Shelia characterisation

• Political tool of Priestley's

  she becomes Priestley's mouth piece through delivering the inspectors throughs and ideas therefore dramatically and structurally she is important
• Change throughout acts

  initially she doesn't want her engagement night to be spoiled but immediately shows compassion and sympathy towards Eva which means the audience shows warmth towards her. She understands the inspectors authority. In later acts she grows concern that her family has not taken the Inspectors advice and her language towards her family grows stronger
• What does Priestley use her to show

  hope
• How does Priestley show her immaturity

  Although Priestley supplies us with stage directions saying she is "in her early twenties', she refers to her parents as 'mummy' and 'daddy' an infantile, immature mode of address which is reciprocated by her parents by calling her 'child' and 'childish'
• Shelia's comments about the engagement ring and how she says 'I will never let it go out of my site' presents her as materialistic as does the comment by Eric that Shelia and Mrs Birling are taking about clothes as they retire to the drawing room in Act 1
• we see numerous examples were Priestley presents other characters treating Shelia as inferior. Early in act 1 'I've been trying long enough haven't I' to which Mrs Birling replies in her place. Later, Gerald asks for Shelia to leave the room while he is being interrogated it is clear early on that Shelia is not treated as an equal
• in 1912, women were seen inferior to men, Eric is more immature than Shelia but he isn't treated like a child as Shelia is. This behaviour reflects how women were seen to have an inferior role within a male dominated society. This attitude towards females can be argued as one of the causes of Eva Smith's death. Like Shelia, Eva is treated inferior due to her gender, however because she is middle class she is more protected than Eva
• Shelia demonstrates a dramatic shift in her personality. Her passivity has been replaced with a fiery indignation. Her demeanour changes to a girl who is no longer governed by her emotions but logic and reason
• Shelia is presented as a role model. She quickly learns the lesson of social responsibility
• The contrasts between Shelia and her parents can be interpreted as Priestley criticising the older generation and how they are set in their ways. You can see a shift of address by Shelia. She begins to address her parents as 'mother' and 'father' a symbol of how she has matured from the childlike act 1 address
• Shelia interrogates her family after the inspector leaves. she asks them questions showing how she has taken on the interrogating role of the inspector Priestley uses repetition to mirror the language of the inspector. This mirroring of language is Priestley's way of showing us how Shelia has not only learned the inspector's valuable lesson but as taken on the role of the inspector.
• Through is presentation of Shelia, Priestley encourages the audience to challenge conventional thinking and to question the behaviour of other and to question those who have power over us, even if that means rejecting those who are lose to us and rethinking our own world views