With Brief Reference To Each Characters Part In Eva Smiths/ Daisy Rentons Tragedy, Discuss The Degree Of Responsibility Each Should Bear.
With Brief Reference To Each Character's Part In Eva Smith's/ Daisy Renton's Tragedy, Discuss The Degree Of Responsibility Each Should Bear.
Although each member of the Birling family and Gerald Croft have had contact with Eva Smith/Daisy Renton during the previous two years, none of them is aware of the others' involvement in the tragedy until the day of the inspector's visit. He makes them aware of the part they have played in her tragic end. The characters each react differently to the news and to the degree of responsibility, which they should bear.
The first person to have contact with Eva was Arthur Birling. He had employed her at his works until September 1910. At first when the inspector had asked him about Eva he couldn't remember her until the inspector showed him a photograph of her. He then remembered her and explained about his involvement. Eva had been involved in a dispute over low wages and because she had been one of the ringleaders in the strike, he had dismissed her.
When told of the consequences of his actions, that Eva was out of work for two months and desperate for money, Arthur Birling showed no remorse. He explained that:
"The girl had been causing trouble in the works.
I was quite justified."
Gerald Croft backed him up whereas Sheila and Eric disapproved.
Arthur Birling resents being challenged by the inspector and especially resents the suggestion that he just uses girls for cheap labour and getting rich on this exploitation. To Arthur Birling, as to others of his kind, workers were there to do a job and it was not his responsibility to look after their welfare. He firmly believed that he was being fair to his workers by paying them the going rates. Eva was getting "twenty two and six" which compared well with a bricklayer's labourer who got eighteen shillings and a police constable who got twenty seven shillings a week. So in his eyes he was not underpaying his workers by the standards of 1910. He considered it his duty to keep labour costs down and stamp out any unrest among his workforce. To him Eva Smith was just a troublemaker.
Although Arthur Birling set Eva's tragedy in motion I don't think he was to blame at all for her death because he was just behaving as any other manufacturer at that time would have done. However, I did dislike his attitude when he found out about her death. He was too concerned about keeping the story quiet to protect his position in society and his knighthood. Arthur Birling's attitude that "a man has to mind his own business and look after himself" was precisely what JB Priestly was fighting against when he wrote this play. He believed that we should all help each other and take responsibility for our actions.
After being sacked from Birling's Eva was out of work for two months but then she got a job as a sales assistant in a clothes shop. It was here where Sheila's involvement took place. She had been a valued customer at Milwards and used this to her advantage to get Eva dismissed. Sheila had complained about Eva for laughing at her when she tried on a dress. What had perhaps annoyed her even more was that Eva looked better in the dress than she did. Eva was very pretty and Sheila was jealous of her and because of this she "couldn't be sorry for her".
Unlike her father Sheila felt extremely guilty for having Eva dismissed. As she says "I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a whole lot worse". Eva's second dismissal left her in a worse state than her first dismissal and she became despondent. Sheila has been the cause of this further degeneration but we feel less inclined to blame her because of her remorse. Whereas Arthur sacked Eva quite cold bloodedly and never gave her a second thought, Sheila's action was the result of a fit of temper and she regretted it immediately. She ...
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Unlike her father Sheila felt extremely guilty for having Eva dismissed. As she says "I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a whole lot worse". Eva's second dismissal left her in a worse state than her first dismissal and she became despondent. Sheila has been the cause of this further degeneration but we feel less inclined to blame her because of her remorse. Whereas Arthur sacked Eva quite cold bloodedly and never gave her a second thought, Sheila's action was the result of a fit of temper and she regretted it immediately. She seems genuine when she says,
"It's the only time I've ever done anything like that, and I'll never, never do it again to anybody."
This is the reaction JB Priestly wanted to get from his audience. He wanted people to feel sympathy and care for each other and take responsibility for their actions.
