Eva Smith

Question 1

“Two hours ago a young women died in the infirmary. She’s been taken there this se she’s swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant. Burnt her insides out, of course” - Inspector

Answer 1

Priestly uses dysphemistic language of ‘burnt her inside amount’ as an attempt to evoke feelings of remorse and guilt into the family. The use of the time ‘two hours ago” shows how imminent and how the suicide had the potential to be prevented, this theme of vulnerability is continued through the use of the adjective ‘young’ which further increases feelings of remorse. 
‘Young women’ draws parallels between the two women - Sheila and Eva. There is an arbitrary distinction of social class, as Sheila was born into wealth whereas Eva wasn’t and due to this it dictates the opportunities and chances of life. Through this Priestly is also able to emphasise that all women within a patriarchal and Edwardian society lac autonomy and oppressed and objectified. However, Priestly shows intersectionality at play through the arbitrary dictation of social class which dictates the opportunities and chances Eva has when juxtaposed with Sheila. Eva and Sheila are foil characters due to intersectionality.

Question 2

“It’s perfectly straightforward case, and as it happened more than 18 months ago - nearly two years ago - obviously it has nothing whatever to do with the wretched girls suicide” - mr Birling

Question 3

‘I don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class -’

Answer 3

• She lacks the capability to empathise with the suffering of the lower classes
• She sees herself as socially and morally superior, and does associate herself with them
• Reveals her prejudiced outlook on the lower classes
• The use of the determiner “that” dehumanises Eva and those in the lower class, as she believes that it is expected behaviour in why they would act that way
• The plural of the noun ‘girls’ is a huge generalisation that all poor, or less fortunate girls will try and commit suicide
• Priestly is revealing that capitalism promotes/ encourages moral corruption