Notesale: Turn your study into money

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Kate
Nicholls
An Inspector Calls
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B
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Priestley wrote the play during the great depression
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The character of Sheila
Birling is supposed to represent Britain and how it must change
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B
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There are many ways in which Sheila changes, the main ways being: Sheila is
less naïve; less materialistic; she shows empathy towards people; she no longer
wants to be protected from the outside world; she becomes less childish and
Sheila becomes quite rebellious against her parents and the rest of her family
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Sheila is engaged to Gerald Croft,
the son of Mr
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“Yes – except for last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered
what happened to you
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This is why Priestley uses stage directions such as: (half playful, half
serious), to reinforce her naïve attitude
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For example,
“ I’m sorry Daddy
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” Whilst the word Daddy can be
considered naïve in its self, the fact that Sheila displays that she was not paying
attention to her father, to the audience, could also indicate why Sheila is so naïve
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J
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Priestley also
uses stage directions to convey this element of naivety to the audience; (Noticing
that Sheila is still admiring her ring)
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This brings me onto the next point in my introduction
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Sheila
comes from a rich family
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It is the diningroom of a fairly large suburban house
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Only rich
families could afford large houses and nice furniture in 1912
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At the start of the
play, Sheila is obsessed with her ring and how beautiful it is; “…look – Mummy –
isn’t it a beauty?” however she changes and objects become less important to
her
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” (She hands him the ring
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We can also
determine the absence of mentioning the how beautiful the ring is during act two
and three
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The way
that Priestley conveyed this was through Sheila’s tone of voice and how her
words seem more focused on people
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This relates to another point in my
introduction
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As the play progresses, Sheila starts to show empathy towards others and begins
to understand that there is more to life that her own needs
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” As Gerald tells his story, Sheila tries to imagine it from both sides (from
both Daisy Renton’s view and from Gerald’s)
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At the time that
Gerald was telling the inspector about the end of his affair with Daisy Renton, the
inspector asked him, “How did she take it?”, when Gerald explained that she had
taken it better than he’d expected, Sheila pipes up with , “That was nice for you
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J
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Priestley also uses stage
directions to reinforce the irony
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She compares what she has already been through (being inspected) to what
her fiancé is going through a little while later, “I know, somehow he makes you
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The next point in my introduction was how Sheila stops wanting to be protected
from the truth and the world around her
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” Sheila starts to become more independent and
insists that she stays and listen to what happened to make Eva Smith commit
suicide
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” As the play progresses Sheila starts to
speak for herself, without sarcasm, she has her own opinions, “you see, I feel
you’re beginning all wrong
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