How does Priestley present the change in Sheila during the course of the play An Inspector Calls? How do you think this change reflects some of Priestley’s ideas? (30 marks)

How does Priestley present the change in Sheila during the course of the play? How do you think this change represents some of Priestley’s ideas? (30 marks)

Priestley has created a character which has been profoundly affected by the death of Eva Smith and who realizes her wrongs. At the beginning of the play, Sheila is presented as a content, easily excitable and slightly shallow woman of 1910. However, as the events of the evening unfold, Sheila undergoes a dramatic change. It appears that she, at the beginning of the night was a child and then, towards the end of the night had matured to become an adult with a greater awareness of the world and more knowledgeable and independent.

At the beginning of the play, Priestley presents Sheila as excited at the prospect of her marriage and materialistic items, such as the ring that Gerald gives her. She is so content with the gift that Gerald wanted her to have and claims that “I’ll never let it out of my sight for an instant”. This suggests that Sheila is very happy with her marriage and wants to treasure their marriage forever and keep the ring as almost a token of their marriage. Contrastingly, that she is simply easily excited by marriage and unaware of what a real marriage is like as she appears to be blinded by the luxuries (such as the ring) of marriage. The word “never” her is important because it signifies the change in Sheila, as we know, that later on in the evening this ring will be returned to Gerald. The idea that she has returned something that made her so happy, reveals how affected Sheila has been by the revelations. This makes the reader sense that Sheila is feeling repent and remorse and we almost feel proud of how far Sheila has coming during the revelations of the night. Priestley may of, at first, portrayed Sheila as an excitable child so that the audience can understand and have a contrast to how much Sheila has grown over the night as she becomes less excited with materialistic objects, such as the ring.

In Act 2, we experience a different Sheila to the one we met at the start. This Sheila has become more like the Inspector. She becomes more knowing and understanding of goings on. She says to Gerald “why – you fool – he knows.” She is the first person to begin to question the Inspector and even understand the Inspector and take on his views. The way she talks to Gerald suggests that she no longer cares for social divides and calls him a “fool”. This is interesting as it shows that she has become very opinionated and brave to stand up to her potential husband and speak to him in such a way that would have been unacceptable at the time. The word “fool” suggests that she is beginning to judge people on who they really are, rather than for their social statuses. This was one of Priestley’s main views, that we judge people on who they really are and what they really do, rather than where they stand in the social hierarchy. In this aspect, Sheila becomes almost a mouthpiece for Priestley’s views. Furthermore, the word “knows” is evidently significant here as it reflects that Sheila is, like the Inspector a knowing figure, as she becomes to understand him whilst others don’t. This makes the reader feel like the Inspectors impact has already taken affect. This also reflects her change in personality as she becomes knowing, rather than a dependent shallow woman, as she was presented at the start. Priestley may have portrayed Sheila as a sharp woman, to perhaps suggest that society is wrong about women and that they are more useful than society realizes.

In Act 2, we see that Sheila become more sensitive to Eva’s situation and embarrassed of her family’s reaction to the death. She states that the Inspector, “he’s giving us the rope - so that we’ll hang ourselves”. This suggests that she is very irritated by her family’s negligence to accept their responsibility for what they have done and by their naivity. Contrastingly, this could suggest that Sheila is becoming increasingly more unnerved and is perhaps being too irrational. The word “hang” is important here as it reflects that Sheila is very troubled by the death of Eva and feels that perhaps her family’s crimes are even punishable by death. This almost makes the reader feel sympathy for Sheila as she is so burdened by the situation. However, the word hang also reminds the audience that it is Eva who is dead and that the Birling’s crimes were so unjustified. Priestley may have chosen to represent Sheila as so troubled by the death to convey how society should react to the death of others and that we should care for others because we all affect one anothers lives.

At the end of the play we sense that Sheila becomes even more irritated by her family’s attitude. She argues that “whoever that Inspector was, it was anything but a joke”. She feels that her family’s celebration that the event was a hoax, is unacceptable. The word “joke” is significant here because it conveys how lightly her family have taken the situation and how they are happy to simply deny that they had ever done anything wrong. Sheila also feels that this situation is not to be laughed at, because Eva’s death was certainly not amusing to her. However, she may feel resigned as she appears to be putting forward her opinions less forcefully than before. This could reflect that she has given up and that there is no hope for the older generation, for they are incapable of change. This is much like Priestley’s view, because from the play, we understand that Priestley believes that there is hope for the younger generation and that they can change to become more socially aware.

In conclusion, we she Sheila’s views and personality undertake a dramatic change as she becomes more opinionated and more aware of the world. She almost becomes an accomplice to the Inspector, by encouraging others to take the path of remorse. She is also a mouthpiece for Priestley’s views as she becomes an increasingly socialistic character towards the end of the play and begins to disagree with the ideals of capitalists. Furthermore, Sheila symbolizes the hope that Priestley believes there is in the younger generations.