Act 1

• (Sheila is a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited)


  -"pretty girl": the noun "girl" is significant as Priestley doesn't call her a lady indicating her childish and potentially immature attitude as well as through the verb "excited".

  -exhibits her beauty, youth and happiness.
• "Mummy"


  -makes Sheila seem immature, infantile and inferior to her parents.
• (rather distressed): 'Sorry! I can't help thinking about this girl- destroying herself so horribly... I've been so happy... What was she like? Quite young?...Pretty?'
• Sheila's emotional state

  • Heightened
  • Flustered
  • Distraught
• Eva's life

  Valuable/Precious
• The harsh alliterative phrase "destroying herself so horribly" reflects on Eva's situation
• "I've been so happy"


  Here we see Sheila feeling guilty as she was celebrating while Eva was suffering.
• "She(Eva) was a pretty girl..."


  Priestley aligns Sheila with Eva indicating that they are equal therefore embedding the theme of socialism.