an inspector calls - mrs birling Flashcards
“mrs birling” “simply a piece of gross impertinence - quite deliberate” - mrs birling - act 2
preislty revelas mrs birlings prejudices , specifically classism , when reacting to eva coming to her charity for help.
despises how eva smith has uses the her name because eva is a working class girl - and chooses to interpret this as a purposefully direspectful act
suggest to the audience that mrs birlings aims to see the worst in people
explains how “naturally” she rejected her case due to her prejudice towards eva because of using the ssame name as her. implies how she is shameless in her bias and how she feels entitledto think the way she does as its natural
This is “one of the things” that made her express prejudice agaisnt eva and so other prejudices could have been about her class and gender . this is becasue she says how eva’s reasons for not accepting the money are “ a lot of silly nonsense!” and insists that “as if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money”
exclamation marks - shows her disbelief and is consumed by her prejudices
refusal of trusting and respecting eva smith
older genrations were blindedby their intolerence and werent seeing how ruthless they were being
“men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on businesses. You’ll have to get used to that , just as i did” - mrs birling - act 1
mrs birling actively works to suppress other women and keep them within constraints of societal gender norms.
she tries to pass down her traditional values about women to her daughter. she teaches sheila .to be dependent and loyal to men, suggesting internalised misogyny is passed on through generations of women,
This can portry how she teaches her daughter to resign herself to mistreatment and neglect because it is necessary
the phrase “just as i did” presents it as a tradition through generations and it is evident that mrs birling thinks this is the way gender roles should be.
by caling it “important work”, mrs birling implies only a mans work is valuable
additionally her attitude towards other women is mocking and reductive which mirrors her husbands sexist condescension.she refers to sheila as “hysterical” and “over -excited”. these were terms that were commonly used by men to undermine women. she therfoore uses thse descriptors to invalidate sheilas concerns as irrational and immature . priesly shows how women also used misogynistic or gendered language to dismiss others
” i don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl commited suicide . Girls of that class” - Act 2 - mrs birling
mrs birling is the epitome of upper class prejudice . Her “cold” demeanor and social superiority make her particularly judgemental and blunt
mrs brirling makes assupmtions about eva smith because she is a working class girl and these lead her to deny Eva any help from the charity .Before she hears what the inspector has to say . She declares( embed quote )
which show how different she thinks the working class are.
the verb “understand” suggests the working class are so different that their actions are incomprehensible to the upper class. This demonstates that mrs birling won’t even be empathetic to them and doesnt want to try to “understand “ them
The noun “girl” infantilises eva smith which potrays her as weak and foolish which can further suggest that mrs briling views younger women of the working class as inferior to her.
she generalises all “girls of that class”, and doesn’t believe eva deserves her time or attention .
Prieslty inteneds to show how ingrained prejudice was in society and how delibrately dismissive the upper class were of their lower class peers
“No, why should I?”
Mrs birlings coldness and sense of social superiority is evident throughout the play particularly in her interactions with the inspector .
she even brazenly lies nd denies that she recognises the girls picture “No, why should I ?” Mrs birlong even attempts to inimidate the inspector , stating “you know of couse that my husband was lord mayor only two years ago “ .
Prieslty presents mrs birlig as a sinister and cunning character who assumes a social and moral superiority over Inspector goole . Who she refers to as “offensive”
“the rude way he spoke to Mrs birling and me - it was quite extraordinary!”
mrs birling learns nothing from the inspectors moral lessons and concluding speech .
She states of the inspector , incredulously “the rude way he spoke to Mr birling and me - it was quite extraordinary!”
There is no progressionor realisation after the full extent og the revelations that she faces .
She refuses to acceptresponsibilty and unlike Eric and Sheila , there is no accpetance of her guilt or any self acknowledgement of the part she played in contributing to eva smiths untimely end.
similar to her husband , she is more concerned with maintaining the family’s reputationwhich is shown inn her loyalty to her husbands view of how the world works .
This is exemplified when she states “now just be quiet so that you father can decide what we ough to do”
And the stage direction, “(looks expectantlyat Birling )” Her delight at the irreality of the inscpector however would have quickly turned to despair when the final phone call is made.
