You are given hints in ‘An Inspector Calls’ about Priestly’s socialist views. He uses Inspector Goole as his median. He makes moralising comments such as, “A pretty, lively sort of girl, who never did anyone any harm. But she died in misery and agony – hating life”. His last speech is also very moralising, “But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone, but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with out lives, and what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish. Good night”.
These moralising comments hit the audience hard with feelings of guilt for what is happening to all the ‘Eva Smiths and John Smiths in the world’, which is what Priestly is trying to achieve.
Sheila and her younger brother are added into the play to show the contrast of the younger and older generations of the era. The older characters, Arthur and Sybil, have solid views that they will not change, or even think about changing. They are stubborn with their opinions and possibly even ignorant. Whereas Eric and Sheila’s views change from also being stubborn and ignorant just like their parents, to their own ones. They feel guilty for the chain of events, but Arthur and Sybil do not. This shows that the younger generation are hope for the future and are open to new ideas, unlike the older generation, who are trenched in their own opinions and ideas. Arthur and Sybil’s views are almost of a nationalist nature, which Priestly disagrees with. This is why he wants to show in his play that the younger generation are becoming more socialist in their outlook.
At the beginning of the play, Sheila seems to be young and innocent. Sheila is described as ‘very pleased with life and rather excited’ in the stage directions. You can tell that she is changing throughout the play by what she says. At the beginning of the play she has a bit of playful banter at the dinner table, “I should jolly well think not, Gerald, I’d hate you to know all about port – like one of those purple-faced old men” This shows the audience that she is young and teasing. She also says to Eric, “You’re squiffy” This also shows that she uses word that a person of her age would use, and is not too sophisticated mentally.
When Gerald gives her the wedding ring, “Oh – Gerald – you’ve got it – is it the one you wanted me to have?” This shows the audience that she doesn’t really have much independence and is not counted on to make decisions. Once she hears about the girl who had drank disinfectant, she says, “Oh how horrible, was it an accident?” and when the inspector describes the girl, “Pretty?” This is s sign that she is only really concerned with beauty and fashion.
When the inspector is interrogating each member of the family one by one, and rather than telling them what he knows, is tricking them into confessing things, she is the first to realise. She is warning her mother not to give her feelings about what actions should be taken with the father of Eva Smith’s baby, as Shelia has realised the father is Eric but her mother has not realised it. “Mother – stop –stop … But don’t you see-” This proves that she is growing up in the play as she is trying to prevent her mother from speaking and that would have been deemed as unacceptable in those days. Finally, towards the end of the play, Arthur explains how it is all over and it was all a hoax, and there is no need for Sheila to be angry or upset anymore. Sheila however, disagrees, “The worst part is. But you’re forgetting one thing I still can’t forget. Everything we said had happened really had happened. If it didn’t end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done.” This shows that she has taken responsibility for the events, and isn’t willing to forget it. This is enforced when Gerald offers her the ring back and she refuses “No, not yet. It’s too soon. I must think” She doesn’t want to pretend everything is back to normal.
The stage directions are very important in the play. They are important because they enable the reader to picture the dining room. And the type of family the Birlings are. The audience can imagine a large room, decorated in old-fashioned wallpaper and big, heavy, uncomfortable furniture. From this description you can only think that the family is not as functional as other families. You can assume a lot from the stage directions. You can assume that they have a lot of money as they live in a large house and have cigars and port after the meal.
From where they are placed at the dinner table, you can also assume that there may be some family problems. This is because Arthur and Sybil sit at opposite ends of the table to each other, which is unusual because usually the husband and wife would sit with each other if they got along well. Arthur and Gerald are at one side of the table, Sheila and Sybil are at the other, and Eric is placed in the middle. This maybe because Eric is the youngest in the family, and is not considered being a man yet.
Priestly was concerned about some historical events and issues when he wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’. He wrote it just after the first word war, which he was a victim, of having been in the army and sent home invalided. He was also concerned with the social class system, and was extremely socialist. At the time of the play, Britain was very Nationalist. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Men were the money earners and it was only recent that women were allowed to go to work and vote. Socialism at this time was important to people as it meant that everyone could get a job, no matter what his or her social background or financial status.
I have achieved my target of saying, ‘Which character changes the most in An Inspector Calls?’ I have done this by explaining the role of Sheila and Eric in the play and by conveying my views on how she has changed.