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A grade 9 An Inspector Calls essay on Eva Smith
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This is a Grade 9 essay on the character Eva Smith.
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In the didactic play “An Inspector Calls” Eva Smith, a silent, offstage character, is used by Priestley tosymbolise the powerless working class women during the early twentieth century who were
exploited by higher classes in order to teach the Birling family about social responsibility.
In her first appearance Priestley presents Eva as a sympathetic character. She is introduced by the
Inspector who says that “she’d swallowed a lot of strong disinfectant”. The inspector uses emotive
and shocking language to stress her death. Moreover the noun “disinfectant” is used to get rid of
germs and thus could serve as a metaphor for the Birling’s views on Eva as a “disease” or something
“disgusting” conveying her inferiority thus increasing pathos. Alternatively Priestley could be
pointing out his disgust at the sexual exploitation which led Eva to her death. The noun has
connotations of cleansing. Perhaps Priestley is suggesting that Eva wants to be purified through the
“disinfectant” which could reflect Priestley’s anger towards both the financial inequalities and
sexism in a patriarchal society. Furthermore the Inspector says that Eva had a “nice promising life”
but someone made a “nasty mess” of it. This juxtaposition further emphasises the tragedy arousing
more sympathy.
Eva is also representative of the female workforce during 1912 as she struggles financially. Mr Birling
was dismissive towards the financial struggle Eva was going through as when she asked him to raise
her salary he “refused, of course”. Working conditions were much harder for most people than
today; workers had very few rights or protection and women’s wages were on average half that of
men’s and so she is presented a victim of Mr Birling. The phrase “of course” is used to say something
that is obvious or already known which depicts his derogatory behaviour. Perhaps it also implies that
it was common to dismiss the working class which further adds to his negative attributes and as a
result capitalism as a whole is discredited. Priestley believed that with the means of production
being owned by businessmen such as Mr Birling, the relationship between employer and workforce
became impersonal and uncaring. They become ‘cheap labour’, not people and so became easier for
the upper classes to stereotype the working classes as separate, amorphous and undeserving. This
led to a ‘them and us’ attitude which is showcased through Mr Birling’s dismissive behaviour
towards Eva to emphasize the disparity that capitalism had created. During WW2 all classes were
inclined to work together thus creating a sense that a change was needed in the system therefore
Mr Birling’s ignorant reaction to Eva’s struggles as a working class women would have garnered an
outraged reaction from the post-war audience and so Priestley intentionally could have brought
about this response to heighten the immorality of a capitalist society.
Eva is also victimized by women. This is portrayed through Mrs Birling’s use of euphemisms such as
“a girl of that sort” and “a girl in her position” where she objectifies Eva and as a result women in the
working class which further reinforces the idea of the older generation being narrow-minded as she
immediately assumes that Eva is lying for money thus being ignorant to only those in working class.
In addition to this the harsh determiner “that” gives a sense of disdain and disgust thus implying that
Mrs Birling believes that the working class are inferior to her and therefore conveys the notion of the
upper and middle classes looking down upon the working class. It also creates a sense of
detachment thus creating a disparity between the classes depicts her lack of consideration for others
thus giving Eva sympathy from the audience. Moreover Sheila says that if Eva was a “miserable plain
creature” then she would not have got her fired from Millward’s. Perhaps the harsh noun “creature”
refers to other working class people which connotes ideas of an animal or servant and therefore
suggests that she thought of them as beneath her and not even human beings. During 1912 the
suffragette movement was occurring where many women campaigned for the right to vote.
Although many women were in favour of this and many men were against this idea some women
were also opposed to the idea of becoming politically involved. Perhaps Priestley has purposely
made the characters of Sheila and Mrs Birling victimize Eva to not only convey their capitalist views
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