Result of Eva’s Story Essay

ohn Boynton Priestley was born in 1894 and died in 1984. He was famous for contemplating science and philosophy, and wrote many plays to put forward his socialist views. An Inspector Calls was one of these, and is about a wealthy upper-middle class family, the Birlings, and how their views on living change as a result of a visit from an inspector. The main characters are the Birlings, Inspector Goole and Eva Smith. Arthur Birling is a successful businessman; his wife, Sybil, is very pretentious; and their rather peculiar son, Eric, is an alcoholic. Eric’s sister, Sheila, has recently engaged to Gerald Croft, a gentleman of a slightly higher social class than the Birlings – Mr. Birling feels a little inferior because of this. We do not know a lot about the Inspector – he is given an air of mystery and importance – but it is possible that he could be an apparition of some kind or perhaps a figure to represent Priestley’s own views. Eva Smith is an absent character who nevertheless plays a huge part in the storyline. The play takes place solely in the dining room of the Birlings’ house, which is â€Å"heavily comfortable but not homelike†. This unified setting is beneficial in many ways. One thing is that it lowers the costs and requirements of the production of the play, meaning that it can be performed in a wider variety of settings and therefore be shown to more people. In addition, the audience will focus on the actors and the plot rather than the set so much if it does not keep changing, which helps retain attention to the play. The play begins as Gerald Croft and the Birlings are celebrating as a family Sheila Birling and Gerald’s engagement, when the evening is interrupted by the arrival of Inspector Goole. The Inspector tells them the story of the tragic suicide of a young girl, whose name is Eva Smith, but she calls herself Daisy Renton after Mr. Birling sacks her, as an attempt to make a fresh start. He forces them to see how each of the people present contributed to her taking her own life by swallowing disinfectant. Gradually, he picks away at the protective, self-satisfied shell that the Birlings have built up around themselves, and eventually manages to pull apart the whole sense of the family. He then exits, leaving them to blame each other and argue amongst themselves. The play was written in 1945 but is set in 1912. I think this is to emphasise the point that rich people are not always right, as Mr. Birling in particular makes several predictions that we, as the audience, know to be incorrect. For example, he says, â€Å"You’ll hear some people say that war’s inevitable. And to that I say – fiddlesticks!† and â€Å"There isn’t a chance of war.† However, we know that two years later, WWI began. He speculates about Sheila and Gerald’s future – â€Å"In twenty or thirty years’ time – let’s say, in 1940 – you may be giving a little party like this – your son or daughter might be getting engaged – and I tell you, by that time you’ll be living in a world that’ll have forgotten all these silly war scares.† This is ironic because in fact in 1940 WWII took place. He also makes predictions about labour struggles when he says, â€Å"†¦there’s a lot of wild talk about possible labour trouble in the near future. Don’t worry. We’ve passed the worst of it,† and the Titanic, as he says, â€Å"Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable†, both of which we know are wrong. Mr. Birling is confident about all of these predictions, but we know how wrong he is. This is an example of dramatic irony, and I think J.B. Priestley used it to great effect in portraying Mr. Birling as someone who is entirely ignorant about what the future holds, though the other characters are unaware of this. In Act One, the family is celebrating the engagement of Sheila and Gerald. Sheila is presented as excitable and eager to please her family and Gerald: after she has received her ring she says, â€Å"(excited) Oh – it’s wonderful! Look – Mummy – isn’t it a beauty? Oh – darling – (She kisses Gerald hastily.)† She is also rather materialistic, as the stage directions, â€Å"(still admiring her ring)† imply, though she still shows empathy and compassion towards Eva – â€Å"SHEILA: (Rather distressed) Sorry! It’s just that I can’t help thinking about that girl – destroying herself so horribly†.  She plays up to Gerald, saying, â€Å"Oh – is it the one you wanted me to have?† and I think this suggests that she wants to keep on everyone’s good side, and avoid any conflict. She behaves in the same way to her parents, meekly saying, â€Å"I’m sorry, Daddy. Actually I was listening.†