How does Priestley present Sheila as a character who learns?
Grade 5+
An Inspector Calls is about how people should be more responsible. Priestley wrote An Inspector Calls to teach his 1945 audience about social responsibility.
Early in the play, Priestley makes clear Sheila is immature and has an easy life. In the opening stage directions, Priestley describes Sheila as ‘pleased’ with herself. Sheila is pleased because she is engaged to Gerald Croft. Priestley also writes in the stage directions ‘heavily comfortable house’ and ‘champagne’, which demonstrates that Sheila has quite an easy life due to being very wealthy. It is clear that Sheila doesn’t have many worries; her only worry at this point is being engaged to a wealthy man. Priestley also presents Sheila as immature by having her refer to her parents as ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’. These words reveal that, at this stage in the play, she is still quite childish and looks up to her parents. This changes later in the play when the inspector arrives. Perhaps Priestley presents Sheila in this way to show that the lives of upper class people were very easy in 1912.
When the inspector arrives, Priestley demonstrates that Sheila starts to change. The audience learns from the inspector’s questioning that Sheila selfishly had Eva Smith fired because she was jealous of her good looks. When the inspector reveals that Eva Smith is dead, Priestley makes clear Sheila takes full responsibility for her actions by writing ‘I started it’. These words reveal that Sheila recognises that she contributed to Eva Smith’s death and that she feels very guilty about what she did. It is clear that Sheila is starting to change, as she is thinking about others - she is not just thinking about herself. Priestley does this in order to demonstrate to his 1945 audience that the younger generation in society can learn from their mistakes and learn to take more responsibility for other people.
After the inspector leaves, Priestley presents Sheila as a character who tries to change her parents. Priestley has Sheila state ‘I guess we’re all nice people now’. In other words, Sheila is saying to her parents that they think they’re nice people again simply because they’re realised the inspector isn’t real. Priestley has Sheila make a point to her parents that they haven’t actually learned anything because they’ve gone back to their old ways as soon as they realised the inspector wasn’t real. It seems they only cared about their reputation. At the end of the play, Priestley also has Sheila call her parents ‘mother’ and ‘father’, which suggests that she has grown up and no longer looks up to her parents in the same way. By having Sheila change in this way, Priestley is giving hope to his 1945 audience that society can change for the better if wealthy people start to take more responsibility for the working classes.
Grade 7+
‘An Inspector Calls’ is about how people should be more responsible. Priestley explores the theme of responsibility throughout the play, notably through the differences between the older and younger generations, through which he gives his 1945 audience hope of a better society built on a model of social responsibility. As Sheila learns from her actions, accepts responsibility and challenges her parents to do the same, it could be argued that she learns the most in the play.
Early in the play, Priestley’s portrayal of Sheila as smug and immature conveys the sheltered lives of many of the upper classes. In the opening stage directions, Priestley describes Sheila as ‘pleased’ with herself due to her recent engagement to the wealthy businessman Gerald Croft. Living in a ‘heavily comfortable house’ and toasting her engagement with ‘champagne’, Sheila has little to worry her at this stage of the play; she is smugly consumed with the celebration of her engagement. Priestley also has Sheila refer to her parents at the start of the play as ‘mummy’ and ‘daddy’. These terms of address are an indication of the way her parents have infantilised her and sheltered her from the harsh realities of the word; this sheltered life is only possible for Sheila due to the wealth and status of her family. Additionally, the fact that Sheila uses these words to refer to her parents indicates that she still looks up to them and respects their views, something that changes dramatically as the play progresses. Perhaps Priestley presents Sheila in this way early in the play to demonstrate the sheltered and easy lives that many upper class young women led in 1912, in comparison to their working class counterparts, who suffered extreme hardship.
During the inspector’s questioning, Priestley uses Sheila’s actions to demonstrate the need for the upper classes to take greater responsibility for the working classes. Upon being questioned by the inspector, Sheila admits to selfishly having Eva Smith fired due to petty jealousy. Rather than deflecting responsibility onto others, Sheila recognises her role in Eva Smith’s death stating, remorsefully, ‘I started it’. Priestley contrasts Sheila’s remorse with the stubbornness of her parents, who claim they were ‘perfectly justified’ and ‘can’t accept any responsibility’ for their actions. Priestley’s portrayal of Sheila’s actions in the department store indicate just how much power and status wealthy people had in England in 1912, and how frequently this could be misused, deeply affecting the working classes. His choice to contrast older and younger generation characters could indicate to his 1945 audience that hope for a better society in the future must be placed in the younger generation, who are more impressionable and more likely to learn from their mistakes.
After the inspector leaves, Priestley contrasts Sheila with her parents to reveal how much she has learned and her commitment to make a permanent change. In contrast to her parents, who are delighted to discover the inspector was just a ‘hoax’, Sheila remains contrite about her role in Eva Smith’s death. Priestley has Sheila accuse her parents of not learning anything, saying ‘I guess we’re all nice people now’. The sarcastic tone in Sheila’s words demonstrate how infuriated she is with her parents for being so willing to forget the actions they took, revealing that they were simply concerned with their own reputation, and have not learned the errors of their ways. Additionally, Priestley has Sheila accuse her mother of ‘trying to build a wall’ between the Birlings and the inspector. This metaphorical wall symbolises the insight Sheila has gained into the huge divide between upper and lower classes, suggesting she has realised how unwilling many upper class people are to recognise their responsibility to others. Priestley’s presentation of Sheila as such a changed character offers a powerful message to his 1945 audience, suggesting that he believes the socialist society that he envisions is achievable if younger people take greater social responsibility.
Priestley demonstrates that Eric also learns, but it is clear that Sheila learns the most. Priestley makes clear from the opening that Eric is not like the other Birlings, as he seems slightly awkward and, as noted by Sheila, drinks heavily. His transformation, therefore, is not as great as Sheila’s; Sheila transforms from being a sheltered, selfish, childish individual, wrapped up in herself and her own happiness, into a more socially responsible young woman who appears to commit to changing in the future.