GCSE English Literature Sheila change essay

Hello,
I would be really grateful if someone could grade and give me feedback on my essay for tomorrow.
Any help is much appreciated.
Essay:
Sheila, meaning blinded in Gaelic, is a near homophone for shield her. At the start of the didactic play, An Inspector Calls, she was ignorant to the realities of the real world as a result of being protected from the real world by her parents but she becomes enlightened through the Inspector’s visit. Sheila is shown to be the character that undergoes the most change, Priestley’s focus on Sheila is further reinforced by seating her ‘upstage’, because society depends on her; she shows the younger generation’s ability to change, especially the women who would need to adapt to the soon to come world wars requiring them to take up positions of power and shape society whereas men like Eric would have to go to war.

At the start of the play, Sheila is presented as naïve and superficial. The initial stage directions describe her as ‘a pretty girl in her early twenties very pleased with life and rather excited’, the fact that she is referred to as a ‘pretty girl’ instead of woman despite being in her twenties shows her as perhaps immature and she is also illustrated as being unusually optimistic suggesting her ignorance about the reality. In response to receiving an engagement ring she turns to her mother, ‘Mummy – isn’t it a beauty? – Oh – darling – (She kisses Gerald hastily)’, the ring is a motif for her dependence. Marriage was the ultimate goal in life for upper-class women in the 1910s, this is also the only way Sheila could become independent from her parents because upper-class Edwardian women couldn’t work to earn their own money. Sheila relies on her mother to nurture her and approve of the ring. The use of ‘beauty’ highlights her materialism since the beginning, an attractive diamond ring makes her dismiss Gerald’s possible unfaithfulness, this could mean that the reason she is marrying Gerald is to get a higher status and not for a loving relationship. The stage directions ‘kisses Gerald hastily’ are also significant in foreshadowing what is to come, ‘hastily’ means too quickly and without thought, like the marriage.

During the Inspector’s interrogation Sheila is presented as remorseful. Her first reaction to Eva’s death is to ask ‘Was it an accident?’, this again shows her as ingenuous, she doesn’t understand why someone would purposely kill themselves through her ‘pink and intimate’ lighting. One of her first reactions is also to ask if she was ‘Pretty?’, she is overconcerned with appearance and beauty. Sheila and Eva are portrayed as parallels, both are pretty girls in their early twenties but there is a major difference between them, their level of privilege; The strongly divided hierarchy had a great impact on defining someone’s life in the 1910s, Sheila is happily celebrating her engagement to Gerald whereas Eva has ended her life by consuming disinfectant. Sheila admits that if Eva had been a ‘miserable plain little creature’ she wouldn’t have used her influence to get her fired once pointing out her jealousy. Sheila’s obsession with beauty and pretty objects is shared by many upper-class Edwardian women and represents the deadly sin of envy and wrath. Later she is also accused of behaving like a ‘hysterical child’ by her mother and Gerald as a way to try to control her because she’s starting to display unfeminine traits and started to break away from her role as a woman. In the Edwardian era the fabricated mental disorder of hysteria was commonly diagnosed as a way to force women to adhere to predefined gender roles of staying at home rather than the roles of power like politics. This shows that despite her family trying to prevent her from becoming socialist and maybe a suffragette she still speaks in favour of the Inspector.

At the end of the play, Sheila is presented as assertive and perceptive. After the Inspector leaves Sheila becomes his proxy hence Priestley’s mouthpiece by repeating his words ‘fire and blood and anguish’, she understands the consequences of their actions. She stands up to Mr and Mrs Birling because their attitude ‘frightens’ her, this contrasts with the start of the play where she referred to them as ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’ affectionately, she has gained maturity and rejected their views. Her standing up against capitalism and becoming assertive might be Priestley’s way of portraying her as a suffragette in the making who would earn the right to vote after the world wars where women would be valuable workforce. What ‘frightens’ her could be her parents’ stubborn attitudes as they refuse to accept any blame, that her parents will continue to be that way and ruin more lives or scared of what is to come, she is helpless because they cannot be forced to change. Despite previously returning the engagement ring to Gerald after learning about his affair with Eva, when he offers her the ring again she responds ‘No, not yet.’, she doesn’t completely turn off marriage because she might want to start again. She has become insightful realising that marriage is the only way she can get independence from her parents and that compared to other men at the time Gerald was not as deplorable, she respects him for his honesty.

In conclusion Sheila’s metamorphosis throughout the morality play represents the younger Edwardian women’s ability to change and fight for equality; she becomes more mature and respectable as the play develops. Characters like Mr and Mrs Birling cannot exist in Priestley’s ideal socialist society so they need to be opposed by characters like Sheila to the fight towards an egalitarian society.

I think we're a bit late to give you feedback on this - can I ask how you found it went?