His wife is about fifty, a rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior.
She is the mother of Sheila and Eric and sees them as children even though they have come of age and is very condescending towards them. She’s astutely conscious of the importance of social class at that time and this affects her attitude towards the other characters.
Owing to her coldness and lack of conscience, Mrs Birling is seen as being unsympathetic and out of touch with reality. It is this lack of understanding that leads to her making several snobbish comments and even to be unaware of her own son’s heavy drinking. She is described as a ‘rather cold woman and her husband’s social superior’. However, she shows signs of weakening when she realises that her actions had resulted in the death of her own grandchild. Once the inspector leaves though, she quickly recovers her old self, emphasising her harsh and uncaring nature.
She is a snob, very aware of the differences between social classes. She is irritated when Mr Birling makes the social gaffe of praising the cook in front of Gerald. She is a symbol of pessimism and negativity in the household because she has no sympathy/empathy.
mrcharding 