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Examine how gender inequality contributes to Eva Smith’s tragedy in An Inspector Calls.
Gender inequality is a pervasive force in An Inspector Calls. It acts as a primary catalyst for Eva Smith’s destruction. J.B. Priestley depicts a society where women, particularly those of the working class, are viewed as commodities—either as “cheap labour” or objects of sexual pleasure—with little agency over their own lives.
The tragedy begins with the economic marginalisation of women. Mr. Birling views his female employees not as individuals, but as a collective resource to be exploited for profit. When the inspector challenges Birling on why he refused the women’s request for a small raise, Birling defends his decision as his “duty to keep labour costs down.” The inspector explicitly links this mindset to the plight of women like Eva, noting that factories look for “cheap labour” among young women living a precarious existence.
Once Eva Smith is stripped of her legitimate employment, she becomes vulnerable to sexual exploitation by men of higher status. The play exposes a predatory culture where men feel entitled to use women for their own gratification. The transition of Eva Smith to “Daisy Renton” occurs in the “stalls bar” of the Palace Variety Theatre, identified by Gerald as a “favourite haunt of women of the town”. This setting underscores that for women without work, their sexuality becomes their only tradable asset.
Eric Birling’s treatment of Eva is perhaps the most brutal example of gender inequality in An Inspector Calls. He admits he “wasn’t in love with her” but slept with her because “she was pretty and a good sport.” The inspector condemns this, stating Eric used her “for the end of a stupid drunken evening, as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person.” Eric admits that during their first encounter, he was in a state where “a chap easily turns nasty” and threatened to make a row to gain entry to her lodgings.
Even Gerald Croft, who claims to have acted out of pity, reinforces this inequality in An Inspector Calls. He installs her in rooms and becomes “the most important person in her life”. While he denies installing her there just to “make love to her”, he admits their relationship was inevitable because she was “young and pretty and warm-hearted”. He holds all the economic power, and when it suits him to end the affair, he casts her aside, while she has to be “gallant” about it.
The play highlights a double standard where men’s bad behaviour is normalised while women are expected to be virtuous or are shielded from reality. When Gerald reveals that Alderman Meggarty, a respected dignitary, is a “notorious womaniser” who corners girls, the Birlings are shocked but the system protects men like him. Mr. Birling even defends Gerald’s behaviour, suggesting that “a lot of young men” behave similarly.
The men constantly try to protect Sheila from the “unpleasant” details of the investigation. The inspector challenges this, asking, “And you think young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?” When Gerald says yes, the inspector reminds him, “Well, we know one young woman who wasn’t, don’t we?”. This draws a sharp contrast between the protected upper-class woman (Sheila) and the exposed working-class woman (Eva).
Patriarchy also pits women against each other. Sheila Birling gets Eva fired from Milwards not for incompetence, but because she was jealous. She admits she was furious because she caught the girl smiling at her own reflection in a mirror, and that “if she’d been some miserable plain little creature, I don’t suppose I’d have done it. But she was very pretty.” Sheila judges Eva by the male-centric standard of beauty, viewing her as a rival. Similarly, Mrs. Birling displays no solidarity with Eva. She dismisses her plight with cold judgment, refusing to believe that a “girl of that sort” could have fine feelings or scruples about accepting stolen money. She judges Eva for getting pregnant out of wedlock while unknowingly excusing her own son’s predatory behaviour until the truth comes out.
Finally, the most profound symbol of gender inequality is the absence of Eva Smith herself. She never appears on stage and has no voice in the play. Her history is reconstructed entirely through the testimonies of the people who exploited her. She is defined solely by her relationships to others—as an employee, a victim of jealousy, a mistress, and a charity case—emphasising her total lack of autonomy in a male-dominated society.
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