Priestley already shows a self important man who has little regard for his work force or customers only looking to his own gain.
Mrs Sybil Birling is a rather snobbish woman, who likes to think of herself as a charitable, forgiving type but who only really thinks of herself and family. Priestley shows her character well in Act 2 when confronted by Inspector Goole, Sybil retorts ‘She was claiming elaborate fine feelings and scruples that were simply absurd in a girl in her position’.
Priestley paints in Sheila the daughter the picture of a spoilt young woman; whose jealous nature constantly gets the better of her. Her parents have not made her aware of any responsibility she should show to others. In Act 1 Shelia gets Eva the sack from her job in Millwards, because the glimpse of Eva holding the dress against her and suiting it so much better, produces a jealous rage. However when Eric, who on hearing this tale begins to criticise, Shelia shows remorse for her action and for the first time starts to take responsibility for those actions.
Eric Birling is a shy young man who appears cowardly in nature, a wimp at the start of the play, but who by the end of it, together with Shelia starts to realise their own responsibility to each other and to others.
Sheila, ‘You knew it then. You began to learn something and now you’ve stopped.’ – Eric –‘And I agree with Sheila.’ Act 3
Gerald Croft the coveted fiancé is a well bred and educated young man. However he has not used his position well, using it only for his own ends. He meets Eva when she has changed her name to Daisy Renton, and though saving her from a drunkard, he really helps her for his own good. He shows compassion when it suits him but dismisses her when his plans change, and no longer thinks of her. He sees no consequences to his actions and continues not to realise the outcome of any of his actions right through to the last scene of the play.
Act 3 - ‘Everything’s alright now, Sheila. What about this ring?’ He asks, as if nothing has happened.
Inspector Goole is the catalyst and central figure of the play, he acts as the
Conscience, that all of the members of the Birling family, including Croft should have. A robust character he fills the stage with a purposefulness of trying to make the family see the errors of their ways and be more responsible for their actions as individuals and collectively.
As the drama unfolds each character appears to have known Eva Smith in some way. Birling hired Eva at his factory, she asked for a pay rise but Mr Birling would not give it to her. On one hand, Eric believed this to be perfectly fine, while Gerald’s view was that she was causing trouble. She only wanted a little more money to live on. But Birling was having none of it, so he discharged her!
‘Well, it’s my duty to keep labour costs down, and if I’d agreed to this demand for a new rate we’d have added twelve percent to our labour costs.’
At first, Birling was very anxious as to why he had anything to do with Eva Smith’s suicide.
‘As it happened more than eighteen months ago-nearly two years ago-obviously it has nothing whatever to do with the wretched girl’s suicide.’ He did not believe or understand that this had anything to do with him or his family until the play unfolded, even then could not recognise his part in the tragedy.
The blame was then passed onto Sheila. As the Inspector told of Sheila’s involvement in Eva’s life the family looked on with different emotions. Birling was not bothered about why or how Sheila was involved. Sheila felt very different to her father though. She was concerned about Eva’s death, and was anxious as to why her father was a suspect and what she had to do with incident. Eric appeared amazed about what his sister had done but then again was not that bothered. Gerald showed disappointment in Sheila not because of what she did but because she was in a fowl mood!
Gerald was the next one on the Inspectors list. He was calm, and at first tried to hide his familiarity with Eva Smith. However on hearing the Inspector say she had changed her name to ‘Daisy Renton’, his attitude changed. He appeared guilty and disturbed at what he had done, even though he believed it not to be that bad; after all he took her in, let her stay and gave her keep for the rest of the year.
Eric had met Eva in the ‘Palace Bar’, though he used her and had no intention of marrying her he still helped her. He stole money from his own family rather than own up to what he had done, or take responsibility for what he had done.
Mrs Birling was distressed when she found out that it was her own son’s baby.
‘No-Eric-please-I didn’t know-I didn’t understand’
Sybil was the last person to have turned Eva away before Eva killed herself. She felt terrible, but not because what she did to Eva, but because the baby was Eric’s.
When the Inspector leaves the house, they all looked back at what they had done. They all felt some form of guilt, apart from Mr Birling; he straight away blames Eric.
‘You’re the one I blame for this.’
‘I’ll bet I am’ replies Eric, obviously quite used to hearing those words from his Father.
Both Sybil and Arthur Birling believe they have nothing to do with the situation and that it is all Eric’s fault and slightly Sheila’s. Birling is not bothered about what he has done only how it will affect his business, standing in the community and family. There appears to be no concern for the girl or for those such as family, friends, doctors or nurses who mat have been affected by her death.
Yet after only a short while, Gerald’s convenient explanation of the events and a telephone call, Birling, Sybil and Gerald believe they have been part of a huge con. They immediately try to go back to where they were before the Inspector called. Only Sheila and Eric are aware that even if it were a joke they all had behaved badly to another human being and had shown little or no respect for that persons well being. They had used, abused and denied the existence of another person, believing to have no responsibility to those not included in their own family. Priestley shows us that even when all the facts are revealed there will still be some who deny and refuse to see the situation for what it is. Sheila and Eric though responsible for their part in Eva’s death eventually do realise their mistakes and refuse to go on pretending. While the Birlings’ and Gerald still close their eyes, believing it to be Sheila and Eric’s age as to their change of attitude, the door bell rings again and an Inspector Calls!
Was Priestley in this play reminding us that we are responsible not only for ourselves, for our family, but we are responsible for all of the world’s population? What we do today has a knock on effect to those of tomorrow. He wrote the play after the world had seen two world wars. The first believed to be the war to end all wars and yet within 21 years another war had begun – an inspector calling for the second time.
Birling to Eric – ‘Glad you mentioned it, Eric. I’m coming to that. Just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two. Or a few German officers have too much to drink and begin talking nonsense; you’ll hear some people say that war in inevitable. And to that I say- fiddlesticks! The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war except some half civilised folks in the Balklands. And why? There are too much at stake these days and everything to lose and nothing to gain by war.’
