Studied by 3 people
“a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life”
worth is determined by her appearance/shows importance of women’s looks
“girl” shows immaturity and childishness
vanity is her fatal flaw (hamartia)
easy sheltered life & hasn’t had to take life too seriously thus far (juxtaposes the life of eva smith)
context: in 1912 women were seen as inferior to men as it was a patriarchal society. this creates the idea that sheila is a product of middle/upper class elitism as she is raised in a sheltered environment by her socially myopic (short-sighted) parents
“impertinent”
readily admits to finding eva “impertinent” & getting her sacked because she was jealous of her
word reveals sense of superiority within the birling family
use of word inherited from her mother. we know this because her mother uses this later in the play to describe eva. sheila later in the play says “impertinent is such a silly word” which shows she understand the hierarchy & inequality (shows change)
“impertinent”
readily admits to finding eva “impertinent” & getting her sacked because she was jealous of her
word reveals sense of superiority within the birling family
use of word inherited from her mother. we know this because her mother uses this later in the play to describe eva. sheila later in the play says “impertinent is such a silly word” which shows she understand the hierarchy & inequality (shows change)
“mummy” to “mother”
“mummy” is the sociolect of a child
changes mrs birling’s maternal title to mother implies she will no longer conform to the sexist standard of being docile and how she has matured
“mummy” shows her dependence on her parents and childish nature
lack of responsibility
presents sheila’s journey to maturity and also socialism because she now feels empowered enough in what she believes in to contradict her parents, no longer feeling like a child but a woman who is able to challenge social norms in 1912
cosseted by her parents
highlights the marginalisation and infantilisation of young upper class women, due to the unwavering patriarchal society deeming women as intellectually inferior, showering them with riches in order to ‘protect them’ from harsh realities
(her language changes in other ways too)
becomes more direct, opinionated and sarcastic in her tone. we see this when gerald mentions the palace bar and she sharply replies: “we didn’t think you meant buckingham palace.” she also sarcastically describes gerald as the “wonderful fairy prince”. these two royal images share suggestive of a privileged background & idealistic expectations which have no been punctured by the inspectors arrival
she becomes disillusioned by her family & her fiancé
her optimistic, carefree view of the world is broken down
sarcasm reveals new, bitter disillusionment
sheila becomes more metaphorical in her speech. she tells her parents not to build a “wall” between themselves and eva smith. the metaphor represents the rigid social structure that separates the birlings from the working class and suggests that her parents as hiding away from the realities the working class have to face and protecting themselves from the consequences of their actions towards others
she becomes perceptive, she says that he will “give them the rope, so that we hang ourselves” which shows she understands what the inspector is doing
priestly uses sheila to help communicate the idea of the inspectors unusual behaviour to the audience. she becomes an everywoman figure who recognises her flaws and works to overcome them.
“we drove that girl to commit suicide”
collective pronoun “we” like the inspector and not like her capitalist parents
taking responsibility
voice becomes moralistic, direct & blunt
refuses to entertain the idea that they’re not responsible
“but these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people
emphasising the humanity of the working class above their use for money
shows the generational gap between her and her parents
showing sympathy
carries across priestley’s message. he wants the capitalist elite to stop viewing their workers purely as tools to make money and not human beings
she accepted that her actions impacted eva’s suicide and she cannot disconnected her action from their affect on others
the distance with the dash that separates the two statements represent how distant these concepts are to sheila
“we drove that girl to commit suicide”
collective pronoun “we” like the inspector and not like her capitalist parents
taking responsibility
voice becomes moralistic, direct & blunt
refuses to entertain the idea that they’re not responsible
“i’ll tell you - whoever that inspector was, it was anything but a joke”
suggests the younger generation have the ability to change and understand the inspector’s message
socially aware
imperative verb “tell” establishes sheila as assertive which is roles reverse from when mr birling was being assertive
shows sheila’s personal development. she matures and links to priestley’s intentions
sheila takes up the mantle of providing the blunt truth once the inspector has gone
Note 
Flashcard (35)