Mrs Birling

• Mrs Birling

  Mrs Birling is a stereotypical, upper-class pre-war woman with capitalist views.
• Mrs Birling’s Role

  Although Mrs Birling is of a higher class than her husband, she is submissive and obeys him.
• Mrs Birling is in charge of the household and of teaching Sheila how to be a good-mannered young lady who understands pre-war etiquette perfectly.
• Attitude

  Mrs Birling is concerned about her reputation, social status and appearance. Her priorities are to keep an unblemished reputation and dress well so as to show off her husband’s wealth.
• Mrs Birling shares her husband’s capitalist ideas about people only looking after themselves – she is uninterested in how her actions affect others.
• Mrs Birling’s connection to Eva Smith

  When a pregnant Eva approached the Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation for financial help, Mrs Birling (who chaired the committee) took a disliking to her and refused to give her any help.
• What's Mrs Birling concerned about above all?

  • Reputation
  • Social Status
  • Appearance
• Characterisation

  Priestley highlights Mrs Birling as cold-hearted and unlikable throughout the play. Right from the start, she scolds Mr Birling for a small social error.
• Symbolism

  Priestley uses Mrs Birling to really bring out the uncaring, selfish, self-centred nature of the upper classes in society.
• Mrs Birling refuses to even cooperate with a police detective, showing that she feels she is above the law – instead, she challenges him and calls him "impertinent" for doing his job.
• Who does Mrs Birling scold for making a small social error?

  Mr Birling
• What does Mrs Birling call Inspector Goole when she challenges him?

  Impertinent
• Unwilling to change

  Although Mrs Birling comes to accept her children’s faults by the end, Mrs Birling refuses to accept that she played any role in Eva Smith’s death.
• Mrs Birling does not care at all about the lives of the lower classes, and feels that Eva’s misfortunes were her own fault. 

  By the end of the play, Mrs Birling has also not changed at all. She wants to dismiss the whole evening.
• Purpose


  Priestley uses Mrs Birling to highlight serious social issues in British society – capitalism bred people who did not care for anyone but themselves, and who saw lower-class people as less than human.
• Priestley presents Mrs Birling as a villain to encourage the audience to understand the horrible consequences of a capitalist society – he knew that social attitudes needed to change for society to become fairer and more caring.
• Why does Priestley present Mrs Birling as a villain?

  To show the horrible consequences of a capitalist society
• Interactions with Inspector Goole

  • She is the only character to stay completely unaffected by Inspector Goole’s revelations – she shows no emotion about Eva until she learns about Eric’s involvement.
  • Mrs Birling also tries to intimidate Inspector Goole into leaving and lies to him outright. 
  • Later in the play, she tries to deny truths that she doesn’t want to believe because they tarnish (ruin) the perfect image of the family (such as Eric’s drinking and Gerald’s affair with Eva).
• Mrs Birling Quotes

  • Act 1 - ‘I don’t think you ought to talk business on an occasion like this.’
  • Act 2 - ‘It would be much better if Sheila didn’t listen to this story at all.’
  • Act 3 - ‘I was the only one who didn’t give in to him.
• Act 1 - ‘I don’t think you ought to talk business on an occasion like this.’ — Analysis

  Etiquette 

  • Mrs Birling, being of a higher social class, understands the rules of pre-war etiquette (custom behaviour) very well. 
  • She scolds (tells off) her husband for discussing business at the dinner table, when they are celebrating and her daughter is present
• ‘I dont think you ought to… cont. Analysis

  Society and reputation

  • Mrs Birling is obsessed with how she and her family are perceived by others – she does not want to risk Gerald thinking that they do not know how to behave properly in society because this could damage the Birlings’ reputation.
• ‘I don’t think you ought to…’ cont. 2 Analysis 


  Women

  • She also disapproves of Mr Birling mentioning business matters in front of Sheila. 
  • This is because it was not considered appropriate to discuss business with women, who were thought to be too fragile, unintelligent and emotionally unstable to take part in such conversations.