Key quotes- Sheila Birling Flashcards
“Half serious, half playful”
introduced with adjs that juxtapose- could undermine her relationship with Gerald or “serious” as being around her parents/capitalists unsettles her
“Very pleased with life” SD Act 1
adverb “Very” modifies her ignorance- forgotten she got Eva fired.
“now i feel really engaged”
“you’re pretending everything is just as it was before”
adverb “now”, ring= new feelings
juxtaposition of “really” and “pretending”, her idealistic world is colliding with real one.
“they’re not cheap labour, they’re people!”
exclamatory sentence + “they’re” to show she’s still detaching herself from Eva Smith and has not fully comprehended her actions. Proleptic irony- hides her support in her subconscious under the guise of the pressures from Mr./Mrs. B.
“If she were some miserable plain little creature, I don’t suppose I would’ve done it”
Envy- 7 deadly sins. Dehumanizes, just like Gerald and Eric, her “creature”
“Mother, Stop it!”
goes from being colloquial “mummy” to using standard English. Contrasts with her mother, understands situation before everyone else (socialism vs. capitalism)
“I remember how he looked and how made me feel. Fire, blood and anguish”
Mirrors inspector, now shares his beliefs and aligns herself with him. Full socialist now.
“its anything but a joke”
contrasts Mr. B’s reaction “we’ve all been had”. understands the seriousness, unlike Mr.B who’s just glad he wasn’t caught.
“impressionable”
younger generation can be influenced easily to do the right thing+ shaila says it doesnt matter if he was real or not. morality play.
