Sheila Quotes

themes: progression (start + end), responsibility (interrogation), attitude towards the lower classes/socialism (end)

pleased (progression)

(very pleased with life)

• Initially Sheila is portrayed as living comfortable and blissfully oblivious and sheltered from society’s injustices

• Priestley gives this impression so he can develop Sheila as a character into a more socially responsible person. With this she is a relatable character for the audience

• adjective “pleased” helps to show how happy she is about her engagement, as an upper class girl, marriage is her way to a secure life, at the start of the play she is following the standard way of life facing no troubles or difficulties unlike the lower classes

you wanted (progression)

Is it the one you (Gerald) wanted me to have?

• Priestley use this question to reveal the massive extent of patriarchal control Gerald has over Sheila. Starting with the ring and inevitably extending to controlling her everyday life, this ring could be used to represent the patriarchal power of husbands in 1912 Edwardian society, and how women and wives are suppressed by them, instead of being individuals they are just extensions of their husbands, not allowed an opinion

• this idea of Gerald choosing a ring for Sheila without her opinion helps to emphasize how married woman in Edwardian England were very passive, they didn’t have a life for themselves with opinions or property, and with this Priestley exposes how powerless and dependent married woman were on their husbands

learnt anything (progression)

You don’t seem to have learnt anything

• Sheila acknowledges the purpose of the Inspector, as a moral lesson for their mistakes

• Priestley could have a contrast between the growth of the different generations to portray how stubborn the older generation is to changing their stance on responsibility, and how the younger generation is more open and easier to influence

• Sheila criticising and exposing her parents ignorance helps show how Sheila has started to become like the Inspector and try to influence others to accept responsibility

• Sheila has grown more confident during the play and now has the confidence express what she believes in, instead of being silent and obedient

distressed (responsibility)

(rather distressed)

• this stage direction helps enhance Sheila’s guilt, the audience can see how emotionally struck Sheila is, unlike her parents who show no regret she actually feels remorse for what she did

• these emotions contrast with how Sheila felt at the start, once she’s been exposed to the appalling problems in society and how she herself has contributed she feels immense shame.

• Like some upper class people in the audience, Sheila had no idea that she was harming others

behaved badly (responsibility)

It was my own fault … I behaved badly too

• Sheila unlike the others instantly opens up to accepting responsibility and is self-critical of her selfish actions

• Through the adjective “own” Priestley shows how Sheila doesn’t push the blame onto someone else, it’s her fault alone, even though she doesn’t like it she has the courage to admit it.

• This is a perfect example of what Priestley wants people to do, to own up to their mistakes and realise they are to blame, as this has to happen before they can start any progress

• alliteration in “behaved badly” helps to emphasize her guilt

• adverb “badly” helps to illustrate how Sheila doesn’t make any excuses for her actions

never (responsibility)

Ill never, never do it again to anybody

• the noun ‘anybody’ demonstrates how she won’t discriminate depending on class, she will treat everyone as equals, through this example Priestley hopes to influence the upper classes to stop holding prejudice to the lower classes and think that it’s acceptable to treat them poorly

• repetition of “never” helps to emphasize Sheila’s regret and how she isn’t going to continue acting this way but change for the better. It also could show how disgusted she is by her actions and wants to change because of how horrified she is with herself now reflecting on her behaviour

nice people (responsibility)

I suppose we’re all nice people now

• Priestley uses this rhetorical device coupled with a sarcastic tone to convey Sheila’s disapproval of her parents and Gerald’s lack of remorse

• The lack of a potential criminal conviction makes them feel that they have nothing to be sorry for, they didn’t care about their actions but rather the consequences

• the adjective “nice” highlights how Sheila views people of the upper class who don’t accept responsibility as nasty, even after having been confronted about their poor behaviour they have no intention of changing it. With this Priestley could be teaching the 1945 audience that it’s unacceptable to refuse responsibility after having learnt the consequences of their actions

cheap labour (socialism)

These girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people

• Priestley demonstrates Sheila’s instantaneous recognition of the inspectors message, as she directly objects to her father’s dehumanising and capitalist approach to business, her opinions of the lower class massively contrast with the rest of her family

• Here we see that Sheila unlike her parents views the lower class girls as actual people, she doesn’t view them as inferior beings and has the confidence to shame her dad for his capitalist attitude

wall (socialism)

You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl

• the metaphor of a wall is used to describe the class divide, this imagery of a wall exposes how obvious and damaging the class divide of 1912 Edwardian Society, it also presents the upper class as perhaps scared of the lower classes, they didn’t want to be near them at all, but that’s the wrong attitude and should be shamed

• Sheila here shames her mother for treating Eva so poorly and reminds her that she is a “girl”, many of the other Birlings don’t even refer to her as that, with this we see how Sheila treats the lower classes and is able to sympathize with them

fire (socialism)

Fire and blood and anguish

• this direct echo of the Inspector’s words shows that by the end of the play Sheila has changed the most and become a socialist, she fully understands the Inspectors message, her stance doesn’t flinch a bit after learning that Eva Smith might not be dead. After learning of the lower classes suffering and her involvement she is dedicated in trying to bring it to an end. With this change Priestley hopes that other young members in the 1912 audience will be inspired by Sheila and possibly change their opinions to a more Socialist view