We can also tell that Mr Birling is trying to win the Inspector to his side,
“Have a glass of port….he’s an old friend of mine and I see him fairly frequently. We play golf together sometimes.”
Br Birling here almost seems to intimidate the Inspector with his relations with Colonel Roberts and also introduces Gerald as of Crofts Limited and talks about his history as a Mayor. Priestley is trying to put across the message that because Mr Birling lives in this world of business and upper class and for a man like him, rules are merely important. This means that he soon begins to dislike the Inspector when he refuses to abide, or even care about these rules.
In the beginning we are also aware that Mr Birling tries to hold onto this authority and believes that he has no reason to justify for what he did with Eva Smith,
“I don’t see we need to tell the Inspector anything more. In fact, there’s nothing I can tell him.”
Unlike at the beginning, we now see Mr Birling losing his patients with the Inspector and he believes that he can keep silent and that the Inspector has no right to make him talk or even ask questions about Eva Smith. We can also tell by this that Mr Birling singles her out because the girl is confident and she can stand up for herself. ‘She had a lot to say-far too much- so she had to go.”
We can understand from this that Mr Birling is misusing his powers because he feels threated by Eva. This is the starting point. Eva clearly has got potential but Mr Birling uses this against her. Priestley here is trying to tell that women with potential were not treated well at all. They were seen as a threat and rather than respecting them, they were sacked from their jobs.
Another character who can hold for the responsibility for the death of Eva is Sheila Birling. Sheila is described by Priestley as ‘a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life.’ This gives us a very good picture of Sheila at the beginning of the play,
“I’d hate you to know all about port…Oh! It’s wonderful! Look Mummy- isn’t it a beauty?”
This scene clearly shows that Sheila is a young, pretty and unworried girl who is very excited about life and her engagement. She is an ideal daughter in every way at that time and all she worries about is her clothes and her status and bringing in a good match with wealthy family. Sheila almost seems to be too innocents and unaware of her surroundings as she believes that Gerald doesn’t know anything about port. The audience will think that Sheila is spoilt by her parents and hidden by the corruption and reality of the outside world. This is one of the reasons that she asked to manager at Millwards to sack Eva from her job.
We can also see that Eric knows a lot more about Sheila like she knows about his drinking habits,
“If you think that’s the best she can do- she’s got a nasty temper sometimes.”
This indicates to us that the characters Sheila and Eric are not what they seem. Sheila, as Eric said can be short tempered sometimes and Eric has a very bad drinking habit. Both the Birling children are not as good as their parents think they are. This is a suggestion of the character we see in Sheila when we hear of what she did in Milwards.
We also find out that Sheila and Eva were the same age,
“What was she like? Quite young?.............Yes, Twenty-four
Priestley, here is deliberately mentions that the two girls are similar in age to create sympathy for Eva. Sheila was brought up by her parents. She was protected from the cruelty of the outside world and never was short of anything. She had the luxury and comforts any girl could wish for. On the other hand, Eva is the complete opposite of Sheila. From a very young age Eva has had to work to make a living and her family wasn’t very rich. She never had the comforts as Sheila had and was always a working class girl. Priestley here is trying to emphasise the concept of class. He is trying to tell the message that how much power you have on other people depends on your social status.
But a positive fact about Sheila was the change in her attitude,
“It’s rotten shame……these girls aren’t cheap labour- they’re people.”
In the play we see that Mr Birling doesn’t even think about Eva as a human. He uses her and when she asked for a pay rise, he just sacked her. Sheila on the other hand doesn’t think like her father. She genuinely feels sorry for Eva but what she is most ashamed about is her father. She just couldn’t believe that way that Mr Birling treated Eva. She thinks more compassionately about Eva and feels that what her father did to the girl was shocking. This shows a change in the way that people are now thinking. The younger generations like Sheila and Eric look more positive and feel that the way people are being treated is wrong.
We see various different sides to Sheila but she also has another, deeper aspect to her character,
“It was my own fault…….At least I am trying to tell the truth.”
Sheila knows that she behaved badly but she accepts what she did. She doesn’t try to justify her actions or playing down the story by telling in her own light, but she speaks honestly and accepts the responsibility for what she did to Eva.
