Attitudes Towards Gender Flashcards
Umbrella
Priestley constructs various characters to present the common beliefs about women in the Edwardian patriarchal society, as well as the growing ideas that began to challenge them.
Ts1: Sheila is a construct built to challenge the belief that women are subservient to men, which was a very common belief in Edwardian society.
‘I don’t believe I will’
‘You and I aren’t the same people’
Ts2: Unlike S, Mr B and E reflect attitudes towards women in a patriarchal society.(everyone reflects attitudes towards wc women)
‘She didn’t want me to go in… I was in that state where a chap easily could easily turn nasty’
‘She had a lot to say… she had to go’
So many more quotes
Ts3: Mrs B is a construct who embodies the expectations of a married women in a patriarchal Edwardian society.
‘Men with important work to do… all their time and energy on their business…have to get used to that’
‘You might be wanting to help him instead of us… be quiet so your father can decide what to do’
‘A prominent member of the Brumley Women’s charity’
Topic sentences
Ts1: S is a construct to challenge belief that women are subordinate to men
Ts2: E+ Mr B reflect attitudes towards women in Edwardian society
Ts3: Mrs B is a construct embodying the expectations of a married women in the patriarchal Edwardian society.
‘I don’t believe I will’
L= declarative sentence.
Assertive and refuses to be second to her husband.
C= growing belief because of the Suffragette movement ongoing at the time the play is set.
‘You and I aren’t the same people’
L= declarative sentence. Authoritative and challenges the traditional gender roles of the Edwardian society. I= Sheila has become more independent and will only marry on her own terms, not her father’s. R= Edwardian audience would question her behaviour but modern audience will be proud of her. Importance of gender is much less now.
‘She didn’t want me to go in… I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty’
C= Eric effectively rapes Daisy, showing the power men had over women, as well as the power the rich had over the poor and vulnerable. R= shocks MC audience and makes them even question their own behaviour.
‘She had a lot to say… she had to go’
C= women weren’t allowed to voice their own personal opinions in a patriarchal Edwardian society. Instead, it was expected for them to follow their husbands. Changing with suffragette movement.
‘A prominent member of the Brumley Women’s Charity’
UMC women expected to help lower classes and help society.
I/D= feminist interpretation- Mrs B arguably seeks to exercise power and control in the charity committee as it is one of the only places she can do so in the patriarchal society.
‘Men with important work to do…all their time and energy on their business…have to get used to that’
Mrs b is resigned to the fact that she, to Mr Birling, is subservient to his business; and tells Sheila to do the same with Gerald. C= Sheila disagrees showing the changing expectations of women in Edwardian society.
‘You might be wanting to help him instead of us…be quiet so your father can decide what to do’
L= Contrast in pronouns ‘him’ and ‘us’- I is enemy of husband so he is an enemy of Mrs B. Should remain loyal to her husband. C= patriarchal society. Men make decisions and have all the power. Women inferior to husbands.
Ts4: conveyed through Eva
‘She treated me as if I were a kid’
‘I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty’
‘An animal, a thing’
Ts4: G stays with Eva even though he knew it couldn’t last
‘She knew it couldn’t last’
‘Fairy Prince’
The girl ‘gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for help’
Ts5: I challenges B’s-treatment of the girl
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