Her relationship with Gerald seems to be fine on the surface but if you were to dig a little deeper you could see signs of problems. Sheila mentioned how Gerald never came near her the previous summer, but Gerald quickly replied with an excuse claiming that he was “awfully busy at the works all that time”. However, Sheila seemed not to be easily fooled and replied by saying “yes, that’s what you say.” From this the audience can see that Gerald may have not have been loyal.
As the play develops Inspector Goole arrives to question the Birling family and Gerald about the death of Eva Smith. The first person he questions is Mr. Birling and we learn about his relationship with Eva Smith. She used to work for Mr. Birling until he sacked her for encouraging workers to strike for a pay increase. Sheila shows sympathy for Eva, (“I think that was a mean thing to do”). Although her sympathy is superficial when she says, “these girls aren’t cheap labor – they’re people”. This is a very obvious statement for many people including the inspector who says, “I’ve had that notion myself from time to time”. She is a long way from understanding how much responsibility the rich do have for the poor. The audience can see at this stage that Sheila is starting to understand the problems that poorer people have.
After Eva Smith got sacked from the Birling factory she luckily found a new job at a shop named Milwards. But things went downhill when Sheila made a complaint against Eva because she thought that Eva was “smiling” at her. So, Sheila used her authority, coming from a wealthy family, to get Eva Smith fired, “I went to the manager at Milwards and I told him that if they didn’t get rid of that girl, I’d never go near the place again and I’d persuade mother to close our account with them”.
When Sheila hears the news that Eva Smith has killed herself she is devastated. She looks at the photograph of Eva Smith, (“recognizes it with a little cry, gives a half stifled sob, and then runs out”). Her mood also changes and she starts to see things in a different perspective to try and understand the situation and her involvement in it. She regrets what she has done and promises to “never, never do it again to anybody”. At this stage the audience sees Sheila as a very honest individual. She admits that she was jealous and that her pride was insulted and that “If she’d been some miserable plain little creature, I don’t suppose I’d have done it. But she was very pretty”.
Eva Smith killed herself because she could not withstand the problems mounting in her life; she had no money, no friends and no family. As Sheila observes everyone’s involvement in Eva Smith’s downfall she begins to recognize the message behind Inspector Goole’s visit to the Birling Family, “Well he inspected us alright”. This suggests that she is starting to understand that Inspector Goole is trying to teach them a lesson that every action has a consequence and we are all responsible for one another’s welfare.
The audience is shown by Sheila that she has learnt a very valuable lesson and feels terrible regret, “I know I’m to blame - and I’m desperately sorry”. She can also be seen as candid which is shown when she says to her parents “it’s you two who are being childish – trying not to face the facts”. She puts everything out into the open and is honest about every detail. As Sheila begins to make speeches to her family about the wrong they did she begins to sound more like Inspector Goole, “I remember what he said and what he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish. And it frightens me the way you talk and I can’t listen to any more of it”. We can see that Shelia has learnt a lesson.
At the beginning of the play Sheila is thinking about her husband-to-be and her new engagement ring. Furthermore, she appears to look up to her fiancé and look forward to her wedding. She has a normal pleasant relationship with her parents and a normal bantering relationship with her brother, (“Don’t be an ass, Eric.”). By the end of the play Sheila recognizes that she and every member of her family has played a part in Eva Smith’s downfall and suicide. In addition, Sheila demanded that Milwards would sack her. Gerald had an affair with Eva, but discontinued it. Mr. Birling was heavy-handed and sacked her when she went on strike. Eric had an affair with her, leaving her pregnant and he also stole money from the family business. Finally Mrs. Birling showed her cruelty when she rejected Eva’s plea for money when she was pregnant and alone.
Sheila feels terribly remorseful about what she has done. It is too late to change anything for Sheila, “That’s the worst of it”. In addition she realizes that her parents do not have a conscience. She tells them, “I’m ashamed of it. But now you’re beginning all over again to pretend that nothing much has happened”. The parents seem to only care about the knighthood and public scandal. Sheila emphasizes that they “don’t seem to have learnt anything”. For Sheila, it is not important whether the inspector was real or not, “It doesn’t much matter who it was who made us confess.”. The important thing to her is that they should have learnt a moral lesson. In addition, Eric has also come to agree with her and realizes his parents’ faults, “No, Sheila’s right. It doesn’t.”. Sheila has comprehended that both her parents are immoral and self-centered.
To conclude the audience has now started to see Sheila as a thoughtful person. She was the first one to question whether the inspector was real and the first one to realize that they “hardly ever told [the inspector] anything we didn’t know”. She has a created a new bond with her brother, “That’s just what I feel Eric.”. Most of all she has rejected her father’s view of “every man for himself” and come to see that we are all responsible for the people we come into contact with, whether or not we actually cause someone’s death, “ If it didn’t end tragically, that’s lucky for us. But it might have done.”.