Previously in the play Arthur Birling sacked Eva from her job in his factory after she had asked for a pay rise, which lead to her having no job, this was the start of the series of unfortunate events which occurred that lead to her suicide. Shelia whilst shopping claimed Eva was mocking her while she was trying on a hat as she was from a much higher class than Eva this seemed like a serious insult and so she reported Eva to the manager and Eva was sacked from her second job loosing her job for a second time would have re-enforced the shame Eva was feeling, which would have lead to her desperate actions later on. Gerald helped Eva; he gave her a place to stay, gave her money and took responsibility for her, until she ended their relationship. Eric then later met Eva on a train under the influence of alcohol and Eva took him into her home, they met numerous times after this. Eva then fell pregnant and Eric was responsible for her and her unborn child my giving Eva financial aid, which she needed due to the loss of her job. This would have made Eva dependant on him, and so she would have felt useless.
Arthur started the chain of sorry events leading up to her suicide. He sacked Eva from the job he gave her after she asked for a pay rise which lead to arguments because if Arthur paid her more he would have had to of paid all other employees more. This was not possible as trade was already going down in his business. In these times women were subservient to men, all a wealthy middle class woman could hope to achieve in life was to get married and a poor woman was seen as a cheap labour. This may have influenced Arthur’s quick dismissal of Eva because as far as he was concerned she was just a part of the job and no one is indispensable to him, however he didn’t realize the effects this dismissal would have had on her life.
After this event Eva met Sheila, whilst Sheila was shopping in Milwards she noticed while trying on a hat, a young lower class woman mocking her. Sheila thought she was pretty and was jealous, she was horrified and embarrassed that someone could be insulting her and complained about Eva which led her to be redundant for the second time. Despite this seemingly inhumane act when Sheila heard about the girl’s death, she begins to be more compassionate, and her character started to develop. “Oh-how horrible. Was it an accident?” she starts to be concerned for Eva, although it’s too late. She seems to show a genuine interest in the girls’ life, this is ironic however as before she was not concerned about her, and got her fired without a second thought to her welfare. Sheila’s reaction to questioning was quite strong, “but these girls aren’t cheap labour-they’re people”. At this point you start to see the social divide between the upper and lower classes become more immanent you also become aware of how attitudes were changing towards the poor during this time. The play is set during the liberal reforms; when people began change their attitude towards the poor. Before, many upper and middle class people thought that they deserved to be poor as they were lazy or stupid. The reforms lead to people thinking of the ‘deserving poor’ and being more empathetic to them. The younger generation shows the new ideals and the older generation shows how people used to think. Sheila begins to feel that the inspector was blaming her and the family, so she got angry and said “what do you mean by saying that? You talk as if we were responsible?” she starts to defend herself and her family, because she cares about them all and she doesn’t want any of them to be in trouble, and get hurt.
Eva met Eric and Gerald on separate occasions. Gerald she met at the Palace bar they then carried on a relationship. After their relationship had ended Eva met Eric on a train. He had been to the palace bar and had too much to drink, he had no money on the train to pay for his ticket and Eva offered and paid for him. Eva took Eric into her home and he then became a replacement for Gerald. Eva became pregnant but Eric was unable to take full responsibility so he gave money to Eva and her unborn child.
After Eva and Eric had split up, Eva went to Sybil’s charity for young women in distress at this point she had lost two jobs, two men and found herself with a child on the way. Eva was in desperate need of help. Eva was having a child without owning or living in a home and without a husband. At this point after Eva used a false name; Sybil’s family name, Sybil was angry and she sent Eva away. This was a devastating time for Eva as she went looking for help but was refused it which would have felt like the last straw for her, this is why I feel Mrs. Birling is most responsible for Eva Smiths Suicide; Sybil had the most knowledge about the girl and her situation and yet still refused to help. She knew she was upset, poor and vulnerable and obviously had no where else to turn. Yet Sybil turned her away for the simple reason of her surname this show how little it meant to Mrs. Birling, and yet Eva suicide shows how much it meant to her. This play makes one examine their actions very carefully, as something which you may do without thinking may have a larger effect on someone else’s life than you imagined. Mrs. Birling was very calm when the Inspector arrived “we’ll be glad to tell you anything you want to know, I don’t think we can help you much.” which shows she doesn’t care about what the inspector wants, and she doesn’t want to help, because she knows that she doesn’t have anything to do with the girl. She thinks that it was Eva’s fault for using her name and she should find the real father of the baby, she didn’t want to take any responsibility for Eva.
When the inspector begins to ask Mrs. Birling the questions, she answered angrily. “Well, come along-what is it you want to know” she wants the inspector to ask the questions as fast as possible and she wants him to leave quickly; she’s wasting her time for nothing. She doesn’t have time for people below her which again reinforces the idea of the great social divide between the rich and the poor.
When Mrs. Birling hears that Inspector Goole wasn’t a real inspector, she was surprised and worried, “I felt it all the time. He never talked like one. He never even looked like one.” She didn’t know that he’s not a real Inspector; if she did she would have said it. She was trying to look like she wasn’t fooled by him, like everyone else was as it is important to her not to loose face. Mrs. Birling’s character doesn’t seem to change in the play; she stays the same seemingly unemotional and cold woman whom is incapable of empathizing with others
The younger generation offers hope for society, they are the most caring and regretful of the family and they are the future. They show how society changes as the world and everyone in it continues to grow. The play links to the detective genre, since it is about an investigation, however what is being investigated is human nature, and the results of people’s selfishness as much as who actually contributed to the death of Eva Smith. In the end does it really matter if it was one girl or many?
Priestly deliberately set this play in 1912 because the date represented an era when all was very different from the time he was writing. In 1912, rigid class and gender boundaries seemed to ensure that nothing would change. Yet by 1945, most of those class and gender divisions had been breached due to the world wars men and women became equal, and even upper and lower classes began to bridge the social gaps through working together and backing England in the war. Priestley wanted to make the most of these changes and create an interesting drama about recent events which really made you examine your actions. Through this play, he encourages people to seize the opportunity the end of war had given them to build a better, more caring society.
An inspector calls is a play with many layers of meaning. It raises social, historical, cultural, moral and gender issues. It challenges the audience to look outside of themselves, and put themselves in other people’s shoes. It shows the points of view of each character, and explains their reasons for their actions. It is a play that all people should read to teach them respect in everyday life, and not just the kind of respect that most people live by. However, the play is above all a reiteration of the need for community spirit and a warning that society will suffer if society is dominated by overriding self interest.