Mrs Birling Flashcards
“A piece of gross impertinence”
(Responsibility)
Mrs Birling reference to Evas honest tale of woe with the adjective “impertinence” reveals how she believes he is absolved of all responsibility as Eva’s claim to be Mrs Birling was disrespectful.
Snobbish and prejudiced nature.
“I did nothing i’m ashamed of.”
(Responsibility)
Priestley demonstrates the true extent of Mrs Birling’s “cold” nature as despite Eva’s death, Mrs Birling does not regret her denial of aid to Eva.
“I did my duty”
(Responsibility)
Priestley’s use of the noun “duty” is used to expose Mrs Birling’s perception of duty as limited to a capitalist social duty of keeping the rich people rich and the poor people poor.
In doing so, she neglects her moral duty to provide assistance to those most in need.
“Firstly i blame the girl herself. Secondly, i blame the young man.”
(Responsibility)
Mrs Birling is unable to accept any responsibility as she deflects blame onto Eric inadvertently.
Yet, her hypocrisy is further revealed when she realises, and states “i didn’t know”, implying that she would have not placed the blame on her son for the same action.
“a trifle impertinent”
(Pride)
Attempts to convey a demand of respect through her formal and complex vocabulary, evidenced by her accusing the Inspector as being “a trifle impertinent”
“… done a great deal of useful work helping deserving cases”
This emphasis on the adjective “deserving” reveals Mr Birling’s joy in playing God in these young women’s lives.
Deciding whether they receive aid and benefit or are refused and suffer, a reflection of the power of the upper classes.
“What business is it of yours?”
Priestly’s use of this rhetorical question evidences the arrogance of Mrs Birling and her sense of superiority. This is clear as the inspector’s job is to “ask questions” and therefore anything related to the death of Eva Smith is his “business”.
“girls of that class”
(Class)
The use of the concrete noun ‘girl’ in place of the proper noun ‘Eva’ suggests a sense of disrespect towards the working classes and a disregard of Eva’s humanity. This lexical choice also posits Mrs. Birlings feeling of superiority over the working classes, due to the negative and juvenile connotations of the word ‘girl’ as opposed to ‘woman’.
‘That’: Use of the demonstrative pronoun emphasises this lack of respect towards Eva, and a true sense of disgust towards her class - so much so that she cannot bring herself to use the correct name of the class.
“Disgusting affair”
(Class)
She is critical of Gerald’s “disgusting affiair” as a result of its inter-class nature, rather than because of his disloyalty to Sheila.
“A rather cold woman.”
(Empathy)
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 Priestley to convey that such a detached attitude towards suffering is unnatural.
“I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it”
Auxiliary verbs “don’t” and then more emphatically “won’t”, shows her denial of the situation. Only believes what is comfortable for her.
