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How Does Sheila Change Throughout The Play

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How does Priestley use Sheila’s change throughout the play to present his ideas?

Priestley uses Sheila as a vessel for Priestley’s socialists view as a way to talk about how he really feels about society in 1912 in which the play was set. Moreover, Priestley uses Sheila to talk about how the younger generation can change the society and are able to change the future so that people can see each other as equal and to be united. Priestley also uses Sheila to show that woman also have a voice in speech as before they were silenced.

In the beginning of the play, Priestley presents Sheila Birling as an immature , jealous and superficial character as she refers to her parents as “mummy/daddy”. These words can be seen as words a child would say which shows her immaturity and that she is childish. Moreover, this could potentially show that she is spoilt as she refers to call them in that manner and that they would take care of all of her needs and wants. Priestley then talks about how in the shop (Milwards), Sheila Birling gets jealous of the worker called Eva Smith because of how pretty and beautiful she is. Priestley here perhaps could show that the upper class are privileged and concerned of petty things. This therefore affected Eva …show more content…

Priestley perhaps wants to show that Sheila is now starting to acknowledge how the lower class are being treated and she now has sympathy for them as in the 1912, upper class people were seen as more superior than lower class people and that lower class people shouldn’t be cared off. Priestley has now shown Sheila’s change as she now has socialist views and no longer capitalist

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