How does Priestley present the different generations in "An Inspector Calls"?

Sheila speaks mostly in short interjections such as seen from the phrase “What’s all this about”. This emphasises to the audience her lack of voice as a young woman in 1912. At the start she does not have a place in the world of ‘hard-headed’ businessmen. This is further seen by the way her mother and father both speak to her in a highly patronising tone as if she has nothing of importance to say. For example, her mother says ‘What an expression Sheila!’. This shows how the older generation are shocked at her challenging her brother by saying ‘You’re Squiffy!’. She also wishes to know why the Inspector is there – as seen by her contrast interjections and questions to the inspector. This is in great contrast to her father who constantly comments on the unfamiliarity of the inspector and feels the need to inform him of his status within the local establishment. Sheila’s total contrast in attitude only makes her father’s attitude more obvious. It highlights the worst aspects of the bourgeoisie, such as the way they are conditioned to exploiting the working class proletariats. For example, on the subject of Eva Smith’s pay rise, Mr Birling states, “I refused, of course”. The use of the term ‘of course’ within this phrase implies to the audience that the older generation place profit and self-interest before the needs of others. Moreover, the use of a short simple sentence here conveys the idea that such a refusal requires no further explanation; it is simply the bourgeois way.

The younger generations point out that ‘these girls aren’t cheap labour – they’re people.’ Sheila is not as influenced by class divides as her parents might be – a major contrast to her parents. She recognises Eva Smith and all the other factory workers as people with real needs, feelings and emotions. ‘they’re people’ she tells her father. She warmly empathises with Eva’s desperate situation and asserts it was a ‘rotten shame.’ Crucially, the Inspector agrees with her: ‘I’ve had that notion myself.’ Here, we become aware of the generational differences between Sheila and her father, as she starts to mirror the Inspector’s beliefs more so than the older, self-centred Birlings. This is evident throughout the play – she becomes more compassionate and accepting of responsibility as the play goes on. This is used by Priestley to show how the socialist values and thoughts that Sheila develops over the play can be thought by respectable middle class women. It also helps Priestley present the idea to the audience that socialism is more and more popular. The values of socialism that Sheila develops across the play are in great contrast to the values of Mr. Birling whom believes that the socialist ideals that stress the importance of community are ‘nonsense’ which contradicts the overall message of the paly and creating a character that the audience severely dislikes.

In Sheila’s speech explain why she asked for the shop assistant to be fired we see this phrase ‘Oh – why had this to happen’. From this we can see that the language used represents her emotional state – she is struggling for words and stuttering in getting her words out – whereas her father had no problem in verbally asserting his detachment from Eva’s death and reminding the Inspector of his social status. This again shows how the younger generations challenge the expectations of their social class – highlighting the generational gap.

The play is set before World War 1, in 1912. This period was drastically different to the one in which it was written, 1946, with the social classes being much farther apart. Sheila is shown as sarcastic and playful when she says ‘(with mock aggressiveness) Go on Gerald- just you object!’ This sentence implies that Sheila likes to joke around with Gerald, which was actually in contrast to how women were supposed to act in that period, showing early on that she is also quite rebellious and behaves in a way that is different to what is expected of her social class.

To conclude, the generational gap helps highlight to the audience how naive and foolish the older generations are. Priestley also shows how we can all change, through the characters of Eric and Sheila who learn to become socially responsible. He creates the characters of Mr and Mrs Birling to seem foolish and out of touch. The children and parents hold drastically different viewports on social responsibility by the end of the play.