Discuss the way in which Sheila changes throughout the play
The Birlings are a middle Edwardian class family. The play is set in
1912, in the house of the Birling family in the North Midlands. At
that time a woman's role was considered inferior to the men's as it
was always presumed that the man was the head of the house. Women were
also not thought of as being able to take part in serious
conversations, and that they needed to be protected.
At the beginning of the play, Sheila is described as young,
attractive, girly and naïve. Also she has just become engaged. This is
made known through the stage directions and how she reacts to certain
situations.
At the start of the play, Sheila shows her character by being very
girly in her contributions to the conversation. As the stage
directions say 'Sheila is still admiring her ring' and not listening
to her father's speech. This shows that she is self-centred and is
enjoying the attention that the engagement is bringing her. Also she
refers to her parents as "Mummy" and "Daddy" at the beginning of the
play, emphasizing her dependency on her family. The arrival of the
Inspector seems to be the beginning of the change in Sheila. When
Sheila says 'except for all last summer, when you never came near me'.
She does not question Gerald further on the subject though she knew
where he was. She does not question him further about it because the
earlier, girly side of Sheila's character would not be able to cope
with the truth. Though she knows that he has not been 'awfully busy at
the works', where he said he has been, but having an affair.
When Sheila first finds out about the girl's suicide she is genuinely
upset and shows her sensitive side in her reaction, 'I...
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...nd of the play she is unable to accept her parents attitude
and is both amazed and concerned that they haven't learned anything
from the events of the evening as she sarcastically says 'So nothing
really happened. So there's nothing to be sorry for, nothing to learn.
We can all go on behaving just as we did.' By this she means that she
does not really understand how she could have learnt more in a few
hours than her parents have in their lifetime.
In the play, Priestley is trying to show that there is a change in the
younger generation. He portrays this by the characters of Sheila and
Eric taking responsibility for their part in the death of Eva Smith
and the fact that her parents haven't learned anything from the events
of that night. He is trying to show that people should take
responsibility and care for each other, as in the idea of a big
community.
Hale’s radical change takes place throughout the play in three stages and throughout the play contributes greatly. He is the model by which the townspeople follow, though they are behind him they do eventually take his stance on the trials. His conformity and inward questioning are quintessential examples of what every story needs: the unsure character.
In order to encourage the audience to apply their critical faculties, Priestley makes them feel superior to Birling.He thoroughly discredits and degrades Birling, and through him, the right wing philosophy. This tells us very early on that Priestley uses Birling as a diametric mouthpiece to voice his left-wing opinions and that the play is completely biased to the socialist perspective. The theatricality of the dramatic irony Priestley uses makes the audience think outside the proscenium arch, about the world and their relationships to it. This is all part of the non-illusory experience.
Priestley mainly uses the characters in the play to present his views, especially Mr and Mrs Birling, to present his ideas about class and society. In the Birling family, Mrs Birling is the most upper class, and is always referring to the lower class female factory workers such as Eva Smith as ‘girls of that class’. She seems to think that working class people are not humans at all.
On overall, Priestley has presented the two characters, Arthur and Sheila Birling as completely differently. He wanted to match the story to the historical context of the 1910’s, but he has done this differently with Sheila. This is because the play was written in 1946 and the world had two wars and has started to comprehend the strength of community. She is the young generation of the 1910’s this means in a few years down the line, a war is going to break out and if they keep making the same mistake over and over again, it’s not going to turn out any better, by this, we see what happens in the second world war. This is why Sheila has been presented so that she understands consequences of what might happen if we don’t pull ourselves together.
The Dramatic Techniques J.B. Priestley Used to Create and Develop Tension in Act one of An Inspector Calls
Lady Macbeth is an extremely ambitious woman and wants more than anything for her husband, Macbeth, to be the next King of Scotland. When King Duncan announces that his son, Malcolm, is to be the next King, Duncan’s murder is planned. Lady Macbeth’s crucial role in the play is to persuade Macbeth to carry out the murder of Duncan. In the beginning she is ambitious, controlling and strong. However as the plot concludes there is an extreme change in her character and personality which surprises the audience. Lady Macbeth’s guilt eventually becomes too much for her to handle which leads to her death.
Priestley's Use of Characters to Send a Political and Social Message to the Audience in An Inspector Calls
The history of the time the play was written helps us to understand the views and the feelings expressed by Priestley in the play. The inspector transfers Priestley’s views and he shows the difference in social classes at the time. A gap which he wants to diminish. He illustrates the reason for this in the play, via the inspector, where he outlines the ways each of the Birlings have influenced someone from a completely different background and social class. This is the way Priestley viewed pre-war England.
JB Priestley uses dramatic devices to make An inspector calls a modern day morality play, to do this he uses dramatic devices, such as dramatic irony and tension in order to convey the message through the entire play. They are used accurately considering the time in which the play is set. Priestley also uses the characters as dramatic devices, they symbolise the dramatic devices, an example of this is Priestley makes us hate Mr. Birling because he symbolises capitalism, and in Priestley’s eyes capitalism is wrong. Throughout the pl...
changing attitudes toward life and the other characters in the play, particularly the women; and his reflection on the
To metamorphose ones character through years of experience and age is salutary. To deteriorate ones character through a short period of fast decisions and unsure actions is perilous. Lady Macbeth proves the truth to this theory. The impulsive mistakes and power-hungry tactics littered the journey Lady MacBeth paves throughout this play that ultimately ends in her death. She feels overwhelmed by all that is happening, both physically and mentally, and decides to end her own life.
... how he appears rather imposing shows again how Priestley pushes his views through the character of the inspector onto the Inspector. This defiance of the social system is again proved by his unfailing ability to dodge questions with answers like “quite so” and “We’ll see”. This further makes the character more mysterious and creates a greater sense of control.
Throughout the play Macbeth, characters start to emerge as dark and cruel. The author William Shakespeare writes about a strong and ambitiously powerful woman named Lady Macbeth. In the play, Lady Macbeth’s character shares with the audience that she believes her husband is not man enough to excel in completing the prophecy that the three witches have given to him. As a women, she makes sure to tell us that just because she is a women that you can be strong and independent. Although it may seem that Lady Macbeth has a tough exterior, she does proceed to have a conscience that causes her problems that comes to display later in the play.
Lady Macbeth's character is first formed in Act I scene v, the scene opens with her reading a letter from her husband, its content is full of thoughts and tellings of the meeting with the witches earlier that day. Lady Macbeth begins by talking about how her husband now has a goal and addresses his personality. Understandably she would like this prophecy to transpire and there is no question that she would be willing to help him gain the title of king. Lady Macbeth comes to the conclusion that to become king Macbeth must kill Duncan.
In the play it can be seen that there are various ways in which the