How does Priestley use the character of Eva Smith to explore ideas about poverty and vulnerability in An Inspector Calls?

How does Priestley use the character of Eva Smith to explore ideas about poverty and vulnerability in An Inspector Calls? (Thesis)

Overall argument / thesis

• Eva is used as a symbolic representation of vulnerable working-class people, rather than only as an individual character.

• Priestley shows that poverty makes people vulnerable because they lack economic security and social power.

• However, her vulnerability is made worse by the attitudes and actions of the privileged, particularly the Birlings.

• Ultimately, Priestley suggests poverty is not simply an individual’s failure, but a consequence of a society that refuses collective responsibility.

How does Priestley use the character of Eva Smith to explore ideas about poverty and vulnerability in An Inspector Calls?

P1

Paragraph 1 — Class prejudice makes Eva vulnerable

Main quote:

“Girls of that class”

Main argument

Priestley presents Eva’s vulnerability as being caused by the rigid class hierarchy of Edwardian society.

Context / scene

• Mrs Birling says this when discussing the young women who came to her charity organisation.

• She has already formed a judgement about Eva based on her class.

Zoom in

“class”

• Reduces Eva to her socioeconomic position.

• Mrs Birling doesn’t treat her as an individual.

• Shows the upper classes have a tendency to categorise working-class people collectively.

• Eva’s poverty therefore affects how she is perceived and treated, not just her material circumstances.

“girls”

• Could suggest infantilisation.

• Mrs Birling places herself above these women socially.

• They are presented as inferior and lacking authority.

Link to vulnerability

• Eva has less social power than Mrs Birling.

• She cannot simply challenge Mrs Birling’s judgement.

• Her working-class position means she depends upon charity and employment.

• This creates a power imbalance where privileged people can make decisions affecting her life.

Bigger idea

• Poverty creates social as well as economic vulnerability.

• Eva is vulnerable because society has already decided that people “of that class” are less important.

Priestley’s message

• Challenges the idea that social class determines someone’s worth.

• Encourages the audience to recognise the humanity of people who are socially disadvantaged.

Link forward

→ Eva’s vulnerability isn’t accidental: it is reinforced by a society based upon individualism and lack of collective support.

How does Priestley use the character of Eva Smith to explore ideas about poverty and vulnerability in An Inspector Calls?

P2

Paragraph 2 — Capitalist individualism leaves Eva economically vulnerable

Main quote:

“A man has to make his own way—look after himself and his family”

Main argument

Priestley uses Eva’s experiences to expose the consequences of Birling’s individualistic capitalist ideology.

Context / scene

• Birling says this early in Act 1 while lecturing Eric and Gerald.

• He believes people should focus on themselves and their own families rather than wider society.

Zoom in

“has to”

• Modal verb creates a sense of obligation.

• Birling treats individualism as an unquestionable rule.

• There is no suggestion that society should protect people who cannot independently support themselves.

“himself”

• Emphasises the individual.

• Completely excludes wider social responsibility.

“his family”

• Responsibility is restricted to the private family.

• Eva has no protection from this philosophy because she isn’t part of Birling’s privileged family unit.

Link directly to Eva

Use the events of the play here:

• Eva loses her job at Birling’s factory.

• She struggles financially.

• She is dependent on employment and wages.

• She later loses other sources of security.

• Her poverty becomes increasingly severe because she has very little institutional or social protection.

Important nuance

Don’t argue that Birling personally caused all of Eva’s poverty.

Instead:

• Birling represents a wider ideology.

• Priestley uses Eva to show what can happen when society embraces the belief that everyone should simply “make his own way”.

• Those who already possess wealth have much greater ability to survive setbacks.

Bigger idea

Economic inequality → vulnerability.

Someone wealthy can recover from losing money or status.

Someone like Eva, living with very little security, can be pushed into increasingly difficult circumstances by relatively small setbacks.

Priestley’s message

• Poverty shouldn’t be viewed simply as the individual’s responsibility.

• Society has a responsibility to protect vulnerable people.

Link forward

→ Priestley doesn’t merely criticise individual wealthy people; he presents collective responsibility as the alternative.