We can also see in this play that even though she is treated like one, she no longer behave like a child,
“I know I’m to blame-and I’m desperately sorry.”
We can see here that Sheila, after finding about her part in the suicide doesn’t act like a child anymore. She has understood what she has none wrong and is willing to accept it. In fact, she shows herself to be alike in some respects to Eva herself. Both these women were young and very pretty and had different turns in life. They both also had common feelings. Eva had her own morals and Sheila has feelings of her own that others don’t share in the play. Initially she was upset about the girl’s death and shows compassion for her while her father and Gerald barely seem to care. She admits that she was feeling selfish in Milwards, but also has the courage to admit that they all played a part in Eva’s death.
Another important thing that we also see about Sheila is that she is not the same person and there is a change in her character,
“All last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what happened to you.”
Throughout the play Sheila knew that Gerald wasn’t telling the truth. She was the ideal daughter but in the end when everything was revealed she, no longer sees the importance of behaving according to the rules in society. She is the only character in the family who is truly wise, not singly a child and it is she who truly understands the importance of what has happened to them. She knows that things are not going to be the same as before and that is one of the main reasons why she broke off her engagement with Gerald,
“You and I aren’t the same people who sat down to dinner her.”
It is also ironic that Mrs Birling say’s ‘don’t be childish’, when in fact Sheila is the only one being the least childish out of them all. She is more mature and brave than all of them, enough to admit the truth and accept the responsibility. Sheila has learnt her lesson and has changed from the woman in the beginning of the play and at Milwards, to a more mature young woman than her own parents, and all the audience are ready to forgive her.
Another character that the audience would blame for the death of Eva Smith is Gerald Croft. Priestley initially describes Gerald as ‘an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town.’ He is a comfortable presence in the Birling family and gets on very well with Mr Birling,
“I insist upon being one of the family now.”
We see that Mr Birling and Gerald both share the same interests and agree with each other on several issues as well. Mr Birling is also aware of the fact that Gerald will inherit his father’s company, which will make him their social superior. He thinks that Sheila is lucky to find herself a rich man,
“Look, you’d better ask Gerald for that ring you gave back to him, hadn’t you?”
Mr Birling defends Gerald from what he has done because he think that Gerald is special and if he is going to inherit his father’s company then Mr Birling would have an advantage.
From the beginning, we see Gerald as a character who is keeping secrets,
“I was awfully busy at the works all that time.”
In Act 1, when Sheila asks Gerald where he was last summer, and later when Sheila tells him that he must have done things that he is ashamed of, he gives himself away immediately by being surprised and on guard because of the comment.
When Gerald admits that he played a part in Eva’s life, he tells the story with himself as a victim of circumstance,
“I hate those dough-faced women…….she gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry of help.”
Gerald argues that he helped Eva out of pity and with no other intention, but she became his mistress because ‘he became the most important person in her life.’ Gerald made her happy for a time and she had the experience of falling in love and living in her own home. We also know that Gerald had affections for her, even if he didn’t lover her as she loved him. Gerald was the only one who actually had a personal relationship with her and showed care when he first realised that she was dead.
Priestley also shows another side of Gerald that is not as caring as he was to Eva,
“I went down into the bar for a drink. It’s a favourite haunt of women of the town-”
Here we find a truth about Gerald. He said that he hated the prostitutes at the bar, but then why did he go there in the first place unless it was to pick up a prostitute? We see that Gerald had no problem starting up this affair and carrying it on for so long, so it could not have been guilt from cheating on Sheila that made him do this.
Gerald also has another personality that is quite similar to Mr Birling’s,
“What do think of this business now? Was it a hoax?”
Gerald doesn’t think about what he has done, but only about trying to hide it from the inspector. In the later part of the play, he is very eager to prove that Inspector Goole was fake. He doesn’t worry about the death of Daisy Renton, but only thinks about himself and his own reputation. He just cannot understand that the Inspector only wanted him to learn a lesson from all this.
