Arthur doesn’t seem at all worried about what has happened to the poor girl Eva smith, He has no regrets about what he did to the girl but is only offended by the inspectors rudeness but he seems far more concerned about the fact that there could be the possibility of now being deprived of his knighthood. All through out the play Arthur tries to belittle the inspector by trying to put him in his place and continually re emphasizing his own position in society, he gets increasingly desperate to avoid facing his responsibilities whilst trying to cover up anything his family may have said that could diminish his future chances.
Eric is one of the weaker more evasive characters, He is in his early twenties and is half shy and half-assertive. He is very fond of his alcohol although his parents are completely oblivious of his habit. Sheila is aware of Eric’s drink problem and had been harbouring his secret until the inspector shows up, when she takes it on herself to inform her parents. When Eric’s mother finds out about his little problem, she tries to shake off the accusation as her little boy couldn’t possible do a thing like getting drunk, “ I never dreamt, besides, you’re not the type, you don’t get drunk”.
Eric met Eva Smith in the Palace Bar after he had consumed a rather considerable amount of alcohol and was quite tipsy. Eric insisted that he go back to Eva’s home “ I threatened to make a row” She let him in and “that’s when it happened and I didn’t’ even remember- that’s the hellish thing”. Eric and Eva made love- if you could call it that. He used her as an object in the heat of the drunken moment and forced her to do something that she probably didn’t want to do.
Two weeks later Eric met up with Eva again, this time Eric wasn’t so drunk but he still went home with her, although this time they did talk, He found out her name and a bit about what had happened. They then “made love”, but yet again it was lust and not love, “I wasn’t in love with her or anything- but I liked her, she was a pretty good sport”.
After them meeting several times again, Eva announced to Eric that she was pregnant Eric was severely shocked “ I was in a hell of a state about it”. Eric tried to help her out, he gave her some money, stolen money from his dads office. One day while Eric was drunk he let slip to Eva where the money had come from “she wouldn’t take anymore and refused to see me again”.
After confessing all to the inspector, it was his mothers turn, but when he found out that Eva had been to visit his mother’s committee for help he was astounded and tried to shift the blame of Eva’s death over to his mother. “Then you killed her, she came to you to protect me and you turned her away- yes and you killed her”, it almost sounded as if he was trying to convince himself as well as his mother. Eric was left feeling guilty and responsible as though he had caused the whole thing and not just contributed to the sequence of events.
Sheila Birling was a pretty girl in her early twenties, she liked life and was always rather excited.
Before the inspector arrived Sheila was very happy as Gerald (of Croft unlimited) had just announced their engagement and just given her the ring. The family was in the middle of a celebratory drink and Sheila and Gerald were listening to her father speak.
Sheila was in on the discussion between the inspector, Gerald, Arthur and her brother Eric. She was immediately told to run along by her father. Sheila objects to her parent’s attempts to protect her from the truth and refuses to leave until she is told what was going on. “I’m not a child don’t forget. I’ve a right to know”. Once the inspector had finished filling her in on the information she was astonished, especially when she heard that her father could be partly responsible for the girl’s tragic death, She said
“ I can’t help thinking about this girl destroying herself so horribly- and I have been so happy tonight, Oh I wish you hadn’t told me! What was she like? Quite young”
Sheila seemed a very concerned person considering she didn’t, as yet, know who was involved. She is impressionable and deeply affected by the inspector’s news.
The inspector goes on to tell Sheila that Eva Smith got a job, at Milwards after she was sacked from her father’s factory but after only a couple of months in this new job she was sacked again in January. As soon as the inspector said this to Sheila she asks to see a picture of the girl involved. “ She looks closely, recognizes it with a stifled sob and runs out”.
Sheila returned to the room a few moments later and says “ you knew it was me all the time, didn’t you?” Sheila explained how she had gone in to try a dress, even though she knew the dress wouldn’t suit her. Eva held up the dress and it suited her, “ she was the right type, just as I was the wrong type”. Sheila caught sight of this girl smiling at Miss. Francis as if to say “ doesn’t she look awful”. Sheila was instantly jealous of the way Eva looked and so Sheila used all of the power she had to punish the girl because of the way she made her feel. “ It didn’t seem to be a very terrible thing at the time” but Sheila did also say that she felt bad about the incident at the time but feels much worse about it now. After Sheila had the girl sacked she changed her name to Daisy Renton.
