sheila: women in aic - quotes + analysis

• what does sheila represent?

  - acts as bridge between conservative mrs birling and assertive eva smith

  - represents the new woman in terms of women's suffrage
• how is sheila presented at the start of the play?

  - naive, materialistic, spiteful; typical traits of female characters in literature

  - she is fascinated by clothes and jewellery (typical feminine trait) which suggests she is greedy and shallow
• "it's wonderful!"

  "mummy - isn't it a beauty?"

  "now i really feel engaged"

  - she is excited to an almost unbelievable extent by her engagement ring

  - "mummy" makes her seem childish which further reinforces the idea of her being a stereotypical naive girl of her class

  - priestley presents her to be obsessed with clothes & jewellery to show how women were taught to rely on these things for pleasure and self-expression; women were so restricted in their lives that they had to rely on material possessions
• how do sheila's interactions with gerald show her progress towards finding her own voice?

  - sheila has to repress her own feelings in order to appear respectable and conform to societal norms

  - she speaks with "mock aggressiveness" at the start and when interrogating gerald about last summer, she does it in a "half serious, half playful" manner
• "half serious, half playful"

  - suggests she is afraid of questioning the men

  - duality in "half" may also connote internal conflict due to her having to repress her assertive side because she is a woman

  - masks her true feelings so she remains likeable; people pleasing
• how do sheila's interactions with gerald change after the inspector's interrogation?

  - she is no longer restrained and no longer tolerates his lies
• "why - you fool - he knows. of course he knows"

  - she will no longer tolerate his lies

  - "fool" shows her assertive nature as women were meant to be polite in general and specifically to the men in their lives

  - challenges the dominance and intelligence of her fiance; goes against values of patriarchy
• "she looks at him almost in triumph. he looks crushed"

  - suggests the power in their relationship has shifted

  - sheila is facing the truth and feels liberated; she is stronger and more capable than those who are still trapped in their lies
• "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 come and see the girl he's supposed to be in love with"

  "supposed to be engaged to the hero"

  - sheila begins to challenge the systems she had previously obeyed

  - she refuses to be excused from a conversation when her family try to make her do so

  - priestley suggests she has recognised her own self-worth as she is holding gerald accountable for his actions rather than excusing him

  - sarcastic "hero" suggests a lack of respect from sheila to gerald as she now sees him for the pretender he is

  - repetition of "supposed to be" presents their engagement as a hollow myth (a story that has lost its meaning over time)
• "hands him the ring"

  - symbol for how she is rejecting his lies and control over her

  - sheila is now able to see through patriarchal inventions (e.g marriage) to see that they are tools to control women

  - these systems of inequality depend on the silence and compliance of the oppressed in order to survive
• how is sheila's character arc an allegory for women's suffrage?

  - her newly gained independence and sense of self show how the conventions and stereotypes surrounding gender can change with time

  - priestley hopes the turning point in sheila's character arc will be implemented in society as a turning point for the treatment of women in society

  - sheila and eric break away from their parents' beliefes which shows how traditions can be remodelled