Following the questioning Mr. Birling, the inspector questioned Sheila. The inspector showed her a photograph. Upon seeing this she runs away. Sheila comes back to the inspector saying, “ You knew it was me all the time didn’t you.” Sheila has obviously recognised the picture. As the questioning of Sheila began, we find out more about Sheila. She says, “ It just didn’t suit me at all…. had held up the dress, as if she was wearing it. And it just suited her.” Here, we find out Sheila feels jealous as well.
We also discover Sheila is a selfish spoilt child. This is because during the questioning we found she had demanded Eva be thrown out of Milward, a shop which sells clothing, and that if she is not, she will tell her mother to close their account with them. She says, “I went to the manager and told him that the girl has been very impertinent.” Sheila also told other members of her family to be honest with the inspector, as she knew that the inspector would learn there was a connection between a family member and Eva/ Daisy. She declared to Gerald, “Why you fool - he knows.” Sheila is also perceptive as she can spot members of her family falling into traps. For example, she sees her mother falling into a trap as her mother says, “He ought to be dealt with very severely.” Mrs. Birling was saying exactly what should happen to the person who made Eva pregnant. As Sheila recognises the trap her mother has fallen into, she begs her mother to stop talking by saying, “Mother stop – stop!” Sheila already knew Eric, her brother, made Eva pregnant. Her own mother had not realised this.
Along with Sheila, Eric is only person who learnt from his mistakes. (I will talk about this later on in the play.) Sheila discovered the inspector was not genuine but she still was not ready to carry the same life she had. She objected to it. She stated, “ But that won’t bring her back to life, will it?”
After examining I think Sheila changed as she is full of guilt and is ready to accept punishment for her deeds. I also believe, Sheila’s role as a character in the play, along with Eric, is that she represents hope for the younger generation, as they are ready to change their ways. The older generation, however, are too rigid in their attitude and ways and are not ready to learn form their mistakes.
Throughout the play many characters represent or symbolise something. This shows they have a quality and that quality is suggested through them somehow. The playwright demonstrates this very well. Sheila, as explained, had many different qualities. Out of these qualities she symbolises selfishness very strongly because she changed her attitude and learnt from her mistakes. She is ready to transform due to guilt.
The inspector duty, to investigate the suicide of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton, eventually leads to every member of the Birling family being questioned and their secrets being revealed. The inspector symbolised one main quality which was him being able to enter into people’s consciences. He made people tell him the truth about their version of the story of Eva and made them feel sad. By the end of the play he only made an impact on two people and not all five.
Eva/Daisy symbolised the exploited working classes. I mention this because she faced many consequences in life. In order of events, first Mr. Birling sacked her, then Sheila gets her sacked from her next job, Gerald finishing an affair when it suited him, Mrs. Birling denied her getting help from a charity and then Eric getting her pregnant. I think that Priestley does this well.
I think that J.B.Priestley focused on a middle-classes family because he wanted to criticize his own society. He uses this criticism on the Birlings who are people who don’t care about anything or anyone expect for themselves. The Birlings wealth is slighted connected with Eva’s misfortunes. Eva is a person who works hard and suffers a lot through life. The Birlings didn’t care about her and didn’t help her. In the end Eva ends up committing suicide.
Irony has three definitions. The first definition is a form of humour in which you say the opposite of what you really mean. The second definition is the irony of a situation when there is an unexpected connection between things or when factors combine in an odd or unusual way. The third and final definition is it occurs when the development of the plot allows the audience to possess more information about what is happening than some of the characters themselves have.
Throughout ‘An Inspector Calls’ many forms of irony take place. An example of this was seen earlier on in the play. Mr. Birling believed the Titanic was ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.’ Here, Mr., Birling said the direct opposite of what truly was going to happen to the cruise ship. This is also ironic, as the audience knew the Titanic is indeed going to sink.
Another form of irony was when Sheila said “ But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people.” Sheila said this when she learnt her father had treated Eva harshly as she was sacked for demanding more money. This speech is ironic as the audience discovered Sheila had treated Eva inexactly the same manner as she had criticized her father for doing. (Sheila had got Eva dismissed from Milwards, a shop where Eva was working.)
