The characters that are used in the play all show represent different people in society. Some people learn from their mistakes when they’ve realised that they have everyone played a part in murdering Eva Smith whereas others try and get away with it which is not the most sensible thing to do.
Firstly, at the beginning of Act 1, Mr Birling reveals himself to be a very pompous person, as he tries to act as he knows it all. For example, he acts stubborn on the very first line: “You ought to like this port Gerald. As a matter of fact, Finchley told me it’s exactly the same port your father gets from him.” (Act 1, Page 1). Here, instead of acting very intelligent, he is actually making a big fool of himself instead.
Secondly, he agrees with everybody else as he doesn’t want to be left out of the crowd: “Hear, hear! And I think my father would agree to that.” “Now, Arthur, I don’t think you ought to be talking about business on an occasion like this.” “Quite so, I agree with you.” (Act 1, Page 4) He always especially agreed with his wife as his wife was of a higher social status, but normal women were generally of lower status.
Another point is that he tries to get the centre of attention. A way of him doing this is that he is talking most of the time in the play: “Just let me finish…which will always be behind hand naturally.” (Act 1, Pages 6-7) Also, at the beginning of that line he interrupts his only son, Eric, and he is interrupting people a lot of the time as well.
Also, it seems that Birling is always trying to impress his future son-in-law rather than his own son. “Yes, of course…not sorry that we’re celebrating quietly like this.” (Act 1, Pages 3-4) Although he is always trying his hardest to impress Gerald, it seems that Gerald doesn’t really care what Birling is saying half the time.
The most significant fact about Birling is that he is a Capitalist person. A Capitalist is where he is extremely motivated by money. So he believes that only money will acquire achievements throughout his entire lifetime. The opposite of a Capitalist is a Communist. Preistley’s views is that he believes that everyone should be treated equally, gain the same amount of respect, etc. Whereas Birling’s views tell us that the more important people should stay important people and shouldn’t drop down a lower social status.
One final point about Birling is that he is always looking forward to the future, he hardly ever looks back from the past: “The Titanic sails next week forty six thousand, eight hundred tons. Unsinkable.” (Act 1, Page 7) Priestley uses dramatic irony by stating that the titanic is impossible to sink but he was proved wrong as the titanic did sink. Also, he uses dramatic irony by saying that the chance of being a war is very slim, but not so later a war did start.
Now I will talk about Gerald and Sheila as a pair. Gerald and Sheila are very different people altogether, as they are from different parts of the hierarchy, where Gerald is higher than Sheila. But in this question, I will try to explain all of my views on both characters in the play.
Firstly, Gerald was to be engaged with Birling’s daughter in the near future, but it fell through after something terrible happened. Just when Gerald thought he had got away with it, the inspector figured it out just in time. Gerald was having an affair with a prostitute. But it wasn’t any prostitute, it was the woman who is always involved in the play, but never actually in the episodes (this is what we call a device), as she committed suicide not long after Gerald broke up with her. And after he had admitted this, he was respected more as a person for telling the truth whereas he could’ve been hated even more by Sheila. “In fact, in some odd way, I rather respect you more than I’ve ever done before.”(pge 40)
Another reason why he wasn’t a horrible man was because he took the time and commitment to take care of Daisy Renton (the prostitute), by feeding her and giving her money. But there were many disadvantages to this affair. Firstly, He shouldn’t have been in the bar in the first place, and he deliberately went looking for a woman. He rescued Daisy and took her from the stalls bar and it ultimately helped Daisy to try and get her life back to normal with someone she could talk to and co-operate with. This even led to getting her a brief happy time in her life and getting her morale up. Another thing that was good for Gerald was that he had complete control over Daisy and when he got fed up with Daisy he just broke up with her. But what Gerald didn’t think about was the consequences that were to come.
The most obvious one was the breaking up of him and Sheila. “Gerald, I think you’d better take this with you. (She hands him the ring)” (pge 40) This is a good example of how Sheila always got her way and that she always thought that money was the most important thing in life.
