Attitudes to Women

Society's Expectations of Women

An Inspector Calls was set in 1912. At that time, even upper-class women had few options in life and were expected to behave in certain ways:

Expectations of upper-class women

In this patriarchal (male ruled) society, even upper-class women had very few options in life.
- They were raised to be well-educated. Their role was to make their fathers, and then husbands, look good.
- They showed off their husband’s or father’s wealth by dressing in the finest fashions, and throwing and going to the best social events.

Women in conversations

Women were not even supposed to hear serious conversations – Mrs Birling and Sheila leave the dining room to let the men to talk about serious issues.
Mr Birling later tries to send Sheila away when the Inspector arrives. He does this because he does not think she should listen to serious, unpleasant topics.

Eva Smith

Priestley didn’t just choose a lower-class person. He chooses a lower-class woman to be the focus of his story. He did this to highlight inequalities for this long-suffering part of society.

Society's treatment of Eva

Society did not value Eva Smith at all because she was a lower-class woman.
She only had a few options for improving her life.
Society did not really care about the lower class, so people needed jobs to be able to live.

Employment struggles

When Eva keeps losing jobs (because of the Birlings), she doesn’t have many options. She needs to earn enough money to eat and have a roof over her head.
It's implied that she turned to prostitution after she was fired from her job
When she turns away from that, and is then rejected from Mrs Birling’s charity, she truly has no options left.

Male treatment of Eva

Throughout the play, men use and dismiss Eva.
People think she is morally corrupt because she is of the lower class and female.

Treatment of Eva Smith

Here's how the Birlings and Gerald treat and abuse Eva Smith, a lower-class woman, and women in general:

Mr Birling

Mr Birling sees women as expendable (aren’t needed) – he feels that he can just hire others when the ones he employs become a problem.

Mrs Birling

Mrs Birling turns Eva away from the charity.
She does this partly because Eva used Mrs Birling’s name as her own.
But Mrs Birling also does this because she refuses to believe that a lower-class woman could have any morals (and would refuse stolen money). She thinks Eva must be lying.

Gerald

Gerald uses Eva for sex because she is young and pretty – He feels that he can use her as long as he wants, and even thinks that he is helping her.

Eric

Eric forces himself on Eva.
He threatens to cause problems for her if she doesn’t let him into her home where he will have sex with her.

1Plot Summary

1.1Act 1

1.1.1Act 1 Summary

1.1.2Act 1 Key Quotes

1.2Act 2

1.2.1Act 2 Summary

1.2.2Act 2 Key Quotes

1.3Act 3

1.3.1Act 3 Summary

1.3.2Act 3 Key Quotes

1.3.3Act 3 More Key Quotes

1.3.4End of Topic Test - Acts 1, 2 & 3

2Context & Key Themes

2.1Context & Key Themes

2.1.1Social Class & Equality

2.1.2Class Tension

2.1.3Abuse of Power & Corruption

2.1.4Socialism vs Capitalism

2.1.5Blame & Responsibility

2.1.6Attitudes to Women

2.1.7Characterisation of Women

2.1.8Dramatic Function of Characters

2.1.9End of Topic Test - Context & Key Themes

2.1.10End of Topic Test - Context & Key Themes 2

2.1.11Grade 9 - Key Themes

3Key Characters

3.1Mr Birling

3.1.1Mr Birling Analysis

3.1.2Mr Birling Quotes

3.2Mrs Birling

3.2.1Mrs Birling Analysis

3.2.2Mrs Birling Quotes

3.2.3Exam-Style Questions - Mrs Birling

3.3Sheila

3.3.1Sheila Analysis

3.3.2Sheila Quotes

3.3.3End of Topic Test - The Birlings & Sheila

3.4Eric

3.4.1Eric Analysis

3.4.2Eric Quotes

3.5Gerald

3.5.1Gerald Analysis

3.5.2Gerald Quotes

3.6Inspector Goole

3.6.1Inspector Goole Analysis

3.6.2Inspector Goole Quotes

3.6.3End of Topic Test - Eric, Gerald & Inspector Goole

3.7Grade 9 - Key Characters

3.7.1Grade 9 - Key Characters

4Authorial Method

4.1Arrangement & Structure of the Play

4.1.1Setting, Lighting & Dramatic Irony

4.1.2Structure & Chronology

4.1.3Structure & Chronology 2

4.1.4End of Topic Test - Authorial Method

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