Sheila as the Only Charater Who Knows What the Inspector is Doing
Notes:
Sheila pg 27 "you see...(…)… tell you?"
pg 28 "be careful"
pg 29 "I don't understand bout you"
pg 29 "no mother please"
Ms Birling pg 29 "I'm mrs Birling"
pg 30 "we all started like that"
pg 30 "mother please don't"
pg 30 "you mustn't try"
pg 33 "no he's giving us the rope"
pg 37 "somehow he makes you"
Birling pg 37 "I must protest"
Mrs Birling pg 41 "No. Why should I?"
Mrs Birling pg 43 "I'm very sorry"
pg 48 "mother stop"
In the play Inspector Calls the inspector's actions change only mildly
throughout the three existent acts. In act 2, the act in question, it
becomes evident that Sheila has successfully caught onto the
Inspectors mentality and "methods of inquiry" as he so calls it, and
thus realises how the Inspector Goole is capable of obtaining all the
information. The first sign that shows somewhat indirectly that she
has understood the inspectors ways is right at the start of the act
where she says "You see? What did I tell you?"(pg 27) laughing
hysterically showing that she already expected this to happen. She
says this to Gerald since he believed that he could "escape" the
inspector's questioning by denying all statements regarding Daisy
Renton. She also demonstrates a found knowledge of the inspectors
approach to the inquiry by assertively saying to her mother not to
proceed, (pg 29) "No, Mother - please!". This was said in response to
Mrs. Birling's self introduction to the inspector where she started
confidently (the same way the others had, a point mentioned by Sheila
[pg 30]) saying ...
... middle of paper ...
...ght existent in the Human Rights.
Therefore I can conclude that Sheila shows more guilt, remorse,
compassion and sorrow towards the girl Eva Smith than any other
character, and it is these feelings that gain her the compassion of
the Inspector. At the same time, it could almost be said that they
have a sort of link between each other, for the same way he
understands her to an extent, she understands his ways of inquiry and
the reasons behind these, and tries desperately to alert her family to
this to avoid them digging themselves a deeper hole, however they
simply don't choose to listen. There is clear evidence present in the
text in Act 2 to support my statements regarding Sheila and her views
of the inspector, and despite the fact that only a mere few were
mentioned, she repeats the idea behind these various times.
When the Inspector reminds her of a pregnant girl request for help she turned away from a charity organisation she was the Chair of. She also argued that the girl was lying about the father of the child who had stolen money to try to support her which she refused. Mrs Birling then suggests that the father of the child should be made to pay. Meanwhile, Eric has been out and re-enters the house to see suspenseful faces, the reader at this point expect Eric to be the father.
Priestley shows that the tension is within Birling’s family in many ways. He has created the setting of the play in Birling’s dining room where all the traumatic situations occur, it’s also where they hear unpleasant news from Inspector’s arrival. This setting also makes it seem claustrophobic where the audience are controlled by Inspector’s enquiry which heightens the tension of the play between the exit and entrance in the play. An Inspector Calls starts off calmly with ‘pink and intimate’ lighting which once after Inspector’s arrival the atmosphere becomes ‘brighter and harder’. Priestley here is showing us the warning of the forthcoming quandaries. This could also mean the calmness will no longer last as the play goes on just as how Mr. Birling’s optimism is short-sighted.
As the play was meant to be produced on stage, rather than to be written as a book format, 'An Inspector Calls' is very dramatic; to capture the audiences' attention, and to keep them thinking as the play develops. Each of the three acts are very dramatic, but I am choosing to analyse the first half of Act One of 'An Inspector Calls', because in my opinion, this is where J.B. Priestley's use of dramatic devices is most evident. This part of the play is very important, because it is the opening scene. Not only must the opening scene of the play grab the audiences' attention, it must also give impressions and introductions to the main characters. J.B. Priestley has used the scene to capture the audiences' attention and imagination, and gives a good introduction to the characters and their personality.
Do you agree that Eva Smith is presented as a victim in the play ‘An
The play is set in the house of the Birling family. As soon as the
...y guilty and sympathetic for what she has done, whereas Mr and Mrs Birling couldn?t care less and remain unsympathetic throughout. The way Mr and Mrs Birling don?t care makes the play interesting for the audience, as they are waiting for them to crack, the Inspector also helps maintain the audiences concentration by the way he slowly unravels the story and the way he interrogates people in the order that they met the girl.
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
is a very rich person. He has a prosperous business but is shown to be
The Inspector, straight form his introduction, is commanding and authoritative. Upon his entrance he creates, “…at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.”(PG.11) The Inspector continues to create this impression as he progresses through his speeches and through his interrogation of the family. The Inspector remains confident, sturdy and composed, while people around him crumble and fall to pieces. His ‘solidity’ is proven by the fact he remains on task despite numerous attempts from Birling to digress from the points he is making. The Inspector is told to appear ‘purposeful’; this is shown where he explains to Birling that Birlings way of thinking “Every man must only look out for himself,” is not the case, and all warps of society are interlinked. The view is best illustrated in the Inspectors final speech, where he says, “We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”(p.56). This idea is one that Priestley, himself believed in deeply, and many of Priestleys writing shared this very theme.
All the characters start off in a lulled sense of security. Sheila begins very pleased with her life and with her fiancé Gerald Croft, as one might who is getting married. Gerald is introduced as the well-bred upper-class man about town. Eric, Sheila’s brother starts off shy and progresses through the play, as does Sheila.
Sheila Birling is another character in ?An Inspector Calls? who also points this out during the play, ?You fool- he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don?t know yet. You?ll see. You?ll see.?
He interrogates each individual with a different tone of voice with his impression of masivness , and his purposefulness gives a feeling of power wich intimidates Sheila . Inspector Goole makes her feel
Mrs. Rogers was a part of a crime that was hard to be proven; however, she knew that she had done something wrong and was guilty. After a gramophone played stating their crimes, Mr. Rogers tried to maintain he and his wife's innocence by explaining, '"She was always in poor health, sir, always from the time we came to her,"' Blore, however, questioned the crime, '"Came into a little something at her death, though? Eh?"' (69). Blore's question shows a motive for the murder, making the Rogers seem more guilty and explaining the reason Mrs. Rogers acts the way she does.
On overall, Priestley has presented the two characters, Arthur and Sheila Birling as completely differently. He wanted to match the story to the historical context of the 1910’s, but he has done this differently with Sheila. This is because the play was written in 1946 and the world had two wars and has started to comprehend the strength of community. She is the young generation of the 1910’s this means in a few years down the line, a war is going to break out and if they keep making the same mistake over and over again, it’s not going to turn out any better, by this, we see what happens in the second world war. This is why Sheila has been presented so that she understands consequences of what might happen if we don’t pull ourselves together.
but she seems to be a person who would only marry for love and not for