"An Inspector Calls"

I think the part which says that she has been "so happy tonight" shows is unhappy and distressed that she has become involved with the story of Eva Smith's death; she says how happy she was tonight, as though her fun had been spoilt by the horrible news, she wishes that no one had told her. Her morals are displayed as unjustly, she is very selfish and doesn't seem to think of others. However we can also appreciate that she is showing some concern and compassion for Eva, when she asks the last two questions.

However this attitude is going to change drastically when she knows about Eva's death and her fathers contribution. Sheila didn't show any respect for the working class but when she know what her father did to Eva she shows her she doesn't take long to change her character and to be concerned.

"But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people."

I think this quotation clearly shows the change in her attitude. She now becomes concerned about this girl who is in a lower class. Also Sheila becomes very affectionate towards Eva and is sorry for what happened to her. She refuses to listen to her own fiancé.

"I know we'd had done the same thing".

Sheila is almost shocked by this comment and starts ignoring her father and husband and asking questions to the inspector. By the questions she asks we can deduce she would go back in time and change what happened..

"And if I could help her now, I would-"

"(stormily)Oh shut up, Eric. I know, I know. It's the only time I've ever done something like that, and I'll never, never do it again to anybody."

I think these two quotations clearly show that Sheila is quite regretful of what she did and would like to undo what was done, but of course that isn't possible and it is too late. This shows a great change from her selfishness at the beginning.I think we can deduce that Sheila is beginning to face some changes and becoming more mature.

Sheila already feels bad for both Eva's death and her father's contribution to it but she then feels even worse when she learns that she also took a part in the suicide of Eva. Sheila remained rather chappy and careless to the hypocrisy of society but when the Inspector comes in and she knows she had something to do with that girls death she becomes totally different and starts to reject this hypocrisy. I think she is horrified by her own part in Eva's suicide. She feels very responsible and very guilty. Sheila is ready to take responsibility and is keen to correct her behaviour.

I think Sheila is quite an accomplice for the Inspector. She "betrays" her family and goes on the Inspectors side and criticises other characters especially her mother, Mrs Birling. She abandons loyalty to her family in favour to society.

When each character starts to reveal their responsibility Sheila becomes more and more mature analysing the situation. First she discovers what Gerald has done to her. I think she is very perceptive in the way that she does realise that Gerald knew Daisy Renton (Eva Smith) from his reaction, the moment the Inspector mentioned her name. She genuinely wants to know about Gerald's part in the story. It's important to note that she is not angry with him when she hears about the affair, she says that she respects his honesty. This is and example of how mature she is becoming.

She then discovers her mother's part in the story. She is extremely disappointed with her and she realises that she is no longer the good, well mannered women of high class that Sheila had thought she was.. She is very angry and thinks that what she's done is wrong.

"Mother, I think it was cruel and vile".

I think this is a strong quotation to say to her mother. She uses very strong vocabulary which makes the anger she feels towards her mothers actions stand out. I think Priestly has done this to make us see the great dissappointment Sheila is expiriencing.

Then, finally, at the end of Act II, she is the first to realise Eric's part in the story. I think she doesn't really have an aggressive response towards Eric. She doesn't really comment on what he has done and doesn't seem to make Eric feel as guilty as she made her mother and father feel. We can assume this is because Eric allready feels miserable and ashamed of himself. He seems to have learned his lesson and Sheila isnt willing to put more pressure on him.

She is also the first one to become suspicious about the inspector and starts to ask herself if he really was one.

"Its queer-very queer-"

It doesn't much matter now, of course-but was he really a police inspector?"

This quotations can show us that Sheila is aware that the Inspector wasn't a real one. However I think there is a quotation at the beginning of the play which suggests she is rather suspicious of his identity.

"You see, we have to share something. If there's nothing else, well have to share our guilt."

To this Sheila has quite a strange answer:

"(staring at him) Yes. That's true. You know. (She goes close to him, wonderingly.) I don't understand about you."

I think the response Sheila has to what the Inspector says shows that she is suspicious of something and the fact that she goes closely to him is that maybe she doesn't want anyone else to realise so that they don't confess.

