Sheila Birling quotations: the representation of women
This useful worksheet includes a series of key Sheila Birling quotations from J.B Priestley's iconic play to explore Sheila's behaviour and the presentation of women in An Inspector Calls.
GCSE English Literature students are encouraged to examine and analyse the quotations to explore what each quote reveals about Sheila's character and Priestley's views.
An example from the resource:
‘I’d been in a bad temper’ p.23 ‘when I … looked at myself … I caught sight of this girl smiling’ p.24 |
Here we see Sheila’s vanity as she ‘looked at [her]self’ and is angered by Eva’s response. In Priestley’s morality play, Sheila is presented as guilty of the deadly sin of envy as she is jealous of Eva, her parallel in the play. Her childishness is conveyed when Priestley writes that she was in a ‘bad temper’. This is something we associate with a child, emphasising how her emotions control her and her ignorance about how to behave. She uses this as an excuse, as if it is a justification. She later learns to accept responsibility and becomes more mature, going from ignorance to knowledge. |
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Review this resource25/05/2020