To what extent can the tragedy of Eva Smith be blamed on the society in which she lived? Eva Smith's death was tragic, who was to blame?

Authors Avatar

Nicole Wilson

To what extent can the tragedy of Eva Smith be blamed on the society in which she lived?

        Eva Smith’s death was tragic, who was to blame?

        In this essay I will be investigating the death of Eva Smith and the links between her and the other characters in the play, and if they show any remorse.

        The first character I intend to discuss is Arthur Birling. Mr Birling is the man of the household, his relationship with Eva Smith occurred in the workplace. Eva Smith was employed by Birling and Company but was later discharged because she was refused a pay rise and caused a strike in the factory in which she worked. Mr Birling did not, and would not accept his responsibilities and did not believe that this incident affected Eva Smith’s suicide, this is shown when Mr Birling is talking to the inspector, ‘Still, I cant accept any responsibility.’ Mr Birling is very arrogant, and is not open-minded. He believes a man has to look after himself.

        Mr Birling’s main priority is his profit, and the only thing he is proud of is his business. He employed girls a cheap labour and had no respect for their feelings what so ever.

        Mr Birling had a part responsibility in Eva’s suicide because he was the beginning of the chain of events, which eventually lead to her death. But he does not accept any guilt, but believes he had good reason to sack her, ‘The girl had been causing trouble in the works, I was quite justified.’

Join now!

        Sheila Birling was the daughter of Arthur; she had Eva Smith sacked from her job at Millwards when she informed the manager to sack her. Sheila entered Millwards, she was an important customer there so received higher attention then other customers. Shelia had tried on an item in the shop and took offence to Eva’s reaction because it suited Eva more than Sheila. Sheila was just jealous of Eva and took her superiority in the shop to get Eva sacked.

        Shelia did not feel any guilt what so ever when she had Eva sacked, she did not even think twice. ...

This is a preview of the whole essay