Another character in the play of ‘An Inspector Calls’ who plays an important role in the death of Eva Smith is Mrs Birling. Priestley describes Mrs Birling ‘as being about fifty, obviously a cold woman and her husband’s social superior.’ From the beginning, the character of Mrs Birling is very cold and she acts like a superior woman. She leads her life as a good wife which continues throughout the play as we see that she is loyal to Mr Birling and carries on supporting him even at the end. Mrs Birling is one of the main characters in the play who is quite proud of her social status and looks down upon anyone who is lower than herself. This makes her come across as a snob and emotionally cold.
Mrs Birling does look down upon people who are socially lower than herself, but the fact cannot be ignored that she also looks down on her own children. She is a very successful wife but is failing as a mother. She doesn’t even know what goes on the her children’s life,
“Besides you’re not the type-you don’t get drunk-.”
This shows that Mrs Birling wasn’t a good mother at all. She didn’t have time to look after her children as she rather cared more about their status and her husband’s knighthood. She didn’t know about anything that went on in Eric’s life, clearly a quality that she lacked. Moreover, she usually behaves in an unloving way. She was reluctant to drink a glass of port on her daughter’s engagement and she often reminds them without kindness, saying that Eric is ‘an excitable, silly mood.’
Another unusual point about Mrs Birling is her Naivety. In the beginning, she doesn’t look so naïve because she is trying to look superior with her attitude, but the fact is that she barely knows anything about men. Many of the things that would have shocks her were kept away from her.
We also know that Mrs Birling works for a ladies charity,
“We’ve done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases.”
In the 1920’s, it was the man in the family that went out and worked and did what they liked, but the woman on the other hand had to find other ways of progressing in society. Mrs Birling works with the charity to appear good in front of others so that she can seem like an upper-class woman and impress other women in the society.
The play clearly shows Mrs Birling as an example of class prejudice having a disdain of lower classes, this we can see in her treatment of Eva,
“The girl had begun by telling us a pack of lies.”
Mrs Birling doesn’t view these people as humans. She also believes that ‘a girl of that sort would ever refuse money.’ She didn’t hear what Eva had to say and only thought about herself. She took for granted the circumstances of why Eva was poor, believing that she was irresponsible and not brought up well. She found it offensive that a young girl like that would give herself airs ‘by trying to do what she thought was right.’ She became prejudiced against her, and refused her help with her powers.
Mrs. Birling's own self-belief and pride means that she also looks down on the inspector,
“And if I was, what business is it of yours?”
Mrs. Birling feels that because of her husband’s important role in society, the Inspector would be intimidated. Her pride is hurt by the fact that she has to answer questions. She believes that she doesn’t have to answer him and she goes as far as lying about the photograph. We must also consider from this is the fact that she says that she was justified in what she did, but she still chooses to hide her involvement in Eva’s life. This shows the she knew what she did would not be regarded well by anyone, which adds to her guilt since she knew that she had acted wrongly.
We also see Mrs Birling’s reaction to all the events in the play,
“You’re not the type- you don’t get drunk.”
When she finds out about Eric and his drinking habits, she shows the least composure since the beginning of the play. She has to leave the room and when she finds out that the girl she turned out, had been carrying her grandchild. But she soon regains her composure,
“And like a fool I said yes I had.”
We see here that Mrs Birling, like most of the other characters isn’t thinking about her role in the death of Eva Smith. She is just relieved that The Inspector wasn’t real and thinks that he was a hoax. She only cared about the coming Inspector and how she would answer him.
We also know that Mrs Birling turned Eva down when she wanted help and support,
“Naturally was one of the things that prejudiced me against her case.”
This shows that Mrs Birling used her power and status to turn down the case of Eva Smith. She was a ‘prominent member of the Brumley Women’s Charity Organisation’ and because Eva used the name Mrs Birling, she refused to help her. Mrs Birling thought that Eva was being rude and was mocking her but in fact; Eva was trying to hint to Mrs Birling that the child she was carrying belonged to Eric. Mrs Birling also claims that she wasn’t satisfied with Eva’s claim and used her ‘influence to have it refused.’
We also know that Mrs Birling was the last straw for Eva,
“She’d been turned out and turned down too many times. This was the end.”
This shows that after all that had happened to her, her last resort was Mrs Birling.
