Sheila Birling

you can drink to me

highlights the expectation that Sheila is submissive and also subservient to Gerald linking to how women in 20th century Britain were expected to behave towards more ‘powerful’ men

yes, go on mummy

here Sheila has created a childish impression of herself which starkly contrasts with the end of the play where as a result of her enlightenment, she develops and chooses to reject her expected role (“of course mother”).

I think it was cruel and vile

Here we can already see Sheila taking on the Inspectors role trying to enlighten her own parents by telling them the bleak reality of the wrong actions of the family

these girls aren’t cheap labour, they’re people

Sheila shows sympathy towards the death of Eva Smith which contrasts with her father, who almost seems to shrug off the horrifying news of the girls suicide(“Yes, yes. Horrible business”).

you not only knew her but you knew her very well

Sheila reveals her evolving awareness to the reality of Gerald’s action outside of their relationship which contrasts the the beginning of the book where Sheila was oblivious to nearly everything going on outside of her own mind falling for materialistic items (“isn’t it a beauty”). This is also where she begins to step outside of her expectations, becoming more than just a subservient woman which compares the the Suffragette movement of 1912.

he’s giving us the rope so that we’ll hang ourselves

this grim metaphorical understanding of the inspector reveals the continuously growing knowledge of Sheila as she desperately attempts to enlighten her family. Her desperate attempts are heightened by the use of metaphorical terms linking to death.

fire and blood and anguish

By getting Sheila to repeat the words of the Inspector, Priestley is able to convert Sheila into the newfound socialist mouthpiece completely taking over the role of the Inspector, taking charge and trying to enlighten her family despite their arrogant, blissful ignorance

was he really a police inspector?

Nearing the end of the play, Sheila is revealed to carry great amount of surrealism, she possesses more knowledge than anybody else in her family and realises the true role of the Inspector.