Theme Of Sheila In An Inspector Calls

Priestley in ‘An Inspector Calls’, explores the differences between the older and younger generation through the use of the characters Sheila, Gerald, and Mrs Birling. The differences in opinions between Sheila and the other characters represent the problems with the older generations' mentality. Priestley uses the character of sheila as a construct to criticise the mentality of the older generation. In Act 1 of ‘An Inspector Calls’, Shella is described as being ‘very pleased with life and rather excited’.

"I behaved badly too. I know I did. I'm ashamed of it. But now you're

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.

Throughout Priestley’s play, ‘An inspector calls’, a main theme runs about responsibility and differentiation between classes. Each character is accountable of doing something that brought about the death of Eva smith. All the characters contribute to her death in one way or the other, and all of them are at fault for the death of

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.

How does Priestley’s presentation of Eva Smith convey his key message? By presenting Eva Smith as an undeserving victim of capitalism, Priestley successfully promotes socialist values - the need for social responsibility and equality - whilst criticising the selfish nature of capitalism. Furthermore, by making Eva Smith’s identity questionable, Priestley conveys his message that actions should be carefully considered, regardless of consequences. Priestley makes it blatantly clear that Eva Smith is a clear victim of capitalists’ disregard for social equality in order to sway his audience into supporting socialism.

He wanted to communicate the message that our actions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, always affect others. He uses the downfall of Eva Smith and a chain of events to demonstrate this. This leads to a very convincing and well-devised play, which puts across JB Priestley’s views clearly and precisely. In Edwardian Britain there was a

command at the end of Act I and the start of Act 2, and the end of Act

that of Eva Smith, and wanted to show how hard it is to cope with life

Sheila is portrayed as a beautiful young lady in her early twenties with a rather selfish and arrogant nature. Using her compelling personality she is able to obtain anything in which she desires through her father. She makes inconsequential remarks and speaks in a childish manner. However she is the only one to accept immediate responsibility for her role in Eva Smith’s death, making her most probably the furthermost sympathetic character throughout the play. She is horrified by her own part in Eva's death; she feels full of guilt for her jealous actions and blames herself and she is genuinely remorseful for her actions. She is very perceptive towards the inspector, first to wonder who he really is, realising he already knows much of what

Often throughout the book she mentions that it is said that "you're paid what you're worth", saying that little pay results in you not being to good of a person. With that label they were looked down on and viewed kind of as untouchables. They had low pay, long hours, no overtime pay, and no benefits which leads to low socio-economic-status a job that no one wants to pursue. She stressed that poverty wasn’t a sustainable condition, it's a state of emergency. Citizens in the lower classes are left to fend for themselves and the ten, eight, or six dollar jobs are all that's there for them. What she would encourage them to do is to demand to be paid what they're worth because in the end they will be better off.

" The character Mrs. Birling automatically tries to pass the blame and responsibility of the suicide of Eva Smith onto someone else, willingly creating a scapegoat, "Go and look for the father of the child, it's his responsibility", she tells the Inspector. Although Sheila Birling's views are more socialist she represents the younger generation in society, she is more concerned with fashion, her appearance and family life, rather that the

How does JB Priestley present the older and younger generations differently throughout the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ (45 mins)

By constructing the Inspector as just and omniscient, Priestley encourages the audience to view left-wing values as morally virtuous. Through the Inspector's authority, commanding presence and stature Priestley makes a direct jab at the audience with the Inspector's last

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