We find out that everyone in the Birling family played a part in Eva/Daisy death and life. After the interrogation the inspector leaves the family, and as time passes the family find the inspector was a hoax and none of the allegations were in fact true. The family proceeded to ring the infirmary and asked whether there was such death like the one the inspector called regarding. To the family’s astonishment they later receive a phone call form the infirmary to be informed that; “A girl has been brought in dead by drinking a bottle of disinfectant and that a Inspector will be on his way around to ask some questions”
Uses of the class system throughout the play:
During the period of time this play was set, in 1912, the particular type of society at this time is believed to have had a capitalist point of view. Some believe Priestley compares the major facts of this period of time (1912) and incorporated these into the play, for example the relationship between the employees and people of higher society were almost non existent largely due to the fact that people from the higher classes believed that the ‘lower classes’ were there to serve. This is shown by Mr. Birling as he did not initially know who Eva/Daisy was as her employer until she began the protest for wages. It could be suggested that Mr. Birling only wants to be in company with those who he feels is on an equal level with himself and family for example monetary wise and of course. An assumption could be the only reason why Mr. Birling wants Gerald Croft to marry his daughter (Shelia) is because he wants Gerald to expand his business and combine it with Birling & co to Birling’s & croft’s ltd to become more powerful. Croft would also be an acceptable Son in law with regard to his social standing in society, and even raise the profile of his family. For example if Shelia had fallen in love with an individual that was of lower social standing she would not be able to marry as it would put the family to disgrace. In this period of time social status was such a very important issue as it was almost a competition of who could be more aristocratic and wealthy. I think this shows in Mr. Birling character because he seems to feel a little manipulated by Lord And Lady Croft (Gerald croft’s parents) because he is always trying to make himself sound just as important as they are in a way he is scared of them
Wages in 1912:
Working class:
In 1912 the average wage for the working class was the budget of £1.12 a week which was mainly spent on necessities such as food, electricity; rent ect… which left little money for the luxuries due to the main person that brings in the money need to have a lot of food due to loads of shifts.
Middle to upper class:
The average wage for the middle to upper class person was £5.75 a week. Which was able to buy rent for a big house, hire of a nanny and a butler, food ect… After spending on the necessities there were quite a lot of money for luxuries.
Author’s intensions:
When Priestley wrote “An Inspector Calls” in 1945 but set it in 1912. I feel Priestley did this because he believed that in 1945 there was a time for a change and Priestley want to make people realize how before the war there was a very strong barrier between the social classes, and how affective it was when people came together in the war effort. As Priestley was a socialist he therefore wanted there to be break down the classes, he links this in to the play to show the supposed arrogance from higher class people towards the lower class as the lower class need the higher class to live a decent life and vice versa.
He once wrote “We had a glimpse then of what life might really be like if men and women freely dedicated themselves not to their appetites and prejudices, their vanities and fears but to some great communal task”. I feel this quote has a strong connection towards he play as if Mrs. Birling tried to forget her prejudices about Eva, Sheila not worrying about her vanities and Mr. Birling was not so fearful of how much trouble Eva was going to cause in the factory, but if they put all that worry into helping people like Eva the world would be a much better place!
Background:
Priestley was born on the 13th of October 1894 in Bradford. His mother died in the same year as his birth and his father was a school master.
Priestley left school at the age of 16, to hopefully become a successful writer/journalist, what a coincidence! Before he fulfilled his dream he worked in a wood factory so he could earn enough money to do this.
Priestley was also in World War One and survived it in tacked. Whilst he was at war with Germany, he saw loads of things which sickened him and influenced him to write books.
When he when he wrote and talked and talked he liked to engage in political matters hence why I think “An Inspector Calls” has one – “Equal rights”
Later on in the 1920’s Priestley became a great success with his books, then later he produced and stared in a radio show on the BBC which showed his war opinions and socialist and humane attitudes .
I believe that in Priestley’s plays particularly An Inspector Calls he uses the characters to show the microcosms of society hence why he used Sheila and Eva who must have been roughly around the same age to define the two classes.
Shelia
Shelia as a character:
Shelia is the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Birling; Shelia is engaged to Gerald Croft. The part Shelia plays in the play is a person who is very full of herself and is very vain and spoilt. By the middle to the end of the play Shelia’s attitudes change because of Eva/Daisy’s death which she thought she played a part in by getting her sacked form Milwards. I believe that Shelia was deliberately created for this play because it can show how people can change so quick also I believe that Shelia was a bit prejudice at the start of the play, although she never talked of the lower class because she thought they were just there to serve people. But her now knowing the story she sees.
Shelia In the eyes of Mr. And Mrs. Birling:
As Shelia is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Birling, I believe that the parents are so over protective of her with the belief that she is incapable, whilst Shelia desperately wants to be in control. In a way Mr. Birling use Sheila as a asset to his company to help he expand it by adding Gerald Croft’s side of the business together to make Birling’s and Croft’s LTD, this will also help the family good reputation, however Sheila can not see this necessarily happening in the distant future if she is in control. It is ironic that due to Croft’s affair with Eva, it clearly shows the Birling’s incompetence of choosing a suitable partner for their daughter in light of what is good for her as opposed to themselves. This is a sharp contrast to today’s society.
Shelia’s attitudes towards her Parents after the Inspector left:
When the inspector left the whole family in shock of all the events that went on that evening. They were then discussing the thing that went on that evening and her parents were only thinking about themselves that the whole interrogation was a hoax but Shelia, Gerald and Eric were ashamed of Mr. And Mrs. Birling and believed that even though the whole ordeal was a hoax, they shouldn’t treat people that poorly, no matter what class
Eva Smith/Daisy Renton:
From what we find out in the play is that Eva/Daisy would stand up for her self no matter what because when she worked for Mr. Birling’s company she was asking for a little pay rise but Mr. Birling wouldn’t allow her to have one and dismissed her from the works, but this shows that Eva/Daisy knew the difference between right and wrong
Eva/Daisy in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Birling
“They’d be soon asking for the earth” Mr. Birling believes that the lower class would be like leeches (always wanting more) so Mr. Birling dismissed her, his attitudes to the other workers is very poor standard “minimum pay, doesn’t care about there safety”
Mrs. Birling thinks the same as Mr. Birling about Eva/Daisy, Mrs. Birling is the chairwoman of the Brumley’s Women’s Charity, and the actions that Mrs. Birling taken against here was very uncharitable like and very prejudice. I believe that Mrs. Birling refused to give Shelia help was because she was of the lower class and the fact she used Mrs. Birling as her name. Mrs. Birling believed that Shelia was “just another person” and not a part of society due to her social standing.
