Sheila Birling - Act 2 Flashcards
(4 cards)
Priestley portrays Sheila as someone who is still…
• Priestley portrays Sheila as someone who is still evolving, as seen through ”but I can’t believe - i wont believe - its simply my fault that in the end she - she committed suicide. That would be too horrible” This portrays Sheila’s emotional resistance to accepting all responsibility for Eva Smith’s death. While she has began to change and accept her wrongdoings, this moment shows the difficulty of confronting the real-life consequences of ones actions.
• Her reaction humanises her, making her more relatable to the audience and reinforcing the idea that change is a choice and it is part of a process. Despite her denial here, this moment is an important step on her journey towards full accountability.
Sheila says to the inspector…
• Sheila says to the inspector ”I don’t understand about you.” This expresses her unease and recognition that there is something unusual about him. While the line is simple, it is significant as Sheila is the first character to sense that the Inspector represents something more than just authority – possible a supernatural presence.
• Priestley uses this moment to show Sheila’s growing awareness and her newly developed openness to questioning things. She becomes more thoughtful and self-aware, unlike the other character in the play.
Sheila’s warning to her family…
• Sheila’s warning to her family, ”You musn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do, then the inspector will just break it down. And it’ll be all the worse when he does”, conveys her deepening understanding of the Inspector’s purpose. The metaphorical ‘wall” represents the emotional and social barriers the upper class builds to protect itself from the realities of the working-class suffering. Sheila recognises that trying to maintain those divisions will only lead to harsher consequences. Priestley uses Sheila to encourage the audience to empathise with others rather than isolate themselves from responsibility.
Sheilas perceptiveness, “no, he’s…
• Sheila’s perceptiveness, “No, he’s giving us the rope - so that we’ll hang ourselves”, reveals how much more attuned she is to the Inspector’s strategy than the older generation. The metaphor of the “rope” implies that the Inspector isn’t directly accusing them – he’s allowing them to expose their own guilt. The phrase also carries a sense of justice: they are being given the chance to condemn themselves with their own words. This moment marks a turning point in Sheila’s understanding of accountability.
• Priestley uses her awareness to highlight the generational divide: the younger generation is willing to accept blame and learn from it, whereas the older generation clings to denial.