How does Priestley use the character of Eva Smith to explore ideas about poverty and vulnerability in An Inspector Calls? P3

Paragraph 3 — Eva represents the consequences of abandoning collective responsibility

Main quote:

“We are members of one body”

Main argument

Priestley uses Eva’s suffering to demonstrate the consequences of a society that fails to recognise its interconnectedness.

Context / scene

• Inspector’s final speech.

• This is essentially Priestley’s moral conclusion.

Zoom in

“we”

• Inclusive pronoun.

• Directly includes everyone.

• Contrasts with Birling’s emphasis on “himself”.

“members”

• Suggests individuals have a role within a wider community.

• Could imply an active responsibility to contribute to society.

“one body”

• Extended metaphor.

• Society becomes a single interconnected organism.

• If one part suffers, the entire body is affected.

Apply it to Eva

Eva’s story demonstrates exactly what happens when society doesn’t behave like one body:

• Birling prioritises his business.

• Sheila’s actions contribute to Eva losing her job.

• Gerald exploits his social/economic advantage.

• Eric takes advantage of Eva’s vulnerability.

• Mrs Birling uses her position to reject Eva’s appeal for help.

You don’t need to explain all five in detail — choose 2–3 depending on the question.

Key conceptual point

Eva’s vulnerability is cumulative.

Each individual action may appear separate, but together they gradually remove Eva’s:

• employment

• financial security

• social protection

• hope

• ability to support herself

That’s a really strong way to answer “explore ideas about poverty and vulnerability.”

Priestley’s message

• Eva’s suffering is evidence that society is interconnected.

• Privileged people cannot pretend their actions have no consequences.

• Collective responsibility could prevent vulnerable people from being abandoned.

Link forward

→ This directly contradicts Birling’s individualism from Paragraph 2.

P4

Paragraph 4 — The contrast between Birling’s security and Eva’s vulnerability

Main quote:

“Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”

Main argument

Priestley contrasts Birling’s exaggerated confidence in his own security with Eva’s extreme economic vulnerability.

Context

• Birling is discussing the Titanic.

• He confidently predicts that it cannot fail.

• The audience knows he is completely wrong.

Zoom in

Repetition of “unsinkable”

• Shows Birling’s certainty.

• Reflects his belief that his world is stable and secure.

“absolutely”

• Intensifies his certainty.

• No room for doubt.

Apply to Eva

You can create a structural contrast:

Birling

• wealthy

• powerful

• socially protected

• believes his world is secure

Eva

• working-class

• economically insecure

• socially powerless

• vulnerable to decisions made by wealthier people

Dramatic irony

• Audience knows Titanic sank.

• Therefore Birling’s confidence is immediately undermined.

• Priestley makes the audience question his wider beliefs too.

Bigger interpretation

The Titanic can symbolise the apparently secure capitalist world that Birling represents.

Eva exposes the other side of that society:

• wealth creates security for some;

• poverty creates vulnerability for others.

Priestley’s message

• A society cannot call itself successful simply because wealthy people feel secure.

• Birling’s “unsinkable” world is only secure for people like him.

• The suffering of people like Eva reveals the instability and moral weakness beneath that apparent prosperity.

Link back to question

Eva is therefore used as a contrast to the privileged Birlings, allowing Priestley to expose the unequal distribution of security within society.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Don’t introduce a new quote.

Instead, bring the whole argument together:

Eva’s function in the play

Eva = individual character + symbolic representation of vulnerable working-class people.

Your progression:

“Girls of that class”
→ social prejudice

“A man has to make his own way…”
→ individualism creates economic vulnerability

“We are members of one body”
→ Priestley’s alternative: collective responsibility

“Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”
→ contrast between privileged security and working-class insecurity

Final judgement

Priestley ultimately suggests that poverty becomes most dangerous when economic disadvantage is combined with social prejudice and a lack of collective responsibility. Eva’s death therefore isn’t presented as simply the result of one person’s actions; it becomes evidence of a society that repeatedly fails someone because she lacks the wealth and power necessary to protect herself.