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=Sheila Birling (  An Inspector Calls)=

Sheila Birling is a fictional character in J.B Priestley's play An Inspector calls. Sheila is in her early twenties and lives with her parents Arthur and Sybil as well as her brother Eric in their large home in the invented town Brumley. In the opening of the play, she is celebrating her engagement to Gerald Croft with a family party. The Birling's are of high social status meaning Sheila Birling is wealthy, this is significant to the plot of the play and relates to Sheila's character development.

Plot
The audience first encounter Sheila Birling in her family home, celebrating her Engagement to Gerald. Her father begins making a speech when a police inspector arrives. Inspector Goole begins to interrogate Mr Birling about his connection to the death of Eva Smith when Sheila enters the room. She is instantly dismissed by Mr Birling as he responds to her question about what is happening with "nothing to do with you Sheila." However Inspector Goole requests that she stays and he explains what happened in regards to the girls suicide. Sheila is immediately horrified exclaiming "oh- how horrible!" Still unaware of her personal involvement in the case, Sheila criticizes her fathers actions towards the girl after the inspector explains how Mr Birling fired her saying "I think it was a mean thing to do." The inspector then goes on to reveal Sheila's contribution to Eva Smiths misfortune and ultimately her death and she opens up about her interaction with the girl. Sheila explains how she was shopping in Millwards when she tired an item of clothing on that did not suit her. She saw Eva Smith who was employed there at the time smiling in the background and assumed it was in mockery of her. Out of spite Sheila demanded that the girl be fired and as she is a regular and socially significant customer to this shop, they followed her instruction. Sheila is portrayed to feel guilty about this interaction and vows to "never do it again to anybody" The inspector goes on to reveal the entire families connection with this girl, including how Sheila's fiancé Gerald had an affair with her. Sheila is shown to be disappointed with her family members treatment of Eva Smith as well as her own. The end of the play is left to be ambiguous and Eva Smiths existence comes to question, however Sheila takes the experience as a lesson on social responsibility and encourages her less receptive parents to do the same.

Outward appearance
In the introduction to the play, J.B. Priestley describes Sheila as “A pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited.”

Character development
At the beginning of the play, Sheila is presented as immature and materialistic, she spends a lot of her time shopping and is relatively unaware of her privilege as a member of the upper middle class. However when confronted with the realisation that by getting her fired out of spite, she played a part in the death of Eva Smith, her attitude changes. Sheila then becomes more socially aware, ready to take responsibility for her actions and how they affect the working class. Sheila's character represents the changing attitudes toward social responsibility, an important theme in the play. J.B. Priestly presents the older generation as being more closed minded and less receptive to change. When it is revealed at the end of the play that Eva Smith may not have been a real person, Arthur and Sybil Birling are purely relived that their reputation is no longer in jeopardy however, "Unlike her parents, Sheila is lastingly changed by Goole’s revelations of the social injustices perpetrated by her family." Sheila's character likely represents how the younger generation are more liberal and act as a catalyst for social change. Towards the end of the play Sheila is presented to agree with Inspector Goole's criticisms of the other characters and looks at people from different social classes on a more equal level saying "you mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl."

Appearances in TV/ film adaptations

 * 1) An Inspector calls (1954 film) The film was directed by Guy Hamilton and Sheila was played by Eileen Moore.
 * 2) An Inspector calls (TV series) This BBC adaptation was directed by Michael Simpson and Sheila was played by Sarah Berger.
 * 3) An Inspector calls (2015 Hong Kong film) This film was directed by Raymond Wong and Herman Yau and Sheila was played by Karena Ng

Reception
Sheila's character seems to be widely popular and the different portrayals of her are well received. In the London Theatre Direct production of the play, Sheila is described as "the character that develops the most” This is idea also reflected in reviews of The National Theatre's production of the play. Martin Thomasson describes how "Chloe Orrock’s Sheila is so flippant and spoiled to begin with, she almost leaves herself too much ground to cover in convincing us she is the brightest and the best hope for her class. To my mind she just about pulls it off. It’s a brave and eye-catching performance." Her changing attitude appears to be a fan favourite.