Act 3 Flashcards
Eric’s confession
The Birlings argue about Eric’s drinking habits until Inspector Goole interrupts.
Eric says he met Eva when drunk at the Palace Bar. After they met, he ‘insisted’ on going back to her lodgings (where she lives) and effectively forced himself on her.
They slept together many times before Eva revealed she was pregnant.
Eva said she did not want to marry Eric but accepted some money from him. Eric stole £50 from Mr Birling’s office for Eva. Mr Birling is furious.
When Eva found out that Eric had stolen the money, she refused to accept any more and refused to see him.
Inspector Goole’s messages
Eric is furious at his mother for not helping his baby.
Inspector Goole turns to each Birling in turn and summarises the role they played in Eva Smith’s death.
Before he leaves the stage, Inspector Goole gives a very important speech about the significance of individual lives. He tells the family they cannot undo what they did to Eva Smith. But he begs them to think about the way their actions and ideas impact other people in the future.
Revelation
Once the Inspector has left, the family fight over responsibility.
Mr Birling blames Eric. Sheila criticises her parents. The family start to think that Inspector Goole was not a real inspector.
Gerald re-enters and confirms that Goole was not a real inspector.
When the family recap the story to Gerald, he points out that Inspector Goole could have conned them by showing each person separate photographs.
Reactions and cliffhanger ending
When the family learn that there hasn’t been a suicide case in months, Gerald and Mr and Mrs Birling are delighted.
Eric and Sheila, on the other hand, are upset and refuse to forget their actions.
As Mr Birling comments about how the younger generation think they know everything, the phone rings. He reveals that the police are on their way around to discuss a girl who swallowed disinfectant and died whilst travelling to the Infirmary (hospital).
The curtain falls.
‘There’ll be plenty of time, when I’ve gone, for you all to adjust your family relationships’. - Inspector Goole
Inspector Goole recognises that his interrogations have changed the dynamics (how they get along) of the Birling family.
He tells them that they will have to change their relationships as they get to know one another again.
Sheila, for example, has developed a very different (less subservient) attitude towards her father – they will all need time to figure out how their family works once they show each other their true selves
‘Each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.’ - Inspector Goole
Inspector Goole speaks very plainly to the family – he does not soften the blow for them. He wants them to have learnt something from this experience, so he tells them that each one of them killed Eva.
He urges them to always remember what they have done – because he wants them to rethink their actions in the future to make sure they start to think about other people and how their words and activities can hurt others.
‘One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us… We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for one another’. - Inspector Goole
Priestley uses Inspector Goole as the socialist conscience (sense of wrong and right) in the play.
Here, he expresses how people should look after one another, and suggests that everyone is equally as important as everyone else.
This statement directly contrasts with Mr Birlings comment in Act 1 that everyone should look after themselves.
‘You don’t seem to have learnt anything’ - Sheila
Although she’s heard about the horrible consequences of their actions, Sheila is annoyed that Mr and Mrs Birling do not seem to have learnt anything about themselves and how they should live their lives.
They continue to dodge any responsibility for Eva’s death and push the blame at each other.
‘Everything we said had happened really happened. If it didn’t end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done’. - Sheila
Sheila’s emotional maturity and intelligence develops.
Here, Sheila shows how she has learnt a valuable lesson from this whole experience – she accepts blame and responsibility.
She knows that her actions will have consequences for other people – the story of Eva Smith has made this much more realistic for her.
Mr Birling exclaims that young people think they know everything but they’re wrong – ironically, it is the young Birlings who have learnt from their mistakes here.
‘This makes a difference, y’know. In fact, it makes all the difference’. - Mr Birling
As far as Mr Birling is concerned, the most important factor in the story is that Inspector Goole isn’t actually a proper police inspector.
This is vital for Birling because he knows that the story of Eva Smith is now unlikely to end in a scandal for him.
He doesn’t care about his actions in the girl’s life, or the effect of these actions on the girl herself.
If the Inspector has no connection to the police, he has no power to cause problems for Birling, and so Mr Birling is prepared to forget the whole story and continue with life as before.
‘but I didn’t know it was you’ - Mrs Birling
Mrs Birling only regrets her nasty comments about the mystery man who got Eva Smith pregnant when she realises it was her own son – she was more than happy for the man to receive swift and severe punishments because she did not know him.
This reflects social pre-war capitalist attitudes. People looked after themselves and their families. Mrs Birling felt that punishment was necessary for this man – until the man is revealed to be Eric, and then she changes her attitude.
‘I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can’ - Mr Birling
Mr Birling, as is consistent (stays the same) with his character throughout the play, only cares about covering up this story so it doesn’t affect their reputations, social status, or his chance at receiving a knighthood.
He consistently shows a selfish, self-centred attitude. He obsesses over his reputation. He is not very concerned with the consequences of his actions.
‘I wasn’t in love with her or anything – but I liked her – she was pretty and a good sport’. - Eric
Eric highlights his upper-middle-class upbringing, from which he is used to having what he wants. He sleeps with Eva because she is good-looking. He would not treat a woman in his own social class this way, but feels that he can with Eva because she is lower-class.
‘You killed her! She came to you to protect me – and you turned her away… your own grandchild – you killed them both – damn you’. - Eric
For the first time, we see a furious Eric verbally (with words) attack his mother. He directly addresses her with the pronoun ‘you’ to make sure that she knows she has caused the death of her own grandchild.
He wants her to understand that her actions have had personal consequences for him and for her, instead of continuing to brush off her responsibility.
‘She told me she didn’t want me to go in, but… I threatened to make a row’. - Eric
Eric reveals that he forced himself on Eva Smith. He used his power as the son of an influential man to threaten to make things difficult for her.
