Grade 9 Essay used in the real exam that achieved full marks. Includes introduction, 8 main body paragraphs and a conclusion - adaptable to any question for Inspector Calls - hits the top level of all Assessment Objectives and perfect to use for remembering Grade 9 points or as an essay in itself t...
Priestley presents Edwardian gender stereotypes as a major obstacle to the progression of
society using the roles of the female characters in the play as well as the relationships and
interactions between the male and female characters. As the play was performed in 1945,
but set in 1912 the audience would be shocked at the archaic treatment towards women in
An Inspector Calls.
The Inspector’s visual portrayal and demeanour immediately begins to break down toxic
gender stereotypes that are viciously present in the Birling household. Stage directions
describe him as “need not be a big man, but he creates at once an impression of
massiveness, solidity and purposefulness” which shows, despite him not being a
hypermasculine character like Mr Birling and Gerald, his presence is much more powerful as
he takes over from Mr Birling as the dominant male figure.
Mrs Birling is symbolic of the traditional 1912 woman with conservative views that uphold
patriarchal rule. Therefore, Priestley ensures to convey her as having the most responsibility
in Eva’s tragic death by structurally placing her last in the order of events since she had the
final opportunity to prevent the suicide in order to emphasise the damage a patriarchal
society can cause. She demands “I don’t believe it” and “I won’t believe it” which infuriate
the audience, since the short, declarative nature of the phrases suggest a finality to her
thinking, where she is unwilling to change and entertain the prospect of Eric’s involvement in
this scandal. The short phrases perhaps reflect her inability to dwell on this prospect and
they allude to the notion of Mrs Birling being ‘willfully blind’ to the situation.
With the curtain closing at this exact moment, perhaps Priestly is forcing the audience to see
“Sybil Birling”’s link to ‘the Sibyls’ Perhaps the name “Sybil” derives from the ancient Greek
prophetesses ‘Sibyls’. Priestly could be highlighting the irony to Mrs Birling’s character to
suggest how much better of an influence Mrs Birling could have acted, through the funds of
her charity, if she behaved as her namesake suggested. In addition, Greek theatre typically
involved tragedies in which the protagonist tries to avoid their fate and inevitably fails. This
could allude to the ignorance of the Birlings to a gender neutral society and the importance
this has for a successful society which Priestley believed to be a socialist one.
Eva Smith is central to the play’s development and is visually and explicitly shown in the
outset of the play when the stage directions describe the lighting as being “pink and
intimate”. Pink not only has connotations of femininity which Priestley is depicting as central
to his message, but also it connotes looking through rose-tinted glasses; showing the
ignorance of the Birlings to the importance of their treatment towards females.
Eva Smith is an atypical presentation of femininity as she subverts the stereotypes
surrounding women. Despite her endless hardships, Priestley doesn’t portray her as a
weak, self-pitying victim. Instead, she is assertive, determined and moral. Priestley suggests
these qualities were a factor in why she was treated so poorly by the Birlings: her defiance of
their expectations angered them. Perhaps, Priestley could be hinting at an underlying power
dynamic between Eva and the Birlings as despite their power in terms of influence and
money, the “hysterical child” held the real power over them due to her refusal to give in to
who they wanted her to be. This is evident when Mr Birling said that Eva had “far too
much” to say suggesting he was angered by her challenging his fragile authority and
masculinity. By the end of the play, the Birlings are stuck in a time loop until they accept
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