Another way in which Priestley unravels ideas about inequality between the genders is by showing that the inequality brings out the worst in men, for example, how Gerald and Eric both take advantage of a poor, vulnerable girl called Eva Smith: ‘She became your mistress... She was pretty and a good sport.’ This quotation shows just how evil men can be when they have a higher ranking than women and are wealthier than women, because as soon as Gerald and Eric see someone they like, they take advantage of the situation, without caring about Eva’s feelings, and become the villains in the story; Priestley uses the characters of Gerald and Eric to portray the image of how people were in the olden days, as they would take advantage of vulnerable women in their times of need, without caring, but Priestley uses Eric to contrast against Gerald, showing how a decent man should act after knowing the outcome of his sins against a man who only cares for money and his reputation in society, not learning from his actions.
In addition, another way in which Priestley reveals these ideas about the inequality of genders is by Priestley showing that the inequality of genders was a disadvantage to women, and this is shown through how Mr Birling behaves with Sheila: ‘(sharply) Sheila, take your mother along to the drawing room-’ ‘(protesting) But- I want to-’ ‘(very sharply) You heard what I said.’ This shows how Mr Birling likes to appear as dominant and as the alpha male, using short sentences and repetition in a way, and the one who tells everyone else what to do; Mr Birling treats Sheila as a child who doesn’t know anything about life, and as a child who is trying to get involved in mature adult conversations when she is a child who is immature herself. JB Priestley is trying to show how men used to treat women, just as how white men used to treat black men in To Kill A Mockingbird, as they undermine the person they think of as lower status than them, and then put them down by calling them a child: ‘(severely) You’re behaving like a hysterical child tonight.’ Mrs Birling and MR Birling have the same sort of olden day thinking, as even though they call Sheila a child, Priestley has made it quite ironical because Sheila has more maturity than both her parents, yet they are the ones calling her a child: ‘Mother – stop – stop!’
Also, another way in which Priestley reveals ideas about inequality between the genders is by showing that there should be equality for working class women, as even though working class women aren’t as high ranked, nor as wealthy as upper class women, they are still humans, and so should be treated like humans, not like animals: ‘Just used her for the end of a stupid drunken evening, as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person.’ ‘These girls aren’t cheap labour – they’re people.’ ‘But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, with what we say and do.’ Priestley uses the characters of the Inspector Goole and Sheila to transmit the message that we should be looking out for one another, without looking at how much wealth someone has, or how high status someone has in society, and rather that society should be equal and that wealth is not everything. It is similar to the commandment: love one another as you love yourself. JB Priestley uses Sheila and Inspector Goole as a heroine and a hero who fight the oppression of the working class women, and he uses lists and repetition of the word ‘millions to show this.
Lastly, a way in which Priestley reveals ideas about inequality between the genders is by presenting the idea that there should be equality between working class women and middle class women; this is done through the character of Sheila: ‘these girls aren’t cheap labour – they’re people’. Sheila’s empathy and sympathy towards Eva shown here illustrates how Priestley thinks that everyone should behave with her like that. They shouldn’t treat Eva as inhuman, just because she is less well off than them. JB Priestley is using Sheila as a stepping stone, and as a figure of hope, to make the audience feel that the society will change as time goes on, and to also give the aspiration that the hierarchal system will not exist in the next generation. Priestley used Sheila as his mouthpiece to illustrate how he truly believes that the caste system is wrong.
In the play women are portrayed as second class citizens, after men. However the difference (e.g. in independence) between upper class men and women is greater than that of working class men and women. Many women live alone and support themselves (for example by working in factories – like Mr Birling's) and their families demonstrate this, whereas the upper class women are entirely dependent on their husbands for money and accommodation. The play shows that the treatment of working class women is degrading. For example it portrays the assumptions that the working class women who are jobless are quite willing to turn to prostitution. ‘Have you any idea what happened to her after that? Get into trouble? Go on the streets?’ Mr Birling assumes that working class woman, like Eva Smith, get into trouble regularly, and if they are fired, they turn to prostitution quickly. This shows that the attitudes are totally different between upper class and working class women. Working class women are seen as easy virtue, and whores, whilst the upper class 'virgin maidens' are almost untouchable in their purity. The upper class girls are treated with respect, and are on the whole protected. ‘I think you ought to go to bed now, and forget this absurd business’ Mr and Mrs Birling want to protect Sheila from the horrors of affairs. However in the Edwardian society there were upper class men, who were abusive, and over domineering. For example Alderman Meggarty who tried to harass not only Eva Smith (who was working class) but a girl that Sheila knew, who must be upper class, because Sheila would only socialise in upper class circles. ‘A girl I know had to see him in the town hall, and she only escaped with a torn blouse.’ Upper class men look down on working class women, who actually are prostitutes. This demonstrates the double standards revolving in the play, because though the men look down on prostitutes, and see them as disgusting, they still go to them for repulsive pleasure. Women are not expected to think about business at all, nor have any interests apart from shopping, gossiping and probably needlework. ‘Now Sheila … you'll realize that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business’. Mrs Birling told Sheila that men do the work, and are the bread winners, leaving their wives alone, as if to prove that women can't think about business at all.
The inspector is used in the story as someone who is supposed to be like J.B Priestley. He is like a substitute for J.B Priestly and they are linked as the inspector is being used to put across his messages. The inspector is in the story to make the Birling's have responsibility for their actions. He is trying to make people think about what they do before they do it. ‘Look before you leap’ as the saying goes. The inspector is trying to say that people should all be treated equally. All these messages are aimed at the audience as well as the Birlings. This is how Priestley gets his points out to us, through the link between him and the inspector. In my opinion, I think his main messages are that we are all part of one community, not individual people but we are connected one way or another so we have to care for each other and look after each other. For example '….We are responsible for each other,' said the inspector. This shows us the inspector has socialist views and does care about others apart from himself. Overall, I think that Priestley reveals his ideas about the equality of the genders quite strongly, and is quite strongly against people being oppressed and undermined, as he believes that everyone should be equal, and so shows that through various characters mentioned above. He uses different characters and many literary techniques to get points across to the audience, such as listing and repetition, and this helps us to understand what exactly Priestley was trying to emphasise and get his point across about.
