Page 3 | An inspector calls - does the suicide victim lack agency with her relationships with Eric and Gerald?

mids2019 · 2025-07-20T08:02:02+00:00

My daughter has just read this play for GCSE and though it is a great morality lesson I did have questions about some of its relevance in 2025. The suicide victim is definitely an innocent when it came to being fired for unionising and allegedly mocking a client in dress shop but with the interactions with Eric and Gerald I do question whether there is a slight misogyny or unnecessary vitimhood? In both cases the victim engages with sexual activity with both men and one point of view is that the cut in has a choice in entering those relationships so does not have the same degree of powerlessness as in the sackings. I found it maybe a little derogatory that there is an implication that a woman reduced to poverty would naturally resort to comfort sex and relationships where she was undervalued. I personally found this quite strange as the victim initially was an incredibly strong beautiful woman who was prepared to lead courageously in strike action. I can see perhaps the narrative is that the victim is systematically degraded by her experience with the Birlings and maybe she has reached a point of having reduced esteem but I do possinly.question whether the inference of 'young beautiful woman in the slide drinks and has one night stands' is a good one from a gender perspective. What should a GCSE student under from the victims relationships ? My daughter for instance was wondering about the availability of contraception in the 1910s and whether in fact the audience were meant to sympathise with the victim in her choice of relationship as they were a result of her impoverished state and possibke.poor mental health.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 23:23

Another thing my annoying daughter pointed out was that classic literature does not include any lgbqt+ characters. Of course none of the authors we study at GCSE would write about gay people as homosexuality was a massive taboo back in the day. It does appear to be a shock though (maybe for this generation) that they have to read through a series of texts without mention of homosexuality as they are brought up in a much more diverse literary and visual diet.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 23:19

TheLivelyViper

Really good post.

I was thinking about women and the patriarchy and I think with English literature we do see the world through a western historical lens. There are cultures where the attitudes that shocked my daughter do present themselves and it must be a question about how you criticise patriarchy when some cultures and religions actively embrace it.

I was talking to a Sikh young woman who was to have an arranged marriage and this is just simply a cultural expectation. The good match for Sheila in an inspector calls would seem dated for my daughter as a concept but other cultures may identify more readily with the confines of a semi arranged marriage.

It

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TheLivelyViper · 27/07/2025 22:22

@mids2019 I think you could get her to think about other countries - Afghanistan (there was an amazing guardian article on how the men there have slowly become very good enforces of patriarchy and how it slowly gets embedded in culture). Look at the U.S and how abortion rights are being taken away - there are senators proposing bills for only married women to get the vote. A women in Georgia was brain dead at 9 weeks and was kept on life support till 24 weeks before her body just got too dead to hold the fetus and they took it out, the baby is only 1 pound. Look even in the UK - 1 is killed every few days by her partner or ex partner. Yes we have come so far in the progress of feminism but I think getting to think more critically will help - the gender pay gap in he UK is still 17%. Even in Iran in the 70s (they had female MPs) - we think these countries have never given women rights but they did and now think about how women get beaten in Iran by the morality police. It's always going to be a fight for women.
I've put some good books (mainly nom-fiction but also fiction) about Feminism across the world (I think she'd enjoy them and learn a lot).

• It’s Probably Nothing: Critical Conversations on the Women’s Health Crisis
• The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart
• The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny by Laura Bates
• Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
• Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
• Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights
• We Should All be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• White Feminism by Koa Beck
• White Tears Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Colour by Ruby Hamad
• Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women White Feminists Forgot by Mikki Kendall
• Sexy But Psycho: How the Patriarchy Uses Women’s Trauma Against Them
• The Pain Gap: How Sexism and Racism in Healthcare Kill Women by Anushay Hossain
• Black Sisters, Speak Out: Feminism and Oppression in Black Africa by Awa Thiam
• This Bridge Called My Back, Fourth Edition: Writings by Radical Women of Color by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria AnzaldúaA
• Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan by Sima Samar
• Until We Are Freeby Shirin Ebadi
• A Decolonial Feminismby Francoise Verges

HollyGolightly4 · 27/07/2025 21:55

I'm not a PSHE teacher - there does seem to be a move towards making literature lessons PSHE topics and it is infuriating.

That being said, it's unfortunate your daughter's school stick to such a limited diet of lit texts, but I suspect upwards of 75 percent of schools do those three texts. (I don't have stats, but exam boards publish the number of candidates sitting each text, and I mark inspector!

The trick is to hook- so the relatability aspect isn't necessarily Eva Smith, it might be the issue of being looked down on for being a particular class, or for not having a voice, or for parental expectations. Or, your daughter might just hate it and that's ok 😂 she can read other things!

Traditionally (in my experience) girls prefer literature to boys, but that is absolutely not universal!

