Sybil Birling - Act 2 Key Quotations Flashcards
Sybil is protective of Sheila, portraying her pre-war attitudes; shelters her daughter, who she still sees as a child rather than a young woman, with beliefs and feelings of her own:
“You seem to have made a great impression on this child”
Sybil’s prejudice against Eva’s class:
“girls of that class”
Sybil calls the Inspector rude:
“a trifle impertinent”
Sybil uses her husband’s social status as a tool to assert dominance over the Inspector:
“You know of course that my husband was Lord Mayor only two years ago and that he’s still a magistrate”
Sybil is completely blind and oblivious to the truths about her own family:
“No, of course not. He’s only a boy.”
- Her lack of knowledge about her son’s drinking habits and her refusal exemplifies the fact that she lives in an artificial, sheltered world of materialism, surrounded by upper-class norms.
Shelters Sheila once again, saying she should not hear the story:
“It would be much better if Sheila didn’t listen to this story at all.”
Sybil’s ironic comment about her charity:
“We’ve done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases.”
Sybil’s refusal to cooperate with the Inspector - suggests she feels she is above the law (self-centred, superior image of herself):
“what business is it of yours?”
Sybil blames everything on Eva:
“I think she had only herself to blame”
Sybil refuses to accept any responsibility in causing Eva’s death:
- “I did nothing I’m ashamed of or that won’t bear investigation”
- “I’ve done nothing wrong”
- “I accept no blame for it at all”
Sybil’s power and authority due to her class advantage, overtaking morality (links to the proletariats’ lives ruled by the decisions of their social superiors - something that Priestley resented):
“I used my influence to have it refused.”
Sybil blames the father of the child (exemplifies how she is blind and is completely unaware that Eric is the actual father):
- “Go and look for the father of the child. It’s his responsibility.”
- “should be made an example of”
- “dealt with very severely”
Sybil’s bitter, patronising tone towards Eva Smith, exemplifying her prejudice as a result of her class:
“As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!”
- “That sort” suggests that Sybil almost sees Eva as something less than human, exemplifying her self-centred, uncaring attitudes towards the lower classes and their exploitation.
Sybil’s denial when she realises Eric is the father (blindness):
“I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it…”
