Characters: Sheila, Eric, Gerald and Mrs Birling
Sheila Birling
Sheila undergoes the most complete transformation in the play. She begins as a privileged, somewhat shallow young woman — delighted by her engagement ring, dismissive of her father’s boring speeches. But the Inspector’s visit transforms her into the play’s moral centre.
Sheila is the first to show genuine guilt (“I felt rotten about it”), the first to understand the Inspector’s power (“he knows”), and the one who most clearly grasps Priestley’s message: what they did was wrong regardless of consequences.
Sheila’s return of the engagement ring symbolises her rejection of the comfortable, unquestioning life her parents represent. She chooses truth over security — the opposite of her parents, who choose security over truth.
Eric Birling
Eric is a troubled young man with a drinking problem that his parents have refused to acknowledge. His treatment of Eva is the most intimate and arguably the most damaging — he used her sexually and got her pregnant.
Yet Eric, like Sheila, shows genuine remorse. His accusation against his mother (“You killed her”) is the play’s most emotionally powerful moment. After the Inspector leaves, Eric refuses to celebrate: “I say the girl’s dead and we all helped to kill her — and that’s what matters.”
Priestley suggests that Eric’s behaviour is partly caused by his upbringing. He has been raised in a household where money buys silence, appearances matter more than feelings, and difficult truths are ignored. His alcoholism is a symptom of a family that prioritises image over genuine connection. Eric is not excused for his actions, but he is presented as a product of the very values Priestley criticises.
Gerald Croft
Gerald occupies an ambiguous position. He genuinely cared for Daisy/Eva — his affair was driven by attraction and some compassion, not just exploitation. But his class and gender gave him all the power. When the relationship ended, Daisy was left with nothing while Gerald returned to his comfortable life.
After the Inspector leaves, Gerald aligns with the older generation. He leads the investigation into the Inspector’s identity, telephones the infirmary, and tries to convince Sheila that everything can return to normal. By doing so, he reveals that his emotional response was temporary — ultimately, he prioritises social order over moral accountability.
Priestley uses Gerald to show that aristocratic privilege is just as resistant to change as middle-class capitalism. Gerald’s higher social status does not make him more moral — it simply gives him more power to avoid consequences.
Mrs Sybil Birling
Mrs Birling is the play’s most unyielding character. She represents the patriarchal upper class at its most rigid: she is cold, snobbish and completely lacking in empathy for anyone outside her social circle.
She refused Eva’s plea for charity help, calling her “impertinent” for using the name Birling. She insists the father of the child should be punished — unknowingly condemning her own son. She shows no remorse at any point in the play.
Mrs Birling never accepts any responsibility, and she is proud of resisting the Inspector. She represents the complete failure of the older generation to learn from their mistakes. Priestley uses her inflexibility to strengthen his argument that real change can only come from the young.
Despite being a woman herself, Mrs Birling shows no solidarity with Eva. Her charity work is not driven by empathy but by social duty and status. She judges Eva by class, not gender. Priestley uses Mrs Birling to show that class loyalty can override gender solidarity — upper-class women can be just as oppressive towards working-class women as upper-class men.