An Inspector Calls Act 1
Varun Gupta
- Select one of the members of the Birling family. Write a character study, using text for reference, to show how Priestly uses the character to convey his own opinions and attitudes.
I am choosing Sheila as my character because I believe that she has the most important part in the play when it comes to understanding the moral of the whole play. Unlike all the other members of the family, Sheila and Eric are willing to take the blame for what part they had to play causing the death of the ‘so called’ Eva Smith. Sheila’s character is a rare one because she represents the younger generation of society. She believes that as well as her, the whole family should have part of the blame for the cause of the death. Straight away without any arguments she confesses and repents. All the others, apart from Eric, try their best to drift the blame to somebody else. I suppose even Gerald in a way blames himself for what he had done. It is the parents who are the older and ‘wiser’ generation. I believe that Priestly feels quite close to the character to Sheila and that he can almost relate to her. You can almost say that Priestly is Shelia in disguise. Sheila’s most important speech is probably that long speech in which she describes what she had done and what she felt like afterwards. Sheila was obviously jealous of the girl and used her power to get the powerless girl sacked once again.
