Analysis of quotes - Sheila Flashcards
(6 cards)
‘But these girls aren’t cheap labour - they’re people.’
Sheila shows an understanding for the working classes and recognises they have rights.
Foreshadows her dramatic and rapid change in attitude by the end of the play.
Image of ‘cheap labour’ dehumanises the worker, they are merely machines for industrialists like Birling to make money from.
Use of of determiner ‘these’ shows that Sheila feels distanced/separated from such women. This emphasises the class divide in Edwardian society.
Noun ‘girls’ implies that such women are as having low status and no rights, like a child.
‘If she’d been some miserable plain little creature, I don’t suppose I’d have done it’
Sheila wants to rid herself of guilt so almost blames Eva for being too attractive, trying to justify her treatment of the shop assistant.
Sheila is presented as immature and jealous
Noun ‘creature’ has animalistic connotations - Sheila sees Eva as beneath her, echoed in Act Three when the Inspector accuses Eric of treating the woman as an ‘animal’
Adjectives ‘miserable plain little’ are the characteristics that the Birlings assume all working class people share. They should be vulnerable and easy to manipulate.
‘You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl.’
Shows that Sheila is growing in social awareness.
Criticises her parents for distancing themselves from Eva Smith, recognising that the upper and working classes are connected, and that denying this is dangerous and irresponsible.
Priestley uses this to reflect his message of social responsibility and class equality.
‘He’s giving us the rope - so that we’ll hang ourselves.’
Sheila understands the Inspector’s method before the others.
She realises he is letting them reveal their own guilt step by step.
This shows her increasing maturity, insight and self-awareness, contrasting her parents’ ignorance
‘I behaved badly too. I know I did. I’m ashamed of it.’
Shows Sheila’s full acceptance of responsibility.
She expresses genuine remorse unlike her parents, who try to forget everything once they believe the Inspector wasn’t real.
Priestley uses her to show that true change comes from self-awareness and accountability.
‘It frightens me the way you talk.’
Sheila is disturbed by how easily her parents dismiss the evening’s events.
This shows her emotional and moral growth, and her detachment from their outdated lives.
Priestley uses her to represent the hopeful, socially responsible younger generation.
