English Lit - AIC Themes - Family Life

• What does Gerald and the audience think of the Birlings at the start of the play?

  They’re a “nice well behaved family“ but everyone is yet to discover the murky secrets lurking behind their polite and polished behaviour
• How did the expectations of middle-class families in 1912 have impacts on the play?

  Family members were expected to know their role and be content within their position, parents were in charge of the family and children expected to be obedient and unquestioning (just like the Birlings in the beginning)
• What was well defined for the wealthy middle class?

  ’Gender roles’ which was how men and women were supposed to behave
• What were men expected to do?

  -Work to support their ‘perfect’ family

  -Protect women (especially their wives and daughters from “unpleasant and disturbing things“)
• What were women expected to do?

  -Marry into money so they didn’t have to work

  -Plan parties, visit friends and have children

  -They didn’t do jobs like washing, cooking or cleaning
• Did working class families have different roles to the middle class?

  Yes, especially working class women as many had jobs in factories or worked as servants
• What did the Birlings want everyone to believe?

  That they're a perfect family
• How are gender roles clearly defined?

  The ladies 'withdraw' to let the men talk about 'male' stuff
• How do 3 different characters begin to present tension?

  -Mrs Birling : Keeps correcting her families social mistakes

  -Eric : Laughs out of turn an acts oddly

  -Sheila : Teases Gerald half playfully but also "half serious" about last summer
• How are things presented as not right?

  -The clear hierarchy (a way of ranking people according to status or authority) at the beginning is later destroyed by the Inspector's arrival
• What can Sheila and Eric do without their parents' influence?

  Think for themselves
• What are examples of what Sheila and Eric can do without their parents' influence?

  -Sheila doesn't know whether she'll marry Gerald anymore and needs time to decide for herself

  -Eric says his mother doesn't "understand anything" and that Mr Birlings "not the kind of father a chap could go to" for help

  -The family is in a mess and Sheila and Eric refuse to "go on behaving just as we did". They don't want to pretend anymore, showing the parents no longer have authority over their children