Overview of each act Flashcards
Act 1
The Birling’s are celebrating the upcoming marriage of Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft. An Inspector arrives claiming that a young woman called Eva Smith has just committed suicide. Eva was employed by Mr Birling and was fired unfairly. She was then taken on by a shop, Millwards where Sheila used her influence and got Eva fired too. Sheila feels terrible remorse.
Act 2
Gerald admits that he used Eva as a mistress and leaves upset. Mrs Birling was also involved by refusing to give Eva (now pregnant), any money when she came to beg for charity. Mrs Birling is adamant that the father of the child take responsibility. This turns out to be her son, Eric and she is seen as a hypocrite.
Act 3
Eric admits that he is the father of Eva’s child. He feels terrible for what he has done. The Inspector leaves and they are all shocked. Gerald returns and informs the Birling’s that there is no Inspector Goole working at the local police station. A phone call confirms this. However, the final lines in the play state that a girl has just died and they are all to be interviewed by an inspector.
Mr Birling
Mr Arthur Birling: the head of a family, and is arguably the main subject of Priestley’s social critique. Dominant, arrogant, self-centred and morally blind, he is insistent throughout about his lack of responsibility for Eva/Daisy’s death. He fires Eva after she helps to lead a strike for higher wages.
Sheila
Sheila Birling: accepts responsibility for their part in Eva/Daisy’s death and becomes more rebellious toward her parents, supporting her brother against them and assisting Goole in his interrogations. By the end of the play, she represents the younger generation’s protests against the morality of the older generation and seems the most responsive to Goole’s Socialist views about moral responsibility towards others. She gets Eva fired for ‘smirking’ because she is jealous of Eva’s beauty.
Gerald
Gerald Croft: The son of Sir George Croft and a member of the aristocracy, a competitor of Birling and Company. He is celebrating his recent engagement to Sheila Birling. Gerald is revealed to have secretly known Eva/Daisy and installed her as his mistress, becoming “the most important person in her life”, before ending the relationship. He is shown as cowardly and thoughtless for taking advantage of a vulnerable woman.
Mrs Birling
Sybil Birling: Sybil Birling is the wife of Arthur and mother of Sheila and Eric Birling. She is her husband’s social superior and is keen to show him the correct etiquette. As the leader of a women’s charitable organisation, she assumes a social and moral superiority over Inspector Goole, whose questioning style she frequently refers to as “impertinent” and “offensive”. Like her husband, she refuses to accept responsibility for the death of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton. She is described as a snob who doesn’t care about working class people, only respecting the people of her class. She refuses to give Eva any money from her foundation.
Eric
Eric Birling is the son of Arthur Birling and Sybil Birling. Eric is revealed to have made Eva Smith pregnant as well as stolen some money from his father’s business to support Eva when the Inspector is revealed to be a fake, he and Sheila are the only two who still feel guilty over Eva’s death. By the end of the story he seems to have learned his lesson and feels as guilty as Sheila does for his part in Eva’s tragic death.
Eva
Never Speaks!
Edna
Edna is the Birling’s maid. She has limited contribution in the play; however she is the only person in the play that can provide an insight into the life of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton, a character to whom Edna has a similar background (working class). It is she who opens the door to allow the Inspector into the Birlings’ lives, although she is often taken for granted and treated somewhat despicably at times, as if she is not actually there.
