Sheila In Priestley's An Inspector Calls

The characters of Sheila and Eric are important in the play as; Priestley introduces them to be coming from a trouble-free, spoiled and wealthy family background where there are no problems, although later we find out that this is not the case.

When the audience first sees Sheila in the play she is described as "a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited." At the beginning of the play, she is sensitive and very easily moved, the audience can see this when she is told by the inspector about the

see that this is true by looking at his speech and at the manner in

In the play An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses different characters to portray women. At the start of the play, Sheila is seen as fragile, materialistic and inferior to the men in her life, which is typically the view of higher-class women. This is followed by the perspective of lower class women having excellent morals yet being disposable, which is seen through Eva Smith’s character. This contradicts to Mrs Birling’s control on others and her strong social class views.

Priestley’s Main Aim in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ to enhance the message that ‘we don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’. This is something Priestly felt strongly about and he succeeded in representing his views through the character of the Inspector in the play itself.

In An Inspector Calls the theme of gender inequality is explored comprehensively. In the play, most of the women are portrayed as feeble characters, unable to make decisions for themselves. Many people often think this of Sheila, who the men feel needs protecting from lots of things, like the information that a girl has committed suicide. The play was set in 1912 when the patriarchal society was the norm. So the women that were in the play would have been seen as possessions to their husband and therefore did not work or have careers. However it would have been accepted for women to participate in charity work as Mrs Birling was. Apart from that, women would have been simply seen as wives and mothers not workers and fighters. Women did not have the same rights as men most notably women did not even have the right to vote. The

An inspector calls is a morality play that challenges the ideas of an upper class Edwardian audience,preistley achieves this both through the attitudes of the play but also through his implementation of personal morals. Sheila is initially presented as the stereotypical Edwardian daughter but soon freely presents her emotions, without the need for approval from her parents.

In the play An Inspector Calls, J.B. Priestley introduces Sheila as “a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited.” The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Birling, this seemingly naÏve young woman quickly develops to take a whole new political stance to her family’s conservatism. Her contributions to conversations were minimal at the start of the play, and her behaviour came across as juvenile instantly. We see her attitude change throughout the play though, as when faced with a serious issue, she becomes much more clear-headed and mature. Admittedly, Sheila does run off - demonstrating her childlike responses - upon first hearing of Eva Smith’s suicide, however, when she returns she has the most righteous morals of

"What about this girl?" Her role is to be the girl that needs to know

Birling are important to the play an inspector calls. I will show you how Shelia and Eric Birling affect the other characters in the play. An inspect calls is a play written by J.B. Priestly. I believe that Sheila Birling and Eric Birling are important in the play an Inspector calls because they are the main two charters that change their views throughout the play.

This shows symbolism, Sheila is representing the young youth and women in general, she is taking a stand for all the lower class women who aren’t treated very well by the society, and this also comes back to JB Priestley’s message from this book that we’re all responsible for each other, and we all have to look out for each other.

A major inequality that has been highlighted in the play is gender Inequalities. Before the unexpected arrival of Inspector Goole, Sheila is presented to be very outspoken about her ideas to Gerald and the rest of her family. ‘I’d hate you to know all about port – like one of these purple-faced old men’ As Sheila tells this to Gerald it shows how she openly expresses her views to Gerald. The simple language emphasises how confidently she is able to voice her opinion without a second thought. This is something that wouldn’t be expected from women in the early 1900s so it shows how from the very beginning, Sheila is different to most women in the early 1900s. However, she is also quite similar to them in terms of her power because she had no power in the start of the play and despite the fact that she voices her opinion, it has no impact on anyone in the family in comparison to the effect it would have if Gerald or Birling said it. During the Inspectors visit Sheila increasingly breaks down the inequalities between

A new character is introduced into the scene in the fourth line and we learn that he is a ex-lover and she feels a unease having to talk to him as her life is miserable and the fact she is wearing out of date clothes will bring forth a feeling of embarrassment to which an awkward situation will erupt. In comparison the man is summed up with a single economic word, ‘neat’ which gives an indication that he is in control of his life and everything is going the way it should for him.

Sheila’s language changes throughout the play. She starts off very simplistic and quite excitable, “Careful! I’ll never let it go out of my way”. But the changes and becomes more stern and quite sincere as a reflection of the Inspectors speech. At the beginning of the play she calls her mother, “mummy” but by the end of the play she calls her “mother” showing her maturity and how she has changed her language.

The uncertainties Bernarda’s eldest daughter, Angustias, feels about love, and her inexperience of this is revealed by her apprehensive questions and statement of ‘I ought to be happy but I’m not’. This naivety is emphasised by the all-woman cast. The play opens with the death of the house’s sole male inhabitant which furthers this impression and creates an ironic foreshadowing of the extreme conditions of siege which Bernarda forces upon her daughters. The distance between Bernarda and her eldest daughter is made apparent by the short answers Angustias’ confidences receive and the physical violence Bernarda directs at her when she strikes her with her stick in Act one. This, combined with the large sum Angustias inherits from her stepfather, intimates that she was favoured in his will because of some closer relationship; a possibility that she, like the Servant, was sexually taken advantage of. This adds a greater emphasis to the implication of hidden secrets held by the household.