An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

(b) Sheila represents the younger generation that Priestley hops is still open-minded enough to learn to accept responsibilities for others. Describe Sheila.

Sheila, being a member of the younger generation in an upper-middle class hierarchy, is initially naïve and spoilt. We see her spite and malice when she had Eva Smith fired for humiliating her by looking pretty. The Inspector observes that she was “jealous of her.”
However, she is open-minded and not truly conservative. I n one instance, she tells Eric, “You’re squiffy” which was considered unladylike in 1912, for “squiffy” is a slang for “slightly drunk.” Furthermore, she affectionately kisses Gerald in a state of excited elation upon receiving a ring from him. In those days, girls were expected to be modest, virtuous and constrained. “Oh, darling!” she exclaims in delight.
Furthermore, when the revelations of her spite acted on Eva and the dilapidated conditions of laborers are brought to her, she is genuinely shocked. Certainly she has a sensitive nature hidden within that is brought out when she is undeceived. When the Inspector informs her that there are girls who live in poverty-stricken states due to parsimonious employers, she protests, “But these girls aren’t cheap labour – they’re people.”
In the end, she is shown to be impressionable, being affected by Goole’s harangue and accepting responsibility for Eva’s death; she clearly sees her luckless wrongs, and is honest enough to face up to her gross misdeed. “It doesn’t much matter” that Goole turns out not to be an Inspector, she feels.
Hence, through Sheila, Priestley wishes to show that the younger generation is open-minded enough to learn to accept responsibilities for others. As they are young, mutable and inexperienced, such radical responsibility can be inculcated in them, being receptive to new ideas.
Marks: 7/8