She at that time was ‘alone, friendless, almost penniless, desperate. She needed not only money but advice, sympathy, friendliness…….And you slammed the door in her face.’ It started off with Mr Birling and the Sheila followed by Gerald and Eric, but she hoped that Mrs Birling would help her. When she realised that Mrs Birling wasn’t going to help her then her only way forward was to end her life. Finally we know that she looks down on her children and the lower classes, and so is incapable of learning anything from either. She would rather challenge the inspector and make him change than change herself.
One of the other characters from the Birling family who could be blamed for the death of Eva Smith is Eric Birling. From the beginning we see that Eric is jumpy and paranoid when Gerald and Mr Birling joke of the police and that he is up to something,
“Here, what do you mean?”
The audience will see that from the start something isn’t right, and his actions at the beginning of the play are soon explained. Priestley deliberately leaves the interview of Eric till last, to lead up to the dramatic conclusion.
Eric had a lot of secrets from the beginning and he knew that they were going to be revealed. The first is about his drinking habits,
“He’s been steadily drinking too much for the last two years.”
The audience aren’t completely shocked when they found out that Eric was the father to Eva’s child. It is the fact that he is alcoholic that led to most other things. We can also guess that Eric isn’t completely innocent with a view to prostitutes since he actually chatted to Eva and brought her drinks before getting completely drunk. One
thing led to another. If Eric didn’t have drinking issues then Eva would not be pregnant and the pregnancy led to Eric stealing money from his father’s business. We also see that Eric was not really loved by anyone and they all treat him as a child,
“That’s something this public-school-and Varsity life you’ve had doesn’t see to teach you.”
This explains that his father views him as a boy who has been spoilt by education and is a disappointment since he doesn’t seem to be a hard working business man that Mr birling and Gerald are. His mother also views him as a child, reminding him, and shows absolutely no love at the end when she tells him that she is absolutely ashamed of him. We see that Eric is a bit of a mess, and his parents do not care about him. Mr Birling only seems to care about his knighthood and covering up the scandal before anyone finds out.
Even though Eric is treated badly by people around him, there are no excuses to what he did. Eric is no different to Gerald or even Alderman Meggarty in their behavior. The audience should feel sorry for Eric, even though he behaved badly. This is because he is alone with no one to support him and also because he was sadly neglected as a child. The whole point of the Inspector was to make them realise what their mistake was and also learn from their mistakes. It will take a lot of work for Eric to change because he is so deeply rooted in his bad lifestyle. The only positive fact about Eric is that he admitted to the truth that he was wrong, and he knows that the most important thing wasn’t the money or the scandal, but Eva. His parents may not have acted as badly as he did, but they had not been able to learn their lesson, and that is what sets them apart.
In conclusion, I think that all character in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ are responsible for the death of Eva Smith. I feel that they all played a part in her death which caused her to commit suicide by drinking disinfectant. Mr Birling started the whole process off by firing Eva from her job at the factory. He left her with no job and with no money. And later when she did find another job at Milwards, Sheila asked the manager of the store to fire Eva because she was jealous. This was because she saw Eva smirking at her when she was trying on a dress that she knew didn’t suit her. After Eva was fired from Milwards, She met Gerald in the stalls bar at the Palace Music hall in Brumley. Gerald saw her and felt sorry for her because she looked sad and later when she told him her story, he decided to keep her as his mistress. But Eva was falling in love for Gerald and also realised that her time with Gerald will come to an end. By the end of the summer, Gerald broke up with Eva and went back to Sheila. Eva was then raped by Eric one night and was pregnant with his child. When she felt that Eric didn’t love her she went to Mrs Birling to ask for help. She used the name Mrs Birling to hint that she was carrying Eric’s child. But the actual Mrs Birling misunderstood her and thought that she was mocking her. She refused to help her saying that everything she was saying was a lie. Mrs Birling used her power and status to influence other members in the committee to refuse help to Eva as well. Mrs Birling was Eva’s last hope but when she refused to help her, Eva had no choice but to commit suicide. I feel that each character could be blamed individually for her death and each of them played a big part. I think that all characters shared a cumulative part in her death and each character led her to a worse situation than she already was, and in the end she just committed suicide.