As a typical girl she loves clothes, as this is shown when she talks continuously about clothes and Eric leaves,” I left ‘em talking about clothes again. You’d think a girl had never had any clothes before she gets married.”
Nevertheless, she is a hope for future generations as she has a social conscience. She was shocked when Mr. Birling admits to sacking Eva, “Sorry. It’s just that I can’t help thinking about this girl, destroying herself so horribly.”
She also is full of remorse, because she wished she had not insisted on Eva being sacked. In addition, she is not afraid of hearing the truth; for example, when she insists Gerald tells her the truth about his affair.
As the play continues, Sheila matures. She realizes what she has done and wants to correct it. Now she understands what the people that she knows are truly like and feels the need to get to know them properly. “You and I aren’t the same people who sat down to dinner. We have to start all over again getting to know each other.”
Mrs. Birling is Sheila’s mother. She represents what is bad about Edwardian society and what needs to change.
Mrs. Birling is arrogant because she refuses to listen to anyone, even when they are trying to help her. Shelia warns her to be careful of the inspector, but she does not listen. “I’m afraid you’ll say or do something that you’ll be sorry for afterwards.”
She is proud of her husband, when she brags to inspector. “You know of course that my husband was lord mayor.”
She has traditional views on marriage and believes that men should go out and work, while the women should manage the house. “When you’re married you’ll realise that men with important work to do, sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business.”
She is a social climber because she wants to increase her status, by marrying Sheila into another rich, well off family. She is aware of her authority, and she talks down on everyone and believes she is right all the time.
She blames the Inspector for encouraging Sheila, “You seem to have made a great impression on this child, Inspector.” The inspector agrees with Sheila, Mrs. Birling cannot believe what she is hearing, “I beg your pardon!”, and “I consider this as a trifle impertinent, inspector.”
She is unforgiving because she says that Eva had made everyone her, “I think she had only herself to blame.” Mrs. Birling is used to getting her own way, because she influences other people to refuse to help Eva. “Owing it to your influence, as the most prominent member of the committee, that help was refused to the girl.”
She is more concerned about her reputation then anyone committing suicide. She tells Sheila what she has done. At the end of the play, she is not concerned about what she has done, only that no one else should know about it.
The difference it makes that we never see Eva is that it represents working class people who are faceless to rich middle/upper class people. They are ignored, but not seen or heard. It shows the audience a point of view/perspective from the upper class.
Mrs. Birling is always talking down on Sheila. This shows that she has power/authority over Sheila. When Sheila tries to talk, Mrs. Birling just ignores her or says be quiet, do not interrupt. “Be quiet Sheila.” Mrs. Birling finds Sheila a ‘little girl’ who does not know what she’s talking about.
At the beginning, when Mrs. Birling meets the inspector, Sheila warns to be careful of the inspector but she takes no notice. Sheila knows that something bad is going to happen, but no one listens to her. Maybe because she is the youngest in the family or because she is a girl and they think she would not know anything.
Mrs. Birling describes Eva as a troublemaker, a liar, and that it is her own fault that this entire refusal happened. The reason for this accusation is that when Eva came to her for help, Eva said that her name was Mrs. Birling; Mrs. Birling took this as an insult and thought she was a troublemaker. Secondly a liar because she kept on telling different stories to her. In addition, that it was her own fault because she should taken the money that the father had given her.
Sheila describes Eva as a poor, lonely person, who kept on losing her job. She feels sympathetic for her because of her situation. However, at one point she felt that Eva was laughing/making fun of her, which is why she got the sack from her second job. Now after all this happen, she feels guilty and sympathetic.
The outline of the interactions are the Inspector interviews one person at a time, then another person come in and hears about what’s going on, then they are interviewed. Each person is drawn in systematically. Gradually everyone is interviewed, and drawn into the same room where they all hear each member of the family’s involvement.
When Sheila and Mrs. Birling interact, it is like a game of literal tennis. One trying to persuade the other one to listen, and the other one just ignoring her.
I think that the message J.B. Priestly is trying to convey is that there will always be a victim, and things that needs to change, if there is hope for the future.
There are many other people suffering around the world, and that we should help them, not to ignore them or make their lives harder. In addition, that everyone is equal, and that everyone deserves an equal proper chance.
These three women are moral symbols in the story. The women in society at that time were seen as workers, lower than the men, and were expected to do as they were told. The people at the time were also arrogant for example; they said that the Titanic was an unsinkable ship. They thought they were right, and almost invincible. I think that J.B. Priestly wanted to show that people at that time were not mighty or invincible, and what a better way of doing than in a play which exposes their faults.
