Discuss the ways J.B Priestley uses the character of Sheila to develop his themes.

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Chrisline Thomas        July 2010

Coursework: Drama

Discuss the ways J.B Priestley uses the character of Sheila to develop his themes.

J.B Priestley is the author of the play titled “An Inspector Calls.”  The play was originally written in 1944, during the World War II but it was only performed from 1946 when the war ended.  The end of a major war causes a lot of changes in a country and is often considered as a fresh start.  People might start thinking about what their life is going to be like when the war has ended.   Priestley’s main purpose is to show that the end of World War II was a good time to make a difference and to change the attitudes of pre-war Britain.  This is because it is easier to create some new ideas when things have started to change already.  One of the main characters called Sheila is used as a device to put forward Priestley’s points.  She represents what England could be like after the war and how it is possible to change attitudes.  Priestley’s points are mainly reinforced through the dialogues spoken by Sheila.  She is also used as a dramatic device and he moves forward the story by using this character.  The reaction and ideas of the audience are manipulated as they first think that the play is a mystery about the death of a young woman but later it is revealed that the mystery lies in who the Inspector (one of the most important characters) is.

Priestley uses Mr Birling and Sheila as metaphors for the change he wants to see in Britain.  Mr Birling represents the attitudes the attitude of Britian prior to the war, whereas Sheila represents the attitude that Priestley believes Britain should have after the war.  Speaking of the death of Eva Smith (who was a former employee in his business); he classes the situation as a “public scandal.”  A “scandal” is disgraceful gossip that will ruin the reputation of someone or something.  This means that the news will bring a bad name to the family and everyone will know about it.  Mr Birling is worried that the connection between the death of Eva Smith and the Birling family will bring disgrace on the family more than the fact that a young woman has possibly committed suicide because of them.  This character represents the attitudes of “self help” in the Nineteenth Century.  The idea was that men were responsible for the reputation and welfare of their own families and no-one else’s and they had to work hard to survive.  People also thought that if you were poor, it was your own fault.  Priestley isn’t trying to portray Birling as a bad person, but he just represents the majority of the people in Britain at that time.  People self-helped instead of thinking of others, just as Birling tries to help his family’s reputation.   Priestley challenges this idea and reinforces that this attitude should change by using Sheila to represent help to others.  In contrast to Mr Birling, Sheila “began to learn something” from the situation.  This means that Sheila was concerned about the mistakes the family made and she began to learn that they should change.  Both Mr Birling and Sheila just did what typical people in their positions would do, but Sheila realises that this attitude is wrong.  This reinforces the point that Britain should change from focusing on self-help and become a place where people are also concerned about other people’s welfare, like Sheila.  

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Priestley develops the metaphor of Sheila to demonstrate that change is possible.  Sheila’s attitude changes after the encounter with the Inspector, which represents that the change in Britain is possible.  At the beginning, Sheila was portrayed as a typical young woman of the middle-class and she uses her power as the daughter of an important man to get things her way.  She threatened Milwards that if Eva wasn’t fired, she’d “close our account with them,” forcing the business to get rid of Eva Smith.  Sheila knew that she was a very important customer and if the business lost her, they ...

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