Mrs Birling

• MRS BIRLING IS:


  hypocritical

  snobbish

  oblivious to the suffering of working class

  haughty nature of upper class

  narrow minded views

  not open to change

  lack of empathy

  contradicts herself to benefit her and her family

  cares about how society views her
• ‘Arthur, you’re not supposed to say such things’


  -Mrs Birling embarrassed that her husband is below her in social ranking so is strict with rules to make him seem respectable and perfect to others to perhaps make him blend in-'supposed' implies that someone regulates and tells them what they are permitted to say -> higher authority who holds power over people but is not a physical person
• ‘Arthur, you’re not supposed to say such things’


  -Mrs Birling reminding husband of these rules-> shows she is his social superior-> ironic as in that society men usually hold status and superior titles-Mrs Birling jostling with husband for more power in relationship highlights toxic nature in relationship and instability-Highlight unstable marriage as she is undermining his authority"Arthur"-> attempt to assert dominance over him
• (To Sheila) "You’ll have to get used to that, just as I had"


  Edwardian women expected to follow husbands interests and wishes

  -Have no say in their life

  -Have to get used to being treated second best as husband's job and business comes priority and is valued more than their wives
• (To Sheila) “When you’re married, you’ll realise that men with important work to do


  -'you'll realise' -> patronising tone shows Mrs Birling is undermining Sheila's intelligence, reinforcing the idea of -Mrs Birling's cold and rather snobbish tone to even her children

  -Sheila is not mature enough to comprehend adulthood demands
• " have to spend all their time and energy on their business."- to sheila

  -'all of the time' reveals cold and distant relationships of society and prioritise status over family

  -Reinforcing + reminding she will constantly be like this and no escape

  -Mrs B assuming capitalist way of life will continue for next generation

  -male dominance, only thing that matters, take precedence in family's life
• “Girls of that class”

  -no respect for them and has an infantilising tone -> ideas of immaturity, vulnerability, naivety

  -Mrs B believes lower class are irresponsible and incapable of making responsible choices and decisions
• “Girls of that class”

  -Verb ‘girls’ shows Mrs B believes lower class are unaware of real world and social hierarchy and how superior upper class are to lower class

  -Verb infantilises them and creates whimsical image of a fairytale childhood with an idealistic world where everything is good + angelic
• “Girls of that class”


  -Whereas Priestley trying to show that upper classes are not aware of real world whereas lower class face reality and life’s problems everyday and endure suffering off the backs of the upper classes actions and arrogance
• “Girls of that class”


  • girls as one group with no individuality, believes they are not worthy of their individual title and unique identity because they belong to the lower class
  • Result of her arrogance driven by capitalist mindset
• “Girls of that class”

  -Believes that they are commodities, reducing their human

  -Incompetent to see lower class women as equal to her as she is blinded by prestige, as they are all going through hardships

  -Condescending, dismissive tone as she immediately views herself far superior to them

  -dreading thinking of it, let alone her family being associated with it
• ‘(On Eric’s drinking) “He’s only a boy”


  -Boy is juxtaposing as Eric is a man, so noun connotes youth, lack of maturity and responsibility

  -Nurturing and protecting Eric -> wants him to stay young as she understands difficulties of adult world

  -Eric compared to Arthur, who is a 'self-made man' and grew up in a different environment to

  -Eric where he had to work hard, be resilient and determined to achieve his goals whereas Eric is given more opportunities and is handed everything on a plate
• ‘(On Eric’s drinking) “He’s only a boy”


  -Mrs birling thinks his attitude will change when he grows older

  -Failing to take responsibility for her son and to teach him better values and good work ethic

  -Boy makes think of binary opposite of girl, highlights Mrs B imbalanced views on expectations of boys and girl (boys allowed to do what they want with no consequences, girls need to be reserved and careful how they present themselves)
• ‘(On Eric’s drinking) “He’s only a boy”

  -Disempowering Eric, making him seem innocent + infantilising him to show Inspector he wasn't aware of actions and was just an accident

  -upper class attempt to absolve themselves from situations that could tarnish their reputation
• “I blame the young man. He ought to be dealt with very severely”


  • blindsided Eric's personal struggles, proving she wasn't close or supportive when her children when young as a mother should know when their child isn't okay

  -Believes her family so superior to everyone else that it would be ridiculous for someone of her blood line to have done this
• “I blame the young man. He ought to be dealt with very severely”


  -Assuming a working class member would be responsible

  -Absolves herself from all blame, refusing to take responsibility

  -Mrs Birling=vehicle showing upper class member believe are all so superior to everyone, don't feel need to be sympathetic 
• “I blame the young man. He ought to be dealt with very severely”


  -Eagerly judging and blaming working class for immoral behaviour but readily excuse themselves and conceal their own sins

  -Lack of empathy for working class and their strife

  -Wealth and privileged life has afforded sheltered life

  -Ignorance and complacency resulted in tendency to make arrogant, narrowmindedjudgements on lives of less fortunate

  -Adheres to attitudes of patriarchy, condemning social outcasts instead of helping them, which she claims she does
• “I did nothing I’m ashamed of”


  -Incapable of showing emotion to lower classes'ashamed' denotes reluctance to accept guilt through fear of judgement

  -swiftness and agitated tone shows she trying to persuade the Inspector she isn't to blame

  -Reluctance presents Mrs B as stubborn, cold woman who is looking out for herself -> implies she struggles to see her own wrongdoings and sees as minor blunders
• “I did nothing I’m ashamed of”


  -Exploits Mrs B true colours as selfish, cold, prejudice woman instead of charitable, welcoming, understanding women she perceived to be

  -Class divide entrenched in her so cant relate to lower class

  -"nothing" ->refused to take responsibility for actions as admissions could potentially damage reputation of charitable woman

  -Admitting she hasn't done anything that could incriminate her or that she will regret later
• “I did nothing I’m ashamed of”


  -Nothing lit up in her mind that any of her actions were wrong or immoral, she was just doing what any typical Edwardian mother would do-she has done something immoral but believes that is "nothing" that would incriminate or condemn her in society eyes, showing how she believe she is always right and actions imply Mrs B is self centered, stubborn woman reflective of upper class women attitudes
• “She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl of her position”


  -'claiming' suggest Mrs B believes Eva's 'scruple' were untrue and pretentious given that she is a single working class girls who is pregnant outside wedlock

  -Mrs B cannot imagine women in this situation, refusing to take money from someone as she views them as desperate

  -Attitude reflective of wider gender inequality inherent in society , women were vulnerable and powerless, being friendless and unemployed
• “She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl of her position”


  -Mrs B appears to be of the view that 'fine feelings and scruples' are exclusive to wealthy as poor can't afford to have them and wish their life away

  -Views working class as immoral and will do whatever it takes to survive

  -Her bias makes her unable to sympthasise or believe Daisy's story could be true

  -She has stereotypical and prejudiced view of how working class behave 'elaborate fine feelings' are trait of upper class whilst poor as seen as opportunistic, unfeeling and callous
• “She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl of her position”


  • -Priestley highlighting irony in her words as she is actually the unfeeling and callous in their interaction
  • Not able to feel sympathy to someone of same gender going through hardships showing effects of social classes on someone who is at the top