Sheila Birling

Question 1

‘Put on ring admiringly) I think its perfect. Now I really feel engaged.’

Answer 1

• ‘(admiringly)’ —> adverb —> connotes to appreciating or approving of something. This portrays her as being fixated on the material good of a ‘ring’ as a priority rather than the marriage and relationship with Gerald that it symbolises. This portrays her as a stereotypical member of the upper classes in her fixation on material goods —> presented as shallow.
• ‘Now I really feel engaged’ —> temporal marker —> ‘now’ —> indicates that for her, the feeling of being engaged and in a relationship depends on the material good that she will receive as a result of this. —> presents her as a consumerist member of the bourgeoise —> implies that she needs materialism to feel enjoyment.

Question 2

‘(Distressed) Sorry! Its just I cant help thinking of this girl - destroying herself…I had been so happy tonight. Oh I wish you hadn’t told me’ … ‘quite young?’

Answer 2

• ‘distressed’ and ‘sorry I can’t stop thinking’ —> emotional response —> implies her first reaction appears to be one of empathy towards the proletariat. This portrays her as differing from her parents as differing from her parents in her reactions.
• ‘I wish you hadn’t told me’ —> this portrays her as self-centred —> ‘me’ —> object pronoun —> illustrates her selfish nature as she is not pitiful as much for Eva Smith as she is concerned with herself. Would rather not know as she is disappointed that the news will ruin her evening. Lack of care for lower classes compared to her own self-absorbed nature.
• ‘quite young’ —> adjective —> ‘young’ —> portrays her adherence to stereotypes of women —> in the sequencing of the text she first asks about the age of the women —> cares about the appearance of Eva Smith being ‘young’ —> conforms to ideas that women are defined by how they look.

Question 3

‘But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people’

Answer 3

• ‘girls aren’t cheap labour’ —> ‘cheap labour’ —> noun —> ‘labour’ —> she objects to the views that others hold about the ‘girls’ functioning only as a source of work.
• This demonstrates her instantaneous recognition of the inspectors socialist views
• This makes her appear as one of the characters with the largest moral compass —> first to recognise ‘they’re people’ and understand that the workers deserve the same respect as others. —> this rejects the dehumanising and capitalist approach of her father.
• first to shift towards incremental change —> implies that she will be a character who will be explored as sympathetic, kind and willing to change.
• can foreshadow the growing generational divide between Sheila compared to her parents.

Question 4

‘- but I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a lot worse. Did it make much difference to her?’

Answer 4

• ‘I felt rotten about it’ —> adjective —> ‘rotten’ —> refers to her feeling dreadful and Terrible. Also, in the verb —> ‘felt’ —> implies that she feels more emotionally connected and distraught by the death of Eva Smith. This shows that she has less bias than her parents and is more likely to show care and remorse for her mistreatment of the lower classes.
• ‘Did it make much difference to her?’ —> ‘?’ —> illustrates a genuine interest —> wants to know more about the lower class —> care for the proletariat. This implies —> she is emotionally invested in the case —> differs from her parents.
• ‘much difference’ —> determiner —> ‘much’ —> in this she wants to know how much she is impacted the death of Eva smith. This can imply that she is illustrating signs of wanting to change —> however, still only focused on herself and not the political crux of the play. —> portrays her as still undergoing the point of incremental change.

Question 5

‘(Cutting in) Yes, you did. And if you really loved me, you couldn’t have said that’.

Answer 5

• ‘(cutting in)’ —> portrays her as experiencing character development —> shows more autonomy —> she no longer allows herself to be silenced -> exhibits the confidence to continue giving her opinion.
• ‘if you really loved me’ —> verb —> suggests that Sheila now craves emotional attention and validation rather than material goods. This indicates development from act one —> ‘ring’ —> no longer just wants material goods to feel joyful but wants emotional attention.
• portrays her as emotionally intelligent since she now craves love.
• ‘you couldn’t have said that’ —> understands and is improving in her ability to understand other people —> emotionally intelligent and perceptive—> able to understand and decipher that Gerald does not care for Sheila —> sees that her engagement to him was transactional for social status. However, she does not want this —> differs from her parents. —> generational divide.

Question 6

‘(Wildly with a laugh) No, he’s giving us the rope - so that we’ll hang ourselves’.