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 20:33

DarkForces

Thanks.

The frustrating thing my daughter is quite a voracious reader and did extremely week in her SATs but has disengaged to some extent at secondary school. The way the school teach English is that there is no distinction between language and literature so I do need to enthuse her about an inspector calls,Macbeth and A Christmas Carol.

There is a hurdle about relatibility but I hope it's not insurmountable. I do still think it's hard to get a teenage girl to fully appreciate some literature as as discussed earlier there is a disconnect in terms of the nature of romance/marriage/power dynamics for women in times that go by.

(Working on extending an analysis of Lady Macbeth which is slightly more expensive than power hungry psychopath with OCD currently...)

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DarkForces · 27/07/2025 19:51

That's the message I'd share. If we just read about people like us we wouldn't learn a thing.

I loved cold comfort farm for a great heroine. It's ridiculous but I loved the characters and the order coming from chaos as they developed. It's an excellent palate cleanser after a heavy text. Wyrd Sisters is another great one I read at her age.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 19:41

Darkforces.

I think that is important and a message I will give my daughter. Context is key.

My daughter is not unintelligent but as I said earlier it is taking effort to get he engaged in older texts partly by her own admission she couldn't relate to many of the female characters.

Maybe we do have to look at English literature as creating a guiding light for the progression of female opportunity and liberty.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 19:38

In did ask her about which Dicken's female character she liked and admired and she did struggle with that but I did as well.

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DarkForces · 27/07/2025 19:33

If you need it to relate to you think about it this way, these are women who could have changed the world, they could have been at the forefront of something that changed humanity and yet their potential was squandered by the society they were born into. You are incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to do the things you want when you want and that's due to stories like this helping change the context we live in. We are very, very lucky to be born at this time and in this place and I'm very grateful for it.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 19:26

Personally I was bad at English literature but I do put this down to not relating to some of the characters I had to learn about. I don't necessarily think though I couldn't relate to English invasive per se but only to some of the books I had to read.

I do tell my daughter times were different and understanding of those times is important but not to feel that contemporary women's lives need to be constrained in the ways that are portrayed by the likes of George Eliot.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 19:22

@mids2019

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DarkForces · 27/07/2025 19:10

This is not ancient history though. It's very recent. I'd recommend a listen to the cruelty on bbc sounds if you want a modern example. Sex trafficking and slavery affects far more women than men and is still very much a feature of our times and happening in uk https://www.unseenuk.org/about-modern-slavery/facts-and-figures/. These examples are far more normal examples than heroines unfortunately

Unseen UK | Facts & Figures

Find out the latest facts and figures on modern slavery here.

https://www.unseenuk.org/about-modern-slavery/facts-and-figures/

GrammarTeacher · 27/07/2025 19:05

You really don’t seem to get these texts or the point of Literature at GCSE to be honest.
Can you name a work of Literature written in English by someone from Great Britain (those are the rules) about Curie or Boudicca?
Our local girls school does Pride and Prejudice as their nineteenth century choice as it happens. Of those that join us at A Level some loved it, some hated it. Because not all members of a sex respond to texts in the same way. There’s no such thing as boy/girl friendly texts.

Regardless, your daughter needs to do some more work on this. Consideration of context is one of the Assessment Objectives and it doesn’t sound like that’s happening right now.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 18:59

That's a really interesting point above and I think the quandary is that great literature is great literature and opens perspectives on many aspects of the human condition but we do have to accept as stated there may be little provision for female role models given the antiquity of the works.

If we look at romance for instance it can be hard to get a girl to completely relate to some figures in literature due to 2025 life for women being much different and the question is can this be a barrier to an engagement when a lot of the non English curriculum is geared towards female empowerment and certainly doesn't highlight sexist gender differences.

There just seems to be a greater need for girls to make a greater leap of imagination to identify with women, many in subjugate roles that now seem remote.

For instance Juliet is effectively being forced into an arranged marriage to Paris by her father, Ophelia is subject to horrific misogyny by Hamlet etc. Many of George Emily's and Jane Austen's characters though nuanced and brilliantly written are still slaves to a patriarchy that may be unrecognizable today.

I take the point that this being 'woke' but shouldn't we also take opportunities in English to highlight heroic femininity from Bodecia to Marie Curie? I don't know, maybe I am wrong, but somehow it feels like countering the dominant male narrative of at least balancing it may not be a bad thing.

Bridgestone for example is not great literature but shows we have a modem appetite for maybe not wanting to over focus on times and attitudes we now feel let's face it wrong. Focusing on the enthralled state of women, though important historically maybe akin to having a lot of literature about slavery when you have children of afro Caribbean descent. We all know slavery existed but we wouldn't feel comfortable with all our literature focused onit.

