Mrs. Birling

old v. young (impression)

“You seem to have made a great impression on this child, Inspector”

old v. young (told you so)

“Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I say I couldn’t imagine a real police inspector talking to us like that?”

• syntactic echoing = rhetorical echo chamber of opinions

• axiomatic phrasing = focusing on expected social norms over morality

old v. young (only one)

“I was the only one of you who didn’t give in to him”

• adversial lexicon = treated investigation as power struggle

• bifurcated microcosm, dividing her and young

old v. young (overtired)

"She’s over-tired. In the morning she’ll be as amused as we are." (Act 2)

• proleptic irony(only known /w full story) on cyclical ending (as inequality repeats)

• infantilizing Sheila

social class(girls)

“Girls of that class—“

• aposiopesis (sentence not even completed) = no bridge between rich and poor

• distal demonstrative pronounce (that) = out of mind

• class stratification to ignore proletariat possess emotions

social class(refuse)

"As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!" (Act 2)

• pejorative categorization = poor is an inherited genetically moral deficiency

• exclamation = prejudice as law

social class(naturally)

“impertinence…naturally…prejudiced me against her case”

• aristocratic vocab = self-importance

• transactional + self-rationalization

social class(scruples, absurd)

“she was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples(morals) that were simply absurd in a girl in her position”

capitalist(pressure, mistaken)

"If you think you can bring any pressure to bear upon me, Inspector, you’re quite mistaken." (Act 2)

responsibility(father)

"Go and look for the father of the child. It’s his responsibility." (Act 2)

• imperative deflection = commands dispersion of responsibility

• ideological myopia = narrow-minded assumption father is a low class brute

responsibility(accept no blame)

"I accept no blame for it at all" (Act 2)

responsibility(herself)

"She had only herself to blame." (Act 2)

power(supposed to say)

“Arthur, you’re not supposed to say such things."

• matriarch + exerting social superiority always

• deontic modality = dictates what is permitted

gender(get used to that)

“You’ll have to get used to that, just as I had” [following important work]

• passing down marital neglect, cyclical trauma

• “have to” modal verb, patriarchy = axiom

power(give in)

“I was the only one of you that didn’t give in to him”

• desperate to keep worldview intact

• class weaponised moral intransigence (nonchalance)