Mrs Birling in An Inspector Calls

"I've done nothing wrong - and you know it!" Mrs Birling exclaims, refusing to take responsibility for her actions, which is just one of the reasons why the audience may not see Mrs Birling as a very likable character. This essay is going to explore how J.B. Priestley creates such a disagreeable character and why the audience feels this way about her.

Priestley represents Mrs Birling, as a very posh and high class woman. She, like her husband, can be very self-important, for example, when the Inspector says, "You're not telling me the truth" and she replies, "I beg your pardon!" She seems horrified that somebody could speak like that to a lady of her class. This is not only an example of how she is portrayed as self-important but also how class-conscious she is. Another example of this is in the stage directions at the beginning of the play when Mrs Birling is described as ?her husband?s social superior? meaning she is probably more aware of what the class boundaries are than perhaps Mr Birling would. She is also presented as rather cold and severe, ?If the girl?s death is due to anybody, then it?s due to him? Mrs Birling says as she criticises the father of Eva Smith?s baby. Here she shows she has little or no real regard towards other people?s feelings, especially people of a lower class. She says that the man responsible should be ?dealt with very severely?, assuming that he, like Eva, is lower class, therefore implying that upper class people never do anything like that. This links with the theme of stereotypes which is seen a lot in the play.

Mrs Birling does not react well to questioning from the Inspector. She is not present for the majority of the inquiry, so therefore she is unfamiliar to the Inspector?s abruptness....

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...class conscious, ?I don?t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class?? Mrs Birling says, being so overly class conscious that she is automatically judging everybody by their class status. This is again making us compare her with people of all different classes and members of the family, such as Sheila. When the Inspector leaves, unlike Sheila, Mrs Birling tries to carry on as if nothing has happened, ?you?re just beginning to pretend all over again,? says Sheila, showing she has been influenced by the Inspector when her mother has not.

In the context of this play, Mrs Birling is not a very amiable character. Although she does what she believes is right, she is also judgemental of everyone and is too aware of the divisions in the social class system to be liked by both the audience and members of her own family.