Another from of irony is right at the beginning of the play. Sheila says, “ Careful! I’ll never let this ring out of my sight for an instant.” She says this because Gerald has just gave her an engagement ring and her mother, Mrs.Birling, has told her to be careful with the ring. Nearer the end of the play Sheila breaks off her engagement with Gerald after the inspector had finished questioned him. She says, “ I think you’d better take this with you” (She hands him the ring.) This is ironic as Sheila said the exact opposite of what she had earlier.
Priestley is very clever on how he enters and exits a character in the play. He introduced all the characters before the arrival of the inspector at the beginning. He does this so the characters can condemn themselves through their behaviour and comments. He also described them before even starting the play. Priestley did this because he wanted the audience to get a taste of how the Birling’s personality, behaviour and attitude were. After the audience saw this, another character entered, the inspector. The audience have seen how the Birling’s act inside their house, and now they get to see how they act in front of a stranger. We see another side of the Birling’s. Then during the play several exits are taken, but there are some exits taken by some characters, which then have a story behind it.
Sheila took one exit as she had just seen the photograph of Eva Smith. Just after Sheila said,“ But these girls aren’t cheap labour- they’re people,” she sees a photograph of Eva and runs away. This action is obvious and straight away attaches her with Eva’s death. This is ironic as there is an unexpected connection between things.
At the end of ‘An Inspector Calls’ irony takes place again. As the inspector left, Gerald made up excuses so that the Birling’s could get out of trouble. Gerald said that the inspector did not show the photo to everyone at the same time meaning the photos could have been all different. Also, when Gerald found out the inspector is a fake, Mr.Birling knowing the chief inspector, rang him and confirmed this. Then after having argued, Gerald rang up the Infirmary, where Eva supposedly committed suicide and discovered there had not been a suicide. I feel after the discovery, Gerald, Mr. Birling and Mrs.Birling, do not learn from their mistakes and are want to carry on with life the way it was before the suicide, Gerald says,“ Everything’s all right now Sheila”. Sheila and Eric, however, after listening to the facts are determined to change their way of life and have more interest in social responsibility, Sheila says, “ But that wont bring Eva back to life will it.” They are the only two characters who do change in the play. From this point, a real inspector calls the Birling household announcing there has been a suicide in the Infirmary and an inspector is going to question them. Priestley finished the play with irony as three characters, Gerald, Mr.Birling and Mrs.Birling, say the exact opposite of what has occurred.
The fake inspector’s final speech in the play was a very powerful and an emotional one. I think this because the inspector stated, “One Eva Smith has gone- but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths are left with us… all interwined with our lives.” Also, the inspector in his speech uses the term “millions” loads of times. The inspector stressed that there are many more Eva Smith’s suffering in the world like she was. He also says, “ We don’t live alone. We are all members of one body. We are responsible for each other.” The inspector here says we all are equal and should care about each other. I also think the tone of his speech will either be a harsh tone, a bitter tone, a disgusted tone, an apocalyptic tone or a prophetic revelation tone. This adds to the powerfulness of what he feels is happening in the world.
While the inspector said his speech, he used the terms ‘Fire and blood and anguish.’ The inspector is saying if men are not civilised, they will be taught in a war. The inspector says war will occur if peace is not accomplished. The ‘ fire and blood and anguish’ term is a reference to point out the huge number of people who were involved in the two great wars.
The inspector said what he felt in his final speech. His speech had reached out to Sheila and Eric and not the rest of the characters. Sheila and Eric then committed to change their ways. Sheila, whilst arguing with her parents about not carrying on life the way it was, used many different quotes to express her views. She said, “ But that wont bring her back to life will it,” and “ Between us we drove that girl to commit suicide,” and “ But, Mother, don’t forget that he showed you a photograph of the girl before that, and you obviously recognised it.” Sheila and Eric hold hope for the younger generation and hope to build a new world.
Preistley was criticising the behaviour and the complacency of his own society through the Birling’s generation and if they do not change, it could lead to many consequences. The older generation are too rigid, as they don’t learn from their mistakes. He is trying to say that his society are too happy about life and do not care about anything else.