Eva Smith was now out of work for two months, and was earning no money. She hadn't any savings so she became homeless. Both her parents were dead so they couldn’t offer to help her. This may have been one of the reasons why Eva Smith decided to commit suicide.
After a while Eva Smith finds a job as sales assistant in the clothing shop Milwards. She has finally found some financial security and is starting to get settled. It is here where Sheila’s involvement takes place. Sheila is at Milwards trying on some hats and dresses and she asks Miss Francis another worker at Milwards to help her choose an outfit. After they have chosen one Sheila tries it on and she doesn’t like the way it looks on her. So she asks Miss Francis how it should be worn. Miss Francis asks Eva to try the dress on in order to show Sheila how it should be worn. When Sheila sees that the dress looks better on Eva she is outraged and out of jealousy she tells the manager that Eva had been “impertinent”. She also said that if Eva Smith were here the next time She walked into the shop to buy clothes, she would walk out immediately and never shop there again, and she would also tell her mother to close her account with them. Sheila used her power as a valued customer at Milwards to get Eva released.
Unlike her father Sheila feels extremely guilty for having Eva released. As she says “I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a whole lot worse”. Eva’s second dismissal leaves her worse off then when she is dismissed by Birling.
Sheila has been the cause of this further collapse in Eva’s life but we tend to blame her less because of her remorse. Whereas Arthur sacked Eva without giving her a second thought Sheila’s action was the result of a fit of temper and jealousy and she regretted it immediately. She seems authentic when she says, “It’s the only time I’ve ever done anything like that, and I’ll never, never do it again to anybody.” This is the reaction J.B Priestly wants to get from his audience. He wants people to feel sympathetic and care for each other.
On reflection, perhaps Sheila does deserve more blame than her father. Although Sheila shows more remorse than Arthur her reasons for getting Eva sacked are less legitimate. Birling saw Eva as a ringleader of troublemakers who could upset his production. Sheila however gets her dismissed for a less valid reason caused by her own temper and jealousy.
Gerald Croft is the third person to come across Eva but to him she is known as Daisy Renton. Eva changes her name in order to start a new life. Daisy is penniless at this stage and considers prostitution. We shouldn’t criticise her for this as she is poor and needs help. Gerald meets Daisy in the Palace theatre where Alderman Meggarty is harassing her. He rescues her and convinces her to come to his place for a chat. She does and Gerald finds out that she is desperate and needs a place to stay so he lets her stay at Morgan Terrace. After a couple of days he takes advantage of her and he sets her up as his mistress. Daisy is truly in love with him but he does not share the same feelings. When he eventually breaks up with Daisy she is emotionally scarred and doesn’t know what to do. Although Gerald is truly remorseful he does not consider his responsibilities towards Daisy or the consequences of his actions. His withdrawal of love makes Daisy feel hopeless and she again returns to prostitution.
Although Gerald was probably fond of Daisy, there was never going to be any future in their relationship because of the differences in class. Gerald was the son of Lord and Lady Croft and would be expected to marry someone of similar social standing. This was more important in the early 1900´s. Even Arthur Birling feels socially smaller and hints about a possible knighthood to increase his own reputation.
I think that altogether Gerald deserves more blame than both Arthur and Sheila as he leaves her in a worse state than before, not only is she homeless but she is also heartbroken. Neither Arthur nor Sheila have personal links with her. Gerald also makes a comment that is very hypocritical he says that young women should be “protected against unpleasant and disturbing things”. This is hypocritical because of the way he treats Daisy. I think that he believes that women of lower class do not deserve this protection and care. This was the typical attitude that young rich men had at the time.
Daisy doesn’t look for another job and returns to prostitution at the Palace Theatre. This is where she meets Eric. He is drunk and insists on going home with her and he sleeps with her. She then discovers she’s pregnant but she refuses to marry Eric because she knows he doesn’t love her. Eric tries to support her with the little money that he has. When he realises that he has run out of money he steals some money from his father Arthur Birling. When Daisy finds out that the money is stolen she refuses to accept it and she breaks contact with Eric.
Even though both Gerald and Eric have had sexual relationships with Daisy, Gerald had real feelings for her and looked after her for a time, whereas Eric used he for a “stupid drunken evening”. He also gets her pregnant which in those days was far more serious than today. Daisy now has a baby to think about as well as herself. An extra burden she now has to carry is her unborn child, now that she is pregnant she can no longer work as a prostitute. This means she is to be homeless and starving.
Eric is remorseful for what he has done, but that doesn’t justify his behavior. Although he is not entirely to blame for her suicide, in my eyes he must take much of the responsibility because he used her. Nonetheless she could have married him. It was her choice not to. He tried to help her financially but she refused to accept any more stolen money. Maybe Daisy should have accepted his pledge to help her.
Eva’s last option is to turn to the Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation for help. There Mrs. Birling refuses her help because she uses the name Birling as her alias. She thinks Eva is lying about her circumstances and is annoyed that Eva has called herself Miss Birling. Mrs. Birling is very strict and snob like, she also doesn't care about anybody else, just her self. She is a main member of the 'Brumley Women's Charity Organisation'. Sybil Birling comes over as a bigheaded and bossy woman with little kindness. She not only refused aid herself but persuaded the other members of the committee to refuse Eva help too. Even though she is the chairwoman of a charity that is supposed to help people, her approach is fake because she doesn’t help people who actually need it. She tells Eva to “go and look for the father of the child. It’s his responsibility”. She believes Eva’s case isn’t a deserving one and that people should sort out their own problems instead of putting the responsibility on others. She is unworried and believes she has done nothing wrong. Since she tells the inspector, “I accept no blame for it at all”. She has a clear conscience and is convinced of the righteousness of her judgment, “I did nothing that I’m ashamed of or that won’t bear inquiry,” she declares. Even though she has a tough personality and she stands up to the inspector. She is so intent on shifting the blame that she is led into condemning her own son for Eva’s demise. She also takes the responsibility away from herself by blaming Eva herself and even Arthur for beginning it all. She never takes responsibility for her own dealings and at no position blames herself.
I think Mrs. Birling should be held responsible for Eva’s fatality. If the aid organization had helped and given her guidance and shown kindness and consideration she wouldn’t have felt as bleak for the future as she did, and she might not have committed suicide. I think she killed herself because she saw no future for her and her child after being refused help by the charity.
From each and every one of the characters I think that Arthur is the least to blame because he had to get rid of Eva for the good of his business. He saw her as a troublemaker and it was Arthur’s job to keep everything organised and running smoothly. His actions were probably understandable at that moment in time when the interests of the employees were not considered.
I think that Mrs. Birling is the worst character as it is Mrs. Birlings heartless thoughts that make her actions seem even worse. She stubbornly refuses to admit any fault and although she is shocked by Eric’s involvement she never shows any authentic sorrow. In fact she believes she behaved acceptably and “did” her “duty” in turning away an undeserving claim. She is typical of the sort of women involved in charitable societies at the time. Priestly criticises them for being in committees merely to ease their own consciences to a certain extent than out of a genuine desire to help.
I think that the younger generation Eric and Sheila show genuine remorse for their actions unlike the older generation their parents. I think J.B Priestly does this to give the readers and overall message that change will come from the young and not the old. I think that he also believes that all people are equal and people shouldn’t treat each other badly. I think he wants life after the Second World War to be better than before it. He wants his readers to understand this and make the world a better place.
