A full mark English Literature essay on gender roles in An Inspector Calls.
Includes an in depth analysis of quotes and relevant context.
(Produced by an all grade 9 GCSE student who gained full marks in their Inspector Calls exam essay)
In An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents gender as a quality that defined how people behaved in
1912 when there was a strict hierarchy in place, with women suppressed by a strong patriarchal
ideology within society. Priestley aims to educate his 1945 audience of the devastating effects
inequality between men and women has on society. He implies that only when women are seen as
men’s equals, a good functioning society can be formed.
We can see just how strongly patriarchy is embedded within society through Mrs Birling’s
acceptance that men have more important roles than women. She tries to educate Sheila by stating
‘You’ll realise that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and
energy on their business’. The verb ‘realise’ implies Mrs Birling has a patronising view towards Sheila
as she seems to think this statement is an obvious fact known by every woman. This indicates to the
audience just how much of an impact male dominance has on women, almost brainwashing them
into thinking their male superiors are always correct. This could link to the World Wars as Priestley,
throughout AIC, indicates that the wars were due to power-hungry capitalist men wanting more
profit, highlighting that equality and socialism are needed to prevent another World War from
happening. Priestley’s 1945 audience would have experienced one war (some even two) so his
socialist message of equality would have had an even greater effect on them, causing more people
to vote for Labour in the 1945 elections. The verb ‘realise’ also emphasises the normality of the idea
that women must submit to men’s needs and mould around their wants, suggesting a sense of
resignation and acceptance among women. Priestley aims to show the audience that this cycle of
patriarchal ideas passed on from one generation of women to the next needs to be broken.
A strongly engrained patriarchy is also seen through the character of Mr Birling who Priestley
employs as a construct to represent the commonplace views upper and middle-class men held.
During the opening scene of the play, the stage directions indicate Mr Birling is seated at the ‘head
of the table’ although his wife is his ‘social superior’. This placement of Birling at the head of the
table indicates that no one else in the household has the dominance he has as there is typically only
one seat at the end of a table so no room for anyone else. This could be metaphorical of the
complete control Birling has over the situation due to his masculinity and this idea is also reflected
through his dominating, extended speeches. His wife being socially superior to Birling does not seem
to matter as his masculinity overrides social class. This accentuates the fact that male dominance
had gone so far that it had more importance than wealth, highlighting to Priestley’s audience the
drastic need for change. Mr Birling is a stereotypical example of a wealthy high-class man and
Priestley uses his depiction of Birling to contrast with the Inspector and his socialist message. During
one of Birling’s dominating speeches, ‘a man has to mind his own business and look after himself
and his own and- ‘, Birling is interrupted by the ‘sharp ring’ announcing the arrival of the inspector.
The contrast between the waffle speech of Birling and the ‘sharp’ ring indicate that the Inspector’s
later message of equality is more trustworthy than Birling’s views on patriarchy, pulling the audience
towards a more socialist political view. The nouns ‘business’ and ‘own’ could indicate either Birling’s
strong capitalist opinion or his views on Sheila and her marriage to Gerald. The nouns could imply
that Birling sees his daughter as merely an item of possession to be sold for profit as Birling views
the marriage as a business opportunity. This could be showing that women were seen as material
items to either display, produce offspring or profit from through marriage to a wealthy man.
Priestley aims to show that is unfortunately not simple to remove the influence of gender inequality
as it is deeply engrained in the older generation, both male and female, who teach these ideas to
their children.
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