Also, she had lots of power over people who were lower than her in the hierarchy. “I was very rude to both of them, and then I went to the manager and told him that this girl had been very impertinent.” (pge 24) Priestley uses Sheila as a spoilt middle classed girl who always got her way, but she was made more wiser near the end of the play where he agreed with Eric about saying that they did something terribly wrong and that they should learn from their mistakes.
Now I will explain the mistakes Mrs Birling made during the play. Throughout Act 2 we learn many things about Mrs Birling when she is being interviewed by the inspector. She acts in many different ways whilst she is being interviewed, and I will try and explain all the different views on Mrs Birling.
Firstly, what she did in the first place was very wrong. The device in the play, Eva Smith had deliberately looked for help as she did not know what to do while she was pregnant. She went to the Brumley Women’s Charity Organization where Mrs Birling had been in the chair at the time, so she could make the decisions on people’s problems. One of them was from Eva Smith. All she needed was assistance and Mrs Birling refused to be any part of the problem. “She came to you for help, at a time when no woman could have needed it more and you not only refused it yourself but you saw to it that others refused it too. You slammed the door in her face.” (pge 45) There was actually no reason for her to refuse to help another woman in need of help. The only argument for Mrs Birling’s case was that Eva Smith went by the name of Mrs Birling. And Mrs Birling told the inspector that she should have gone to the father of the baby for help. But what Mrs Birling didn’t know was that the father of the son was Eric As he had been seeing Eva Smith and supposedly raped her. What we learn here about Mrs Birling is that she tries to be clever and trying to make herself innocent but only gets herself into more trouble as the Inspector throws her argument back in her face, so she turns out to be quite stupid.
Also, we learn that she doesn’t care about anyone but herself and her family. She shows this by refusing to help Eva Smith. She doesn’t say why but it might be because Eva Smith is working- class woman while Mrs Birling is a Middle- class woman. So maybe this shows that Mrs Birling and her husband have something in common. That they are both Capitalists.
Finally I will talk about Eric. I learn many things about Eric once he has been interviewed. Firstly he was always getting himself very drunk. Maybe this explains why he got Eva Smith pregnant. Also, it suggests that he raped the woman. “You went into her lodgings that night?” “Yes I insisted, it seems. Afterwards she told me she didn’t want me to go in but I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty- and I threatened to make a row.” (pge52) Also, when Eric realises that he got Eva Smith pregnant, and that he didn’t want to marry her, he insisted on giving her money, stolen money from his dad. So this tells us that Eric was very irresponsible and unreliable. This also led to a fall out between Birling and Eric as Birling didn’t really like Eric in the first place, as he was always trying to insult him. In a way, I feel sorry for him because when he is in need of help he has no one to go to so he has to try and figure thins out on his own. Here, Eric learns that he did something horribly wrong, and knows that he shouldn’t do it again as it will cause him even bigger trouble.
The significant character I would like to talk about is the inspector. Although he really wasn’t an inspector he certainly convinced the characters that he was. He almost plays a role as Priestley’s mouthpiece. He uses the inspector very wisely as he gets all the information and facts out of the characters. The final thing I would like to say about the inspector is that his final speech is the most important in the play. Basically, what he is trying to say is that every mistake or flaw that you make in society will change people’s lives, and that everything and everybody doesn’t revolve around one person. “We are responsible for each other.”(pge 56) Also, he is saying that if people do not learn from their mistakes, they will have to suffer the consequences in the near future. “If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.” (pge 56)
To conclude, there are two types of message that are revealed in the play. One is optimism which is told by Eric and Sheila as they are the only people in the play that have committed a serious crime whereas the rest thought they were going to get away with it just as the real inspector phones up. It is an optimistic message because if people will learn from their mistakes, people will become happier. The other message is a pessimistic message, where people like Gerald and both the Birlings will not learn from their mistakes. Priestley is trying to say about society that if people make mistakes and flaws, sometimes it will change the course of peoples lives, and Priestley uses a very good example of Eva Smith.
