new sheila birling from an inspector calls.pptx

this slide is an analysis slide about Sheila Birling

1. 课程定位 本节课为 Sheila Birling 的专门讲解课 同步课 时间：一小时 1v1

2. Sheila Birling

3. Content Sheila’s Importance Character Development Symbolism

4. Real Prompt

5. Sheila’s importance Frequent showing up at past papers. Important character Growth character The first and strongest among the Birlings to take social responsibility throughout the play.

6. Feature of Growth Character Learns from mistakes Gains wisdoms Develops depth in various forms Ends with a new identity or purpose

7. Plot summary Act 1: The Birlings celebrate Sheila and Gerald’s engagement. Inspector Goole reveals Eva’s suicide—Mr. Birling fired her, and Sheila, out of jealousy, got her dismissed. Act 2: Sheila regrets her actions. Gerald admits his affair. Mrs. Birling unknowingly condemns Eric, Eva’s unborn child’s father. Act 3: Sheila realizes the Inspector’s lesson. Eric confesses. The family doubts the Inspector—until a real one is announced.

8. Suffragette Movement (1912) The Suffragette Movement emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fighting for women’s right to vote. Led by groups like the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Britain, suffragettes used protests, civil disobedience, and hunger strikes to demand change. By 1912, when An Inspector Calls is set, the movement was at its peak, with militant actions intensifying. However, World War I (1914-1918) shifted focus, as women contributed to the war effort, proving their capability beyond traditional roles. As a result, in 1918, British women over 30 gained voting rights, followed by full suffrage in 1928 for all women over 21. The movement laid the foundation for gender equality and women's rights in the 20th century.

9. Women’s suffering in the past Lack of Voting rights. Workplace Exploitation: Low pay, long hours, and unsafe conditions, with few job opportunities beyond domestic labor. Social Expectations – Expected to marry, obey husbands, and focus on childcare, with little personal freedom. Vulnerability – No welfare support; unmarried pregnant women (like Eva Smith in An Inspector Calls ) faced social shame and poverty. Limited access to education. Slow Progress of women rights movements.

10. Sheila’s relationship

11. Sheila’s fault

12. Character Development

13. Leading Questions Consider why Priestley portrays Sheila in this way at the start of the play? What effect her behavior has on audience’s perception of her as a character?

14. Sheila in Stage Direction “pretty girl in her early twenties.” (Act 1) “very pleased with life and rather excited.” (Act 1) Sheila is portrayed as living comfortably and blissfully ignorant of society's injustices. Priestley does this to develop Sheila as a character later in the play, into a more socially responsible person.

15. First impression Immature Insecure Materialism

16. Immature “ Yes, go on, mummy .” (Act 1) Analysis: Infantilizing language demonstrates her dependency on her parents. The lighthearted tone also shows her innocence and naivety.

17. Insecure “ Pretty ? ” (Act 1) The first action she heard about Eva Smith’s death. Analysis: her emphasis on beauty shows her insecurity about her own, beauty which she relies on for her future.

18. Materialism “Now I really feel engaged.” (Act 1) Analysis: Sheila’s obsession with material objects is demonstrated when Sheila needs the physical token of a ring to “really feel engaged”. This ring is a visual marker of ownership and commitment from Gerald to their relationship

19. Growing Turning point: Sheila realize her responsibility in causing Eva’s death. Empathetic Inexcusable Rebellious

20. Empathetic “ But these girls aren't cheap labor - they're people .” (Act 1) Analysis: marks her moral awakening, rejecting her father’s capitalist views and recognizing workers’ humanity, signaling her shift toward social responsibility.

21. Inexcusable “I know. I had her turned out of a job. I started it.” (Act 1) Analysis: This shows her guilt and responsibility, marking her moral awakening and contrast with her parents' denial.

22. Rebellious “ You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do the Inspector will just break it down. And it’ll be all the worse when he does .” (Act 2) Analysis: Metaphor: wall – barrier between upper class and working class; refusal to accept their social responsibility. Foreshadowing: Sheila predicts that denying responsibility will only make the consequences worse. Signs of Sheila’s maturity. She is able to think independently based on her own judgement, rather than being controlled by parents as she was earlier in this play.

23. Maturity Rejection persuasion Prophetic

24. Rejection Return of the ring " No, not yet. It's too soon. I must think ." ( Act 2 ) Analysis : symbolizes her growth and independence logically and emotionally.

25. persuasion "But Mother, do stop before it's too late.” (Act 3) Analysis: Sheila, having fully embraced the Inspector’s message, pleads with her mother to change her ways before facing real consequences.

26. Prophetic “ Fire and blood and anguish. And it frightens me the way you talk .” (Act 3) Mouthpiece: (definition) a person or entity that conveys the opinions of another person or group. The transformation of Sheila is complete, after the Inspector leaves, she takes his position and continue his role in educating the Birling Family.

27. Symbolism

28. Symbolism a figure of speech in which a person, situation, word, or object is used to represent another thing Ex - The engagement ring Represents ownership, control, and the expectations of marriage in a patriarchal society.

29. Question? If Sheila is a symbol, what does she represent ?

30. Symbolism Sheila, as part of the younger generation, is a symbol of hope for the future; she has changed from the beginning of the play and is now aware that society also needs to change. The inspector has the greatest impact on her. She repeats the Inspector's warning words, reminding the audience of his dark predictions about what will happen if society does not change. The syndetic list of destructive nouns reminds the audience of the horror that will be shortly enfolding.

31. Question How would you receive Sheila’s behavior as an audience?