Sheila\'s Character Development in An Inspector Calls Essay

How does JB Priestley develop Sheilas character during the course of the play?JB Priestleys, An Inspector Calls, is a socially dramatic play, which was first produced in 1946, when British society was undergoing massive changes. The play is set in Brumley, 1912, in the Birlings lavish dining room and revolves around the mysteries of the death of a girl called Eva Smith, and how these connect to the Birlings. The playwright deals with the themes of responsibility and compassion, and it stances on the complex issues of honesty and lying. Throughout the playwright, Priestley uses a range of literary techniques such as precise punctuation, word choice and dramatic irony to augment the effect the text has. Moreover, he uses Sheilas (the character) progression from a thoughtless girl to a responsible, self-aware woman, to inculcate the main theme of responsibility and its consequences within the play. Firstly, Sheilas character progresses positively as she grows closer to her brother. Evidence for this is provided in the following quote Dont be an ass, Eric. In this quote, the use of the word ass means idiot, and it portrays Sheila as a cold, harsh person when it comes to her brother, who is portrayed as a goofy, idiotic man. The quote represents what the author intended to do create a family rivalry amongst the siblings, which Priestley uses to convey the themes of family and compassion within the play. He does this since creating a fight amongst siblings makes the audience believe that they werent very close and makes him feel sorry for them, thus making him believe that they did not feel empathy for each other, therefore conveying compassion and family. The use of the word ass and the use of vulgarism, emphasizes this, since it shows us the vulgarity between the way they collougued each other, therefore conveying lack of empathy and love, and thus adding depth to the themes of family and empathy. ...

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