It appears that Inspector Goole has managed to stir up some feelings of panic in Mr. Birling – though as you’d imagine they are not related to Eva’s tragic death or his involvement in it. He is, in fact, worrying again about his social standing and prestige. He has discovered that, to keep Eva and the child they were expecting before she died, Arthur’s son, Eric, had been stealing money from Birling & Company to give to her. Mr. Birling knows that as soon as Eva realised the money she was being given was stolen, she refused to take any more. He still, however, hurriedly insists that Eric give him “a record of those accounts” so that he can “cover this up as soon as possible”. Mr. Birling’s driving concern is his own self-interest. “They’ll be a public scandal,” he says tactlessly. Here we note how he’s prepared to pay out thousands to keep the scandal quiet. Mr. Birling is more concerned with the embarrassment he would face if it was to arise that Eric had stolen some of the company’s money, rather than his own son’s deceit and his reasons for taking the money in the first place. After all, any revelations about Birling & Co. would surely hinder Arthur Birling’s chance of being knighted.
If we keep track of Birling’s behaviour ever since the point of the Inspector’s exit, we notice his relief at the point when the family begins to question the identity of the Inspector. When it becomes apparent that Gerald has actually established that Inspector Goole is not a registered member of the force, Mr. Birling cheers up considerably! Obviously the reason for this is his comfort in thinking there might still be a chance of knighthood for him. Surely the majority of his family would simply be relieved that the untoward parts they played in the life of a young woman were not cumulative and there has in fact been no actual death? Mrs. Birling certainly takes this view, apparently forgetting that the family members did do what they did, and says of her children, “In the morning they’ll be as amused as we are.”
However, Sheila Birling, Arthur’s daughter, is considerably more affected by the revelations than her father. For Eva, whether or not she exists or did exist, has proved to be a poignant learning curve for Sheila in relation to her temper and the way she acts in relation to others. Sheila, of course, was a regular customer at the department store called Milwards when Eva was enjoying a fairly steady, well-paid job there. Sheila was being adamant and very stubborn towards her mother and insisted that she try on a dress she’d seen. Sheila had been “in a furious temper” that day anyway, and we realise later that it was because her partner Gerald had been having an affair (or so she suspected). Sheila’s mother and the sales assistant, Miss Francis, had both advised Sheila that to try the dress on would be a mistake, but she had insisted. After having tried the dress on, Sheila knew immediately that the two had been right all along, and that the dress did not flatter her at all. Sheila described how “this girl” [Eva] had “brought the dress up from the workroom, and when the assistant – Miss Francis – had asked her something about it, to show us what she meant, she had helped the dress up, as if she was wearing it”. Sheila said it “just suited her” and that she was jealous of her figure and her “dark eyes”. Then, when Sheila was looking at herself in the dress, she caught sight of Eva smiling at Miss Francis. Becoming furious and taking the smile the wrong way, Sheila promptly demanded to see the manager and insisted that, unless they fired Eva, she would boycott the store forever. Sheila “used her power as the daughter of a respected customer” to make life difficult and miserable for Eva. This, we are told by the Inspector, was Eva’s final steady job – she was never employed again.
From Act One of the play, we could see that something was very wrong in the relationship between Sheila and her father, simply because of their difference in personality. When her father egotistically states his capitalist views and opinions on the working world and society in general, Sheila is at the forefront of protest. She says, “but these girls aren’t cheap labour – they’re people!” I think that, from Sheila’s siding with Eric following the departure of the Inspector and her reluctance to believe that the whole affair was simply a “hoax”, she has learnt more from the story (and definitely the possible reality) of Eva Smith and her plight, that any other member of her family.
“I suppose we’re all nice people now,” says Sheila sarcastically. She means, of course, to mock the attitude of her family and her fiancé in realisation of their involvement with Eva Smith and her death. Much to her dismay, disbelief and disappointment, they cling onto their last shreds of dignity in a way that only self-centred narcissistic people do (“Was he really a police Inspector? How do we know any girl killed herself today?”) and attempting to erase the previous few hours. Mr. Birling even offers the men a drink! Sheila, however, is adamant that she will prove her point – that each one of them still has a great deal to be sorry for. Sheila is just as uncertain as any of the other family members as to whether or not Eva existed as one girl or as five – but the mysterious figure of Eva has affected her deeply. “It doesn’t alter the fact that we all helped to kill her,” she says. In my opinion, Sheila is right! Inspector Goole acts very much as the voice of J.B. Priestley and of Eva Smith; especially during his final speech when he told the family, “there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us…all intertwined with our lives…we don’t live alone”. Mr Birling needs to have taken note of the Inspector’s lesson, in which he warned people of “being taught in fire and blood and anguish” if they did not begin to realise how their apparently trivial or self-righteous actions have significant effects on others around them.
Despite Sheila’s pleas and analytical attitude towards the Inspector’s speech and his presence, Mr. Birling and his wife typically endeavour to pass her words off as childish misunderstanding: “Really, from the way you children [Eric and Sheila] talk, you might be wanting to help him instead of us!” However, is the reality of that statement so ridiculous? I certainly feel that the intentions of the Inspector and Eva Smith, whoever they were, were to remind them to help each other and to help others in society, however far beneath them in terms of social hierarchy they are considered to be. Eva, whether real or imaginary (and the feeling of her existence is certainly very strong), is a very touching archetype of society’s indifference, maybe even hatred, of others around them. This applies most fully to people of supposedly high social status – people like Arthur Birling and his family who live in large houses and drink expensive port. Mr. Birling does not see that the Inspector has proved his “society and all that nonsense” theory to be absolutely incorrect.
At the very end of Act Three, the telephone to the Birling household rings, and it is spookily confirmed that a girl has in fact died at the Infirmary that very night. Priestley describes the shock of the family members “as they stare, guiltily”. This is effective because every one of them is, in one way or another, guilty. The telephone call really seems to confirm the fact that the selfishness of each member of the Birling family and Gerald Croft, although maybe not quite so heavily in his case, has contributed to the death of a young woman. This brings the audience to the (intensely dramatic) end of the play, and we cannot help but wonder how the lives of the family will fare following this incident and the series of incidents during their recent years. We have been led to believe that Eva and her fate has brought about the possibility of Sheila and Eric changing their attitudes and the ways in which they react to members of society around them. Sheila’s involvement with Eva Smith’s death was the result of her very strong temper and the fact that she misused her high status to induce problems in the life of another. Eva Smith and her story will hopefully have caused her to rethink her actions and their possible consequences. Her brother Eric’s life had become intertwined with Eva’s when he was intoxicated at the Palace Variety Bar, and “picked her up”. Eric is a character whose life seems to have become very difficult and complicated – it may have taken someone like Eva to make him change his ways and think about his disregard for everything rational and caring.
The audience hopes, however, that the person upon whom Eva Smith has had the most dramatic effect is Arthur Birling. It is rather saddening to watch the family having had such an experience, almost a blessing, with a prophet such as Inspector Goole and his interrogation. This is because he has taught Arthur, Sybil, Sheila, Eric and Gerald a very valuable lesson, which half of the family has apparently taken no note of whatsoever. It is apparent that Eva Smith, Daisy Renton or whoever it was coming into contact with the Birling family over the said period of time may not exist, but this has not stopped her from having an extremely consequential effect on five people. Priestley has, fully intentionally of course, left us wondering if the Birlings will think about their effect upon people around them – or whether they will have to be taught their lesson of concern for those of lower social standing in fire, blood and anguish.
