A I C - gender Flashcards
(Act 1, pg. 3)
“you’ll realise that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. You’ll have to get used to that”
* The phrase ‘men with important work to do’ implies that women do not have important work to do - Establishes that Mrs Birling accepts stereotypical and traditional gender roles
* when she advises her daughter that ‘You’ll have to get used to that’ Mrs Birling shows her belief that women should be treated inferior to men, and this is the way it should be in the future. This reinforces the acceptance of traditional gender roles is as she is trying to force the same stance onto Sheila.
Act 1, pg. 9)
“Eric: Mother says we mustn’t stay too long. But I don’t think it matters. I left ‘em talking about clothes again… Women are potty about ‘em.”
* Eric’s dialogue here is derisive – it implies that their topic of conversation is simple and inconsequential.
* the first sentence expresses a command given by a female character which Eric immediately negates with his second sentence – ‘but I don’t think it matters’ this dismissive attitude suggests that Eric thinks that’s women have little to no authority and are secondary to men
* The final sentence ‘women are potty about ‘em’ makes it clear that he thinks women are mad in their obsession with clothes. This effect is created by the informal adjective ‘potty’.
* using the general term ‘women’ suggests that he thinks that all women are the same – highlights the sexist nature of men at the time.
(Act 2 pg 27)
Gerald says he believes that “young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things”.
* Implies his belief that young women are incapable of looking after themselves – exhibits a sexist or patronizing view.
* Modal verb ‘ought to’ highlights how this view was common and seemed instinctively right to many of the older generation at the time - aligns his views with the older generation of Mr and Mrs Birling.
(Act 2, pg. 48)
Mrs Birling describes Sheila as “a hysterical child”.
The adjective ‘hysterical’ was a word used back then to describe a weakness of femininity and was used by men when women weren’t behaving the way that they wanted them to. Priestley is showing that women would also use misogynistic language to undermine other women and people of a lower social standing.
(Act 3, pg. 52)
Eric describes himself as being in ‘that state where a chap easily turns nasty’.
Euphemistic language and the use of the determiner ‘that’ shows that his rape of Eva only needs to be implied because the occurrence is some common
This behaviour is normalised by gender roles in a patriarchal society, and violent masculinity is treated as natural and acceptable.
(Act 3, pg. 56)
“Inspector: Just used her for the end of a stupid drunken evening, as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person.”
- the inspector’s dialogue is quite disdainful - two adjectives ‘stupid’ and ‘drunken’ create the critical tone in his dialogue - implies that the inspector (the most socialist and caring character in the play) disapproves of the predatory stance that men adopt when viewing women.
- The simile ‘as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person.’ mocks Eric’s mistreatment of Eva – comparative phrase ‘as if’ mocks the male Birling’s male mistreatment of female characters - implies deliberate rejection of traditional sexist views of the time. The pauses implied by the commas in the list ‘an animal, a thing, not a person’ adds to the impact of his statement.
(Act 3, pg. 54)
Eric describes his father as ‘Not the kind of father a chap could go to.’
Shows that Mr Birling’s toxic masculinity and emotional detachment has distanced the two of them from each other. Priestley highlights how pressures of masculinity cause rifts in society.
The modal verb ‘could’ implies that going to his father for help wasn’t an option which highlights Eric’s strained relationship with his father – generational divide.
essay plan
Mrs Birling opinion on gender
* (Act 1, pg. 3) - “you’ll realise that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. You’ll have to get used to that just as I had”
Younger generation men opinion on gender roles
- (Act 1, pg. 9) - “Eric: Mother says we mustn’t stay too long. But I don’t think it matters. I left ‘em talking about clothes again… Women are potty about ‘em.”
- (Act 2 pg 27) - Gerald says he believes that “young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things”.
Mrs Birling undermining sheila
- (Act 2, pg. 48) - Mrs Birling describes Sheila as “a hysterical child”.
Eric’s Mistreatment of Eva
- (Act 3, pg. 52) - Eric describes himself as being in ‘that state where a chap easily turns nasty’
- (Act 3, pg. 56) - “Inspector: Just used her for the end of a stupid drunken evening, as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person.”
rift between Eric and Father - masculinity
- (Act 3, pg. 54) - Eric describes his father as ‘Not the kind of father a chap could go to.’
