In Act One, the family is celebrating the engagement of Sheila and Gerald. Sheila is presented as excitable and eager to please her family and Gerald: after she has received her ring she says, “(excited) Oh – it’s wonderful! Look – Mummy – isn’t it a beauty? Oh – darling – (She kisses Gerald hastily.)” She is also rather materialistic, as the stage directions, “(still admiring her ring)” imply, though she still shows empathy and compassion towards Eva – “SHEILA: (Rather distressed) Sorry! It’s just that I can’t help thinking about that girl – destroying herself so horribly”.
She plays up to Gerald, saying, “Oh – is it the one you wanted me to have?” and I think this suggests that she wants to keep on everyone’s good side, and avoid any conflict. She behaves in the same way to her parents, meekly saying, “I’m sorry, Daddy. Actually I was listening.”
When the Inspector enters, Mr. Birling is presented as polite and welcoming to start with, saying, “Have a glass of port – or a little whisky?” but then begins to behave impatiently. He says, “Yes, yes. Horrid business. But I don’t understand why you should come here, Inspector – ”. The Inspector has an “impression of massiveness” and takes control of everyone, whether they want to be taken control of or not. Sheila is presented as very shocked and compassionate towards Eva Smith, who has committed suicide, and feels that her father’s treatment of her was “a mean thing to do.” She asks questions about Eva, such as “What was she like? Quite young?” which shows that she genuinely cares about her. This is a much more concerned reaction to the news than that of any of the other Birlings.
Sheila then discovers that she also contributed to the death of the girl by ordering her to be fired from her job as a shop assistant, and feels desperately guilty about it. She says, “It’s the only time I’ve ever done anything like that, and I’ll never, never do it again to anybody.” This shows that she feels extremely remorseful, but has accepted the part she played in it and feels terrible about it, which none of the others really do. They try to shift the blame onto other people, so that they do not have to face up to what they have done. I think this shows that the way Sheila is portrayed is as a stronger person than the others are, as she takes full responsibility for her actions, instead of trying to pretend that she was not involved.
Sheila begins to be suspicious of Gerald because she recognises his startled reaction to the name ‘Daisy Renton’ when the Inspector mentions it. She guesses that Gerald had an affair with Daisy the year before, and he confirms this. I think by the end of Act One she has already become more mature and shrewd in understanding what is happening more clearly than any of the others, and she realises the power and influence the Inspector has over them. For example, when Gerald says, “We can keep it from him”, Sheila “laughs rather hysterically” and says, “Why – you fool – he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t know yet. You’ll see. You’ll see.”
At the beginning of Act Two, Sheila’s attitude has changed considerably. Her character is presented as resigned to the worst but determined to sit it through, and she has lost all her usual meekness to assertiveness. She says, “It can’t be any worse for me than it has been – and it might even be better,” and, “Then I’m staying.”
Sheila begins to question Gerald because I think Priestly wanted her to appear hurt and upset about Gerald’s affair a year before. She says, “I want to understand exactly what happens when a man says he’s so busy at the works that he can hardly ever find time to spend with the girl he’s supposed to be in love with.”
I think that the point at which Sheila shows that she has started to realise that they are all guilty is when she says, “And probably between us we killed her.” She understands that the Inspector has a great amount of power over them and is going to convey the true story to them. Her mother does not feel the same way – she says, “Sheila, don’t talk nonsense” when Sheila mentions her thoughts. Sheila is now beginning to behave much more assertively to her parents and almost helping the Inspector to probe for confessions from Gerald and especially Mrs. Birling. For example, she says, “Go on, Mother. You might as well admit it” and “Of course, Mother. It was obvious from the start. Go on, Gerald. Don’t mind Mother.” This suggests that she has decided that she is not simply going to agree with her family’s point of view any more – she wants to make her own judgements without the bias that her parents have. I think that she understands a lot better than the others do that if they behave as though it is beneath them to look after people less wealthy than themselves, it will only be worse for them in the end. I think that Priestley might have created Sheila’s character to show that the people who would not accept responsibility for what they had done came off a lot worse than Sheila, who admitted it without trying to cover up the facts.
When Gerald has finally told everything about his affair with Daisy Renton, Sheila comments, “At least it’s honest.” She is presented as angry that the rest of her family are not being honest because she knows that the Inspector is determined to make them confess in the end. She feels that it is pointless trying to cover things up and it is much easier just to tell the truth it the first place. After Gerald has told his story, Sheila says, “I don’t dislike you as I did half an hour ago, Gerald. In fact, in some odd way, I rather respect you more than I’ve ever done before.” She feels that she knows the whole truth about Gerald now and therefore knows him better than she ever did before. I think she still loves him because he has accepted his mistake and told her the truth, so now she knows for sure where she stands.
