CARLEY JONES 11N - ENGLISH
An Inspector Calls
At the beginning of the play, Gerald and Sheila are happily celebrating their engagement with Sheila's family, The Birlings. Sheila's family convey that they are very happy for her and Gerald to be getting wed.
At this point of the play, we can already see that Gerald and Sheila must have known each other for at least a year. We can tell this by the way she merrily reminds him about the fact that he didn't go near her for the whole of last summer and he still hasn't given her an explanation that she believes about why he stayed away from her: -
'Yes- except for all last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you.' - Sheila.
They might have even known each other through their families from a young age. I would say that their families aren't friends but acquaintances, as they know each other due to their businesses, 'Crofts Limited' and 'Birling and Company'.
Sheila is interpreted as superficial and naïve. She shows her naivety when she says: -
'Milwards! We go there - in fact, I was there this afternoon - for your benefit.' - Sheila
This shows her naivety because of the childlike way that she makes point of saying she was only there to benefit Gerald and not herself. We can also see that she is self-centered too because she is always shopping, buying clothes that compliment her and make her look good. She tries to disguise it by saying she only goes shopping for Gerald's benefit and not to boost her ego. We can also see that she's self-centered by the way she got Eva Smith fired for looking better and prettier than Sheila looks. When this is revealed, Sheila says that she only did it because she was in a 'furious temper,' which proves that Eric was being honest when he says about Sheila's temper at the beginning of Act One when he says: -
'She's got a nasty temper sometimes.' - Eric
At the beginning of the play, Gerald is the domineering partner in their relationship. We can tell this by Gerald buying Sheila the engagement ring without telling her and giving her the choice of what ring she would like but instead chooses the one that he wants Sheila to have. We can see this by the quote: -
'Oh - Gerald - you've got it - is it the one you wanted me to have?' - Sheila
Up until the inspector arrives, we think that Gerald and ...
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'She's got a nasty temper sometimes.' - Eric
At the beginning of the play, Gerald is the domineering partner in their relationship. We can tell this by Gerald buying Sheila the engagement ring without telling her and giving her the choice of what ring she would like but instead chooses the one that he wants Sheila to have. We can see this by the quote: -
'Oh - Gerald - you've got it - is it the one you wanted me to have?' - Sheila
Up until the inspector arrives, we think that Gerald and Sheila are going to be happily married in the near future with Gerald being the breadwinner and Sheila the house-maker. But in Act One we start to see their relationship fall to pieces around them. Sheila who is being questioned by the Inspector and who is in the middle of revealing her connection to Eva Smith to the others, says to Gerald: -
'I expect you've done things you're ashamed of too.' - Sheila
This is very ironic because he has done things that he's ashamed of, such as have an affair, which we find out about later in the play when it's Gerald turn to be under the spotlight. Gerald replies to Gerald by saying: -
'I never said I hadn't.' - Gerald
It shows that Gerald has done wrong but he isn't denying it yet, even though he did lie earlier in the play when he told Sheila that the reason he didn't see Sheila all of last summer was because he was working. But he doesn't realise the implication that Sheila is implying.
The balance of their relationship changes once Sheila admits to doing wrong and she begins to realise that not everyone is as they seem especially the people she thought she knew best, her family, Gerald and herself and also, not to judge people. You could say that realised the saying 'never judge a book by its cover is true.' She also realises that we are all part of one society and we shouldn't really stereotype people by what class they are, where they live, what clothes they wear, etc.
When it is finally revealed that Gerald had an affair all of last summer, it seems that Gerald cares more about not being involved in the suicide than his relationship with Sheila! We can see this because of the quote: -
'I don't come into this suicide business' - Gerald
At the end of Act One, we are left waiting to find out if Gerald knew Eva Smith or as Gerald referred to her, Daisy Renton, and what connection he had with her suicide. At this point in the play, Sheila is desperate to find out how and if Gerald knew Eva Smith/Daisy Renton. Because of this she urges Inspector Goole on to ask more and more questions to Gerald. She does this only because she has got plenty of questions she would like to ask Gerald but knows the only way he'll answer them truthfully is if they're being asked to him by another person, Inspector Goole. Therefore Sheila tries to steer the Inspector towards the questions that she wants the answers to. It is as if Sheila is talking for the
audience because the audience would like to know the answers to the questions she's steering Inspector Goole to.
At the very beginning of Act Two, when Gerald is about to reveal his story about his involvement with Eva Smith he says: -
'Inspector, I think Miss Birling ought to excused any more of this questioning...She's had a long exciting and tiring day...We were celebrating our engagement...' - Gerald
This quote shows that Gerald is trying to prevent Sheila from hearing about his affair and he is also trying to hide the fact that he had an affair. Also, by going on to say about how they were celebrating their engagement before the Inspector turned up, seems as if Gerald is trying to remind Sheila that they are still engaged and that they were celebrating - having a good, joyful evening.
At the beginning of Act Two, Gerald reveals that he met Daisy Renton at the 'Palace Bar' when he was trying to save her from 'Old Joe Meggarty' and that Gerald's intentions weren't actually to fall in love with Daisy Renton.
Just before we were to find out if Gerald did know her and what his connection with her was, we see the turning point in their relationship, as they start to squabble. We now see a different side to Sheila, as she becomes more assertive and domineering. It is as if they are finding more and more out about each other, their relationship is becoming more even and Sheila is beginning to get more in control.
Among other things, Sheila also reveals that she is not all that she seems to be. As she is the only member out of the Birling family and Gerald, who understands the Inspector and works out that he is trying to get them into a type of spider's web, where he can trap them, then dismantle them one by one. An excellent quote to prove Sheila's understanding of Inspector Goole and his tactics is: -
'No, he's giving us the rope- so that we'll hang ourselves.' - Sheila
In Act Two, Sheila says: -
'It can't be any worse for me than it has been. And it might be better.' - Sheila
By this, Sheila might mean that it could be better by actually finding out what Gerald is really like before it is too late and also by finding out if they both share guilt of what happened to Eva Smith/Daisy Renton. By Sheila saying that it can't be any worse for her than it already has been. By this, she might mean that it has already been distressing and disturbing for her to find out what she is really like. And she thinks that it can't be any worse to find out what Gerald is really like because she thinks that she knows him too well to find any shocking discoveries.
At the end of Act Two, we see that Sheila is more aware of herself now than what she was at the beginning of the play.
Throughout Act Two, Arthur sticks up for and defends Gerald even though he denies doing it, we can clearly see that he is.
I think that there is still hope for Gerald and Sheila's relationship and for their future happiness together. I think this because they now know what each other are really like deep down so therefore their relationship will be more honest and truthful.
I f they do decide to continue with their relationship, they will have to start from the beginning and get to know each other all over again as Inspector Goole has made them realise that they do not know very much about one another. Therefore, this would probably lead them to have a much more honest relationship and probably a more open one in contrast to Sheila's parents, Arthur and Sybil Birling. As it seems that Arthur and Sybil do not open up to one another and isn't very equal - Sybil probably being the more domineering and bossy one.
Mr Birling would be extremely pleased if Sheila and Gerald do decide to continue their relationship as throughout the play he seems to be the one that is more concerned about Sheila and Gerald being engaged than they do! We can see this by the quote: -
'I really must protest - ' - Birling
In this quote Birling is protesting to Sheila hearing if Gerald did love Daisy Renton. He is protesting purely for one reason - he thinks that this will jeopardise Sheila and Gerald's engagement in a colossal way!
