“An Inspector calls” is a play written by J.B Priestly in 1945. It was set in 1912. In 1912, the Social Class System was still very strong, i.e. there was a clear division between the rich and the poor. At the start of the play, the prosperous factory owner Mr Birling and his wife Mrs Birling are holding a dinner party to celebrate the engagement of their daughter Sheila Birling to Gerald Croft. Their celebrations are cut short when an Inspector Goole comes round to question them about the suicide of a young woman named Eva Smith. One by one every person present is analysed and forced to uncover their role played in Eva’s death.
Mrs Birling and Sheila have very different personalities. Mrs Birling is a hard-faced, rigid, snobby, self-assured and very confident woman. On stage it would be appropriate to have her near the front of the stage, as she sees herself as somewhat significant. I would imagine her to have her hair back in a tight bun. Correspondingly, she would be tightly corseted and would wear an elaborate evening dress that would place a clear barrier between her class and any other. Her clothes would be a grave colour, i.e. olive or mauve. These colours would reflect her inflexible, emotionless character. Her gestures would also prove and demonstrate the airiness and hard-nosed attitude towards others, even members of her family. She has a position to uphold.
‘What an expression, Sheila! Really the things you girls pick up these days.’ However, in comparison to her mother, Sheila is a very honest, insecure, serious and self-conscious person. She is total contradiction to her mother, as she wanted to know everything about the Eva’s death, and felt very bad about what she had done. It had almost damaged her self-esteem. As she likes to know everything that’s going on, she would probably be in the middle of the stage. Sheila represents the younger generation and she would wear light pallid colours i.e. white, pink or peach to reflect her sensitive nature. She would have long, light brown, graceful hair, which would be down, and she would wear little jewellery. Her gestures towards people will be playful, warming, and sometimes almost childlike.
When Sheila hears of Eva’s death she is horrified at the thought of someone her age dying. It seems to have affected her in particular. She can relate to Eva. “I can’t help thinking about this girl – destroying herself so horribly.” When Sheila sees the photo she is upset that she recognises Eva, and she realises that she had a part to play in her death. “She looks at it closely, recognizes it with a little cry, gives a half-stifled sob, and then runs out.” This is also to some extent the same reaction that Sheila has when she realises that she caused Eva to lose her job at Milwards. She is very harsh towards herself and annoyed when she realises that it is her fault that Eva was sacked and is upset at the thought that she could have done something foul and evil like that. She admits to her faults and makes a vague apology.
“It didn’t seem to be anything very terrible at the time. Don’t you understand? And if I could help her now, I would -” When Sheila recognises the picture, this could be shown on stage by Sheila gasping and then putting her hands to her face and collapsing into a chair in shock and horror as the realisation dawns on her. Sheila chooses to stay and listen to what Gerald has to say because she is curious, as she was suspicious of why he had for a certain period of time backed away from her.
She wants to know what was going on when he said he was very busy, since she has always had nagging doubts in the back of her mind. When Sheila finds out that Gerald was having an affair with Eva Smith she is rather furious with him, but she still stays to find out all the details and facts, to find out why Gerald did it. “Nothing would induce me. I want to understand exactly what happens when a man says he’s s busy at the works that he can hardly ever find time to come and see the girl he’s supposed to be in love with. I wouldn’t miss it for worlds -” On the other hand, Mrs Birling doesn’t think that Sheila should listen to what Gerald has to say and requests that Sheila should leave the room.
