This essay focuses on the character of Sheila in the play; her first impressions, gradual change and dichotomy with her parents. Providing detailed analysis with a variety of quotations, this essay was marked as a grade 9. Written for the eduqas exam board but can be adapted to any!
Introduction:
...
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this question.
You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole play to answer this question.
Write about the character of Sheila and the way she is presented in An Inspector Calls.
In your response you should:
refer to the extract and the play as a whole;
show your understanding of characters and events in the play.[40]
5 of this question’s marks are allocated for accuracy in spelling, punctuation and the use of
vocabulary and sentence structures
An Inspector Calls was written by J.B Priestley based in an Industrial city in
1912. Sheila Birling is the daughter of Arthur Birling, engaged to Gerald Croft and
initially presented as materialistic and shallow, engaged to Gerald Croft.
However as the play progresses, her character develops, becoming more
sympathetic and compassionate towards the working class. The audience begin
to see her strong social conscience and intelligence, as she rejects her parent’s
and fiancée’s capitalist way of life.
In the stage directions, Sheila is described as a ‘pretty girl in her early
twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited’. This demonstrates Sheila’s
materialistic views on life, the adjective ‘pretty’ highlighting how she is perhaps
quite a shallow person and cares more about outward appearances- a flaw that
the audience witness later on in the play when Sheila explains her role in Eva
Smith’s death. Priestley also describes using the common noun ‘girl’ despite the
fact she is in her twenties, perhaps to illustrate the point that she is immature
and has a lot to learn about the world – further connotations suggesting she is
quite dependent and easily influenced. Sheila is also portrayed to be very
content, fulfilled and ‘pleased with life’. The verb ‘pleased’ indicates how she has
everything she wants, and does not have to worry about anything financially or
socially; her life presented as the common example of a girl her age.
At the beginning of the play, Sheila seems concerned and dubious about
her fiancée, Gerald Croft’s behaviour. She remarks, ‘(half serious, half playful)
Yes – except for all last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered
what had happened to you.’ The description ‘half serious, half playful’ could be
used by Priestley to portray more of her character, implying she may seems
childish, but is also ‘serious’ and has the ability to understand things serious
moral issues, perhaps not as naive as she first seems. Sheila then refuses to
accept her mother’s view that she should get used to Gerald’s absences: ‘I don’t
believe I will’. The verb ‘believe’ alludes to Sheila’s more assertive
characteristics, and that she does not want a relationship like her mother and
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