Mrs Birling

• Mrs. Birling


  • Bossy and controlling
  • Obsessed with actions that might give a bad impression
  • Discomfort at having a police inspector refuse to obey her
  • Resistant to confessing her connection to Eva Smith
• Mrs. Birling's behavior


  Priestley uses it to criticize the inequalities of the class system evident within Edwardian society
• Priestley establishes Mrs. Birling as bossy and controlling at the start of the play in order to set up the inevitable conflict with Inspector Goole when he arrives in Act Two
• Mrs. Birling complains that Inspector Goole's comments are a trifle impertinent and in Act Three she describes his questioning as peculiar and offensive
• Mrs. Birling is clearly used to having her own way and cannot understand why she's unable to order the police inspector around
• Priestley uses Mrs. Birling's discomfort to having a police inspector refused to obey her as an example of the wealthy middle and upper-class's complacency when it comes to the law
• Mr. and Mrs. Birling clearly see themselves as above the law and they struggle when faced with someone who is moral and insisting that justice is served
• Priestley uses Mrs. Birling as a dramatic device to develop tension, as she is the most resistant to confess her connection to Eva Smith
• Priestley presents Mrs. Birling as an example of how petty and self-centered or egocentric some people can be when they themselves live easy and comfortable lives whilst others are struggling to eat
• Priestley uses the charity committee, who were swayed by Mrs. Birling's prejudice, to demonstrate how fallible this system was in 1912 when there was no NHS, no benefit system and no access to contraception
• Mrs. Birling's low opinion of the working class and her involvement in the charity committee suggests her ulterior motive is more about how it looks to wield power rather than a desire to help people
• The Birley family's use of domestic staff, like Edna, highlights the old ways of doing things where working-class women were made to work in difficult conditions for very little money
• Priestley's inclusion of Edna and Mrs. Birling ordering her about emphasizes how out-of-date the Birleys are and how archaic their thinking is
• The notion of being privileged runs through the play, with characters who are apparently unaware of their privilege taking advantage of others who are less privileged than themselves
• Priestley questions the morality of Edwardian society through his depiction of a privileged family and their attitudes towards others who are less fortunate than themselves