Life for a woman

• "I hate those hard eyed, dough faced women" Eric, Act 2

  Shows that women were often only judged and valued based on their appearance. By doing this, Priestley shows Gerald as an example for sexism. "Hates" expresses the depth and severity of his emotions of women in society. "Those" refers to the entire lower class of women and shows that the upper class men have very stereotypical beliefs about them all. It's potentially ironic given that capitalists exploit women in such a immense way
• "I think Sheila and I had better go into the drawing-room and leave you men-" Mrs Birling, Act 1

  By volunteering to allow the men to talk alone, it shows Sybil was very accepting of the views at the time. Shows how many felt women had now place discussing important matters such as business and politics. Edwardian society felt women to be fragile, intellectually incapable and emotionally unstable. Suggests Mrs Birling wanted to physically separate the two genders, just like society does.
• "She'd had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go." Mr Birling, Act 1

  Could represent society's view the women should be subservient and opinionated. Priestley may have raised this because he thought it was an important societal topic and needed to be changed. The dashes make his sentence seem fragmented which further highlights the nonsensical nature of his logic. Implied that because she was a woman, Eva's voice wasn't valued or acknowledged. Birling may have felt threatened by Eva and didn't want to damage his reputation.
• "I did keep a girl last summer and I'm sorry" Gerald, Act 3

  "Girl" is a childish term of address and could suggest that women are seen in the same category as children (infantalised). Generally, women are made to seem powerless, young and naive. The use of "keep" implies a misogynistic view and deep rooted derogatory nature. Suggests women were merely property to a man, and had no other value within society. Shows he's more concerned about his reputation as an upper class man, rather than maintaining a relationship with Sheila
• Women are represented through all social classes and often portrayed through interactions with men. They are governed strongly by their class - either used or an ornament