At the start of the play, Priestley presents Sheila as an immature, materialistic and shallow character.
Sheila is presented as ‘half - serious and half - playful’. This suggests that Sheila is a childlike
character who is protected by her parents from the outer world. The play was set in 1912, a time
when society was divided into classes and ruled by capitalists. Sheila was from the upper middle
class, her father Birling being a capitalist. Sheila, when presented with a ring, becomes very happy
and says, ‘Now I really feel engaged’. This shows her materialistic side from being grown into a
capitalist viewed society. Priestley has done this to show how the younger generation also climbed
into their capitalist world.
When Sheila hears about the death of Eva Smith, she's very disturbed and horrified. She ‘wishes’
that she ‘hadn't been told’ about the news. Priestley has done this to show have the upper middle
class protected themselves from the outer world. This is contrasted by the Inspectors socialist views
when he says to Birling, ‘your daughter isn't living on the moon, she's here in Bromley too’. The
Inspector acts as a raisonneur to Priestley socialist views and challenges Mr Birling when he doesn’t
want his ‘daughter to be dragged into this unpleasant business’.
When Sheila is interrogated by the Inspector, she is surprised to find out that she has played a part
in the death of Eva Smith. She says, ‘oh-why had this to happen?’. Sheila is self-centred and still
shows a lack of responsibility, quite reluctant to accept the blame. She is focused on her self-image
and not wanting it to be destroyed. However, Sheila begins to change and evolves into a more
responsible and mature character. She is quick to accept social responsibility unlikely other
characters. She understands the importance of socialist views. Priestley has done this to show hope
for the future generations. He uses Sheila as a powerful tool to stand up against capitalism. 1912
was a time when women had no rights, but Sheila standing up to her parents shows have the future
generations would change the world into a better place.
At the end of the play, only Sheila and Eric learn the importance of social responsibility. Even after
the Inspector’s existence has been denied, they continue to show guilt and remorse. Eric says, ‘I'm
not likely to forget’. He was also a character who evolved. Sheila understands her fault and strongly
says, ‘we did what we did’. All the other characters except Eric had been happy they've not been
caught by a real inspector. Sheila says this to show she has understood the values of social
responsibilities and it's up to their actions. Priestley appeals to the younger generation, hoping they
would understand and change the future. Sheila, at the start of the play was immature and called
her mother ‘mummy’. However. by the end of the play, she calls her ‘mother’. This shows how much
she has learned and matured through the inspection.
Sheila says, ‘we did what we did’. The use of the inclusive pronoun ‘we’ implies she now sees society
as one, and one action could affect the whole community. This is in contrast to how she speaks at
the beginning, using the personal pronoun ‘I’. the use of the lexis ‘we’ shows the audience have
everything we do is not based on oneself, but rather of the whole community. Priestley has achieved
to pass his socialist views onto the younger generation by making the younger characters in the play
as an example. He wants the future generations to take social responsibility into their own hands
and change capitalist society into a socialist society.
23+4
(27/34)
Sheila is presented as ‘half - serious and half - playful’. This suggests that Sheila is a childlike
character who is protected by her parents from the outer world. The play was set in 1912, a time
when society was divided into classes and ruled by capitalists. Sheila was from the upper middle
class, her father Birling being a capitalist. Sheila, when presented with a ring, becomes very happy
and says, ‘Now I really feel engaged’. This shows her materialistic side from being grown into a
capitalist viewed society. Priestley has done this to show how the younger generation also climbed
into their capitalist world.
When Sheila hears about the death of Eva Smith, she's very disturbed and horrified. She ‘wishes’
that she ‘hadn't been told’ about the news. Priestley has done this to show have the upper middle
class protected themselves from the outer world. This is contrasted by the Inspectors socialist views
when he says to Birling, ‘your daughter isn't living on the moon, she's here in Bromley too’. The
Inspector acts as a raisonneur to Priestley socialist views and challenges Mr Birling when he doesn’t
want his ‘daughter to be dragged into this unpleasant business’.
When Sheila is interrogated by the Inspector, she is surprised to find out that she has played a part
in the death of Eva Smith. She says, ‘oh-why had this to happen?’. Sheila is self-centred and still
shows a lack of responsibility, quite reluctant to accept the blame. She is focused on her self-image
and not wanting it to be destroyed. However, Sheila begins to change and evolves into a more
responsible and mature character. She is quick to accept social responsibility unlikely other
characters. She understands the importance of socialist views. Priestley has done this to show hope
for the future generations. He uses Sheila as a powerful tool to stand up against capitalism. 1912
was a time when women had no rights, but Sheila standing up to her parents shows have the future
generations would change the world into a better place.
At the end of the play, only Sheila and Eric learn the importance of social responsibility. Even after
the Inspector’s existence has been denied, they continue to show guilt and remorse. Eric says, ‘I'm
not likely to forget’. He was also a character who evolved. Sheila understands her fault and strongly
says, ‘we did what we did’. All the other characters except Eric had been happy they've not been
caught by a real inspector. Sheila says this to show she has understood the values of social
responsibilities and it's up to their actions. Priestley appeals to the younger generation, hoping they
would understand and change the future. Sheila, at the start of the play was immature and called
her mother ‘mummy’. However. by the end of the play, she calls her ‘mother’. This shows how much
she has learned and matured through the inspection.
Sheila says, ‘we did what we did’. The use of the inclusive pronoun ‘we’ implies she now sees society
as one, and one action could affect the whole community. This is in contrast to how she speaks at
the beginning, using the personal pronoun ‘I’. the use of the lexis ‘we’ shows the audience have
everything we do is not based on oneself, but rather of the whole community. Priestley has achieved
to pass his socialist views onto the younger generation by making the younger characters in the play
as an example. He wants the future generations to take social responsibility into their own hands
and change capitalist society into a socialist society.
23+4
(27/34)
