All the characters in J.B. Priestleys play apart from the Inspector played a part in Eva Smith/Daisy Rentons life and contributed to her death Essay Example For Students

All the characters in J.B. Priestleys play apart from the Inspector played a part in Eva Smith/Daisy Rentons life and contributed to her death Essay All the characters in J. B. Priestleys play apart from the Inspector and Edna played a part in Eva Smith/Daisy Rentons life and contributed to her death. Some characters played larger parts in the life of Eva Smith than others. For example, Gerald played a larger part in the life of Eva Smith than Mr Birling because he knew her personally for a much longer period of time. Even so, I believe that the parts the characters played in Eva Smiths life were just as important as each other. This is because all of their actions formed a chain of events. Like a chain reaction each part one character played put into motion the part another character would play. So without one single contribution from a character the whole chain would breakdown. For example, if Mr Birling hadnt have sacked Eva Smith, then she wouldnt have looked for a job in the clothes shop. This then would mean of course that Sheila would never have seen Eva Smith and got her the sack. In this piece of coursework I will look at the parts Gerald and Sheila played in the life and death of Eva Smith. The part Sheila played as I have already described was an equally important role than any other of the characters in J. B. Priestleys play. But the parts Gerald and her played in the life of Eva Smith were different. Gerald had a long, intimate and personal relationship with her. Sheila on the other hand had an informal, short and unpleasant relationship with Eva Smith. This is one of the reasons I have picked these two characters to compare because they had totally different experiences with Eva Smith. After the Inspector has finished questioning Mr Birling, he moves onto Sheila. It becomes clear that Sheila became acquainted with Eva Smith when she was shopping for clothes. Eva Smith was working in the shop. She was taken on in a shop à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" and a good shop too à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" Milwards The Inspector. P. 20, Act One. After seeing a picture of Eva Smith, Sheila goes on to describe how she got Eva Smith sacked from her job at Milwards. To understand fully the effect Sheilas actions had on the life of Eva Smith, we have to look at what position Eva Smiths life was in at the time. Working in the clothes shop Milwards, would have been a great position for Eva Smith to be in. The work would have been less taxing on the body and in general a lot more pleasant than working in a factory. I believe that the wage Eva Smith would have received would have been greater than that of the factory. This is because the job required the worker to be clean and healthy. Something I believe would not have been possible on a factorys wage. Sheilas own reaction shows how much of a good job it would have been. Yes, she was lucky to get taken on at Milwardsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ P. 20, Act One. From this I think its safe to say that Sheilas actions would have had a massive impact on the life of Eva Smith. The job Sheila got her the sack from was her last steady job. She had no parents and therefore no support in her life. She was on her own. Both her parents were dead à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The Inspector. P. 19, Act One. Throughout the play we see many different sides of Sheilas personality. At the start of the play she acts normal for a girl who has recently got engaged. She is playful, excited but also selfish as she is enjoying the attention the news of the engagement brings her. She uses words like mummy. This shows us how childish and protected she is even though she is around twenty. We see another normal side of her when she finds out about the death of Eva Smith. She seems upset and interested in the girls death even though she has no idea of her involvement. Later on in the play we see a complete reversal of the personality she had showed before. She acts like an adult taking responsibility for her part in the death of Eva Smith. However the part she played in Eva Smiths life shows us how she can easily become jealous and take out her general anger on someone innocent. This shows us how self-centred and vain she is. On the other hand Gerald played a different part in the life of Eva Smith. Although by the time Gerald met her she was using a different name, Daisy Renton. Life and Works of Andy Warhol EssayThis shows that they only felt sorry for the girl because they thought they would get into trouble. When they found out that they would not they were willing to go on living their lifes without change. Therefore without improvement e. g. Mr Birling would continue to exploit his workers etc. I believe J. B. Priestley used this to show how we should have learnt form the First World War but didnt. He fought in the First World War and saw its atrocities. The play shows how quickly people can forget pain. The belief that we are all responsible for each other and should help each other out is also put forward in the play. This again is very close to Christian beliefs. He shows how some people or most people in the play are unable to do this because of their selfishness and ignorance to others. I believe that J. B Priestley shows the attitude of the upper class of the time through Mr Birling. He adopts the attitude of Im alright Jack. His attitude is shown at the beginning of the play on page ten. He is giving advice to Eric and Gerald on how they should go about their lives. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that a man has to look after his own business and look after himself and his ownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This shows that he is not willing to take responsibility for others. Mr Birling is not prepared to help out his workers when they ask for more money. He is a rich man. He has a maid, Edna. The scene is set with champagne glasses, a decanter of port and cigarettes. The characters are wearing smart evening dress. These are all things you would associate rich people of the time with. Mr Birling was allowed to make so much money as a result of cheap labour. He took advantage of the fact that unemployment was high at the time and exploited his workers need for a job. It is a fact that many factory owners did exactly the same thing and I believe the play shows how wrong this really was. This gives the audience a very strong social message. We are shown how all of the characters abused their social standings and power to get what they wanted. The play has the effect of making its audience look inside themselves to see if they are in anyway like Mr Birling or the other characters. The Inspector plays a very important part in the play. You could say that he is the key to the whole thing as the play couldnt go on without him. Therefore he is the most important character in the play. I believe J. B Priestley makes the Inspector the focal point of the whole play. His achieves this by giving him certain actions and in the things he says. For example, on page twelve, act one the Inspector dominates what is being said, cutting through massively Ive been round to the room she had, and shed left a letter and a sort of diaryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ He interrupts Mr Birling who up to now appeared to be the dominating figure in the room. By doing this he has stamped his authority on Mr Birling and showed that he cant be intimidated by his social power. This is also an example of the way the Inspector goes about his questioning. He is very good at extracting information from the rest of the characters. He manipulates the conversation in-order to find out only the information he wishes to find out. Here Mr Birling would have gone on to say something that doesnt interest the Inspector and so he stops him before he has chance to do so. The Inspector also allows other characters to put pressure on the one undergoing questioning. For example he allows Sheila to apply pressure onto Gerald while he is being questioned. When the Inspector asks Gerald if he was In love with her. Sheila applies more pressure onto Gerald answer by saying, Just what I was going to ask! P. 37, Act Two. The Inspector isnt there to convict any of the characters. He is there simply to make them realise what they have done. Perhaps in the hope that they will change their ways. This is something I have discussed as one of the themes of the play. That people realise their mistakes and changed for the better. The First and Second World Wars are examples of not doing this. Failing to prevent a Second World War cost many people their lives. By Lee Haywood.