Sheila’s response to Mr Birling highlights that she is beginning to adopt more socialist views and becoming more aware of the faults in capitalism. Priestly utilised this declarative sentence to present Sheila as having a strong conviction that those in lower classes do not deserve to be mistreated. Her shocked attitude towards Mr Birling considering them as “cheap labour” is shown as she states “they’re people” which demonstrates her sense of awareness of the dehumanisation women in the lower classes faced. This is because, the adjective “cheap” suggests they were seen as invaluable and useless simply due to their social status. Thus, Priestley intentionally navigates the audience through Sheila’s shift in mindset towards capitalism and the mistreatment of the lower classes in order to deter the Edwardian audience from adopting capitalist views.