Inspector Calls: Eva Smith/Daisy Renton

Inspector Calls: Eva Smith/Daisy Renton

1. Eva Smith also known as Daisy Renton, is the young woman who suffered at the hands of the Birling faily and Gerald. She does not appear in the play

   • Eva Smith was sacked by Mr Birling from his factory for leading a strike for a better pay.
   • Daisy Renton was sacked from a dress shop after Sheila unjustly complained about her.
   • Eva Smith became the mistress of Gerald Croft to whom she was known as Daisy Renton
   • Daisy Renton was made pregnant by Eric Birling
   • Daisy Renton applied to a charity for help, bur Mrs Birling refused her.
   • Daisy Renton committed suicide by swallowing disinfectant

2. Being bred in the country meant Eva Smith was more naïve than a city girl. However, she was capable of doing well.

   • "a lively good-looking girl - country bred" and a "good worker too"
     • Reveals that Mr Birling recalls Eva Smith as a pretty girl from the countryside who knew how to work hard.

3. She was capable of being a leader

   • "She'd had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go."
     • Reveals she was not afraid to speak up for more pay. Consequently she was dismissed.

4. She seemed experienced and consequently less naïve than she was.

   • "she was very pretty and looked as if she could take care of herself"
     • Reveals that Sheila judged the girl by her appearance, and wrongly assumed she would find other work.

5. Without work her prospects declined.

   • "Now she had to try something else"
     • Without legitimate work she had to turn to "something else", a euphemism for prostitution.

6. Eva Smith and Sheila Birling are of similar age, but while Sheila is celebrating her engagement, Eva Smith is dead and lying in the hospital mortuary. Sheila has an affluent life, while Eva live in poverty, "lonely" and "half-starved". These contrasts emphasise Eva's unhappiness and Priestley always presents her in a sympathetic light, for example, through the Inspector's description of her as "very pretty". Consequently, when Sheila sees the photograph and the audience realises that she was the customer who "complained", causing the girl's dismissal from Milwards, the effect is to create dramatic tension. We see that Sheila is, indeed, the next link in the chain and we wait for the details to unfold.