Sheila Flashcards
How is sheila described in the opening
‘A pretty Girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited’
Pleased - happy, well-off
Excited - nervous, elated, proud
How does Sheila presented in act 1
Self centred
‘I was aboslutely furious’
‘But she was pretty and looked as if she could take care of herself, I couldnt be sorry for her’
‘and i have been oh so happy tonight, i wish you hadn’t told me’
‘I’d persuade mother to close our account with them’
Empathetic
‘Oh - how horrible! was it an accident?’
‘But these girls arent cheap labour - they’re people’
‘If i could help her now i would’
How does sheila already show opposing ideas to her father in act 1
She feels sorry and embarrassed by her
actions ‘if i could help her now i would’
Mr Birling doubles down on firing Eva ‘If you dont come down sharply on these people, they’d soon be asking for the Earth’
How does sheila act in Act 2
She listens to the inspector more and becomes more assertive
‘You mustn’t try to build up a wall between us and that girl’
‘Motger stop stop’
‘Now mother dont you see?’
How does Sheila act when the inspector leaves
She shuts down her parents arguments - trying to disprove the inspector
‘Between us we drive that girl to commit suicide’
‘I’m ashamed of it’
‘You’re beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened’
How does Priestley use Sheila
He uses her to show how the younger generation should change for the better, and become more socially minded
One way this is seen is when Mrs Birling says ‘You seem to have made a great impression on this child’
The inspector replies ‘we often do on the young ones
How does sheila act finding out the inspector is fake
‘Whoever the Inspector was it was anything but a joke’
‘I remember what he said how he looked and what he made me feel. Fire blood and anguish’
She is copying the inspector, showing her change and the impression he made on her
How is Sheila presented as childish and naive
‘Look, mummy isn’t it a beauty’
’’
- use of childish language contrasts later on in the play
-her focus on beauty also foreshadows what she does to eva
Mr birling tells her ‘your behaving like a hysterical child’ (act 1 - sees photo of eva)
