On each side there is neatly placed office equipment. On the left of the table is a typewriter with paper adjacent to it. To the left of the desk pressing against the wall there is a tall, lighter oak filing cabinet, upon which there are some neatly arranged papers and a planner astride the papers. To the left of the door there is a hat stand with a single black tailor-made coat hanging from the nearest hook. Pressed firmly against the adjacent wall there is a bookstand filled with many large and faded books. At the end of the middle row there is a single black and white photograph. There is a window to the left of the bookshelf overlooking the road with a single quill laid across the windowsill.
Mr. Birling, seated in a deep brown leather chair, is dressed in long black trousers with black socks and shoes. He is wearing a spotless white shirt and silk waistcoat; the waistcoat is buttoned up and is covered by a plain single-breasted jacket:
Mr. Birling is standing up filing papers by his desk, there is a swift knock at the door and the workers walk into the room leaving Mr. Birling is annoyed that they should disturb him. Eva is standing by a second ringleader; they are in front of another three workers.
Mr. Birling: Well what do you want?
Worker: We need...
Eva: (interrupts) We would like a raise.
Mr. Birling: (questioningly) A raise, whatever for?
Worker: We are not being paid enough to keep ourselves well fed, we are forced to live in unhealthy conditions and, (looking at Eva) some of us are going to lose the roof over our heads. So I feel that it’s that we get a raise.
Mr. Birling: Don't you start that story of woe again I have heard it before from your type, always wanting more aren't you. How much are you being paid anyway?
Eva: (hesitantly) twenty-two and six, sir.
Mr. Birling: Well that's standard factory wage isn't it?
Eva: Yes sir it is.
Mr. Birling: How much do you want?
Worker: Twenty-five shillings a week.
Mr. Birling: (Astounded) Twenty-five! I am not made of money you know you waltz into my office uninvited, and begin making demands. That's not the way to get a raise you know.
Eva: Sorry sir we just wanted...
Mr. Birling: You should jolly well begin to want what you are given then young lady, you have far too much to say for yourself
Worker: We only wanted a little more money to keep us in good health.
Mr. Birling: Twenty-three shillings maybe, but TWENTY-FIVE, oh no I'm not sacrificing this business's profits so you can gorge yourselves at suppertime.
Eva Smith: (Desperately) But, but, but... Please, I need the extra money
Mr. Birling: (Coldly and harshly without remorse) No, you two are really beginning to get on my nerves.
Worker: What exactly have we done, came in here and made a reasonable request and we are turned down for no apparent reason
Mr. Birling: I have a very apparent reason and its not your place to decide whether it's valid or not.
Eva Smith: (Begins to cry) Please sir, I will have nowhere to go, this job isn't paying the rent, I just need a little more money, I have tried to get a second job but the hours here are just too long and tiring to be able to cope with a second job and.
Mr. Birling: Pull yourself together women, we'll discuss this again in two days once I've had time to think of the appropriate course of action. Till then you can go back to your jobs at current pay.
(Eva still crying walks off stage followed by worker who has her arm round Eva and is trying to comfort her. Once they have gone Mr. Birling sits down lights a cigar and begins to pour himself a drink.)
Evaluation
I chose to do the scene in which Mr. Birling sacks Eva Smith. It is set in August 1912, and written shortly after the Second World War, many things then were different to how they are now and people had different priorities.
Their clothing has changed greatly over the last century. I chose to dress in what I thought would be suitable factory wear of the time and gave everything a cheaper look to it, plain white shirts and fading Grey skirts to give them impression of wearing and lifeless clothing. They are also wearing plain but dirtied white aprons, which again look as if time has had its toll on them. Everything has a slightly cheap look to it as I thought that Mr. Birling was not the type of man to indulge his staff, either this or he wasn’t paying them enough to buy their own more expensive clothing for work. The idea of Mr. Birling cutting back on his staff is continued in the description of the room: Worn tables, overused machines, cheap peeling paint and unfinished worn-down flooring revealing only cold hard stone underneath.
However when it comes to Mr. Birling’s office, he has very fine décor, elaborate furniture, carpeting in ornate designs, a typewriter ready to use positioned squarely on a large and expensive desk. He definitely prefers to spend money on himself rather than his employees and this makes him look selfish and self-centered. He is a harsh businessman that cares more about the business than the welfare of his employees. He regards his employees as inferior people that aren’t on the same social level as him and they are not as worthy as he is. I have made Mr. Birling seem selfish, harsh strict and a stern business man who thinks very highly of himself. The play refers to Mr. Birling as a heavy looking portentous man in his middle fifties. He is provincial in his speech and has easy manners. In the script I have made him say the most as he comes across as someone that likes the sound of his or her own voice. At the beginning of the play he is very intent on giving advice to Eric and Gerald and giving speeches. Though he does come across as an authority figure he is proved wrong many times at the start of the play. (E.g. Titanic not sinking, World War never happening, and Russia always being behind hand.) “Just because the Kaiser gives a speech or to, or a few German officers have had too much to drink and begin talking nonsense, you’ll hear some people say that war’s inevitable. And to that I say-fiddlesticks!” Its quotes like these that make us admire Mr. Birling a lot less and we see him to be naive.
We can only judge what Eva Smith is like based on other peoples opinions, Mr. Birling sees her as a ringleader, Mrs. Birling sees her as common and unworthy of her committees time, Gerald sees her as a lonely girl relying on him for everything. Sheila and Eric see Eva as completely innocent and they all are the ones to blame, The inspector refers to her as if she has done nothing to merit the kind of treatment she had. I made Eva seem not so lively but with enough drive to ask for higher wages, I made it look as if it was less her fault for getting fired than it was the other workers fault. This made her look more innocent and it made us see Mr. Birling as a cold old man. In the book we are given the impression that he doesn’t care about people when the inspector says, “Yes, she was in great agony. They did everything they could for her at the infirmary, but she died. Suicide, of course.” Mr. Birling only replies with, “(rather impatiently) Yes, yes. Horrid business. But I don’t understand why you should come here inspector-” He can’t accept the guilt or the blame, even at the end of the play he believes the inspector to be a fake and a phoney, he doesn’t seem to understand the moral of the story. Mr. Birling is ironic in the way that he claims and acts like he is the cleverest and the “the famous generation who know it all.” are inferior. Ironically it is them that have got it right and have learnt from the ordeal and they are the better people.
