Gerald Croft - Quotes

"We're respectable citizens not criminals."

Act 1, Gerald says this to the inspector. Once again, Gerald is putting on a fake act. He pretends that he has done nothing wrong and that he is "respectable" as he is upper class. He uses Birling's method of using power and status to scare the Inspector. The word "citizens" gives the effect that the Birlings and Gerald are normal people, which they aren't, but Gerald says this in the hope that the Inspector will not suspect them

"I didn't install her there so that I could make love to her."

Act 2, Shows that Gerald may have truly cared about Eva Smith, even if he was selfish in his desires. However, the verb "install" implies he thought of her more as a object, something new to play with. He cared about her sure, but you can care about objects, it just shows he didn't have true respect for her as a person.

"I didn't feel about her as she felt about me"

Act 2, Shows Gerald didn't truly care about Eva. It implies he mainly used her for sex, which is no different to how Eric acted but Eric is presented as worse because of his way of saying how he dealt with Eva. You could also argue that Gerald is lying, as shown by him being upset later.

"I'm rather more - upset - by this business than I probably appear"

Act 2, Gerald can maintain a stiff upper lip while being troubled by Eva/Daisy's suicide. 'I'm rather more - upset - by this business than I probably appear to be.' Deep down Gerald is greatly saddened by the girl's death and feels partly responsible. The dash shows he had to think or a realisation which stresses the emotion showing distress. Furthermore it shows how the toning is very dramatic, making the audience sympathise with him. He has realised the significance impact itself, realising how he is feeling. It shows who he is as a person, that he is very calm and collected. it also humanises him as he is showing his emotions. At the beginning he was seen as a liar but now we see that he is effected by this.

"What about this ring?"

Act 3, Even though Sheila changes dramatically in the play, and breaks her engagement to Gerald because she feels that she does not know him, Gerald proves that he has not changed at all by the end. He offers Sheila the engagement ring back, suggesting that he wants to forget about everything that happened (the affair) and go on with their lives as normal. He expects Sheila to agree and pretend that the whole ordeal (unpleasant experience) with Inspector Goole has not happened. This also proves that he has not learnt anything from the story.