Mr. Birling, is described as a ‘heavy looking’ man with ‘fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech.’ He is the first person to see the photo. From the moment we meet Birling we are introduced to a man who is very proud of his achievements although we see another side of his character once he has seen the photo. We are told that Mr. Birling owns a large factory and when questioned about the girl being one of his workers he denies it. Although we find out how hard a man he is when he dismisses a girl and doesn’t seem to care that she is a person, just ‘cheap labour.’ This shows us the authority of business owners who do not care for their employees. Also when he is told that the girls’ death could be his responsibility, he passes it off straight away saying ‘I told her to clear out, and she went. That’s the last I heard of her.’ This is another good example of how owners put money before their social responsibility. It also shows us the weak position that this girl was in, she really had no control over her job. He treated her like an indispensable slave, when he did not want her anymore there was always another poor girl to step into her place.
Sheila Birling is described as a ‘pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited.’ She is the second person to see the photo. When we meet Sheila at the start we are introduced to a bubbly young girl who is trying to act more mature. Although we see another side of her character when she is told that she met this young girl and got her fired from her job. It then became apparent that Sheila got this girl dismissed because she laughed at her. ‘You used the power that you had,’ this is said by the inspector but it shows that an upper class lady will always be able to overrule someone who is lower class. This really demonstrates how they could use their social position and how much it means. The character was also able to back up her solution of dismissal with money. When Sheila realizes what she has done, unlike her father, she feels very ashamed, ‘It’s the only time I’ve done anything like that and I’ll never, never do it again to anybody.’ Although Sheila is sorry it shows us that she did not consider her actions and got rid of a perfectly good enough assistant. It was all over a silly thing, it demonstrates to us that she did not care, but she did take full responsibility for what she had done.
Gerald Croft is described as an ‘attractive chap’, who is ‘very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town.’ He is the third person to see the photo. When we meet Gerald he seems happy with his life, he has it all. Although we see another side of his character when he tries to be deceitful towards the others. He recognizes the girl and tries to deny allegations that he helped with her death. We find out that Gerald took her in and she was what we would call his mistress. He describes his relationship with the girl, ‘I became at once the most important person in her life.’ This quote makes us see how easy it was for men at that time to be hooked in before marriage. It also demonstrates how simple it was for the girl to just say yes so that she could get some money. Although we find out Gerald did have feelings for her, he showed no real thought for what he was doing at the time. When the time suited him he needed her no longer ‘so I broke it off definitely before I went.’ In the end though it just displays that young men would mostly just use women like that only to drop them. This, in Gerald’s case, was for his more socially acceptable partner, Sheila.
Mrs. Birling, or Sybil, is described as being ‘about fifty,’ and a ‘rather cold woman.’ She is the fourth person to see the photo. When we meet Sybil she seems like a lady who is rather self-important and this does not change as we see that she uses her social position against the girl in question. Sybil is a ‘prominent member,’ of the Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation and we find out that the girl went there for help. The problem was that, the now pregnant girl introduced herself to Sybil as Mrs. Birling. By this point Sybil haughtily rejects her after her ‘piece of gross impertinence.’ ‘In spite of what happened to the girl since, I consider I did my duty,’ Sybil takes no responsibility and adopts a superior attitude. Sybil used her social position as she felt she had not been shown enough respect and because ladies of that authority had a lot of influence they would have been able to just turn her away. Someone like Sybil, in her social class, would think it acceptable to not give ‘girls of that class,’ something that they needed. Just before the next person is brought in Sybil foolishly blusters on about ‘I blame the young man who was the father… he should be made an example of.’
Eric Birling is described as ‘in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive.’ He is the fifth and final person to see the photo. When we meet Eric he seems like an immature man who is being unnoticed and wants to be someone who is worthy of praise. Eric does not really change but new information about him comes out when they realize he was the father of the unborn child.
‘I was in a hell state about it,’ the character of Eric explains. This was when he found out the girl was pregnant and she found out the money he had given her was stolen from his father. At this point in the play the Birling family start to show their true feelings and no one more so than Eric. At that time getting an unmarried woman pregnant would have been disgraceful enough, but then he did not marry her and stole money to help her out.
By the end of the play you see that Mr. and Mrs. Birling and Gerald, who would take no responsibility for the girls’ death, start to panic. As these characters are upper class they worry about how their reputations will be affected, but do not feel or show any sympathy for the girl whose death they had a hand in. This really displays how important social status was and especially how people around you viewed social status. In contrast to them it appears that Sheila and Eric do not see social status as important; in a way they consider everyone is equal and should be given a fair chance in life. They have learnt to think about how their actions are affecting others. This really shows us how different people’s views were and through Sheila and Eric, Priestly tries to demonstrate the right way we should see others, no matter what status they hold.
