Sheila Birling Character Analysis
This is the third in our series of articles on the themes of the play, ‘An Inspector Calls’ and the two, the first two articles can be read by clicking on here.
To read the articles on the themes you can click on each of the links below:
1. ‘An Inspector Calls’, themes, part 1: Themes
Sheila Birling, a character analysis.
The role/function of Sheila Birling’s character in the play.
In the previous two articles on Mr and Mrs Birling we have looked at what J.B. Priestley the writer of ‘An Inspector Calls’ might be trying to do by creating those two characters. We will also do the same with Sheila.
- Sheila (and her brother) represent the new generation in contrast to the old conservative and at times cruel Britain of the past. A new Britain that might emerge with this new generation that would be more compassionate and produce change.
- She is not a political person or that intelligent or intellectual, she may not be able to criticize raw capitalism but as a very ordinary person she knows we should all help each other. Articulated in another way she believes in social responsiblity and thus society as a collective whole, one unit rather than just separate entities.
- She represents compassion in contrast to her very cold mother.
- She is one of the three main female characters in the play alongside her mother and Eva Smith whom we never meet. She is of the same blood as her mother, but of a similar age and Eva and is intermediate between these two in terms of her life experience and personality. Whilst she has been raised in a rich family she is less conservative than her mother and age wise more like Eva, whom she in the play believed caused to be sacked by complaining about her.
Sheila unlike her parents has a more human attitude towards hearing about Eva’s death from the inspector. Rather than thinking about the preservation of all the money her family has made or their status or reputation in society, she thinks about Eva herself and feels a sense of immense guilt.
She is in her early twenties and is about to get married to Gerald Croft. Whereas her mother is a product of the Edwardian era, Sheila would have been partially a product of the Edwardian era i.e. her childhood, but also the post-WW1 era as she would have been affected by the death of Eva and this would have changed her personality and her outlook on life.
Sheila represents a common humanity and a common feeling of sorrow at people’s misfortune that transcends mere love for money or class division and goes beyond that and can unite the rich and working class.
Sheila’s growth during the play.
Sheila is engaged to Gerald Croft the son of a wealthy family. They were to get married and then no doubt have a family. The values that Sheila might have gone on to teach her children might have been quite different from the values that her parents held especially in terms of attitudes to poorer people in society.
Sheila experiences growth during the play and is devastated by hearing about Eva’s death. We see this in the quote:
““Sorry! Its just that I can’t help thinking about this girl – destroying herself so horribly – And I’ve been so happy tonight. Oh I wish you hadn’t told me. What was she like?…pretty?” (Act 1)
We can see that Sheila when she thinks of Eva doesn’t think of a member of the ‘working class’ or a employee to be used to make money, but as a human being and wonders what she is like and if she is ‘pretty’. She knows Eva is a human being. This is reinforced by another quote of Sheila’s.
““But these girls arn’t cheap labour – they’re people” (Act 1)
Sheila is emphasising the humanity of the working class above their use for making money. Their humanity should be placed above that of their role in the capitalist system.
Sheila unlike her parents accepts blame for her part in the death of Eva Smith.
“I know I’m to blame and I’m desperately sorry” (Act 2).
For students wishing to get a higher grade in their GCSE exams, one useful word is ‘culpability’. Culpable means to be at fault for something happening, for deserving blame and ‘culpability’ is the noun, so we could write ‘Sheila accepts a share of the culpability for Eva’s death‘.
Sheila also says:
‘And if I could help her now, I would’ (Act 1)
Another quote which demonstrates her feeling of great remorse and guilt, sadness at how things turned out for Eva.
Sheila generally seems to be a not too serious person but even she lashes out at her mother and says to her:
“‘Mother, I think that was cruel and vile’ (Act 2)
This is prompted by hearing about her Mother’s behaviour towards Eva i.e. denying Eva money when she (Eva) went to a local charity for help. This angry remark is representative of an inter-generational difference or conflict. We can see it in the play and there may have been a strong one during Priestley’s own era in the 1940s when he wrote this play.
Though Sheila is angry with her mother and finds out the Gerald had had an affair with Eva in the end she says to him:
“I don’t dislike you as I did half an hour ago, Gerald. In fact, in some odd way, I rather respect you more than I’ve ever done before. I knew anyhow you were lying about those months last year when you hardly came near me. I knew there was something fishy about that time.And now at least you’ve been honest. And I believe what you told us about the way you helped her at first. Just out of pity. And it was my fault really that she was so desperate when you first met her. But this has made a difference. You and I aren’t the same people who sat down to dinner here. We’d have to start all over again, getting to know each other.”
Sheila can not be overly critical of Gerald when she herself feels she is partly to blame for the death of another human being.
If anything part of her is pleased that the relative cloud of mystery that was shrouding Gerald’s behaviour has been dispelled. She now knows what it was and confirms her suspicions that something ‘fishy’ (not right, dubious) was going on at the time. She appreciates his pity and help for Eva in contrast to her own mother’s ‘cruel and vile’ behaviour.
In this quote she is also referring to the great mental impact of finding out about this event will have on her and Gerald. They will never be the same people again. One question is that, is Priestley himself trying to say the same about his audience who will never be the same again after watching this play, after discovering that the unfair and cruel way early 20th century Britain operated could lead to a horrific tragedy such as Eva Smith’s suicide?
Sheila has changed. People can change and as lots of people change so can society as a whole.
In contrast to the relative cruelty and indifference of her parents particularly her mother Sheila represents hope of change. Hope of people feeling appalled by the suffering of the poor. She represents the conscience of the Birling family alongside her brother Eric.
Here are some more useful words when speaking about Mr Birling, some mentioned above.
Useful vocabulary for GCSE students in essays and exam questions.
- Inter-generational – between two different generations. The Birling parents are different to their two children and there are ‘inter-generational’ differences between the parents and the children.
- Remorse – A feeling of strong sadness and guilt of doing something wrong. Sheila clearly has it over the death of Eva.
- Apolitical – To be not interested in politics or even to stay away from it. Sheila is not a political activist but just a normal person and on a very individual human level feels what happened to Eva was wrong.
- Culpability – To have blame or responsibility for a negative action or incident. Sheila feels she has some culpability for Eva’s death.
- Introspection – To look within yourself, often in the context of looking at what you have done wrong. The adjective is introspective. ‘It could be said that Eva’s death and Sheila’s role in it will start a process of introspection’ i.e. Sheila will start to look at herself and how she can change.
- Parental – The adjective of ‘parent’. Sheila may have lost interest in parental approval when she called her mother’s behaviour ‘cruel’.
Tell us what you think about Sheila in the comments section below and if you have any questions!
Hey there, a nice and interesting read which makes you think about some of the issues in the play. Yes, I would agree with you that Sheila represents hope for the future and is less fixed in her ways than her parents. Why would you say that is? Is it just a natural thing as she’s younger or were there things happening in British society at that time that made her a bit different to her mother?
That is an interesting question.
We can only speculate but it would be more likely that it was more of a tendency amongst the younger generation to be more receptive to change than their parents. The first world had not happened at the time the play is set 1912, and the first world war did have a significant impact on women in Britain as that was the first time they left their domestic roles in the house to work outside in factories and elsewhere. That taste of employment outside the house may have left a desire amongst some to continue working.
But all of the younger people in the play be they Sheila, Eric or Gerald are much more open-minded and sympathetic than the elder Birlings. Priestley saw in the younger generation hope for change and indeed historically he was kind of correct as the 1940s saw the creation of the welfare state and the foundation of the NHS (National Health Service), free health care for all.