Mrs birling

• “You’ll realise that men…. Spend nearly all their time on their business” 


  “Their business”- double meaning, she may know that men like Gerald may be promiscuous as they visit their mistresses in their spare “time”

  separate spheres- men and women were divided and spent their day together only coming together at meal times
• “You’ll have to get used to that, just as I had”

  • generational trauma
  • this treatment has been perpetuated for many years perhaps her mother told her the same thing
  • perhaps this is why Mrs birling looks down on women “girls of that class” as she has been taught to do so
  • this cycle is broken by Sheila as she learns the inspector’s message.
• “I’m sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for it at all”

  • She is dual-self as she pretends to care about Eva smiths death but then shows her true self when she says “but I accept no blame for it at all”
  • she is pious and vain as she turns Eva away because she was pregnant and not married.
  • priestley presents that upper class women like Mrs birling hold themselves up in higher regard as they believe they’re better than everyone else, this leads to detrimental consequences (suicide)
• “Girls of that class”

  • Dismisses Eva
  • she is born into upper class “social superior to her husband”
  • priestley makes her a horrible character to attack the upper class who have been around for centuries as they perpetuate the discrimination against the lower class
  • she represents pride, and builds a walls between herself and everyone else
• “I don’t believe it, I won’t believe it”


  She refuses to take responsibility

  she will hold onto her prejudicial beliefs against the lower class despite facts being presented to her

  • she is willingly blind- this may be because the patriarchal society has indoctrinated this into her, she is a victim of the patriarchal society
  • this has forced her to put away the truth in order to be happy-priestley is criticising the patriarchal society for normalising this.
• Structure

  Sybil birling is kept till last as she is the last resort for Eva to turn to

  she is the safety net that society should provided the poor

  what the welfare state should be