Okay guys can someone please mark this response Iโve written for the โAn Inspector Callsโ question for the English Literature exam tomorrow. Please be constructive.
How does Priestly present the change in Sheila during the course of the play An Inspector Calls? How do you think that she changes represent some of Priestlys ideas?
(30 marks)
An inspector call can be seen as a moral play as it show the conflict between the characters and clearly highlights to the audience who is right and who is wrong. J.B priestly uses characters to portray his ideas across to the audience and one example is when he purposely presents the change of Shelia from a selfish spoilt little girl to a mature and clear headed woman at the end of the play. Soon after the inspector started interrogating Shelia it soon became apparent to the audience that Sheila to did have a part to play in the death of Eva Smith, a common lower class woman struggling through life. She had forced the manager at Millwards to fire her due to her being jealous about how well the dress fitted her.
As soon as she admitted to forcing the manager to fire Eva she automatically defends herself by saying โshe was a pretty girl and looked like she could take care of herself.โ The word pretty from her defence statement automatically shows to the reader that Sheila was jealous of Eva and her looks which was considered to be a one of the seven deadly sins. Breaking one of these sins in a time period were religion was very prominent must have been shocking as the Birlingโs wouldโve gave a great deal about their reputation. Here the audience understands that she is a very vain and spoilt character who looked didnโt consider the consequences of her actions. The last phrase of her statement โtake care of herselfโ emphasizes to the audience that Sheila didnโt have any knowledge about the struggles that the lower class had to endure, just to provide food on the table. It also shows that she thought that her actions were acceptable because she even considered if she thought that Eva could take care of herself, meaning that as long as she didnโt go on the street Sheila would abuse her power gained by her higher class to satisfy her jealousy. The author may have purposely done this to highlight the capitalistic childhood and upbringing that Sheila must have been nurtured under. Here Priestly could be trying to show the 1945 audience how the upper class capitalistic families gave no care for the lower class and be trying to tell the audience that actions have consequences.
However, this spoilt image of Sheila does not stay the same because Priestly shows her to be more sympathetic and caring for the lower class when her father, Mr Birling shows his lack of care for the lower class that it was โhis dutyโ to lower wages and higher costs. She replies back with โthese girls arenโt cheap labour โ theyโre peopleโ. Here the author shows that the younger generation like Sheila and Eric have more sympathy for the working class and they actually she them as people. Here you can see that Sheila seems to have matured a little and actually starts to consider what repercussions her actions have on the lower class. The phrase โtheyโre peopleโ highlights to the audience that Sheila has finally understood that no matter what class the person is they all have feeling and need money and food to survive. In the early 1900s there was a massive divide between the rich and the poor. The poor were generally the lower class who had to work and save every penny in order to survive. This was because there was no Welfare state which wouldโve helped the poor a lot and kept them fed and clothed, so firing someone especially a woman wouldโve caused them to turn to begging or prostitution.
Near the end of act 3 the transformation of Sheila is unrecognisable as she has been influenced by the Inspectorโs socialistic ideas greatly. She is โfrightenedโ about how her parents start talking after they realise that this couldโve been all of a hoax. She and Eric are the only characters that really learnt a lesson throughout the play as they know that even though that this was a hoax the possibility of something like this happening again were high if they didnโt change their ways. The word โfrightenedโ shows to the audience that she is shocked on how her parents seem to think of it all as a joke that was planned by them. Here there is a visible divide between the old and the young because the old, Mr and Mrs Birling still stuck on their arrogant and capitalistic views whereas the young, Sheila and Eric understand that there needs to be a change otherwise they would be in deep trouble. The author couldโve purposefully done this to highlight how corrupt and unhealthy the capitalistic views and families were. The author himself was a socialist and his messages are clearly portrayed via the Inspector and the younger generation. He wanted the country to stay together as a giant family after the two wars. This was because during the wars the classes had to merge together and start working together to overcome the war. Consequently the author may have used these characters on purpose to signify how this change should be maintained.
thank you