Mr Birling And Sheila In An Inspector Calls

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How does Priestley present the relationship between Mr Birling and Sheila? In the play an Inspector Calls, by J.B Priestley, the 2 generations end up with very different view on capitalism and socialism with the younger generation changing towards the more socialist attitude. The relationship between Mr Birling and Sheila symbolises the differences between these two world views. Priestley wanted the change to happen from a capitalist to a socialist society. Mr Birling is represented in some ways as a hot headed business man who doesn’t care about anything other than his business and status. The uses of hyphens during his speeches about Sheila’s engagement to Gerald are what Mr Birling uses to acquaint himself with …show more content…
She is engaged to be married but seems to be more moulded towards her parents than her fiancée. This is first demonstrated when Sheila agrees with her father when he asks Sybil to drink some port as though they were on the same thought process. Sheila refers to her father as the puerile proper noun ‘daddy’ which may be a way of showing the way that she never really had grown up because that would’ve been superfluous for the kind of life that she was going to …show more content…
At the beginning there is the strong father- daughter closeness between the two whereas at the end there is a strong division between their attitudes to each other and opinions on their social status. This could be a way to make the audience ponder what would happen if the inspector were to return with the younger generation of characters having their new perspective on things. It’s as if Mr Birling represents capitalism, being a character who indubitably follows the system and Sheila represents socialism, being more amorphous after her character had been shattered by the inspector and recent events. Priestley’s message is that there should be a more socialist society which Sheila appears to believe by the end, or second beginning, of the

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