Sheila was also left feeling responsible for what happened, She abused her power in much the same way as her father did but she was also left knowing her fiancé was a liar who had another lady on the side, her brother being the illegitimate father of the unborn child and with a very unforgiving mother. Sheila is left knowing she is a vain and spiteful girl.
Sheila wanted the whole affair to be exposed and the truth to be discovered, She was the first to admit her guilt and express regret for her actions, She was open about her brother’s drink problem and Alderman Meggarty’s unpleasant reputation. She acted as the family’s conscience and was very critical of her father.
Before the inspector enters Mrs. Birling is confident and rather pleased with herself. She thinks that her family is above others especially people in Eva Smith’s class. Mrs. Birling is also rather naive and takes offence rather easily.
When the inspector questions her she tries to put across the fact that she is in charge, She puts on her airs and attempts to make out that they are above all this ridicule. Sheila tries to put her in her place, “You mustn’t try to build up a wall between us and that girl”.
Mrs. B is always quick to defend her family and remind everyone of her husband’s position “ You know of course that my husband was Lord Mayor only two years ago, and that he is still a magistrate”. When faced with the matter of Eric’s drinking she again denies it “ It isn’t true, you know him Gerald and you’re a man, you must know it isn’t true”. She tells the inspector that her son isn’t used to drinking and that he’s only a boy which shows us a signal of the shattering of her illusions
The inspector shows Mrs. B a photo of Daisy Renton, s
She tries to say that she hasn’t seen the girl before but her face says otherwise. The inspector jogs her memory back to two weeks ago to a meeting at the Brumley Women’s Charity Organization to which Daisy Renton went for help. Mrs. B turned Daisy down for help, one of the contributing factors was that instead of the girl using her real name she tried to pass herself off as Mrs. Birling.
“ I think it was simply a piece of gross impertinence, quite deliberate and naturally that was one of the things that prejudiced me against her case”
Mrs. B wouldn’t take any blame for the girl’s death, She did, however admit that the girl had been refused, under her influence “ I didn’t like her manner-she’d impertinently made use of our name”
Daisy Renton had gone to the committee for help because she was pregnant and even knowing this Mrs. B turned her away telling her to “ go and look for the father of the child, its his responsibility”.
Mrs. B didn’t’ like the way the girl acted, She was claiming elaborate fine feelings” Even when Sybil found out that the girl had been given stolen money by the father she still refused to believe the legitimacy of her story. After all of this, Sybil still believes she had nothing to do with the death “ If the girls death’s due to anyone then its due to him”, meaning the baby’s father who just happens to be here son! Sybil said that her own conscience was clear because the girl was not a deserving case, she admits that she had used her influence to have Eva’s application for help refused. She says that Eva only had herself to blame.
At the beginning of the play Gerald is a very happy man. He has just proposed to Sheila and she accepted they were celebrating with a small family engagement drink. Gerald wants so much to be a part of their family “ In fact, I insist upon being one of the family now, I’ve been waiting long enough, haven’t I?”
Gerald knows Arthur Birling is a very pompous man so when he is told about Birling’s chance of a knighthood he responds “Oh-I say- Congratulations”.
When the inspector enters and tells them all of Eva’s suicide he produces a photo of Eva Smith and shows Birling, but when Gerald tries to see it the inspector pulls it away. Gerald is upset and angry by this, “Any particular reason why I shouldn’t see this girls photograph, inspector?. Gerald gets annoyed by the fact he can’t see the photo and doesn’t like the inspector’s manner,
“Getting a bit heavy handed aren’t you inspector? After all we’re respectable citizens and not criminals”.
When the inspector tells them that the girl changed her name from Eva Smith to Daisy Renton Gerald immediately knows who she was. “D’you mind if I give myself a drink Sheila?”
When Sheila questions Gerald on Daisy Renton he At first denies knowing her, “ Why should I know her?” but after more persistence from Sheila he admits it, “all right I knew her, lets leave it at that”. Sheila works out it was more than just friends. Gerald replies
“I’m sorry Sheila. But it was all over and done with last summer, I hadn’t set eyes the girl for at least six months, I don’t come into this suicide business”. Gerald tries to get Sheila to keep it to herself. “Yes- we can keep from him”- he has obviously been doing more than he’s letting on.
