In Act 2, Sheila has been developed and changed into a more aware and maturing ‘woman’. This is
evident in the phrase, when Gerald was about to leave and Sheila says that ‘I knew something was fishy
about that time. And now at least you’ve been honest.’ The term ‘at least’ shows us that she was glad that
he finally was being honest and even though everything Gerald said sucked for Sheila and was all bad
news, she still accepted it and was realistic about the situation, thankful that he didn’t lie about this as well
and is now speaking the whole truth. Gerald is now finally doing an honest and good thing for everyone,
which is the least he can do after everything he’d done, especially towards his own fiancé. Priestly uses
dialogue to show her consciousnesses, tolerance and how she is now acting more like her age, and not
like an ‘immature child,’ being in her early 20’s. This quote conveys a sense of her intelligence when it
comes to being aware of the people and what’s happening around her. Surprisingly, even though the
parents seem to be more mature, it doesn’t mean that they are more smart, and are in fact less aware of
what’s happening around them compared to their kids. This is not typical of the social and historical
context because women at the time were forced to tolerate whether their husband had to work long hours
or have a mistress, as Mrs. Birling mentioned “When you’re married you’ll realise that men with important
work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. You’ll have to get
used to that, just as I had”. They didn’t really have a voice to say their opinions or pain, but Sheila on the
other hand, was a symbol of feminism and wanted Gerald to speak the complete truth in front of her, not
following his commands of leaving, since like all other women in the early 19th century, she knew
‘something was fishy’ during the summer when Gerald said that he had been really ‘busy.’ Relating to my
point, instead of Sheila being immature, as she was in Act 1, she accepted the fact that she was partially
to blame for Eva’s death, and the fact that Gerald actually had good intentions when first seeing Eva, so
now her character and personality has changed, which is why she is now being more tolerant and mature
about the situation, more like her age as an adult.
evident in the phrase, when Gerald was about to leave and Sheila says that ‘I knew something was fishy
about that time. And now at least you’ve been honest.’ The term ‘at least’ shows us that she was glad that
he finally was being honest and even though everything Gerald said sucked for Sheila and was all bad
news, she still accepted it and was realistic about the situation, thankful that he didn’t lie about this as well
and is now speaking the whole truth. Gerald is now finally doing an honest and good thing for everyone,
which is the least he can do after everything he’d done, especially towards his own fiancé. Priestly uses
dialogue to show her consciousnesses, tolerance and how she is now acting more like her age, and not
like an ‘immature child,’ being in her early 20’s. This quote conveys a sense of her intelligence when it
comes to being aware of the people and what’s happening around her. Surprisingly, even though the
parents seem to be more mature, it doesn’t mean that they are more smart, and are in fact less aware of
what’s happening around them compared to their kids. This is not typical of the social and historical
context because women at the time were forced to tolerate whether their husband had to work long hours
or have a mistress, as Mrs. Birling mentioned “When you’re married you’ll realise that men with important
work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. You’ll have to get
used to that, just as I had”. They didn’t really have a voice to say their opinions or pain, but Sheila on the
other hand, was a symbol of feminism and wanted Gerald to speak the complete truth in front of her, not
following his commands of leaving, since like all other women in the early 19th century, she knew
‘something was fishy’ during the summer when Gerald said that he had been really ‘busy.’ Relating to my
point, instead of Sheila being immature, as she was in Act 1, she accepted the fact that she was partially
to blame for Eva’s death, and the fact that Gerald actually had good intentions when first seeing Eva, so
now her character and personality has changed, which is why she is now being more tolerant and mature
about the situation, more like her age as an adult.