On reflection, perhaps Sheila does deserve more blame than her father. Although Sheila shows more remorse than Arthur her reasons for getting Eva sacked are less valid. Arthur saw Eva as a ringleader of troublemakers who could disrupt his production. Sheila however got rid of her for a far less important reason caused by her own temper and jealousy.
Gerald Croft becomes involved with the girl at this stage but she has now changed her name to Daisy Renton in an attempt to start a new life. She is destitute and considers prostitution. We shouldn't condemn her for this because she had no parents and there was no welfare state in those days for her to turn to, so it was probably a choice between starvation and prostitution.
Gerald first met Daisy in a bar at the theatre. He saw Alderman Maggoty harassing her and went to her rescue. He took her for a drink and a meal because he pitied her and he learnt she was desperate and so let her use his friend's rooms. She then became his mistress and they were together for the whole summer of 1911. He finished with her and cast her aside because of his relationship with Sheila Birling.
Although he was probably fond of Daisy, there was never going to be any future in the relationship because of the class differences. Gerald was the son of Lord and Lady Croft and would be expected to marry someone of similar social standing. This was more important in the early 1900's. Even Arthur Birling feels socially inferior and boasts about a possible knighthood to increase his own importance.
Being rejected by Gerald was probably more hurtful to Daisy than the dismissals inflicted on her by Arthur and Sheila Birling because there were strong emotions involved. Daisy was in love with Gerald and being thrown out by him left her not only homeless but heartbroken. Also she had been cared for by Gerald and enjoyed quite a luxurious lifestyle. She therefore had more to lose than previously. The drain on her emotions would have left her with less fighting spirit so her future looked even bleaker.
We gain a lot of respect for Eva during this rejection. She behaves with dignity, and puts Gerald's feelings first. She doesn't create any scenes, plead with him or even cry she just goes quietly to make it easier for him.
It is difficult to decide how much to blame Gerald. On the one hand he cares for Daisy but on the other hand gives her a taste of a lifestyle she loves but cannot have. He leaves her in a worse state than either Arthur or Sheila had. Gerald's comment that young women should be "protected against unpleasant and disturbing things" is rather hypocritical in the light of what he's done to Daisy. Perhaps he doesn't feel lower class women need this protection, which would be a fairly typical attitude of rich young men of that time. They would have no conscience about 'using' girls like Daisy.
We don't hear of Daisy looking for a job again. Within a few weeks she is back in the Palace Bar, which is where she meets Eric. She is thinking again of becoming a prostitute to earn a living. He is drunk and insists on going home with her and threatens to make a row unless she lets him in. He sleeps with her on this occasion and another two or three times. She then discovers she's pregnant but refuses to marry Eric because she knew he didn't love her.
Although it's been a casual affair, Eric has become quite fond of Daisy and wants to take some responsibility. Despite being from a wealthy family, he has very little money of his own and is forced to steal to provide for her. When Daisy finds out where the money has come from she refuses to accept any more and ends contact with him.
Although both Gerald and Eric have had sexual relationships with Daisy, Gerald had genuine feelings for her and looked after her, for a time whereas Eric,
"Just used her for the end of a stupid drunken evening, as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person."
He also got her pregnant which in those days was far more serious than today. Daisy now had a baby to think about as well as herself and there was no welfare state to help. Also while she was pregnant, she couldn't work as a prostitute or get any other job. This would mean she'd be homeless and starving. Society's attitude to unmarried mothers was also very different from today. It was intolerant and Daisy would be looked down on.
Eric is sorry for what he has done, but that doesn't excuse his behaviour. Although not entirely to blame for her suicide, he must take much of the responsibility because he used her. However, he didn't rape her; she was offering her services as a prostitute. Also, she could have married him. It was her choice not to. He tried to help her financially but she refused to accept any more stolen money. Maybe Daisy was too honourable.
As a last resort, Eva turns to the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation for help. There Mrs. Birling refuses her help because she didn't like her attitude. She thinks Eva is lying about her circumstances and also Eva had started out on the wrong foot by trying to hide her real identity by calling herself 'Mrs. Birling'.
