Gerald’s involvement with Eva, however was very much different to both Mr Birling’s and Sheila’s as Gerald had had an affair with Eva (now called Daisy Renton according to the inspector) , at the same time he was with Sheila. Gerald later abandoned her. The inspector pointed out that all of these things caused her distress and gave her all the more reasons to commit suicide.
During Act 2 we discover that Mrs Birling knew Eva also, as she had came to the Brumley Woman’s charity organisation for help and Mrs Birling turned her away and refused to help her. At this point Mrs Birling explains that the girl was pregnant and she told her to pile the responsibility onto the father. Near the end of Act 2 Mrs Birling also explains that Eva Smith told her that she needed help because she wouldn’t accept stolen money from the baby’s father. Mrs Birling keeps going on and on about the punishments that the father should receive and how he should face up to his responsibilities. Mrs Birling then tells the inspector to do his duty and find the father, he replies “don’t worry I shall do my duty” Then Mrs Birling says “certainly I consider it to be your duty now no doubt you would like to say goodnight” “not yet I am waiting” says the inspector “waiting for what” replies Mrs Birling and the inspector says “to do my duty” It is at this point that the inspector is implying that Eric is the father, but Mrs Birling wont believe it. The curtain then falls thus creating tension within the audience.
I expected the play to finish with all of the characters learning from their mistakes and being changed people, but as I read through the play I realised that not many of the characters were capable of change.
This scene shows how the characters develop; for example, Sheila becomes very mature throughout the play. Sheila realises that she did wrong by getting Eva sacked and she regrets what she had done, unlike Mr Birling who hadn’t given her a second thought since he sacked her. You can see this when the inspector shows him a picture of Eva Smith in scene 1 and it takes him a while to remember whom it was. This attitude does not change in scene 2 either. Mrs Birling is the same; she is not ashamed to admit that she turned away a pregnant woman with no money, no home and no friends when in need. This speaks volumes about her character. The fact that she wouldn’t help a girl who was of a lower class to her shows how shallow Mrs Birling really is.
The inspector gains more confidence and stands up for his rights in this scene. He handled the whole situation with the father of Eva’s unborn baby, which he knew was Eric. The family were feuding with each other about who was at fault and the inspector steps in and tells them to stop fighting and explained that they each played a crucial part in the death of Eva Smith.
The relationships that Eva had with Eric and Gerald were not acceptable because the two were of a higher class than Eva and she realised that it could never have worked because of this.
Our reaction to the characters changed dramatically in this scene, for example with regard to Mrs Birling, at first I though that she was a decent woman but when we discovered what she had done to Eva we didn’t like her, did we? Although, in contrast I know think of Sheila as being caring, kind and, intelligent instead of spoilt and immature.
The inspector is interrogating the Birling’s and Gerald Croft. He is trying to get the truth out of them without letting on that he already knows everything. I think that some of the characters have changed for instance Sheila; she knows that the inspector already knows that Mrs Birling turned Eva away when she came for help. Sheila’s realisation of what the inspector is doing is quite clear when Mrs Birling is denying the fact that Eric is the father of Eva’s unborn baby, and Sheila says “stop it mother, stop it”, as Sheila already knows that the inspector knows this.
Some of the most dramatic moments in the play are Sheila’s obvious understanding of Mrs Birling ignorance that it was Eric’s baby. Sheila was horrified the Eva’s unborn baby was dead. Whereas Mrs Birling doesn’t really care.
Another dramatic point in the play is when Eric returns and the curtain falls, this causes great tension within the audience again.
I believe that J.B Priestley’s purpose in writing the play may be because of social injustice, he obviously had a strong belief in treating people equally and to be careful of how you treat them and he is trying to get this across to the audience. He expresses his feelings in this scene through the characters especially with Mrs Birling. It is obvious that Mrs Birling is not ashamed of what she has done, but the inspector is trying to make her aware of this. I also believe that J.B Priestley uses the inspector as a mouthpiece, the inspector is trying to communicate the same message as J.B Priestley is to the audience.
I think that at that at the end of Act 2 when the curtain falls the audience would feel anxious about what is going to happen next. Priestley must be successful if the audience experiences this tension.
This scene is a crucial part of the play because before now we didn’t know that Eric was the father of Eva’s unborn baby and that Mrs Birling knew Eva Smith, but near the end this is all revealed.
At the end of the play the inspector makes a speech that finally changed Eric and Sheila, it altered their perspective in ways such as, to treat people with respect and treat them fairly. This could be reflected in the audience, as the Birling family were of a high class and the majority of the play who came to see this play was also of the same standard so they could relate to the plays events. The audience may think that they have done something terrible in the past like the Birling’s had done and might think more carefully next time.
I think that J.B Priestley has been completely successful with this play as a piece of theatre because of the above reasons.
