Sheila Flashcards
What is the role of Sheila in the play
Priestley uses Sheila to show how attitudes of the wealthy, higher-classes could be changed through educating them.
‘Mummy – isn’t it a beauty?’
She uses the noun ‘Mummy’ when talking to her mother – this language suggests that she is quite child-like at the start of the play.
That she feels like she needs to show off her ring also suggests she is childish.
Priestley uses this to highlight how much she changes later on.
‘Mother, I think that was cruel and vile.’
By Act 2, ‘mummy’ has become ‘mother’ in Sheila’s eyes.
She has shifted from her initial child-like behaviour to telling off her mother and openly disagreeing with her.
This was completely unacceptable in pre-war etiquette. This suggests that she is so upset and angry that she is happy to break social rules at this point.
Her illusions (false images) of her parents have been shattered by the Inspector’s interrogation; her parents are not who she thought they were.
‘It frightens me the way you talk.’
More socially aware
Sheila becomes more socially aware and more upset by the family’s actions as the play goes on.
By the end of Act 3, she openly admits to Mr Birling that his and Mrs Birling’s attitudes are scaring her because they refuse to admit that they have done anything wrong.
Worries about parents’ attitudes
She worries that her parents have not learnt anything, and so could do the same thing again and cause the death of another person.
Helpless
She feels helpless because she cannot convince her parents to reconsider their attitudes.
