What Dramatic Effect Does the Inspector Have on Sheila?
What Dramatic Effect Does the Inspector Have on Sheila?
"An Inspector Calls" was written by J.B. Priestly in 1945. The play is about an Inspector who acts as a conscience to a fairly wealthy, middle class family, showing them what happens when they are selfish and thoughtless, only thinking of themselves.
J.B. Priestly set the play in the spring of 1912. Between the setting of the play and the writing of the play, many events happened which J.B. Priestly had lived through, but his characters knew nothing about. The audience will be able to pick out the subtle references to these events, as well as the more obvious ones.
The play was set only a few days before the Titanic set out on its disastrous voyage. Mr.Birling refers to the titanic as,
"unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable." At that time this ship was considered the height of modern technology. Only a few days later, the Titanic sank.
World War One began in 1914, only two years after the play is set. The Birlings do not believe there will be a war. Mr.Birling said,
"I say there isn't a chance of war."
There were other important events, such as the Spanish civil war, and the Suffragettes movement. Many women campaigned for rights, and eventually they were able to get many rights including the right to vote.
World War Two started in 1939 and finished in 1945. When Mr.Birling is talking about the future, he refers to Eric giving an engagement party to his daughter. He says,
"lets say, 1940" He does not realise this will be in the middle of the Second World War. At the end of the war, two atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. This significantly changed warfare.
All these things (except the Suffragette movement) are the result of people being thoughtless and not caring about other people, just like the characters in the play.
At the beginning of Act 1, Sheila is a very different person from the character at the end of Act 3. She has just got engaged to Gerald Croft, and is very excited about her future. She can only think of herself, and has no other worries.
Sheila is very inexperienced and doesn't think that anything could possibly go wrong. When Gerald gives her the engagement ring, she ...
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All these things (except the Suffragette movement) are the result of people being thoughtless and not caring about other people, just like the characters in the play.
At the beginning of Act 1, Sheila is a very different person from the character at the end of Act 3. She has just got engaged to Gerald Croft, and is very excited about her future. She can only think of herself, and has no other worries.
Sheila is very inexperienced and doesn't think that anything could possibly go wrong. When Gerald gives her the engagement ring, she says,
"I'll never let it out of my sight for an instant." What she doesn't realize is that in only a few hours she will be giving the ring back to Gerald.
Her whole outlook on life is very positive. Everything is always perfect for her, and she has never had to suffer hardships. She is somewhat spoiled and expects everything to go right for her. Again, when Gerald is giving the ring to Sheila, she says,
"Is it the one you wanted me to have?" She even knows the ring will be exactly as it was planned.
Because Sheila has always lived this way, she tends to be thoughtless. This is not because she intends to be unpleasant to other people; she simple does not think that others may not have life as easy as she does. This is exactly what happens when she gets Eva Smith sacked from Milward's.
When Sheila enters the room after the inspector has arrived, she doesn't know he is there. She acts surprised to see him, and says,
" Oh- sorry. I didn't know." She asks what the Inspector is doing there, saying,
"What's all this about?" She does not expect it to be anything either very unpleasant, or anything involving her. When Mr.Birling says,
"Nothing to do with you, Sheila. Run along.", it shows that he is trying to protect her from having anything to do with the situation. It seems that Sheila is very protected from unpleasant things like this, and always has been. The Inspector tells Sheila what has happened, and she is shocked. She says,
"Oh, how terrible". In an interested way she asks,
"Was it an accident?" It is obvious the news has upset Sheila, because the stage directions in front of what she says are,
"rather distressed". This shows that she is sensitive, as at that point she doesn't even realize she knows this girl.
Sheila listens to what her father says about Eva Smith. Sheila does not agree with his attitude towards the girl. This is evident when she says,
"But these girls aren't cheap labour- they're people." She is even prepared to contradict her father when she says,
"I think it was a mean thing to do. Perhaps that spoiled everything for her."
Even by the end of Act 1, Sheila is beginning to change. She has become more mature in her attitudes. She has admitted her part in the death of Eva Smith and knows that Gerald is hiding something. She is acting much more maturely than he is and she says to him,
"Oh don't be stupid."
Sheila seems to be the only one to see how the Inspector is influencing them. She realizes that he doesn't need their confessions to understand what has happened, because he already knows what they have done. She shows this when she says,
"Why - you fool - he knows. Of course he knows."
Sheila becomes a stronger character as the play moves on into Act 2. She disagrees with things people say, instead of merely going along with what others have to say. For example, Sheila says,
"You see, I feel you're beginning all wrong." This is said to her mother and shows that she disagrees with her mother's way of dealing with the Inspector.
This is really the first step towards Sheila deciding that the Inspector's values are better than her family's values. Mr.Birling is more concerned with getting a knighthood than whether or not a girl has died. He says,
"By the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you'd think everybody has to look after everybody else."
The Inspector's views are the exact opposite. He says,
"We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other." He has just proved this with his story about Eva Smith. By the end of Act 3, Sheila doesn't care whether the Inspector was real or not. She is worried about how little the rest of her family (except, perhaps Eric) care for anyone other than themselves.
Sheila is clearly very sorry for what she did to Eva Smith, which is obvious when she says,
"I behaved badly too. I know I did. I'm ashamed of it." She has learned, from the Inspector's visit, to be less self-centred. She is more sensitive towards other people. She is taking responsibility for Eva Smith's death. Sheila is upset at her parents because they are trying to pretend nothing ever happened. She says,
"The point is, you don't seem to have learned anything." From the way Sheila is acting towards her mother and father, you can see that she has become a more caring person and because she agrees with the Inspector's values, she is willing to look out for other people, not just herself.
Sheila shows that she has become a more responsible person when Gerald offers to give her back the ring. Sheila had returned it to Gerald when she had found out about his affair with Eva Smith. She says,
"No, not yet. It's too soon. I must think." This shows both responsibility and maturity for two reasons. Firstly, she has not ruled him out completely and she is willing to give him a second chance. Also, she is not rushing into a decision, but she gives herself a chance to think it over.
From her response to the Inspector and the whole situation, I would think that Sheila would be much more kind and considerate towards others, especially those less fortunate than herself. She would not judge people and be more open-minded.
During the Inspector's visit, Sheila changed from a selfish, spoiled, excited, newly engaged girl, into a caring, responsible and open-minded person. Out of all the Birlings, and Gerald Croft, Sheila changes the most. She learns from the Inspector, and understands the purpose of his visit-
To warn them of what will happen if they do not change their ways. In his final speech, the inspector says,
"If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish." He is referring to World War One. Sheila realizes what this means, but it seems like Mr. and Mrs. Birling are the sort of people the Inspector is talking about when he makes that final speech. Because Sheila was able to learn from her mistakes, she will be a better person in the future.
