Sheila Birling: Key Quotations

• “It's just that I can't help thinking about this girl — destroying herself so horribly — and I’ve been so happy tonight. Oh I wish you hadn't told me” - Sheila Birling, Act 1 
• What the quotation means: Sheila expresses horror at Eva’s death, yet wishes the terrible news had not ruined her happy night. Theme: Responsibility
• • To begin, Priestley portrays Sheila as self-absorbed:
  • Her wish to be ignorant of tragic news portrays her as immature and selfish
• • However, Sheila is presented as a naive young girl who is not used to challenges:
  • Here, she expresses her shock
  • She conveys empathy through the emotive “destroyed” and “so horribly”
  • Priestley conveys how she has been protected from the evils of the world
• “So that's what you think I'm like. I'm glad I realised it in time, Gerald” 

  • Sheila Birling, Act 2
• What the quotation means: Gerald suggests that Sheila wants to hear the Inspector humiliate someone else, and she replies that she is glad she knows his real opinion, implying this may change their relationship. Theme: Gender
• • Priestley uses Sheila and Gerald’s relationship to illustrate gender imbalances:
  • The implication of Sheila’s words is that they do not know each other well
  • This alludes to their marriage as a business contract
  • Priestley highlights this earlier when Arthur describes how the marriage will bond the rival businesses
• • Her reply foreshadows the end of their relationship (she refuses the ring at the end):
  • Priestley presents Sheila as less compliant than her mother
  • Nevertheless, her future, alone and without support, is uncertain
• “The point is, you don't seem to have learnt anything.” 

  • Sheila Birling, Act 3
• What the quotation means: Sheila is disturbed that her parents have learned nothing from the Inspector’s visit
• Theme: Generational divide
• • Priestley presents a distinct difference between the Birling parents and children:
  • Eric is cynically aware of his parents’ weaknesses from the start
  • Sheila undergoes a transformation and starts to challenge her parents
• • Here, she is frustrated that her parents have chosen to deny all personal responsibility:
  • Sheila’s disappointment lies in their inability to learn, one of Priestley’s main critiques