Sheila Birling Flashcards
‘look mummy - isn’t it a beauty?’
A1
-short simplistic language - In act 1 Sheilas speech is short and simplistic, reflecting not only how society silences her as a young woman perceived as inferior but also highlighting her disenfranchisement. This lack of voice could have been seen as Priestleys critique of the limited political agency women had during the Edwardian Era. Despite her privileged social status , sheila remains oppressed and marginalised. her language, marked by terms like ‘mummy’ suggests and infantile and sheltered perspective, illustrating how her social class sheilds her from lifes harsh realities.
-objectification - sheilas mesmerisation at the ‘beauty’ of the ring is almost ironic as she is only valued for her perceived ‘beauty’ and external looks by society. The objectification extends to both the young females we encounter - sheila and Eva. Both are similarly described as ‘pretty’ showing how despite their differing social classes, they were both subject to the same oppressing and objectifying social perceptions
‘but these girls aren’t cheap labour, they’re people’
-connotation of girls - Sheilas vocabulary shift, particularly her focus on ‘girls’ connotes innocence and vulnerability, suggesting sheila now recognises how the upper class, imbued with capitalist views, preys on the disadvantaged. This revelation, unimaginable for her sheltered past self, fuels her disgust with the dehumanising and unscrupulous behaviour of capitalists
-humanistic perspective - the inspectors arrival frees her from the shackles of her oppressive privileged existence. Exposed to the human cost of excessive capitalism, she sheds her former self-serving docile perspective and embraces a humanistic outlook, valuing individuals over profit. Thus, acts ones docile sheila, cocooned in privilege, undergoes a metamorphosis under the inspectors scrutiny. Her infantile facade crumbles, revealing an emerging champion for social justice. This symbolises the advancement of womens rights in 1945, depicting womens empowerment and their role in advocating for social justice for all oppressed members of society.
‘[rather wildly, with a laugh] No, he’s giving us the rope - so that we’ll hang ourselves’
A2
-stage direction ‘wildly with a laugh’ - depicts Sheilas disillusionment with capitalist ideas and middle-class etiquete. She liberates herself from these constraints, embracing her unrestrained nature without apology. Coupled with her ‘laugh’ this suggests she finds capitalism absurd laughing at its social significance whilst laughing at how persistently delusional her parents are - they want to avoid their responsibilities and moral wrongdoings.
-symbolism of ‘rope’ - has fibres that are all intertwined, symbolising how sheila has recognised that everybody in society is intertwined with their responsibilities. Each individual is all woven into the fabric of our communities and society not independent pieces, but interconnected threads creating a larger united body. Thus, Sheila understands through the inspectors symbolic gesture of the ‘rope’ that she and her family bear a moral duty to protect the ‘millions and millions’ of others that suffer.
‘what he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish’
A3
-the inspectors proxy - following the inspectors final speech, sheila serves as his proxy, exemplified by her precise emulation, including the deliberate repetition of the polysyndeton ‘and’. this illuminates Sheilas desperate attempt to emphasise the relentless consequences of lacking social conscience to her obdurate parents of the older generation and her fiancé indoctrinated with capitalist beliefs.
-personal pronoun - sheila is now a moral compass to her family, showcasing her evolution towards empathy as her use of the personal pronoun ‘me’ shows how she experiences genuine remorse. however, her awareness extends beyond personal remorse, she has developed an understanding of the systematic consequences of capitalist ideologies on society as a whole.
