An Inspector Calls - Show how the playwright uses Sheila Birling and Mr. Birling to reveal the disparities between social and moral attitudes of father and daughter.
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Introduction
An Inspector Calls Coursework Show how the playwright uses Sheila Birling and Mr. Birling to reveal the disparities between social and moral attitudes of father and daughter. Explain how the director would make these disparities clear in a stage production of the play. There are numerous differences that are revealed between the characters of Miss Sheila Birling and Mr. Birling during the course of the play 'An Inspector Calls' ; Most Particularly between social and moral attitudes. In Act 1 Mr. Birling acts in a very self confident and smug way. He strongly believes in a capitalist world. You can tell this from his speech that begins; "A man has to make his own way - has to look after himself - and his family too, of course, when he has one - and so long as he does that he wont come to much harm" Mr. Birling says how he must look after himself, and then almost forgetting his family, as though they are an after thought, or a hindrance. Birling doesn't care how his actions affect others. "We were paying the usual rates and if they didn't like those rates, they could go and work somewhere else. It's a free country, I told them" This confirms to the audience that Mr. Birling is a harsh business man, out to make money in any way he can. ...read more.
Middle
Priestly portrays Sheila Birling, in Act 1, to be selfish, immature, and a 'daddy's girl'. Priestly uses Eric in Act 1 to show Sheila's immaturity; "Don't be an ass Eric". Sheila is acting immature but I think she is also trying to gain high opinion from her father; Mr. Birling is slightly suspicious of Eric, so Mr. Birling may like it that Sheila is being nasty to Eric, as Mr. Birling does not stop Sheila and Eric arguing, Mrs. Birling does. The playwright reveals to the audience that she is obsessed with material things; "Oh - it's wonderful! Look - mummy - isn't it a beauty? Oh - darling- (she kisses Gerald hastily)" Her moral attitude could be said to be very wrong, she is more interested in the ring than Gerald, she says how wonderful it is to her mother and then hastily kisses Gerald, like Gerald is simply an after thought, and that she feels that it is appropriate to kiss him, rather than she wanting to kiss him. The audience is further confronted with Sheila selfishness when the inspector describes the death of Ms. Eva Smith; "(rather distressed) Sorry! It's just that I can't help thinking about this girl destroying herself so horribly - and I've been so happy tonight. Oh I wish you hadn't of told me. What was she like? ...read more.
Conclusion
Birling's morals. "I behaved badly too. I know I did. I'm ashamed of it. But now you're beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened" Sheila knows she has done something bad and is trying to make Birling see the same. She defiantly understands more of her social attitudes because she takes responsibility for her actions. I think Priestly wrote this play to undermine the upper-class and also all people in general and how sometimes people can think they are on top of the world, just like Mr. Birling in Act 1, and then suddenly can be knocked over, only because of their wrong doings in the past. For Mr. Birling it was 2 years before, for Sheila it was more recently. But the same applies to both of them, they both did some thing dreadful and didn't take responsibility and they didn't think of what they were really doing to poor Eva Smith. This resulted in the past catching up with them and they ended the play in a very bad situation. Mr. Birling still keeps his moral arrogance and so ignores the fact that he has done something bad. Whereas Sheila takes responsibility for her actions and finds new morals. Priestly overall message from the play is to think before you mess something up, and take responsibility for your actions. Priestly has made Mr. Birling's Moral arrogance obvious to the audience by using the Inspector to get the truth out of Mr. Birling. The Inspector reveals ...read more.
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