Eng Lit. Inspector Calls Characters (Sheila, Eric and Gerald)

Sheila: She is described at the start as a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited. She shows compassion and sympathy for Eva Smith as soon as she hears the news about her death. She is very perceptive and works out both Eric and Gerald's involvement by their reactions and is the first to wonder about who the inspector really is. She is horrified by her own part in Eva's story. She feels full of guilt for her jealous actions and blames herself as really responsible. She is angry with her parents in Act 3 for trying to "pretend that nothing much has happened." Sheila says It frightens me the way you talk: she cannot understand how they cannot have learnt from the evening in the same way that she has. She is curious. She genuinely wants to know about Gerald's part in the story. It's interesting that she is not angry with him when she hears about the affair: she says that she respects his honesty. She is becoming more mature. She is aware of her responsibility towards Eva Smith's death and now sees her parents in a disappointing light.

Eric: It soon becomes clear to us (although it takes his parents longer) that he is a hardened drinker He is described at the start as in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive. He feels guilt and frustration with himself over his relationship with the girl. He cries, "Oh - my God! - how stupid it all is!" as he tells his story. He is horrified that his thoughtless actions had such consequences. When he hears how his father sacked Eva Smith, he supports the worker's cause, like Sheila.Why shouldn't they try for higher wages? He is appalled by his parents' inability to admit their own responsibility. He tells them forcefully, "I'm ashamed of you. At the end of the play, like Sheila, he is not interested in covering up the story, he is more concerned about the death of the girl and possibly his son.

Gerald: He is described as "an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred man-about-town." He is not as willing as Sheila to admit his part in the girl's death to the Inspector and initially pretends that he never knew her. Is he a bit like Mr Birling, wanting to protect his own interests. he tries to come up with as much evidence as possible to prove that the Inspector is a fake - because that would get him off the hook. He tries to protect himself rather than changing himself (like Mr Birling) At the end of the play, he has not changed. He has not gained a new sense of social responsibility.