Who Was Most To Blame For The Death Of Eva Smith? Essay

Before the inspector entered the birling household Sheila presented herself as the perfect fiancé to Gerald, despite knowing something happened during the summer she is still very reserved in what she says. With the inspector acting as a defence she begins to take on the role of the

He patronizes Sheila and does not let her talk for herself, “She’s obviously had about as much as she can stand”. The emphasis on “obviously”, again emphasizes Gerald’s commanding nature and shows how he knows what is best for Sheila, foreshadowing their eventual decline. In addition, the emphasis also shows how Gerald believes that women are weak beings, as they “obviously” can’t stomach their drink. This emphasizes Gerald’s unpleasantness and how it all eventually leads to their breakup. Gerald continues on, “Why should you [stay]? It’s bound to be unpleasant and disturbing”. He continues to patronize Sheila, as he knows that his secret is about to come out and so he wants to retain the smallest shred of control that he has, by sending Sheila out of the room, which just encourages her to stay even more. He doesn’t want her to know about the affair he had, as it will tarnish his reputation in her eyes, so her questions her right to stay in her own house; emphasizing how little respect he has for Sheila, and he selfish he really

Though some may argue Mr. Arthur Birling could have triggered the chain of events leading to Eva Smith’s death, I disagree. Birling, a man in his mid-fifties, is the first of the family to be acquainted with Eva Smith after he fires her from his business, Birling and Company, for being a ‘ring-leader’ and encouraging his female workers to go on strike and demand a higher pay. Birling is selfish and uncharitable. He refused the girls pay-rise requests, stating that, “We

In the play “The inspector calls” written by Presley, the story is set in 1912, and describes a family in the middle class. Eric, the son of Mr. Birling is one of the key characters in the play

The character Mr Birling in ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B Priestley is a greedy, arrogant and selfish ‘hardheaded businessman’, father of two, Sheila Birling and Eric Birling. Through Mr Birling Priestley shows what upper middle-class men were like in 1912. I believe Priestley set the play in 1912 and first performed it in 1946 because this date represented an era where everything was different. In 1912 there was a strict class system and gender roles, Priestley took the chance the end of the war had given them to create a different, more equal society.

Arthur Birling at the Beginning of Act One in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote the play of ‘An Inspector Calls’ in 1945 but set the play in 1912, Edwardian Britain. The writer intentionally set the play in 1912 to make the audience aware of social conscience. Another reason why the play was set in 1912 was because, some of the historical events mentioned in the play, the audience would be familiar with as they would have lived through the time and would know the real results of how they ended and what the causes were because the era from which he set was very different to when he wrote the play. In the play, when these events are mentioned, Arthur Birling says the opposite to what actually happens such as when Birling said

J.B. Priestley's play 'An Inspector Calls', first performed in 1945, offers a critical view of the social and moral issues of early 20th-century England. One of the ways Priestley explores these themes is through the complex relationship between Mr. Arthur Birling and Mrs. Sybil Birling. Their interactions reveal much about their characters, societal roles, and the broader context of the period. Mr. Birling is portrayed as a prosperous businessman with capitalist views, while Mrs. Birling is a member of a socially superior family. Their marriage is one of convenience and social advantage, rather than love and mutual respect.

An Inspector Calls is set in 1912 before World War One. The play is centred around, a wealthy family called the Birlings. The visit from the Inspector reveals that all the characters had played a part in the suicide of a girl called Eva Smith. In some ways, all the characters are responsible for the death of Eva Smith, each one of them did something that affected her in some way or another. Overall I feel that some characters were more responsible than others for many different reasons. In the book we see several different reactions from the characters when they find out that they are caught up in the suicide, some were upset and distressed and others just tried to pass the blame to others and tried to excuse what they had done. The characters selfishness was a huge contributions to Eva Smiths suicide.

Writers do portray characters in several way; some are portrayed as bold and courageous while others come out weak and gullible. This essay focuses on the play ‘An Inspector Calls’. This is a play written by J.B. Priestley. It gives an account of how an inspector known as Poole investigates the apparent murder of a young working class woman known as Eva Smith. When the Inspector Poole visits the Birling family, he slowly reveals how every member of that family might have taken part in the murder of Eva. The main issue under discussion is how Priestly strikingly portrays Birling in Act 1 of the play. The main argument is that the author portrays the Birling as a self-centered, selfish and hardheaded businessperson, who does not take care of social responsibility and thus is anti-socialist.

J.B Priestley is deliberately trying to portray Sheila as perhaps dizzy or unable to make an independent decision of her own. She is very happy at the beginning of the play, although later her happiness and love for her family are put to the test. When the news of Eva Smith's death has finally been revealed, Sheila is shocked - "How horrible - was it an accident?" In contrast to her father's reaction Sheila shows some compassion and interest. However as Sheila is better informed

You feel that the Inspector knows everything already, and that by telling him, you are not giving information, but confessing to what you have done- which he already knows. This makes Sheila and Eric in particular give a lot more information than is necessary to the questions that the Inspector asks. The Inspector sets up a scene, and then inserts snippets of information that two parties will both be able to individually interpret, and will reveal more than necessary. The Inspector makes the information he gives ambiguous in order to draw the largest reaction. In this way, he is able to play off their response and extract more information from them. In some aspects, Inspector's character seems to be ahead of his time. The manner in which he conducts his questioning seems to be more advanced than the way in which they are received. Also the way in which he conducts himself gives the impression of being ahead of the family that he is questioning. He also has the sensibility of someone who lived during the 1945/46, after the wars. The Inspector does not ‘fit' in with the way in which things where done during the time of this play. Priestley makes the Inspector seem ahead of his

Both Eva Smith and Curley’s wife are victims of their class as Eva is victimised by each member of the Birling Family, who each make her life harder and each of them are ultimately partially responsible for her

In this play we can notoriously see that Gerald is a selfish person, who wants to marry Sheila not only because of business, also because she is pretty. He does not care about other people; a clear example is that he cheated on Sheila with Eva Smith. Gerald is not committed to his relationship, this is shown when he unsuccessfully tries to hide that he had known Eva. In the end, his efforts make the revelation ruder. He does not care about Sheila's feelings and he has not gained a new sense of social responsibility, understanding that he, too, was part of the events that led Eva’s suicide. This is why Sheila is unsure whether to take back the engagement ring or not. Croft’s family has a very high status in society, and since being in business with the Birlings would not necessarily be good for their company, Gerald is engaged to Sheila because he wants to. His parents are not happy as they think she is not good enough for Gerald and because

Veronica Smith came home from work one afternoon and noticed her house was very quiet. She looked around and saw that her daughter was crying on the floor because all three of their dogs were missing. They immediately started looking for them and put up missing dog signs. About a week later, Veronica received an anonymous letter on her doorstep that said: “Veronica, I have a proposition for you... if you do something for me, I’ll give you your beloved pets back safe and sound. But only if you follow my directions very carefully..”She realized this was solicitation. As she read on, she started to cry. He wanted her to steal a $600,000,000 in jewelry from his ex-wife. The next day, her daughter was missing. Although she did not want to

In the play 'An Inspector Calls', many contrasts and paradox's are present and at the centre of them all is the character known as Inspector Goole. However, the inspector is not any ordinary inspector. I believe that the inspector is used as a device by Priestley to explore the wider themes of the play and to depict other characters true personalities. This essay will explore some of the techniques Priestley presents the inspector in An Inspector Calls.