Eva Smith had been working for Mr Birling in his factory. Due to her being a good worker she was moved up to be a ringleader. She and other workers complained of not being paid enough, and decided to go on strike, Birling then wanted to prove a point, this resulting to Eva Smith and other ringleaders to being sacked. When the Inspector suggests to him that he might’ve been the cause of her suicide, he becomes very defensive, he then covers his guiltiness, arguing that someone in his position had to be paying attention, though still admitting Eva was a good worker. He kept to his story and knew his actions to sack Eva was the right thing to do, thus keeping the wages the same. Moving on to the end of the play, he finally shows remorse, not about him being partly responsible but, his image, what consequences he would have to face and how dangerous it would be for business.
I think Priestly was trying to show that Birling doesn’t like the fact that he would be coming over as partly responsible in the suicide of Eva, because then he would look bad to the public and to his business. This also shows how the businesses were run in 1912, pushing down on workers and refusing to raise the prices, if that didn’t satisfy the workers they’d be fired. Mr Birling isn’t socially responsible, and I think that was partly the message Priestly was trying to give out and to show how businesses were run.
Sheila Birling, the daughter of Arthur and Sybil Birling, described as
“A pretty girl in her early twenties…pleased about life…excited”
Sheila first heard about Eva when Eva got a job at Milwards, well-known clothes store where Sheila and her mother shop. There was a jealousy between Sheila and Ms Smith. Sheila saw Eva one morning when she went to Milwards, trying on a dress she liked, She lost her temper at the fact that Eva looked better in the dress than her.
“I caught sight of this girl smiling at Miss Francis – as if to say: doesn’t she look awful? – And I was absolutely furious”
In a way Sheila is very much like her father, not socially responsible. Sheila comes over as a very nice girl who loses her temper at the wrong moments and is occasionally immature at times.
Sheila felt somewhat responsible for Eva’s death
“I felt rotten about it at the time and I now feel a lot worse”
She took responsibility almost instantly and was the only member of the family to take responsibility for her own actions, she felt guilty, and throughout the rest of the play she tried to make everyone own up to their connections and causes to Eva’s death.
Though saying Sheila was responsible for her actions, and confessing up to what she had done, the was partly responsible for her suicide, and wasn’t socially responsible for it. She was able to bribe her way into getting Eva sacked, over a pointless immature moment, she didn’t think what effects this might’ve had on Eva and others. Sheila is very selfish and possessive over soon to be husband Gerald. When questioned by the Inspector about Eva Smith, she immediately broke down and accepted the blame for her suicide.
Gerald is from a very wealthy background and shortly becoming into the family of the Birling’s, by marrying Sheila he is…
“Young man about town, rather too manly to be a gay”.
Eva Smith was also known as, to Gerald, as Daisy Renton, he was having an affair with her. He first met ‘Daisy’ at the Palace Variety Theatre, he made her his mistress, gave her a room and supported her financially. After a he realised what he was doing to Sheila, he broke up with her.
At first Gerald denied ever-knowing ‘Daisy’.
“Where did you get the idea that I did know her”
This shows that he wasn’t very proud of what he had done and tried to hide it as best as he could. Eventually he confessed everything.
“I was sorry for her, and didn’t like the fact of her going back to the Palace Bar, I didn’t ask for anything else in return”
Gerald seemed to be the only one that truly made Eva happy, but felt responsible for taking her happiness away from her when he broke up with her. He tried to put off any blame that they might’ve been accusing him for the suicide. He accepted some of the blame and an affair with her…
“It was all over and done with last summer. I hadn’t set eyes on the girl at least for six months. I don’t come into this suicide business.”
Sybil Birling, wife of Arthur and mother of Sheila and Eric Birling. Though Sheila and Eric are in their early twenties she still sees and treats them like children. Mrs Birling is about fifty years of age, she has a snobbish attitude towards most of the people around her.
She dismisses Eva…
“She’d Impertinently used use of our name, though she pretended afterwards that it was the first name she thought of.”
When the Inspector first began to question Sybil she stood firm and gave nothing away, as the Inspector started to reveal more about the meeting she had with Eva, she admits…
“Quite True”
She doesn’t accept the blame and tries to pass it off as someone else’s, and points the blame to the father of the child, when the inspector tells her the name of the father, Eric, her son, she decides to put the comments aside.
She finally started to admit that she did pass aside Eva Smith, though she quickly gave reason why she did so, as she used the name ‘Mrs Birling’. The Inspector wanted more detail and he pressured her for more information…
“Unlike the other three, I did nothing I’m ashamed of…so if I prefer not to discuss it any further, you have no power to make me change my mind”.
Sybil started to get frustrated and as Sheila tries to make her see sense…
“Remember before you start accusing me of anything again that it wasn’t I who had her turned out of her employment – which probably began it all”.
Sybil and Husband Arthur are very well suited, both passing the blame onto anyone but themselves, even their own children, if that results to not having any blame on them, her only concern is for her own well-being. Mrs Birling is one of the older generation, doesn’t let her guard down, the younger generation tend to brake down easier and they want the family to learn from their mistakes and be socially responsible. The older generation however isn’t sorry…
“There’s every excuse for what your mother and I did”
This play is based around social responsibility, the younger generation are more in-control of what they’ve done and are accepting the responsibility and consequences. J.B Priestly was making morals, what to do and what not to do. He made it clear that you have to be socially responsible.
“One Eva Smith has gone, but there are millions of Eva Smith’s and John Smiths still with us”.
“You’ll be able to divide the responsibility between you”.
