Mrs Birling Flashcards
Complicit in her own domination
Was convention for women to go to drawing room after dinner allowing men to converse about politics and news which were not considered suitable topics for women
Mr b doesn’t command her to leave, she knows her place, initiates her and Shiela’s exit ‘leaving you men’
Commits to maintain patriarchal status quo leads her to become complicit in her own oppression as she inflicts this on to her own daughter
Marriage is a construct
Recognises marriage is a means to provide financial security and social status loving relationship not important
Seen through her indifference towards Gerald again with daisy renton (pseudonym for Eva smith), viewed as something expected for men
‘Cold woman’ perceived as oxymoron at time, contemporary women meant to conform to expectations of being loving maternal and sensitive, contrasts Mrs b as she’s insensitive shows little emotion
Hysteria
Displays of emotion seem as weak, attempts to silent and dismiss Shiela ‘you’re behaving like an hysterical child’
Included references to hysteria disorder historically used to control and prevent women from acquiring positions of power, Shiela’s new found socialist views oppose by her, uses hysteria to dismiss her as delusional, easier than attempting to argue against her views
Example of an ad hominem attack focusing on Shiela’s personal traits demonstrating Mrs b doesn’t have a satisfactory counter argument
Contempt to Eva
She maintains a repugnance towards Eva and her working class background
Has strong held beliefs against people of inferior social status
Signals her indifference towards Eva’s suffering ‘ought to go to bed- and forget about this absurd business’ absurd reveals her dismissiveness due to her death not directly affecting her
Prejudice against lower classes negatively affects those people in her charity work
Contempt to Eva- evidence
‘Suppose for a moment we can understand why the girls committed suicide. Girls of that class’- determiner ‘that’ shows divide between lower and upper class which enables her to distance herself from the working class which she views as different from herself
‘I didn’t like her manner’ further proves this as this is her contempt for Eva and she didn’t appreciate her social etiquette
‘Simply a piece of gross impertinence’ describes Eva’s plea for aid to the charity council which she sits on as this, clear her prejudice against lower class negatively effects those who seek aid in the charity
‘I did nothing I’m ashamed of’
‘Ashamed’ denotes reluctance to accept guilt through fear of judgment
Reluctance presents her as stubborn only looks out for herself struggles to see her own wrongdoings
