The Theme of Catharsis in J. B.

Priestleys An Inspector Calls

Catharsis, coming from the Greek verb kathairein, to purge, or purify, is an overflow of unbearable emotion which in itself contains a healing power. Catharsis first came into use in drama around 330BC when Aristotle coined the phrase in his work Poetics. His influence in literature since has seen the theme used in popular culture even up until the present day. The main character, in An Inspector Calls, who experiences catharsis, is Sheila Birling. Her catharsis comes after the emotional exhaustion she faces under interrogation. Sheilas astute and intuitive nature begins at the outset when she suspects Gerald of playing away, except for all last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you. Sheila experiences her catharsis when she realises her part in Eva Smiths death, she realises that it was her who changed Evas course of action and therefore she altered the domino effect that ended with Sheila killing herself. Sheilas catharsis is as though she takes on the function of the Inspector, with the responsibility now resting on her to help her family see the error of their ways. This makes each character revealing their hamartia much more believing as they feel comforted by one of their family member no longer seeing the Inspector as a threat. Mother, dont please dont. For your own sake, as well as ours, you mustnt-. Her short sentences, as gaps in speech indicated by dashes show her desperation, and thus deter most of the characters (apart from Mrs Birling) from build up a metaphorical wall between themselves and the inspector. Albeit in general her views are not taken as seriously as each of the character probably should have taken them. She is generally met with dismissive derision when it comes to attitudes towards the Inspector; however her aiding each character to admit their secrets altogether could prove the familys downfall if the chooses to use his new found knowledge to hinder the family, post the evening in question. After the Inspector has left and the family is piecing together who he really is, she says, We hardly told him anything he didnt know. This sounds a lot like she is trying to make sure none of the family blame her now that they know her telling them to not dismiss the Inspector was quite possibly the complete wrong advice to be giving them. It is very interesting how Priestley chooses to highlight the way in which womens opinions were regarded at the time. He uses the novel as a tool to tackle the divide between the upper and lower classes and to attempt to influence the audiences perception of Arthur Birling (the upper class) and his treatment of Eva Smith (the lower class). Due to the fact that the novel was written 33 years after the story is set, Priestley has the advantage of being able to look back with hind-sight and therefore he is able to show people the error of their ways. Although he seems to offer a completely different view on sexism in the early 1900s. He writes Sheilas character as being unheard in her attempts to save her family following her catharsis, this being the most likely reaction she would have received being a woman in that era. But then at the end of the story when they are contemplating the real motive of the Inspector, and it is concluded that whatever he was doing it was for the good of the family, it would seem that Sheilas prior argument, that they should listen to the Inspector and answer his questions, were rather foolish. Did Priestley mean to portray the role of women in 1912 as foolish and nave? If so, was it right for Priestley to portray women like that? The Inspector talks to and in such reveals the hamartia of each character in order, and as Sheila is second, after Mr Birling, she has not yet had her catharsis and therefore has a different slant of things. Previous to the Inspectors arrival she is portrayed as subservient to her father, as was stereotypical of

the time. She says, Im sorry, Daddy. Actually I was listening. The repetition of the word I shows that she is trying to get back into her good books, she plays into his inferiority. Deep down she really is a daddys girl. Afterwards, once the Inspector has explained to her about the death, but hasnt yet mentioned who she really is (and before she has experienced her catharsis), she is very shocked by the news, even horrified. She then turns on her father, she begs him to tell her that he didnt sack Eva unfairly. Did you, Dad? (Rather distressed) Sheila says Sorry! Its just that I cant help thinking about this girl. Shes both vocally and visually distressed, she is finding it hard to balance her love to for her father with the fact that he could have quite possible pushed the first domino that proved to kill, what would seem so far as, quite an innocent girl. After questioning Sheila about her involvement in the murder Sheila first becomes very upset about her involvement and then gradually starts to think about things in perspective, and realises that it was far from just her fault. By the time that the Inspector moves onto Gerald, Sheila is still very distressed. And at this point she isnt totally won over by the Inspector however it is noticeable that she never buts in whilst he is talking, she has massive respect for him straight from the offset, this shows that she is a really vessel for his message. During Geralds confession, that he kept Eva as a mistress, Sheila doesnt original get angry with him. She admits that she can partly understand what he did, and she knows how clever the Inspector is and therefore she has pity with how he made Gerald confess. As she gradually understands the details of Geralds affair she turns her anger into sarcastic comments and respect. She explains she always knew he was up to something and was now glad that he has admitted that. It is implied that in part Sheila forgives her fianc so quickly as she now feels as if she wasnt the main catalyst in quickening the domino effect, in fact it was Gerald. In the most part Sheila is quiet during Erics confession that he slept with Eva. She tries her best, as she did with the mother, to make sure Eric didnt say things he would later to regret to the Inspector and even to members of his own family. Typical Greek plays only have one character with catharsis, Priestley follows this plan, and makes it very obvious that Sheila is a very different character to the rest of her family; she is the only one with the emotional capacity to understand that she was a major contributing factor, but can also forgive herself in part as she knows that she wasnt the only person who did Eva wrong. In conclusion Sheila serves as the guide in the play; she provides a warning and didactic element to the play outside of the interrogation. She shows through her catharsis, exactly how, ideally, the other characters should deal with their hamartia. In addition her ability to foresee what is going to happen may link to her capacity to see past the flaws in her character, thus experiencing catharsis and ending up far more informed than any other character. She is cleverly and complexly written as a character so that throughout the book she comes across as the most intelligent, however if you read in between the lines you can see that she made a totally wrong judgement of the Inspector.