The inspector badgers Gerald into telling him about his relationship. He confessed to meeting Sheila at the Palace Bar.
“I happened to look in one night after a long dull day, and as the show wasn’t very bright I went down into the bar for a drink which was a favorite haunt for the women of the town”.
Gerald talks about meeting her, seeing her for the first time,
“I hate those hard eyed dough faced women, but then I noticed a girl who looked quite different. She was very pretty- soft brown hair and big dark eyes”.
Gerald took her to the County Hotel, They talked and met up again two nights later. He discovered she had no money so he let her stay at his friend’s empty apartment and gave her money to keep her going. “ I made her go to Morgan Terrace because I was sorry for her and I didn’t like the idea of her going back to the Palace Bar. I didn’t ask for anything in return”.
Daisy Renton or “Eva Smith” became his mistress, He was her “wonderful fairy prince”.
The affair ended “ in the first week of September. I had to go away for several weeks then – on business. “ I insisted on a parting gift of enough money to see her through till the end of the year” “ I never saw her again and that’s all I can tell you”. Gerald helped Eva with genuine sympathy from her situation and didn’t take advantage of her as Eric had done while he was drunk in a violent way. Gerald did make Eva Smith happy and in many ways he is least to blame for the death of Eva Smith.
It is no doubt that Eva Smiths death was a result of the chain of events led by the Birling family and Gerald Croft. Out of all the people in Eva Smith’s life, Gerald seemed to be the only genuine one of them all. He gave her a place to stay when she needed it most and money which was enough to keep her going with a little extra. Gerald also gave her genuine companionship and only broke the relationship off when they both agreed it was going nowhere. He didn’t ask for anything in return from Eva.
I believe that Sheila was only partly responsible, as was Eric. From Sheila’s selfish, green eyed nature, she went out of her way to get Eva sacked from Milwards just because she was more pretty than she was, and one dress caused Sheila to make Eva’s life hell by complaining to the manager at Milwards and threatening to remove her mothers account with them. If Eva hadn’t been sacked she would never have ended up vulnerable and with Eric.
Eric was more responsible for the death because he pushed her over the edge. He was a liar, a thief and an embezzler, He gave her stolen money and took advantage of her, forcing her back and sleeping with her while he was drunk. He became angry and aggressive when she said no but he violently forced his way back in to the house. Eric left Eva Smith pregnant and when she went to Eric’s mothers committee for help she was turned away and told to get the father of the baby to take responsibility and not to run away, What Sybil didn’t realize was that that father of her unborn baby was, in fact, her son.
Sybil was the last person out of all of them to see Eva alive so she could have changed the end result. If she hadn’t put on airs and grace and turned Eva away from the committee, Eva would have had a future.
Overall, I believe that Arthur Birling is the one person who we can hold responsible for Eva Smiths death. Sacking her from the factory made her attitude to life change. If he hadn’t have sacked her from the factory she wouldn’t have ended up working in Milwards where she was to be sacked by a jealous, angry Sheila. Eva wouldn’t have been vulnerable and ended up with Gerald and have been taken advantage of and left pregnant by Eric. If she wasn’t pregnant she wouldn’t have needed his mothers committee for help. She would have had a long and stable job and a happy life, Which Arthur took away. There for I think Arthur Birling is most responsible for the death of Eva Smith.
“An Inspector Calls”
_J.B Priestley
John Boynton Priestley was born in Yorkshire on the 13th September 1894.
He left school at the age of sixteen and in 1910 he became a junior clerk with the local wool firm of Helm and Company. With the outbreak of war in 1914 Priestley joined the infantry at the age of twenty. He left the Army in 1919 after nearly being killed once and being a victim of a gas attack. After leaving the army he went to Cambridge University to study Modern History and Political Science, but in 1921 he left and went to London.
Priestley’s first novel was The Good Companions (1929) and his second novel, Angel Pavement was published in 1930, but it was in 1932. When he was aged 38 that he wrote his first play Dangerous Corner, An Inspector Calls was written in 1945.
In this Essay I will try to find whom I think was most responsible for the death of Eva Smith. I will find out some background information for each of the characters and use the evidence and my knowledge to come to a conclusion and to find in my opinion was most responsible.
