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Summary Mrs Birling analysis
Everything you need to know about Mrs Birling.
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Mrs Birling● A prominent member of the Brumley Women’s charity organization
- Commends Geralds timing after he presents Sheila with an
engagement ring
- Adopts a superior tone with the inspector
- Is disgusted when she learns that Daisy Renton was
Gerald’s mistress, but forgets about it when she thinks a
scandal has been avoided.
- Uses her influence to prevent the pregnant Eva Smith from
receiving help from the charity
- Thinks Eva Smith and the father of the unborn child are to
blame for Eva smith’s death, before she realises that Eric is
the father.
- Claims she was the only one who stood up to the inspectors
questioning.
● ‘A rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior’ - Mrs
Birling is not a friendly person and rarely shows any affection. She
comes from a higher social class than her husband’s. Regards
most people as beneath her and expects her and expects the
inspector to treat her with respect.
● ‘Please don’t contradict me like that’ - she does not like and
doesn’t expect people to disagree with her. She is used to being
listened to and having her opinions accepted as right.
● ‘It’s disgusting to me’ - even though Gerald comes from a good
family and meets with her approval as a future son-in-law, she
cannot accept Gerald’s affair. She is prudish, unforgiving and
intolerant of people's mistakes.
● ‘The most prominent member of the committee’ - she is the most
powerful and respected member of the group that runs the charity.
She is able to influence the decisions the charity organisation
makes.
, Mrs Birling is a stereotypical upper-class pre-war woman with capitalist views. She
lets her husband control her, even though she is of a higher class.
Role in the family -
● Although she is of a higher class than her husband, she is subservient (lets
him control her) to him in a patriarchal household and society.
● She is in charge of the household and of teaching Sheila how to be a good-
mannered young lady who understands pre-war etiquette perfectly.
Role in the play -
● Priestley portrays a stereotypical upper-class pre-war woman – she is
concerned about her reputation, social status and appearance.
● Her priorities are to keep an unblemished reputation and dress well so as to
show off her husband’s wealth.
● She shares her husband’s capitalist ideas about people only looking after
themselves – she is uninterested in how her actions affect others.
● Mrs Birling represents the selfish attitudes of the wealthy higher classes. She
thinks lower-class people deserve their misfortune and thinks they are
completely inferior to her.
Connection with Eva -
● When a pregnant Eva approached the Brumley Women’s Charity
Organisation for financial help, Mrs Birling took a dislike to her and refused to
give her any help.
Character development -
Interactions with Inspector Goole -
● She is the only character to stay completely unaffected by Inspector Goole’s
revelations – she shows no emotion about Eva until she learns about Eric’s
involvement.
● Mrs Birling also tries to intimidate Inspector Goole into leaving and lies to him
outright.
● Later in the play, she tries to deny truths that she doesn’t want to believe
because they tarnish the perfect image of the family (such as Eric’s drinking
and Gerald’s affair with Eva).
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