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

Exactly. But also surprised anyone thinks awful misogynist men and women who are their victims are no longer relevant. Cleaning up literature to be full of right on role models doesn't make the problems of society go away. It's good to spark the debate of why this happened then and in what ways it is or isn't relevant now, but sexism goes on and part of the whole point of the play is that there's no single woman but many who suffer from lack of agency in their own lives. How many times a day on these very boards do we entreat other women to do something to escape their lot and they don't feel their can, for myriad reasons from practical (finances, DCs, home) to psychological (self-esteem, abuse etc)? To suppose that a character not having agency is only down to the author's sexism is a limited perspective. It can be argued for sure, but better to get past any equally blinkered view coloured by the attitudes of our own time, and look at what's in the play that endures and connects.

I’m sure Priestly did - just like someone with a drink problem “just being dragged into the pub after work”.

My issue with Gerald is that he 'happened to look in' on the palace bar, which was renowned for housing prostitutes for the evening. I always wondered whether Priestley wanted us to consider whether or not he'd gone in there looking for a girl all along.

I’m an English teacher, and always give one lesson on context at the beginning of each unit. There’s no point studying A Christmas Carol, for example, without having some knowledge of Dickens’ motivation for writing it.

Same with An Inspector Calls. You’d miss a lot of the dramatic irony in Sc1, when Birling is bloviating about the Titanic, and how war isn’t going to happen, etc, without a bit of contextual knowledge.

But they are helpless, that's the point. Sheila has the choice of being supported financially by a father or a husband.

some of these bonds are made of convention but imagine if she tried to leave the family house and support herself. What options would she have?

has the tutor given any background? Just a basic one page of history would be enough really.

it is a dark play, yes.

You daughter will need to consider the historical and social context of the play, as it’s one of the Assessment Objectives for GCSE Lit.

Eric rapes her. She is forced into some form of unspoken prostitution with Gerald.

Exactly. To be read through 21st century eyes it seems hard to relate, but society was quite different when the text was written. That needs to be remembered

I’ve taught this play for many years and it’s a great starting point for many discussions. For example, are their cultures in the world today that still control women or treat women in this way? Your 14 year old in Brighton might want Sheila to be more assertive but is this a realistic situation for other vulnerable women?

Are Eric and Gerald the ‘ Andrew Tates/ Incels’ of their time? Has the attitude of using women/ viewing them as lesser really gone?

I’ve never had a class that hasn’t engaged with the issues in this play.

@mids2019 "You therefore have to contextualize everything which maybe takes away from the thrust of the play?"

but context is always everything

Once again, I find myself quoting Matty Healy "like context in a modern debate, I just took it out". That's him criticising modern debate.

I'm not having a go at you. I'm often puzzled at how these discussions are conducted now and I think there has maybe been an era of teaching that simply removes context.

@mids2019 i'm a bit puzzled by your questions to be honest

I feel as if you've missed the whole historical context.

You talk about having "agency". Women didn't have agency at that time. They didn't really have rights in 1912.

Eva's "relationships" weren't choices - with Gerald it was an alternative to starving on the street. Eric raped her so a whole different story.

I did find the play a bit old hat years ago but if it helps prompt a discussion about women's rights and class issues in history, that's a plus.

I'd focus on the history before drawing any conclusions about the play in terms of story.

It is also worth remembering that it is deliberately set pre WWI, which did open a lot of doors to women. Especially with Sheila - she doesn’t know that if she just holds on for 4 years she could have a wealth of ne opportunities open to her. Similarly both Eric and Gerald are kind of “doomed”.

Interestingly, I found it dated & two dimensional when I taught in the UK. It works rather better in the C21 in the Middle East - many of my students can relate to the CEO dad, mum keeping busy with 'charity', older brother's a bit of a wastrel & older sister's been brought up to shop & land herself a suitable husband...& everyone is exploiting/abusing the poor bloody maid...

Agree the interesting aspect is discussing how much agency the various characters really have.

& also agree that it is, unfortunately, a 'catnip' GCSE text to exam boards because it works right across ability levels - anyone can write about the very obvious themes, but there's enough ambiguity for a thoughtful grade 9 response. See also OM&M, which I'd also be very happy to never have to open again...zzzz...

Exactly this. It’s of its time.

Eric is meant to have raped her though it is implied rather than stated explicitly due to sensitivity issues at the time of writing. Gerald comes along, a rich, handsome man right as she is about to prostitute herself to a disgusting old fart because she is out of options.

Another question that we always get asked is why Sheila would even consider taking Gerald back, and we always ask “how much choice do you think she has?” She is completely dependent on her father, and will remain so until she becomes completely dependent on her husband - and Mr Birling is unlikely to take kindly to seeing his business merger (and it’s clear from the start of the play that’s how he regards her marriage) go down the drain.

Plus at the end of the play we learn that there really is an inspector on their way to question them about a girl’s suicide - so there will be a scandal. If she marries quickly into the powerful Croft family, she will likely weather it better than the rest - will be seen as a “sensible gel” for overlooking her husband’s “indiscretions”. If she doesn’t, she’ll never land a man of similar status again, what with the whiff of scandal around her, and may struggle to find a man of similar status to her own. And outside of marriage, there really aren’t many opportunities open to her, and those that are are distinctly unpalatable.

I think the class barriers are hard to for young people to get their heads round too - despite their wealth, the Birlings were not of the same class as the Crofts. As the daughter of an industrialist, Sheila would’ve been considered “lucky” to get Gerald in the first place, and mad to let him go.

I suspect Mrs Birling would tell her as much, probably quite brutally!

I agree. It is so heavy handed. Themes-R-Us. But I suppose, in one respect, you could say it has very easy to spot themes, introducing at GCSE level the practice of spotting theme and inference in a text. It makes it quite easy.

I don't think the play implies that she has any agency. She is penniless and homeless. Gerald sets her up in a flat which is a huge improvement on begging for money to stay in a cheap hostel where far more unsavoury men would prey on her. Eric rapes her in a drunken threatening way.

Teachers might be using critical responses to the text to invite students to consider whether they agree with them or not.