Gender Flashcards
Mr Birling - Gender
“a sort of sign or token of their self-respect.”
“clothes mean something quite different to a woman”
Traditional views for the time - although these were very patronising. He has gotten away with this way of thinking because he has ingrained it in his children and his wife was raised to think in this way too.
“She’d had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go.” - couldn’t deal with a woman threatening his authority - especially a lower class woman - as he thinks they are not capable of being smart and fighting for their rights (which is why he uses them as “cheap labour”)
Gerald Croft - Gender
“I hate those hard-eyed dough-faced women.” - he judges women based on their appearances - if he saw one of these women being harrassed, would he save her?
G only saw value in D because she was “pretty”
S teases G by wanting him not to become a “purple-faced old” man. S has the power to do this, but G seems to relish a partner who is subservient - “you must have adored it.” Eva’s naivety and compliance, along with his comment on her lemonade drink as “some such concoction” reveals his sneering attitude towards the working class, and his pleasure over the power he had over her. Perhaps Priestley suggests that upper-class men prefer subservient women, as they will always have power over them.
G wanted someone to rely on him and he saw himself as Eva’s saviour. (he is her “fairy prince”)
Notably, he says it was “Inevitable”, while it clearly wasnt. Getting an attractive woman in a situation where shes grateful to you whilst also relying on you for money and to live - hmm.
“She’s had a long, exciting and tiring day - we were celebrating our engagement, you know - and now she’s obviously had about as much as she can stand.” - G is answering for S - believes she cannot hold her own and cannot stand tense situations.
“And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things.” - even though he didnt do much to help protect D after he had taken all the pleasure he desired from her.
Sheila Birling - Gender
S has more privilege than Eva. She can get away with defying her father and her fiance because she has the advantage of being born into a rich family. calls G a “selfsih, vindictive creature”, reminds him of last summer “when you never came near me”
She’s still looked down upon, and this could mainly be because of her class (double-edged sword) - that an upper-class woman should be well-behaved and not exposed to the evil of the world so as not to spoil her innocence. “run along” “had about as much as she can stand” “hysterical”
Is not going to shy away from telling her father that he is “all wrong” - a luxury
“It would be much better if Sheila didn’t listen to this story at all.”
Eva Smith - Gender
Eva’s misfortune is not only attributed tp her social standing and class, but her gender. Being a woman, once turned away from a few jobs she was forced to find work as a prostitue and put up with men who didnt see her as a woman - such as alderman meggarty (“notorious womaniser”) and, to an extent, E “when a chap easily turns nasty”.
“One Eva Smith has gone-but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us”
She was exploited and suffered and nobody even cared because that suffering was so commonplace for lower-class women.
Mrs Birling - Gender
“She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position.” - MrsB cannot empathise with Eva’s situation, even though that is her job. She does not believe it is her responsibility to help this young woman, even though she had set up a charity to do that very thing. Priestley shows that sexism is rooted in the upper-class in that even women show distaste towards other women.
MrsB plays the role of a traditional housewife very well, despite being MrB’s “social superior”. She is still very much the matriarch of the household, but also takes a more subservient role at times. - “Now just be quiet so that your father can decide what we ought to do”
“When you’re married 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.” - dissatisfaction could be inferred.