In Act Three, Sheila is feeling impatient and annoyed, in particular towards her mother. She feels that Mrs. Birling deserves what she has got and says, referring to Gerald, “Because Mother’s been busy blaming everything on the young man who got Sheila into trouble, and saying he shouldn’t escape and should be made an example of–“. Sheila thinks that her family should have learnt that what they think is a small action could have catastrophic consequences on the people around them. However, none of them, except eventually for Eric, have really taken responsibility for what they have done; they are all trying to pass on the blame to someone else. Mrs. Birling suffers the consequences of blaming someone else as in Act Two she says, “Then he –“ [the father of Eva Smith’s unborn child] “– would be entirely responsible.” The Inspector then lets her know that the father is her own son, Eric. Mrs. Birling immensely regrets saying “He ought to be dealt with very severely”, and “…make sure that he’s compelled to confess in public his responsibility”.
Sheila says, “it doesn’t matter much who made us confess” because I think she feels that it matters more what they have all learnt from this, and that they will never do it again. She becomes suspicious of the Inspector when Eric mentions, “You told us that a man has to make his own way… we weren’t to take any notice of those cranks who tell us that everybody has to look after everybody else… and then one of those cranks walked in – the Inspector.” She realises that it was a very strange coincidence, as she says, “(sharply attentive) Is that when the Inspector came, just after father said that?” and begins to doubt the identity of the Inspector. Between them, the Birlings conclude that the Inspector may not have been what he seemed. Then Gerald returns from his walk with the news that he has discovered that Inspector Goole was not a real police inspector.
Mr. and Mrs. Birling and Gerald take this news completely differently from Sheila and Eric. Mr. Birling says, “This makes a difference, y’know. In fact it makes all the difference.” He is shown to believe that, as Inspector Goole is not a real police inspector after all, everything is all right. He and his family did not make their confessions to a police inspector after all, so they will not be in trouble with the law and publicly humiliated. Therefore, Mr. Birling is highly relieved and feels that everything is fine again. However, Sheila and Eric are both portrayed as still feeling guilty and partly responsible for the death of Eva. The reason that they are bothered by the whole incident is that they feel extremely remorseful and hate to think that they had caused the death of a young girl. So for them, the fact that the public is not going to know all about it is the least of their troubles. Sheila says, “(bitterly) I suppose we’re all nice people now,” which I think sums up how she feels very effectively. What I think she means by this sarcastic comment is that to her, the fact that the Inspector was not a real inspector does not change anything that she did in the past, and admitting it only revealed what she did to the others.
Between Act One and the end of Act Three, Sheila’s character changes considerably. She becomes a much stronger individual – from “I’m sorry, Daddy. Actually I was listening,” to “(flaring up) I’m not being childish. If you want to know, it’s you two who are being childish – trying not to face the facts,” and I think she has learnt a lot about herself. She has realised the potential her actions could have, and is deeply shocked by that. She has also realised that her parents seem to care more about their reputation than the life of another human being, and she knows all the facts about Gerald’s affair and can decide for herself if she should forgive him.
Sheila’s reaction to the whole story is different from all the others in the play. For one thing, she immediately tells the whole truth about her part in the incident without trying to cover up what she did or make herself seem less guilty. For another, she alone realises the extent to which the Inspector has power over them, and how knowledgeable he is – for example, at the end of Act One, Gerald says, “We can keep it from him” and Sheila says, “Why – you fool – He knows.” She also is the only one to understand properly the lesson to be learnt by all this, without thinking of the family’s reputation or trying to protect herself first. Her mother in particular reacts completely differently from Sheila. She resists the Inspector’s inquiries and beliefs instead of accepting that she is wrong – she says, ”I think I was justified.”
I think that Priestley meant to portray Mrs. Birling as the person who refuses to accept what she has done and respect the Inspector the most, because she never really shows any regret for her actions. She says a lot to put across her views on the situation, for example: “You’re quite wrong to suppose I shall regret what I did” and “I accept no blame for it at all”. However, Mrs. Birling comes off extremely badly in the end, after describing the punishment that the father of Eva’s child should receive, before discovering that this person is her own son, Eric. This indicates that Priestley thinks anyone with the same point of view as Mrs. Birling deserves the shock and disgrace that she brought upon herself.
Eva Smith has supposedly committed suicide as a result of actions taken by each one of the people present, but towards the end they begin to question the truth in what the Inspector has said. I think that whether or not she actually exists in the story, we could interpret her character as an embodiment of the Gerald and the Birlings’ guilt. I think this because when the sins that each of them committed are brought together, it is possible that they could amount to a young girl killing herself, even if this did not actually happen.
Overall, I think that JB Priestley is saying that we should treat each other with equal respect, regardless of social class or background, and wealthy people should not abuse their position for power over others. I think the Inspector’s final speech is very powerful, especially, “… their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body.” This is a summary of what JB Priestley and the Inspector believe in, and I think that Priestley could have created the Inspector as a representation of himself and his own views. He gives the Inspector “an impression of massiveness” and throughout the play he seems entirely powerful, calm and in control. I think that Priestley wants the Inspector to have a mysterious air and represent himself and his socialist views being correct, rather than the Birlings’. I think that Priestley intended the audience to come away with a sense of unity between everyone, whether rich or poor, and an understanding of the impact a small action of theirs could have on somebody else’s life.