Answer 6

• ‘wildly with a laugh’ —> adverb —> ‘wildly’ —> this can show how she is learning and understanding the purpose of the Inspector to the narrative —> reacts in a hysteric manner and ‘with a laugh’—> perhaps, she finds her parents closed-minded nature ridiculous.
• Can show her as perceptive —> first to see and break away from her parents’ mindset.
• ‘giving us the rope so we’ll hang ourselves’ —> portrayed as insightful —> metaphorical diction —> ‘rope’ —> can refer to the truth and a lack of social responsibility —> ‘we’ll hang ourselves’ —> uses a smart metaphor to illustrate her understanding that their deceit and lack of social responsibility will cause their own downfall. —> She is able to summarise the purpose the inspector and how he intends to uncover the truth.

Question 7

‘I’m supposed to be engaged to Gerald. And I’m not a child, don’t forget, I’ve a right to know. Were you in love with her?’

Answer 7

• ‘I’m supposed to be engaged to Gerald’ —> personal address —> ‘I’ —> calls out explicitly that she is the person meant to he ‘engaged’ and in a relationship with ‘Gerald’. —> demonstrates her understanding of the flaws of her engagement —> portrays her as perceptive —> sees that it is a personal issue and has the confidence to voice this unlike previously.
• ‘I’m not a child’ —> adverb —> ‘not’ —> rejects infantilisation stating that she is an adult and no longer a ‘child’. In this, —> she accepts her responsibility as an adult and is confident —> can portray her as a strong femenine character —> breaks social conventions of girls being submissive as she is bold.
• ‘were you in love with her?’ —> ‘?’ —> explores her character as curious and confident —> also portrayed as no longer materialistic —> no longer falls into the consumerist mindset —> since she references ‘love’ —> changing in character —> craves emotional attention.

Question 8

‘In case you decide not to come back, Gerald, I think you’d better take this with you. (She hands him the ring)’.

Answer 8

• ‘decide not to come back’ —> verb —> ‘decide’ —> shows her strong independence —> gives him the choice of whether he can come back or not —> portrays her as a strong feminine character —> does not need to be supported by Gerald.
• ‘hands him the ring’ —> in this action, she rejects the marriage and the ‘ring’ —> portrays her as no longer being consumerist —> defies social norms as strong-headed for a women —> acts confidently and not submissively towards Gerald. Takes authority of her own life
• ‘you’d better take this with you’ —> adjective —> ‘better’ —> implies that she sees their separation as in an improvement to her life. —> portrays her as juxtaposing her parents —> not fixated on social connections like the older generation.

Question 9

‘(Flaring up)…don’t lets start dodging and pretending now. Between us we drove that girl to commit suicide’.

Answer 9

• ‘flaring up’ —> phrase —> indicates her anger and annoyance over her parents’ and Gerald’s wilful ignorance of the lower classes and their misdemeanours. This portrays her as one of the most ethical characters in her strong belief that wilful ignorance is morally wrong.
• ‘don’t lets start dodging and pretending now’ —> ‘don’t’ —> contraction for do not —> ‘not’ —> adverb expresses her disapproval of her parents attitudes and behaviour.s Her repetition) of this throughout the play indicates the growing generational divide as she begins to separate I her ideologies from her parents.
• ‘pretending and dodging’ —> mimics the Inspector since she attempts to retrieve and persuade them to accept the truth. —> indicates her strong alignment to socialist values —> explores her as developing into a strong female character as she acts as a role model of how others should act.
• acts as an alter-ego to inspector Goole.

Question 10

‘Fire and blood and anguish. And it frightens me the way you talk, and I cant listen to any more of it’

Answer 10

• ‘fire and blood and anguish’ —> polysyndetic triadic —> repetition of Inspector’s words —> indicates her understanding of him ans his socialist values —> aligns herself to him more than her parents. Socialism vs capitalism…older vs younger generational divide.
• ‘frightens me the way you talk’ —> ‘frightens’ —> cannot and does nor feel comfort around her family due to their behaviours and corrupted nature. This indicates her want to dissociate from them.
• ‘I can’t listen to anymore of it’ —> In this, she indicates a want to fully dissociate from her family and not be around them —> shows her want to change and appalled nature with her family.
• appalled by her family’s ignorance and selfish nature.