The play was first shown in the USSR in 1945 and is considered a classic of the 20th century. It tells the tale of the well to do wealthy Birling family and their collective, though separate, treatment of a young working-class girl. The girly who worked in Birlings textile factory was called Eva Smith, who was representative of the working-class in a capitalist society, and she was a good worker and also an agitator for higher pay.
Birlings like most employers of the time, 1912, paid slave wages and expected their employees not to rock the boat in any way shape or form. Eva Smith dared to challenge Birlings' authority, bringing the girls out on strike for a modest pay increase to make their pay in line with male workers. The girls were out on strike for a fortnight during which time Arthur Birling called Eva Smith into his office and offered her a pay increase and promotion. This she refused stating that the pay increase had to apply to all the girls and not just her. After a fortnight with no wages the girls were effectively starved back to work at the old rate with the exception of Eva Smith who Birling dismissed from his employment. None of the other girls, though sympathetic, dared say anything in support of the woman who had tried to secure a better pay deal for them.
Eva Smith, now unemployed, reinvented herself calling herself Daisy Renton and after some time living in poverty she managed to secure a position in a high-class clothing store. It was here that the daughter of Arthur Birling, Shiela, and her stuck up mother, Sybil Birling, went shopping for a dress for the daughter. She was engaged to a rival of Birling, Gerrald Croft of Crofts Textiles, the son of Lord Croft, and through this marriage of convenience the two companies were to merge and would no longer be in competition with each other. Smith now called Daisy Renton served the Birling girl who accused the young shop assistant of laughing at her. This was not the case and it was more a case of Daisy being better looking than Shiela Birling who was jealous. She demanded to see the manageress of the shop and demanded Daisy Renton be dismissed from her employment. The manageress bowed to the wealthy spoilt girl and her mother’s demand and Daisy once again found herself out of work. This was two jobs she had lost both at the hands of a Birling!
Back on the street Daisy Renton started frequenting places of ill repute, taking to prostitution as a form of income. It was here she met, unknowingly, Shiela Birling's fiancé, Gerrald Croft, who took her home and in the course of events had a short affair with the girl using her for his own ends. Of course, the Birlings knew nothing of this affair, yet, but Daisy was destitute and perhaps Croft appeared as a lifeline! She then met Eric Birling, the son of the industrialist, who again used her, this time making her pregnant. She went to the Poor Relief Board which was chaired by none other than Mrs Sybil Birling, the spoilt brat's mother, explaining she was with child. She did not recognise Daisy from the shop incident and pretended to listen to her pleas for financial help. Her application for poor relief was rejected by Mrs Birling and her semi-imbecile middle class colleagues on the Poor Relief Board. When Daisy explained she was pregnant Mrs Birling was unsympathetic, telling the destitute young woman she must find the father and make him support her and the child. Daisy had no idea the father was Mrs Birlings son, yet she did address herself to Sybil Birling as Mrs Birling which sent the industrialists stuck up wife into a rage, and Daisy left the Poor Relief Board as destitute as when she entered. This bourgeois family, the Birlings, and one who was going to marry into it, had all played a major part in what happened to Eva Smith AKA Daisy Renton next. Bereft of all hope she swallowed a bottle of disinfectant dying a most painful death and it was all due to the individual actions of the Birlings and Gerrald Croft.
As the Birlings were toasting the up-and-coming wedding boasting of the wealth this marriage would generate a police inspector, or supposedly a police inspector, paid them a visit. He had a photo of Eva Smith, Daisy Renton, and wanted to interview all the Birlings and the future son in law Gerrald Croft. After some memory jerking Arthur Birling of Birling and Co recalled he could vaguely remember Eva Smith and said he sacked her because she was a troublemaker. Simply asking for a modest pay rise which Birling could easily have afforded branded Eva a troublemaker! The inspector then showed the picture to the Birling daughter, the one responsible for getting Daisy Renton sacked from her job in the shop. Like her father she at first pretended not to recall the incident but then with a little probing she too could vaguely recall what happened but claimed to have done nothing wrong as the young shop assistant had been laughing at her which was untrue. Sheila Birling then admitted with some remorse that the girl had in fact done nothing wrong and was somewhat sorry she had been dismissed despite it being on Miss Birling's insistence. Then he showed the picture to the future son in law, Gerrald Croft, who finally admitted to the short affair he had with Daisy claiming he took pity on her as she looked depressed in the bar. Roughly translated this meant he saw a vulnerable young woman who he could have his way with.
