Gerald Croft

Gerald is the son of a wealthy industrialist (Sir George Croft) who’s socially superior to the Birlings and his company is a rival of Mr Birlings. He is now engaged to Sheila.

at the start of the play in the stage directions he is described as:

an attractive chap about 30, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town

first impressions

his parents are Lord and Lady → Upper Class family which leads to a high quality background and elite status, property owner

he’s a very polished, self-assured, well mannered, extremely polite relaxed man

It is likely that Priestley wanted to expose the smooth hypocrisy of the upper classes: beneath the polish and good manners, there is a sense on entitlement and a desire to protect oneself above all else

What does Gerald represent? (Priestley represents…through Gerald)

• Individualism of the upper-class

• how easy it is for the upper-class to manipulate the truth

• Aristocratic highest class, the most privileged

How does Priestley present Gerald? (Gerald is portrayed as…)

• a privileged but likeable man

• Ideal husband and son-in-law

  Priestley explores the initial attractive appearance of Gerald and his idealised portrayal as a husband and son-in-law to…

• customer of prostitution

• aware of upper-class immorality yet has no desire to change society + deliberately ignoring his sense of moral code and tries to forget his actions

  Priestley explores the extent of Gerald’s morality and the degree to which he is prepared to lie in order to preserve his social status, Priestley does this in order to….

• materialistic

• condescending to women (Patronising and misogynistic)

• not hated, not loved (It’s Priestley’s intention to keep Gerald a redeemable character through ambiguity)

• manipulative

How does Gerald fit into Priestley’s message and context of 1912 England (audience)

• upper-classes are untouchable by law and responsibility as they have too much power

• shows t

actions during the play:

• Gives Sheila the engagement ring during the celebratory dinner

• Shows he has the same business approach as Mr. Birling (Capitalism)

• Conducts himself agreeably and politely with Mr & Mrs. Birling

• Tells how he rescued Daisy Renton (Eva Smith) from Alderman Meggarty

• Admits he kept Daisy (Eva) his secret mistress for 6 months, then broke off their relationship

• Discovers that the police sergeant has never heard of Inspector Goole

• Telephones the infirmary and learns no girl died that day

ending

confirms Gerald’s selfishness and lack of change/responsibility. He wants to preserve status and reputation. He becomes more closely connected to older-generation values in the way he tries to find a way out of the ‘scandal’.

He takes no responsibility and has no moral awareness, thinks they can just go back to normal

why doesn’t he change?

because it shows how the upper classes try to hold back progress

Quotes

technical term

effect/analysis

Priestley’s Purpose

Responsibility

Where did you get the idea that I did know her?

• defensive tone, demonstrates his guilt

Sorry - I- well, I’ve suddenly realised - taken it in properly - that she’s dead

• hyphen, shows overwhelming sadness, Priestley reveals the internal conflict within Gerald, between his natural emotional reaction and his attempt to suppress any emotion to remain masculine

I’d like to be alone for a while

• interpretation 1 - wants to be alone because of overwhelming guilt of lying

• interpretation 2 - wants to be alone to grieve Eva as he might have actually cared for her beyond a physical level

Everything’s all right now, Sheila. What about this ring?

• Like the older-generation, he fails to understand the inspectors message and rejects responsibility

• adverb ‘now’ shows he believes that it’s possible for everything to return to normal

• After he realises there are no consequences for his actions/behaviour he stops caring

Capitalism

I believe you’re right, // Hear Hear

• Repeated agreement with Mr. Birling, which has dramatic irony, this encourages the audience to reject Gerald too

Yes I think you were (justified in getting Eva sacked) // You couldn’t have done anything else

• interpretation 1 - Gerald is a capitalist

• interpretation 2 - Gerald is just trying to uphold a

  good relationship with Mr Birling as he is his future family

Class/Reputation

It wasn’t disgusting (his affair with Eva)

• Perhaps Priestley does this to separate Gerald from the older-generations traditional classist views

Knew it couldn’t last

• It wasn’t Gerald’s ending of funding that really impacted Eva, but the end of a caring intimate relationship due to her lower-class origins, this hurt her emotionally as he dropped her like a possession and could’ve contributed to her being pushed over the edge onto suicide.

I hate those hard-eyed dough-faced women

• ‘hard-eyed’, ‘dough-faced’, these descriptions are way too detailed for him not to see them often, this could show how he probably is involved in prostitution or it shows how privileged he is and has high standards as a result of being from a high class.

We’re respectable citizens and not criminals

I don’t come into this suicide business

• Dismissive tone, trying to dismiss his role/responsibility → wanting to avoid blame

Sexism/Misogynistic

She was young and pretty // It was inevitable

• ‘it was inevitable’ justifies and normalises his actions, implying it wasn’t his fault

dramatic symbol of the ring

• thinks he can go back to normal, symbol of patriarchal power and assumptions

wonderful fairy prince - Sheila

• Gerald presents himself in his one-sided story as a hero, ‘fairy’ shows fiction, it wasn’t real he’s a liar

She lived very economically on what I allowed her

• ‘allow’ shows his power and ownership over Eva

I insisted // I made her take some money

• Gerald is disguising prostitution as charity

• ‘I made her’ imperative verb, connotes power, Gerald had power and control over Eva, Demonstration of upper class men having power over lower class women.