Mrs Birling

• Mrs Birling - [Responsibility] - "A piece of gross impertinence"

  • Refers to Eva's honest tale of woe with the adjective "impertinence" which reveals how she believes she is absolved of all responsibility due to this apparent disrespect
• Mrs Birling - [Responsibility] - "She had only herself to blame"

  • Takes the view that suicide is a conscious choice and therefore Eva can only blame herself for taking her own life
• Mrs Birling - [Responsibility] - "I did nothing i'm ashamed of" // "i did my duty"

  • demonstrates the true extent of Mrs Birling's "cold" nature as despite Eva's death Mrs Birling does not regret her denial of aid to Eva
  • Use of the noun "duty" exposes Mrs Birling's perception of duty as limited to a capitalist social duty of keeping the rich people rich and the poor people poor
  • In doing so, she neglects her moral duty to provide assistance to those most in need
• Mrs Birling - [Responsibility] - "First I blame the girl herself . Secondly , I blame the young man"

  • Portrays Mrs Birling as unable to accept any responsibility as she deflects blame onto Eric inadvertently
  • Yet, her hypocrisy is further revealed when she realises, and states "I didn't know", implying that she would not have placed the blame on her son for the same action
  • Repetition of "I blame" shows that she thinks that she decides who's at fault
• Mrs Birling - [Responsibility] - "He'd be entirely responsible ... Compelled to confess in public his responsibility"

  • Mrs Birling's double standards are laid bare by Priestley when she discovers who the father is; the public confession of Eric would tarnish the reputation of the Birling family name
  • She is not consistent with her morals when it is her reputation at stake
• Mrs Birling - [Pride] - "Don't contradict me like that"

  • Construct of the literal embodiment of conservatism and resistant to change. By contrast, Sheila is representative of the younger generation who embrace radical change and the need for socialism
  • Harsh statement with consonance of "t"
• Mrs Birling - [Pride] - "A trifle impertinent"

  • Attempts to convey a demand of respect through her formal and complex vocabulary, evidenced by her accusing the inspector as being "a trifle impertinent"
• Mrs Birling - [Pride] - "prominent member of the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation"

  • implies that Mrs Birling's role is not held out of care or compassion for the poor but as a way to gain influence and statues
  • Self professed "prominent" status
• Mrs Birling - [Pride] - "[with dignity] We've done a great deal of useful work helping deserving cases"

  • Emphasis on the adjective "deserving" reveals her joy in her ability to decide the outcome of young women's lives - playing God - a reflection of the power of the upper classes
  • stage direction of "with dignity"
• Mrs Birling - [Pride] - "One of the things that prejudiced me against her case"

  • Mrs Birling sees her treatment of Eva as valid, unashamedly saying that Eva's 'impertinence' in claiming to be 'Mrs Birling' as 'one of the things that prejudiced me against her'. This demonstrates that those living in poverty have no way to escape. Eva was right and correct and still had no hope. - as they cannot challenge their exploitation.
• Mrs Birling - [Pride] - "The rude way he spoke ... it was quite extraordinary"

  • Use of the adjective "rude" in this exclamation reveals Mrs Birling's perception of the Inspector as disrespectful. In doing so, she attempts to undermine his authority, not validating his argument, meaning that they.
• Mrs Birling - [Pride] - "What business is it of yours?"

  • Rhetorical question is used as evidence of Mrs Birling's sense of superiority. This is clear as the Inspector's Job is to "ask questions" and therefore it is "his business"
• Mrs Birling - [Class] - "[Her husband's social superior]"

  • Mrs Birling is, as Priestley describes her in the stage directions, her husband's social superior. Therefore, her upper class social etiquette and mannerisms are not natural to Mr Birling and we see that this causes embarrassment to Mrs Birling; image, the way they are perceived by others, is everything
• Mrs Birling - [Class] - "Arthur, you're not supposed to say such things"

  • Sibilance helps to convey her hissing/discontent as she admonishes Mr Birling when he compliments his own chef, as she desires to maintain and image of not associating with, and almost ignoring the existence of lower-class people
• Mrs Birling - [Class] - "Disgusting affair"

  • Critical of Gerald's affair as a result of its inter-class nature, rather than because of his disloyalty to Sheila
• Mrs Birling - [Class] - "girls of that class"

  • This makes it clear that the rejection of Eva's case was purely based on prejudice. Determiner "that" demonstrates contempt of the working class and is further evidence of how deep-rooted the class divide was in 20th century Britain
• Mrs Birling - [Empathy] - "[A rather cold woman]"

  • would have been perceived as an oxymoron at the time. Contemporary societal norms dictated that women were meant to be loving, maternal and emotional. Therefore, describing Mrs Birling as emotionally "cold" is perhaps an attempt by Priestley to convey that such a detached attitude towards suffering is unnatural
• Mrs Birling - [Empathy] - "You'll have to get used to that , just as i had"

  • No comfort, she feels insecure about Gerald's absence instead upholding patriarchal norms by telling her to "get used to that" feeling - somewhat euphemised
  • This is a demonstration of a societal double standard; contemporary women shunned if they did not abstain from sex outside marriage , while men were not condemned for doing so.