Eva Smith in An Inspector Calls :: An Inspector Calls J.B. Priestley Plays Essays

Eva Smith in An Inspector Calls Do you agree that Eva Smith is presented as a victim in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’? How does J.B Priestly use the Inspector to make the Birling family aware of their responsibilities to individuals such as Eva Smith and how successful is he? When Eva Smith is presented to the audience by the Inspector, she is immediately shown to be the victim of the play. The Inspector highlights and describes how each of the members of the Birling family has used Eva Smith. The Inspector shows that each character has victimised her and that each of them has a part to play and a partly responsible for her death. The Inspector soon shows us that he thinks she is a victim as he describes her as â€Å"A pretty, lively sort of girl, who never did anybody any harm.† The Inspector tries to make each family member, including Gerald Croft, guilty for how they have treated Eva Smith. ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play all about the social attitudes of the time. The play shows the attitudes of high class people such as the Birlings and how they see other members of the community. The Birlings are a rich family and they don’t feel that they should care for other people. They think that they should only be responsible for themselves and there family and not get involved with helping less well off people. Mr Birling put it that â€Å"if we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody†¦it would be very awkward†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The play shows how Eva Smith is a victim of the attitude of society in 1912. It shows how hard it was for her as she was young, had no family and was unemployed, meaning she had no income to provide for herself. The play shows how some women were forced to beg charities for help to survive or how some young women were even forced into prostitution to provide themselves money to live on. The play highlights the bad way in which women, in a position similar to Eva Smith’s, were treated at that time by society, especially wealthy members of the public with high social statuses such as the Birlings. The Inspector targets each member of the Birling family and shows how they, as individuals, victimised Eva Smith and made her life harder. The Inspector firstly shows how Mr Birling treated her. Mr Birling is the father of the family and has a high status in the community. Mr Birling is a successful business man. He is involved in local politics and is hoping to be given a knighthood.