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DarkForces · 27/07/2025 18:53

mids2019 · 27/07/2025 14:39

@DarkForces

I agree.

I am writing from the perspective of a parent of an opinionated modern empowered 14 year old who can't relate to the social position of yesteryear and the misogyny in those periods

It seems she misguidedly thinks the women weak or poor of judgment. 'why didn't the victim see the red flags? Was she stupid?'. Once put in context the victim's lack of choice becomes clear but you have to make teenagers understand the historical gender divisions.

I think imho it takes a bit of a 'push' to get girls (or at least my girl!) engaged with literature where women behaved in manner different to 21st Western women and were essentially subjugates. If course this is historically accurate but it does seem there can be :pushback' from some girls to full engagement (and joy of reading) when women are esentially the 'weaker' sex and having to follow social restrictions that are far from today's. It's obviously a really good thing gender imbalance has been eroded but does this not make a lot of our classic texts a little more remote for the modern school student (especially girls).

There are so many great books in our literature and so few to have to choose for children in a formative part of their education I think it would be great to have more female role models (or is that being a bit to woke?)

I'd use it as a reason to get her to research the history of feminism and the fact her freedoms have been hard one at the expense of many other women. The witch trials are another example of the way women were punished for not fitting into the mould of what women should be. These women were not weak, they were doing their best to survive generally at a point in our history a lot was stacked against them.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 18:43

@mids2019

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pinkdelight · 27/07/2025 18:27

It does feel (hate the word) ‘woke’ to me, sorry. The point (or one of them) is to get your daughter to open her mind and engage with literature from other periods, to get beyond the popular shorthand of now around ‘red flags’ and learn more about humanity, history, language and lots more. Female role models are fine and good, but it’s not KS1 Amazing Women tales retrofitting Ada Lovelace and Florence Nightingale etc to be cool contemporary heroines. Nor is it Bridgerton precision tooled to go down easy and comfort. Not everyone will like every text and that’s fine, and a valid response, but I do despair a little at the idea that literature’s value lies in whether it’s got good role models for young women - or men. Personally, and although it’s not woke itself, I prefer Ray Bradbury’s take on what makes good writing: “The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies.”

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 14:39

@DarkForces

I agree.

I am writing from the perspective of a parent of an opinionated modern empowered 14 year old who can't relate to the social position of yesteryear and the misogyny in those periods

It seems she misguidedly thinks the women weak or poor of judgment. 'why didn't the victim see the red flags? Was she stupid?'. Once put in context the victim's lack of choice becomes clear but you have to make teenagers understand the historical gender divisions.

I think imho it takes a bit of a 'push' to get girls (or at least my girl!) engaged with literature where women behaved in manner different to 21st Western women and were essentially subjugates. If course this is historically accurate but it does seem there can be :pushback' from some girls to full engagement (and joy of reading) when women are esentially the 'weaker' sex and having to follow social restrictions that are far from today's. It's obviously a really good thing gender imbalance has been eroded but does this not make a lot of our classic texts a little more remote for the modern school student (especially girls).

There are so many great books in our literature and so few to have to choose for children in a formative part of their education I think it would be great to have more female role models (or is that being a bit to woke?)

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Takenoprisoner · 27/07/2025 13:23

In 2025 K think a young woman would be a lot more vocal about the affair and be unashamed of an emotional reaction. My daughter's less than considered opinion was why Shells didn't simply tell Gerald to f off.

Just a casual glance at the relationships board or aibu board on MN shows that women disclose their partner's affairs on here every day, because they are too ashamed to talk to anyone in real life. Women who are 'working through' years long affairs of their husbands?
Women who've caught their partners doing the most vile things who then are posting things like 'shall I call off my wedding?' etc. This is also my experience of women in IRL, women often take men back who've done abominable things.

Do you really think in the 1900s a young woman like Sheila would have the choice of breaking her engagement over Gerald's affair, which would be seen as a minor indiscretion at worst? Most young men were almost expected to behaviour similar, just look at Eric!

Some things haven't changed at all in that respect.

Eva Smith was a young poor woman navigating a man's world, what on earth do you mean by implying she wasn't powerless? She was fainting with hunger when Gerald met her, and they had a brief relationship. I cannot imagine what choices you think a woman like that might have had? she did what she could to survive. She probably fell for Gerald, who was a total gentleman compared to Eric who essentially forced himself on her and continued to abuse her when she was at her lowest.

DarkForces · 27/07/2025 13:07

I studied Wuthering Heights and think Catherine was an absolute eejit for putting up with Heathcliff's nonsense, far more so than Eva who had very few options and those she had were taken away from her.