Eva Smith, now unemployed, reinvented herself calling herself Daisy Renton and after some time living in poverty she managed to secure a position in a high-class clothing store. It was here that the daughter of Arthur Birling, Shiela, and her stuck up mother, Sybil Birling, went shopping for a dress for the daughter. She was engaged to a rival of Birling, Gerrald Croft of Crofts Textiles, the son of Lord Croft, and through this marriage of convenience the two companies were to merge and would no longer be in competition with each other. Smith now called Daisy Renton served the Birling girl who accused the young shop assistant of laughing at her. This was not the case and it was more a case of Daisy being better looking than Shiela Birling who was jealous. She demanded to see the manageress of the shop and demanded Daisy Renton be dismissed from her employment. The manageress bowed to the wealthy spoilt girl and her mother’s demand and Daisy once again found herself out of work. This was two jobs she had lost both at the hands of a Birling!
Back on the street Daisy Renton started frequenting places of ill repute, taking to prostitution as a form of income. It was here she met, unknowingly, Shiela Birling's fiancé, Gerrald Croft, who took her home and in the course of events had a short affair with the girl using her for his own ends. Of course, the Birlings knew nothing of this affair, yet, but Daisy was destitute and perhaps Croft appeared as a lifeline! She then met Eric Birling, the son of the industrialist, who again used her, this time making her pregnant. She went to the Poor Relief Board which was chaired by none other than Mrs Sybil Birling, the spoilt brat's mother, explaining she was with child. She did not recognise Daisy from the shop incident and pretended to listen to her pleas for financial help. Her application for poor relief was rejected by Mrs Birling and her semi-imbecile middle class colleagues on the Poor Relief Board. When Daisy explained she was pregnant Mrs Birling was unsympathetic, telling the destitute young woman she must find the father and make him support her and the child. Daisy had no idea the father was Mrs Birlings son, yet she did address herself to Sybil Birling as Mrs Birling which sent the industrialists stuck up wife into a rage, and Daisy left the Poor Relief Board as destitute as when she entered. This bourgeois family, the Birlings, and one who was going to marry into it, had all played a major part in what happened to Eva Smith AKA Daisy Renton next. Bereft of all hope she swallowed a bottle of disinfectant dying a most painful death and it was all due to the individual actions of the Birlings and Gerrald Croft.
As the Birlings were toasting the up-and-coming wedding boasting of the wealth this marriage would generate a police inspector, or supposedly a police inspector, paid them a visit. He had a photo of Eva Smith, Daisy Renton, and wanted to interview all the Birlings and the future son in law Gerrald Croft. After some memory jerking Arthur Birling of Birling and Co recalled he could vaguely remember Eva Smith and said he sacked her because she was a troublemaker. Simply asking for a modest pay rise which Birling could easily have afforded branded Eva a troublemaker! The inspector then showed the picture to the Birling daughter, the one responsible for getting Daisy Renton sacked from her job in the shop. Like her father she at first pretended not to recall the incident but then with a little probing she too could vaguely recall what happened but claimed to have done nothing wrong as the young shop assistant had been laughing at her which was untrue. Sheila Birling then admitted with some remorse that the girl had in fact done nothing wrong and was somewhat sorry she had been dismissed despite it being on Miss Birling's insistence. Then he showed the picture to the future son in law, Gerrald Croft, who finally admitted to the short affair he had with Daisy claiming he took pity on her as she looked depressed in the bar. Roughly translated this meant he saw a vulnerable young woman who he could have his way with.
It was then the turn of the self-righteous Mrs Sybil Birling of the poor relief ladies who had refused this young woman any kind of assistance. As was the case with her husband, daughter, and formerly future son in law she claimed no responsibility for the painful demise of Daisy Renton. The inspector reminded the Birlings all of them that they had responsibilities as well as privilege. The wedding between the rival industrialist and the Birling daughter was now off due to his infidelity. The police inspector, who turned out not to be an inspector at all, then told the well-to-do family that there “are millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths out there” and one day they may take what the wealthy will not give. A warning of possible socialist revolution? Finally he showed the photo to Eric Birling, the son who had made Eva pregnant, who was a little worse for drink. He did at least show some remorse admitting he stole £50 from the Birling account to help the girl. This admission sent Arthur Birling into a rage as he vowed to make his son pay back the money, but not a word of sympathy for the pregnant now dead Daisy Renton. Arthur Birling was still privately trying to work out a way, in the name of profits, to salvage his daughter’s wedding to Gerrald Croft!
