Sheila

• Quote for social responsibility 


  'I know I'm to blame and I'm deeply sorry'
• Quote for gender 


  ' Look mummy, isn't it a beauty'
• Quote for class 


  'Destroying herself so horribly, and I've been enjoying myself tonight'
• Quote for generation/age 


  'But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people'
• General quote 


  b
• 'Look mummy isnt it a beauty' analysis

  • 'mummy' connotes emotional immaturity and shows she is sheltered from the real world
  • Simplistic language reflects disenfranchisement and oppression of women as in act 1, Sheila is constantly sheltered and silenced
  • Priestley is critiquing the lack of equality between men and women in the Edwardian era
  • Her mesmirisation from the 'beauty' of the ring shows how shallow women where percieved to be in 1912 and they where objectified to only be valued for their looks
• 'But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people' analysis

  • Declarative tone - Sheila is gaining confidence and developing her own views
  • begins to see the importance of treating all people with dignity and respect, regardless of their social class
  • This perspective contrasts Birling's attitudes as he views Eva as disposable and as a capitalist, he values profit more than people
  • Priestley uses this contrast to emphasize the potential for positive change through the younger generation, who are more likely to challenge outdated social norms and values.
• 'I know I'm to blame and I'm desperatly sorry' analysis

  • growing awareness of the importance of taking responsibility for her actions
  • She is the first out of everyone to accept her mistake - younger generation is quicker to change
  • “I know I’m to blame” reflects her ability to recognize her moral responsibility without trying to deflect or minimize it
  • Starkly contrasts with her parents who continuously deny taking any social responsibility
  • Sheila acts as a mouthpiece to share Priestley's socialist attitudes and encourages the audience to reflect on their personal attitudes
• 'Destroying herself so horribly - and I've been enjoying myself tonight' Analysis

  • Sheila has a growing awareness of the social class divide
  • illustrating how the upper class often remains oblivious to the struggles of those in lower social strata until confronted with the harsh reality
  • Preistley uses shiela's emotional reaction to critique a society where class determines treatment and opportunity
• 'I suppose were all nice people now'

  • Use of satire - Sheila's sarcastic tone reflects Priestley's use of satire to critique the remorseless attitudes of the bourgeois class. By presenting the Birling's capitalist behaviour as absrud, Priestley critiques capitalist values and their dehumanising effect on the proletariat class
  • Use of ambiguity - Sheila's comment is rich in ambiguity as it can be interpreted as a direct critique of her family, but also an expression of her own moral growth and her metamorphisis of adapting a more socialist view points
• 'I'll never, never do it again to anybody... I can never go there again'

  • Repetition of 'never' amplifies Shiela's emotional transformation and her deep sense of regret but also the gaining of her moral awareness. Preistley uses this as a dramatic vehicle to critique the exploitative nature of the bourgeois who dehuminise the proletariat class.
  • This moment is emblematic of Sheila's development from naivity to becoming disillusioned with capitalism, mirroring how society in 1945 began to reject irresponsible capitalist notions
  • Priestly uses a fragmented scentence strucure to reflect her inner turmoil and her inability to understand her guilt
  • She is struggling to absolve herslef, showing her progression towards moral maturity