Generations Young vd Old

• Generations


  Young vs Old
• The Birling family is split into two generations: the parents and the children
• Generational divide


  Refers to the relationship between a parent and their child in a familial context, as well as how life experiences and the era you grow up in affects your morals and political identity
• There is a clear distinction between how the children react to the Inspector's visit and how the parents react
• The way each generation views the other is a key aspect of the family's dynamic
• Gerald is an outlier as he belongs to an older, landed family which makes him ultimately sympathise with the parents
• Generational divide in Britain in 1945

  It was possibly the most severe it had ever been, with those who had fought in the World Wars, those who had been too young to fight, and those who had been too old to fight
• Lost Generation


  Those born between 1883 and 1900 who reached adulthood during or just after the end of the First World War, and found living in the new postwar era difficult
• When the play is set, the War hadn't happened yet, so Eric and Sheila would also be members of the Lost Generation
• Older generation


  • Stuck in their old ways, used to their comforts and conservative values, refuse to be self-aware or accept responsibility, caring only for themselves
• Younger generation


  • Curious and compassionate, quick to rectify their ignorance
• Priestley suggests the younger generations should learn from the mistakes of their elders in order to create a more peaceful and progressive future for Britain
• Structure and form are important to this theme because of how Priestley uses them to emphasise the divide between the generations
• Priestley makes each generation a symbol of a different outlook and political orientation
• At the beginning of the play, the family appears to be a unified front, but the profound effect of the Inspector is to split the family permanently down generational lines
• Priestley suggests society is at a crossroads or tipping point, where change has to happen and a choice has to be made
• Eric and Sheila undergo character arcs, starting with an immature desire to follow their parents and ending with a mature understanding of the real world
• Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, and Gerald are all prepared to continue in the same way once the Inspector has left, suggesting an incredible level of delusion
• The cyclical structure of the play could allude to the two World Wars, evoking the same idea of "pretend[ing] all over again"
• Mr Birling


  A symbol of the older generation's power and influence in society, resistant to criticism, believes his life experiences make him wise and infallible, thinks poorly of the younger generation
• Mr Birling as a teacher

  He thinks of himself as a teacher to the younger generations because of his age and experience, wants to have an impact on them and have them be his disciples
• Priestley shows how the older generation were arrogant and controlling, as they wanted to influence the younger generation
• Priestley uses the dramatic irony in Mr Birling's claims to express how deluded the ego of the older generations was, and how arrogance and overconfidence caused disasters as they refused to see them coming
• Priestley presents Mr Birling's critical, patronising view of the younger generations to show how the older generations struggled to accept the changes of modern life
• Priestley uses Mr Birling's businessman persona to associate the older generations with selfishness and right-wing conservatism
• Mrs Birling


  Used to explore the older generations' denial and resistance to change, a very conservative, traditional character who is unrepentant about her prejudices
• Priestley suggests the older generations prioritised social conduct over genuine interaction, encouraging repression and secrecy
• Priestley suggests the older generations did not trust the younger generations to act in an appropriate manner, and their lives were dictated by arbitrary rules and a desire to appear sophisticated, rather than living freely
• Mrs Birling doesn't listen to the opinions of others which reinforces the idea that the older generations are deliberately ignorant and obstinate
• Squiffy


  Slang term
• Mrs Birling uses the term "squiffy"


  Suggests she disapproves of modern culture and thinks "the things [...] girls pick up these days" are rude and unladylike, threatening the tradition of femininity
• Priestley suggests the older generations did not trust the younger generations to act in an appropriate manner
• Lives of the older generations

  • Dictated by arbitrary rules and a desire to appear sophisticated, rather than living freely
  • These values isolated and deterred others
• Mrs Birling


  • Doesn't listen to the opinions of others
  • Deliberately ignorant and obstinate (stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion)
• When Sheila warns Mrs Birling about "beginning all wrong"


  Mrs Birling replies "I don't know what you're talking about"
• When Sheila talks about not building a "wall"


  Mrs Birling declares "I don't understand you"
• Repetition of "don't"


  • Suggests the older generations were incapable of entertaining the suggestions of others
• Mrs Birling tells the Inspector "I don't understand you, Inspector"


  Claims "You have no power to make me change my mind"
• Mrs Birling's stubbornness


  • Not just reserved for the younger generations
  • She rejects any view that opposes her own
• Mrs Birling describes Eva introducing herself as "Mrs Birling"


  "simply a piece of gross impertinence - quite deliberate"