How Does Priestley Present the Change in Sheila During the Course of the Play ‘an Inspector Calls? How Do You Think This Change Reflects Some of Priestley's Ideas?

An Inspector Calls is a three-act drama, which takes place on a single night in 1912, and focuses on the Birling family, who live in a wealthy but not particulary homely house in Brumley. The story begins when the mysterious Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family. The idea of the play, and particularly the role of the inspector, is to try to bring the Birling family to understand that they have a moral responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, if not a legal one. In Act Three, the Inspector tells the Birling family: “The girl killed herself and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.” But who was really the

The inspector shows another side to Sheila’s character, her gentle side. Perhaps Sheila can be separated from the rest of the family because; she is the only one, apart from Eric who is able to accept responsibility for her actions. Also, when Gerald’s affair is revealed, Sheila is expected by her parents to forgive his behaviour and carry on as though nothing had happened. Sheila disagrees and returns her engagement ring. This shows how much Sheila changed from her old self.

How does JB Priestley present the older and younger generations differently throughout the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ (45 mins)

In the play An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses different characters to portray women. At the start of the play, Sheila is seen as fragile, materialistic and inferior to the men in her life, which is typically the view of higher-class women. This is followed by the perspective of lower class women having excellent morals yet being disposable, which is seen through Eva Smith’s character. This contradicts to Mrs Birling’s control on others and her strong social class views.

Priestley’s Main Aim in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ to enhance the message that ‘we don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’. This is something Priestly felt strongly about and he succeeded in representing his views through the character of the Inspector in the play itself.

An Inspector Calls is a play written in 1945 by J.B Priestly. It was set in 1912 where there were strong distinctions between the upper and lower classes. Therefore, to convey the socialist message, Priestly portrays characters from the upper class in an exposed manner. He definitely doesn’t hide any of their flaws. Gerald Croft is one of the main characters in the play that Priestly has done a great job at showing the thoughts of the upper class.

In An Inspector Calls the theme of gender inequality is explored comprehensively. In the play, most of the women are portrayed as feeble characters, unable to make decisions for themselves. Many people often think this of Sheila, who the men feel needs protecting from lots of things, like the information that a girl has committed suicide. The play was set in 1912 when the patriarchal society was the norm. So the women that were in the play would have been seen as possessions to their husband and therefore did not work or have careers. However it would have been accepted for women to participate in charity work as Mrs Birling was. Apart from that, women would have been simply seen as wives and mothers not workers and fighters. Women did not have the same rights as men most notably women did not even have the right to vote. The

First, Sheila shows laziness and no regard to help others. Throughout the story she is a slacker and does not like to do more than what she has to do. This is shown when Sheila gets on the boat and the boy starts paddling. “There was

By constructing the Inspector as just and omniscient, Priestley encourages the audience to view left-wing values as morally virtuous. Through the Inspector's authority, commanding presence and stature Priestley makes a direct jab at the audience with the Inspector's last

In the play 'An Inspector Calls', many contrasts and paradox's are present and at the centre of them all is the character known as Inspector Goole. However, the inspector is not any ordinary inspector. I believe that the inspector is used as a device by Priestley to explore the wider themes of the play and to depict other characters true personalities. This essay will explore some of the techniques Priestley presents the inspector in An Inspector Calls.

Gerald Croft plays a young, caring, polite man in the play, and he is engaged to Sheila Birling. He also contributed to death of Eva smith in a different way. Gerald’s personality was helpful to a certain extent. He knew Eva Smith as being named Daisy Renton. He saved her and let her

for putting on airs and that if we've any sense we wont try", and "And

This shows symbolism, Sheila is representing the young youth and women in general, she is taking a stand for all the lower class women who aren’t treated very well by the society, and this also comes back to JB Priestley’s message from this book that we’re all responsible for each other, and we all have to look out for each other.

Throughout the play An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley, it is clear that Priestley strongly believes in the importance of a caring society and the consequences of our actions. He presents these views on inequalities through the presentation of Sheila Birling. This is done in various different ways using numerous techniques.

The inspector right from the moment he is introduced is commanding of the situation and already has that authority he displays later on in the play. “at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”. As the play progresses the inspector continues to make this impression on the family by his interrogations and speeches. The inspector does this by keeping composed