Every one of the Birling family and the future son in law to be, Gerrald Croft, had played their part in the terrible death of Eva Snith. Each one of them initially denied any responsibility though the son and daughter did, after some soul searching, hang their heads in a form of shame. This was in all probability down to the fact they had been exposed for the kind of people they were. Arthur Birling and his wife Sybil showed not the slightest remorse or regrets for their actions which, in the case of Arthur Birling, set the whole train of tragic events in motion! The play certainly highlighted J.B. Priestly’s socialist identity and was a success in the Soviet Union in 1945 as it highlighted, and still highlights, the contradictions of a capitalist society, the following year it was also well received in the New Theatre London.
Arthur Burling then phoned his friend the Police Commissioner, Colonel Roberts, of Brumley a fictitious industrial area of the north midlands of England to inquire if there was an Inspector Goold on the force. The answer was no such inspector existed. When the family found out that Inspector Goold did not exist they all cheered and breathed a sigh of relief without the slightest concern for the dead girl. Arthur Birling then phoned the hospital enquiring if any suicides had come in. Again the hospital was unaware of an Eva Smith or Daisy Renton, it had all been a hoax or so they thought. Just as they were patting themselves on the back congratulating themselves that Inspector Goold did not exist one of the servant girls came in to inform them of a suicide at the hospital. This occurred after Arthur Birling's telephone call to the hospital. The servant girl then informed her wealthy employers that the phone call she had taken informed her that an inspector was on his way to question them all about this suicide. The whole affair was to be replayed except this time events involving Eva Smith would be true or that was the implication!
The story tells of the utter contempt the employing classes had for working class people and women in particular. The Birlings could not have cared a fuck for the terrible demise through swallowing disinfectant of Eva Smith – Daisy Renton – so long as their wealth and reputation were not in any way tarnished.
Every one of the Birling family and the future son in law to be, Gerrald Croft, had played their part in the terrible death of Eva Snith. Each one of them initially denied any responsibility though the son and daughter did, after some soul searching, hang their heads in a form of shame. This was in all probability down to the fact they had been exposed for the kind of people they were. Arthur Birling and his wife Sybil showed not the slightest remorse or regrets for their actions which, in the case of Arthur Birling, set the whole train of tragic events in motion! The play certainly highlighted J.B. Priestly’s socialist identity and was a success in the Soviet Union in 1945 as it highlighted, and still highlights, the contradictions of a capitalist society, the following year it was also well received in the New Theatre London.
Arthur Burling then phoned his friend the Police Commissioner, Colonel Roberts, of Brumley a fictitious industrial area of the north midlands of England to inquire if there was an Inspector Goold on the force. The answer was no such inspector existed. When the family found out that Inspector Goold did not exist they all cheered and breathed a sigh of relief without the slightest concern for the dead girl. Arthur Birling then phoned the hospital enquiring if any suicides had come in. Again the hospital was unaware of an Eva Smith or Daisy Renton, it had all been a hoax or so they thought. Just as they were patting themselves on the back congratulating themselves that Inspector Goold did not exist one of the servant girls came in to inform them of a suicide at the hospital. This occurred after Arthur Birling's telephone call to the hospital. The servant girl then informed her wealthy employers that the phone call she had taken informed her that an inspector was on his way to question them all about this suicide. The whole affair was to be replayed except this time events involving Eva Smith would be true or that was the implication!
The story tells of the utter contempt the employing classes had for working class people and women in particular. The Birlings could not have cared a fuck for the terrible demise through swallowing disinfectant of Eva Smith – Daisy Renton – so long as their wealth and reputation were not in any way tarnished.
I would recommend this dramatization of J. B. Priestley’s play it is well worth a view, giving the class relations early 20th century. I would argue nothing has changed except the fashions and the principle of exploitation is as present today over 100 years after the above story as it was then. It is a very moving and historically representative dramatization not to be missed.
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| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
Gonna try to catch this at some point Caoimhin.
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