Sheila Birling

Question 1

How does Sheila change in the play?

Answer 1

• She transforms from infantile capitalist to passionate socialist.
• “Half serious, half playful”- creates a sense of unease during the celebration
• Juxtaposition of the adjectives “serious” and “playful”
• Foreshadows the Inspector arriving and it also undermines her relationship with Gerald
• Alternately, there is a suggestion that capitalism unsettles Sheila and perhaps even suggests that she will change

Question 2

How is Sheila presented in Act 1?

Answer 2

• Stage direction “Very pleased with life”: shows ignorance of her actions and inability to see past inequality and mistreatment. The adverb “very” modifies pleased and almost exaggerates her ignorance to the real world
• “Mummy”, “Daddy”= colloquialisms + lives in a bubble, can’t see the harsh realities of life and this seems to juxtapose Eva who has lost both parents
• This changes to “Mother” and “Father” later in the play as Sheila now comes in to conflict with her parents

Question 3

How does Sheila have a temper?

Answer 3

• Immature- gets Eva fired
• Spiteful behaviour
• Sin: Envy
• Dehumanisation of Eva through the noun “creature” further segregates the classes at the beginning of the play

Question 4

How is the engagement ring materialistic?

Answer 4

• “Now I really feel engaged” - places importance on ring. Adverb “now” has implications that the “perfect” ring is the reason for her feelings
• Contrasts to later in the play, “you’re pretending everything is just as it was before”
• “pretending” seems to juxtapose “really” here as the real world collides with Sheila’s idealistic world

Question 5

How does Sheila avoid being a typical Edwardian woman?

Answer 5

• Reluctant to embrace submissive role
• First character to change
• Stage directions and adjectives: “distressed”- emotional response- “horrified”: when she hears that Eva was pregnant. As the play progresses the stage directions worsen for Sheila as her character accepts the full consequences of her actions and lifestyle

Question 6

How does Sheila start using socialist attitudes?

Answer 6

• Defends Eva even in Act 1 after she hears about Mr Birling
• “they’re not cheap labour, they’re people” : foreshadows her subconscious which clearly believes in socialism but is hidden under the guise of the pressure from Mr and Mrs Birling
• But again wording still shows an air of detachment and distant through the pronoun “they”

Question 7

What is Sheila’s perspective?

Answer 7

• Only character to understand the Inspector’s power
• Realises that the actions of the upper class are immoral- she thinks it’s ridiculous to put on airs and graces to try to defy the Inspector
• She contrasts Mrs Birling here, Oedipus Complex “Mother, stop it!”
• The Oedipus complex metaphorically represents the conflict between Labour and Conservative and Socialism and Capitalism
• The upper class have committed crimes

Question 8

How does the affair effect Sheila?

Answer 8

• She respects Gerald more for being honest- moral values placed above social position
• Ends up massively frustrated with her parents who do not learn
• She recognises that it doesn’t matter if she was real or not- they still all behaved immorally
• She is part of the younger generation- who existed during the birth of the Welfare State- socialism- equality
• The Inspector points out that the younger generation are “impressionable”