Sheila sees that at the end of the play her parents do not learn much as they have a way out, the inspector wasn't a real one and the girls weren't the same. They seem to reject what they have discovered and experienced and remain the same. Sheila is annoyed and ashamed by their behaviour and response..

"I suppose you're all nice people now"

This shows her great anger towards Mr and Mrs Birling and Mr Croft. She is angry with her parents in Act 3 for trying to "pretend that nothing much has happened." Sheila says:

"It frightens me the way you talk"

She finds it difficult to understand how they can't have learnt from the evening in the same way that she and Eric have. I think she starts to see her parents in a new, unfavourable light. Even more than she did before the truth about the Inspector was discovered. She wants everyone to face up to their fears and their guilt and not try to dodge and forget about what they have done.

"I behaved badly too. I know I did. I'm ashamed of it. But now you're beginning to pretend all over that nothing much has happened."

This reveals that Sheila has strong emotions and feelings and cares that even if Eva isnt dead she feels bad. She regrets the mistakes that she has made in the past and is trying to learn from them. It shows that she feels very guilty and responsible for the suicide and is a very sensitive and caring character. She has learnt her lesson, but believes that her parents are acting very irresponsibly and unintelligently. Later, she says to her father,

"You don't seem to have learnt anything."

This is a very realistic statement, and the audience know that Birling hasn't learnt anything. Contrasting this, Sheila has changed and matured a lot from before the Inspectors visit. She has developed notably throughout the play, from acting like a young child, being cared and looking up to her parents to now, telling her father exactly what she thinks of him.

"If all that's come out tonight is true, it doesn't much matter who made us confess."

This is rather a strong speech Sheila makes which very clearly shows how her attitude has changed. It shows that Sheila's feelings are that everything they said they had done they had still done and it makes no difference if the Inspector was real or not. She has a very moral point of view and has taken the Inspector's role now he has left, reminding each character of their crimes. Sheila now is much wiser about life. She can now judge her parents and Gerald from a new perspective. However the greatest change has been in herself. She has a new perspective of poor people and is aware of responsibilities. The Sheila who had a girl dismissed from her job for a trivial reason has vanished forever.

I think Priestley makes Sheila(along with Eric) learn most to show that the younger generation is more open-minded and they are the future so they need to be; she takes almost anything that the Inspector says about Eva Smith and the family to heart. Sheila is ready to take responsibility and is keen to correct her behaviour. She is very mature about the demise of her relationship with Gerald; this makes the audience feel sympathetic towards her because of her being used by Gerald. She is unable to comprehend her parent's attitudes and is concerned (even if the death was a hoax) that they didn't learn a thing from the episode. When Sheila finds out exactly what she has done the message is put across by Priestly. People should think of their actions before they mess something up. Maybe what Priestley is trying to do is try and prevent this from happening in the coming years. The wrong political decisions or neglect of poor may lead to death.Her readiness to learn from the experience of the episode is in great contrast to her parents who haven't even given it a second thought.. This shows the impressionability of youth and their willingness to learn from mistakes. She implies that because of her youth she is more easily intimidated into confessing. The inspector replies to this rather snide comment saying- " We often do in the young ones, they're more impressionable. He says this to show that Mr and Mrs Birling are older and their attitudes are more hardened. The Birling seniors are too prejudiced to learn anything new, the younger Birlings (Eric and Sheila) are more open minded to other people's opinions. This is a theme that continues through the play, Priestley wants to show the gap between the older and younger Birlings. The play conveys a very strong message that we have the power to change other people's lives and we should all care and look out for each other. Sheila and Eric, the younger generation, have opinions that totally contrast their mother and father's and they particularly get a chance to show their feelings following the Inspector's visit.

However the other side to it is that if people are not ready to learn they dont learn. We can take Gerald as an example. Gerald's family is a wealthy family and they abuse of this power to not care about the lower class people. By this we can see that Priestly is making a conrast between the people who aren't ignorant and ignorant people such as Gerald and Sheilas parents.