What does Mrs Birling's cold nature reveal about her character?

  Her unsympathetic and individualistic nature
• What does Mrs Birling perceive about the working classes?

  She sees them as inferior
• How does Priestley depict domestic life in the early 20th Century?

  As unequal between men and women
• What convention does Mrs Birling adhere to after dinner?

  She goes to the drawing room
• How does Mrs Birling initiate her exit from the dining room?

  By announcing it's time for her and Sheila to leave
• What does Mrs Birling's commitment to the patriarchal status quo indicate?

  Her complicity in her own oppression
• How does Mrs Birling view marriage?

  As a means for financial security and social status
• How does Mrs Birling react to Gerald's affair?

  She shows indifference towards it
• What does Priestley imply about Mrs Birling's cold nature?

  It is irrational and unnatural
• How does Mrs Birling respond to Sheila's distress over Eva's suicide?

  She is unsympathetic
• What does Mrs Birling believe about the nature of marriage?

  It is a transaction
• How does Gerald cover up his affair?

  By saying he’s "busy at the works"
• What does Mrs Birling believe about men's sexual desires?

  They should be accepted and satisfied
• How does Mrs Birling view Eva's suicide?

  As Eva's own fault
• What is Mrs Birling's view on working-class women and prostitution?

  She believes they choose it voluntarily
• How does Mrs Birling react to the Inspector's message of collective responsibility?

  She rejects it
• What does Mrs Birling believe about class inequalities and Eva's death?

  They did not cause her death
• How does Mrs Birling perceive displays of emotion?

  As a sign of weakness
• How does Mrs Birling dismiss Sheila's emotional response?

  By calling her "hysterical child"
• What does the term "hysteria" historically signify in relation to women?

  Control over women and power prevention
• How does Mrs Birling respond to Sheila's socialist views?

  She opposes them
• What does Mrs Birling's use of ad hominem attacks indicate?

  Her lack of satisfactory counter-arguments
• How does Gerald align himself with Mrs Birling's views?

  By attacking Sheila for being "hysterical"
• What does Mrs Birling symbolize in relation to the suffrage movement?

  Resistance to the movement
• How does Mrs Birling view the suffrage movement?

  As undermining traditional gender roles
• What does Mrs Birling believe about women's roles in society?

  They should be moral and domestic
• How does Mrs Birling's privilege affect her views on society?

  She has no interest in changing it
• How does Priestley depict Mrs Birling's marriage?

  As a marriage of convenience
• What does Mrs Birling's criticism of Mr Birling reveal?

  Her shame of his lower-class origins
• How does Priestley describe the Birling household?

  As not feeling "cosy or homelike"
• How does Sheila's character evolve throughout the play?

  She rejects her mother's manipulation
• How does Sheila's vocabulary reflect her mother's influence?

  She uses the adjective "impertinent"
• What change occurs in Sheila's attitude towards the word "impertinent"?

  She calls it "such a silly word"
• How does Priestley contrast Sheila and Mrs Birling?

  To highlight generational differences
• What does Mrs Birling do to deflect blame for Eva's death?

  She blames her son, Eric