Sybil Birling comes over as an arrogant and domineering woman with little compassion. She not only refused help herself but made sure that the other members of the committee refused help too. As the inspector tells her "You turned her away when she most needed help".
Although she is the chairwoman of a charity that is supposed to help people, her attitude is hypocritical because she doesn't help people who genuinely need it. She tells Eva to "go and look for the father of the child. It's his responsibility". She thinks Eva's case isn't a deserving one and that people should sort out their own self-inflicted problems instead of putting the responsibility on others. She is smugly complacent and believes she has done nothing wrong. As she tells the inspector, "I accept no blame for it at all". She has a clear conscience and is convinced of the justice of her position, "I did nothing that I'm ashamed of or that won't bear investigation," she declares. Evan though she is a strong character as we have seen and stands up to the inspector she is so narrow minded that she is led into condemning her son for Eva's death. She also takes the blame away from herself by blaming Eva herself and even Arthur for starting it all. She never takes responsibility for her own actions and at no point blames herself.
I think Sybil should take a lot of the blame for Eva's death. If the charity had helped and given her advice and shown friendliness and sympathy she wouldn't have felt as hopeless for the future as she did, and might not have committed suicide. I think she killed herself because she saw no future for her and her child after being refused help by the charity.
Of all the characters I think that Arthur is the least to blame because he had to get rid of her for the good of his business. He saw her as a troublemaker and it was Arthur's job to keep everything running smoothly. His actions were probably justifiable at that time when the welfare of the workers was not considered.
I don't think Sheila should bear as much blame as the others either. She acted in a fit of pique and instantly regretted it. Her behaviour was typical of a girl from a wealthy upper-middle class family. She always expected to get her own way and to be shown respect by her social inferiors. Today it would be unheard of for a worker to be sacked for grinning. In those days labour was plentiful and cheap and there were no employment laws to protect workers, so it was easy to dismiss someone instantly.
Although both Arthur and Sheila have caused Eva's dismissal, she is still capable of looking after herself and is not too downhearted. However, when Gerald has finished with her she is totally dispirited. Gerald must have known how much she loved him but still abandoned her knowing this. I think for this reason he was more to blame for her downfall. Again, at the time when the play was set his behaviour would have been condoned as wealthy young men kept mistresses. Even Edward VII kept mistresses openly.
Eric had a sexual relationship with Eva as did Gerald but he used her more as a prostitute than a mistress. By making her pregnant he put her in an unbearable position and is very much to blame for her downfall. The only two things in his favour were that he was sorry for what he had done and he tried to help her financially but these came too late for Eva.
In my opinion Sybil Birling is the most to blame because she knew Eva was genuinely in need but still turned her away in a callous fashion. As the inspector tells her,
"You refused her even the pitiable little bit of organised
Charity you had in your power to grant her".
It is Sybil's uncaring attitude that makes her actions seem even worse. She adamantly refuses to accept any blame and although she is shocked by Eric's involvement she never shows any genuine remorse. In fact she believes she behaved correctly and "did my duty" in turning away an undeserving claim. She is typical of the sort of women involved in philanthropic societies at the time. Priestly criticises them for sitting on committee's mearly to ease their own consciences rather than out of a genuine desire to help.
Priestly wanted to ensure life after the war was better than before and he hoped that through his writing he could influence people's ideas and change society. Although he wrote an Inspector Calls in 1945 he deliberately set it in 1912 because that time represented the sort of society everybody wanted to leave behind. He was particularly concerned about the living conditions of the lower classes, represented by Eva, and the way the upper classes behaved, represented by the Birling's and Gerald Croft. He believed that we should all help each other, which is the total opposite from what the Birlings believed. He uses the inspector to symbolise the conscience of the nation and through him challenges each of the characters that represent a part of society. He shows that change is more likely to come through the young (Sheila and Eric) rather than through the older generation (Arthur and Sybil) or the upper classes symbolised by Gerald Croft.