DarkForces · 27/07/2025 13:04

Absolutely. There was no social security or safety net and poverty was absolute. My nan was brought up in the slums of London with a father who drank every spare penny and a bloke upstairs who was well known as a paedophile with no consequences. This isn't ancient history and it's so important to remember why we introduced benefits. Women were judged as undeserving of help if they were unmarried mothers and were rejected for financial support by panels of people so far removed from their reality that they couldn't see men's culpability in the situation. Thank fuck we've come on since then.

TheLivelyViper · 27/07/2025 12:51

mids2019 · 23/07/2025 20:42

It's interesting that my daughter has 3 set texts, an inspector calls, Macbeth and a Christmas Carol.

I wonder if such a selection may not engage girls as strongly as other texts. As people have pointed out there is no particular strong woman role in an inspector calls and Lady Macbeth isn't exactly a role model (though very strong). A Christmas Carol doesn't really feature women as major characters (if I recall correctly).

Would it be good to include texts where women overcame adversity or had a more heroic role?

I do take the point about the darkness of the texts when we live in age of trigger warnings. Drinking bleach as a means of suicide to my mind is simply there for shock value and is quite gratuitous as surely hanging would be a more straightforward choice? Indeed the victim of an Inspector Calls sees no hope in life and decides to end it yet the play is fielded to a group of young teens who may have struggles of their own.

OP there are more books with female authors or character but schools choose to not teach them.
Paper 1 English Lit is Shakespeare play and then 19th century text most schools do Christmas Carol or Jekyll and Hyde, you can do Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice and others.

Paper 2 is either a modern play or a modern book. Most schools do Inspector Callsz or Blood Brothers (if they do a play). But amby of the book options are now more diverse including women, and different ethnicities: Pigeon English and My Name is Leon and Anita and me are good books. And if they want to do a play instead Princess and the Hustler and Leave Taking are on the list to choose from. These are all much more modern etc. Then for poetry they recently added a Poetry anthology called World's and Lives (more modern and diverse authors/context).

But schools choose the same old books and play because 1. They have powerpoints made years ago they can repeat 2. Teachers may not know where to start with new texts, they need to read them etc, it requires training about new texts, new contexts teachers may not be familiar with 3. Some texts like Christmas Carol are much simpler to understand and so students who struggle can do well. It's a shame because it often puts kids off books, because they don't relate to them, find them archaic and boring. AQA (likely other exam boards as well) have been trying to upgrade modernity and Diversity but they can't force school to teach those books. Hopefully with the new Curriculum and Assessment Review (as alluded to in interim report) will focus on a lot more diversity and inclusion, modern texts and teaching in a range of subjects which kids will actually feel represented by.

GrammarTeacher · 27/07/2025 10:33

mids2019 · 27/07/2025 10:07

@GrammarTeacher

I think there is awareness and I think the question is how aware girls should be of women's position in the past.

From a positive point if view girls can see how much has been gained in terms of equality in 100 years e.g. right to vote. There is obviously a need to present history in a true way.

I think for a lot of literature there is a gender perspective that isn't present in say maths (no real consideration of gender when solving an equation) and this needs thought in a syllabus. It appears to my mind we have PHSE lessons in schools that are very much about female positivity and opportunity but English literature that focuses on female oppression and what we would now describe as lack of role models due to the age of the texts.

I think there is an argument girls and boys receive English literature in a slightly different way.

I teach only boys at this level. There is a huge difference in how each boy responds to Literature. I can assure that teachers think this through and discuss it. At length.

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mids2019 · 27/07/2025 10:07

@GrammarTeacher

I think there is awareness and I think the question is how aware girls should be of women's position in the past.

From a positive point if view girls can see how much has been gained in terms of equality in 100 years e.g. right to vote. There is obviously a need to present history in a true way.

I think for a lot of literature there is a gender perspective that isn't present in say maths (no real consideration of gender when solving an equation) and this needs thought in a syllabus. It appears to my mind we have PHSE lessons in schools that are very much about female positivity and opportunity but English literature that focuses on female oppression and what we would now describe as lack of role models due to the age of the texts.

I think there is an argument girls and boys receive English literature in a slightly different way.

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GrammarTeacher · 27/07/2025 08:35

mids2019 · 27/07/2025 08:11

I prefer animal farm as it is pure allegory. There is no exploration of male pigs dominating female pigs so it removes the gender question from the overriding the of the elites oppressing the masses and the unchanging nature of human power and privilege (great stuff). Why not reach this?

an inspector calls brings in the addition of gender oppression which obviously was a fact of the 1910s but is a difficult theme with early teen boys and girls. There were boys in the class who apparently didn't see the actions of Gerald and Eric as that problematic (smirkingly suggesting those were the days). I guess there is an element of immaturity there with the class but it seems a teacher would be drawn into emphasising how wrong this societal position was.

It’s not a difficult theme for years 10 and 11. They live in today’s world. They are well aware of the issue.