Empathy/Mrs Birling Flashcards
“A rather cold woman”
Priestley’s use of the stage directions to describe Mrs Birling as a “cold woman” would have been perceived as an oxymoron at the time. Contemporary societal norms dictated that women were meant to be loving, maternal and emotional. Therefore, describing Mrs Birling as emotionally “cold” is perhaps an attempt by Priestly to convey that such a detached attitude towards suffering is unnatural.
“You’ll have to get used to it Sheila, just as I had”
Mrs Birling provides no comfort to her that, just as I had” daughter, Sheila, when she feels insecure about Gerald’s absence (and potential affair), instead upholding patriarchal norms by telling her to “get used to that” feeling. This is a demonstration of a societal double standard; contemporary women shunned if they did not abstain from sex outside marriage, while men were not condemned for doing so.
“Claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples”
Mrs Birling perceives the working class as being less human, with less complex emotions, and feels that it is inappropriate for Eva to behave in a way that doesn’t conform to her expectations of her class.
