Mrs Birling

Question 1

“you’re behaving like a hysterical child tonight.”

Answer 1

• manipulative and close-minded
• discredits her daughter’s ideas to protect family honour

“hysterical”

• using her to make herself in contrast look sane
• gender roles- “should be seen but not heard”
• suffragettes are limited by the older generation - even women
• women had a long way to go

“behaving”

• reinforcing gender roles
• women should not express themselves or their ideas

Question 2

“she was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position.”

Answer 2

“girl”

• patronising, condescending,
• belittling a grown woman

“her position”

• discriminating against people of different class
• an unmarried pregnant woman doesn’t have the right to express her feelings
• doesn’t advocate for social mobility
• reinforcing the strict hierarchy system

Question 3

“and in any case i don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class-“

Answer 3

“that class”

• can’t even say the words “working class”, implying that its dirty, rude or offensive
• looks down on them

“we”

• referring to herself and Sheila
• different classes cannot understand each other’s perspectives
• doesn’t even want to put in the effort to understand their struggles- which ultimately lead to Eva’s suicide

Question 4

“(reproachfully) Arthur,”

Answer 4

When Mr Birling tells his wife to praise their cook for their dinner and she says this

(reproachfully)

• dissappointedly, disapprovingly
• telling off her husband
• it goes against etiquette to praise your cook in front of a guest
• goes against how the upper class would act in 1912
• she is trying show how her middle class family is equal to the upper class
• furthermore, the fact that she is telling off her husband in front of a guest shows that she prioritises class boundaries more than gender boundaries
• it normally wouldn’t be as proper for a wife to scold her husband so openly
• she is a bit of snob as class seems always to occupy her mind even during a ‘happy’ dinner

Question 5

“You seem to have made a great impression on this child, Inspector.”

Answer 5

-this is as she returns in Act 2 and meets the Inspector

• very patronising tone “child”
• derisory
• completely dismissing her daughter without considering her points
• this dismissal shows that she doesn’t take the younger generation seriously