Generational differences Theme notes

GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES AND CONFLICT

-Sheila and Eric are both patronised by their parents. Despite the fact they are adults, their parents treat them like children. When the Inspector arrives and Sheila enters, Birling tells her it’s “nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along”. He tells Inspector Goole he objects to “the way in which my daughter, a young unmarried girl, is being dragged into this”- this is hypocritical because Eva is the same age as Sheila and had to experience it but he thinks Sheila shouldn’t even hear it.  After Sheila turns down Gerald’s ring, Birling says “Now look at the pair of then- the famous younger generation who know it all. And they can’t even take a joke”. Even though Sheila is old enough to be engaged, Mrs Birling refers to her as “child” and scolds her when she refuses to go to bed: “Please don’t contradict me like that”. She regularly tells Sheila to “be quiet” or “don’t talk nonsense”. She believes Eric doesn’t drink because “he’s only a boy” with the Inspector reminding her that he’s a “young man”. Sheila is patronised much more than Eric, and so this perhaps links with the gender inequalities.

-Gerald is slightly older than Sheila so is caught in the middle, being neither very young nor old. In the end he sides with the older generation, perhaps because his aristocratic roots influence him to want to keep the status quo and protect his own interests.

There are many differences between the generations:

·         The old seem to always think they are right and are very complacent whilst the young realise there could be problems in the future. When Mr Birling says that there will be “increasing prosperity” in the future, Eric asks “What about war?” Unlike Birling, Eric is able to look outside the ‘bubble’ of his own life and realise that there are problems in the world.

·         The old are very set in their ways (they are conservatives) whilst the young are able to accept new ideas. For example, this in shown in early Act 1 when Birling explains he sacked Eva “to keep labour costs down” and Gerald says “you couldn’t have done anything else” whilst Eric supports the workers cause and says “he could of kept her on”. Sheila also shows sympathy towards the workers saying “these girls aren’t cheap labour- they’re people”. The younger generations are able to accept socialist ideologies whilst the older generations still have capitalist values. Mrs Birling still has traditional views on women and believes that a woman should come second to her husband’s work: “men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business” whilst Sheila realises that women can be much more independent and should have power in society and so this is why she doesn’t take the engagement ring back from Gerald, saying “it’s too soon”.

·         The old will do anything to protect themselves whilst…