This essay focuses on the character of Gerald Croft throughout the play and his interactions with other characters. This essay provides detailed analysis of various quotations and was marked as a grade 9. Written for the eduqas exam board but can be adapted for any.
Introduction:
An Inspector Cal...
You are advised to spend about 45 minutes on this question.
You should use the extract below and your knowledge of the whole play to answer this question.
Write about the character of Gerald and the way he is presented in An Inspector Calls.
In your response you should:
refer to the extract and the play as a whole;
show your understanding of characters and events in the play.[40]
5 of this question’s marks are allocated for accuracy in spelling, punctuation and the use of
vocabulary and sentence structures
An Inspector Calls was written by J.B Priestley in 1945, set in the industrial city of
Brumley. Priestley presents Gerald Croft as a sycophantic, narcissistic character,
representative of the patriarchal upper class, privileged and self-interested. He
expresses some regret for his role in Eva’s death, but exploits and uses her for
his own need, his values remaining unchanging at the end of the play.
In the stage directions, Priestley effectively presents Gerald as a
sophisticated, suave member of the aristocratic upper class. He is described as:
‘an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much
the easy well-bred young man-about town.’ The adjective ‘attractive’ perhaps
implies his narcissistic character and foreshadows his affair with Eva which is
uncovered later in the play. The adjective phrase ‘too manly to be a dandy’
further alludes towards his vanity, the adverb ‘manly’ depicting his sophistication
and wealthy background suggesting his condescension towards those of a lower
class than him. Priestley uses the phrase ‘young man about town’ to further
emphasise Gerald as a upper class socialite, the adjective ‘young’ however
contradicting the phrase ‘about thirty’, implying his impulsive and exploitative
behaviour towards Eva.
At the beginning of Act One, Priestley presents Gerald’s sycophantic
character, sharing the same capitalist views as Mr Birling: ‘Hear, hear! And I
think my father would agree to that.’ His use of an exclamative implies his
enthusiasm towards capitalism and profit, conveying his eagerness towards
being accepted by the Birlings due to their social and financial status. The noun
’father’ refers to his father, a Lord, a reminder of his high status, and illustrates
how his father’s capitalist and aristocratic philosophies have been adopted by
him. The verb ‘agree’ implicates his ingratiating manner, encouraging and
agreeing with Birlings philosophies. Priestley further displays Gerald’s capitalist
and superficial feelings towards Sheila, in his reaction when she comments she is
about to cry: ‘(produces a ring case…giving the case to her)’. The verb
‘produces’ illustrates Gerald’s materialism – it illustrates how wealthy he is, and
how he will spoil Sheila, rather than show her affection. This is further proven in
the verb ‘giving’ as rather than putting the ring on Sheila, he gives her the
‘case’, this noun possibly alluding to his callousness, despite his seemingly loving
, gesture, Priestley presenting Gerald as a dissembler. The verb ‘giving’ also
emphasises his capitalist philosophy, as the ring is seen as more significant than
physically showing Sheila emotion.
Further through Act One, Priestley skilfully presents more of Gerald’s
ingratiating character, and upper class self-importance. He comments: ‘(laughs)
You seem to be a nice well-behaved family.’ This depicts his flattery of Mr Birling,
and efforts to win his confidence – the verb ‘laughs’ stressing his attempts to
make Birling feels comfortable around him. However, he uses the verb ‘seem’,
which implies his superficial feelings and hints towards the scandals of the Birling
family. Deeper connotation denote Gerald is aware of this, yet still wants to
associate with them, because of their status and wealth. Priestley effectively
presents his self-interested and unscrupulousness. When the Inspector
interrogates Mr Birling, Gerald continues to agree with him, encouraging him for
his ruthless actions. He states: ‘they’d be all broke if I know them.’ The noun
‘broke’ portrays his in-depth knowledge of business, signifying his callousness as
instead of improving the conditions of their workers they prefer to let them
starve and suffer, aware they have no other option. The phrase ‘if I know them’
conveys Gerald’s class prejudice, believing that due to their lower class they are
irresponsible with money, further proven through the use of the plural pronoun
‘they’. Alternatively, this could hints towards Gerald’s affair with Eva as she was
a working class member, and his familiarity with the situation of these women.
Priestley effectively presents the callous attitude of Gerald, shared by Mr Birling,
and his prejudice against class and gender.
At the end of Act One, Priestley presents Gerald’s disingenuous character,
as he attempts to convince Sheila that he did not have an affair with Eva Smith.
He comments: ‘(trying to smile) Well what Sheila? Why should I have known
her?...now listen darling-‘ This evokes a deep antipathy in the audience towards
Gerald, as he is presented as deceitful, the verb ‘trying’ displaying his attempts
to hide his affair from Sheila. His use of questions emphasises his disingenuity,
and his ability to lie easily to Sheila, hinting at his superficial feelings towards
her. The past tense verb ‘should’ perhaps connotes to him trying to leave his
involvement with Eva behind him, and how he pretends due to his upper class
status he would never have anything to do with a girl of lower class. The use of
patronising language ‘darling’ reveals his manipulative methods, believing he
can control Sheila and her emotions – his use of the imperative ‘now’ angering
the audience as it refers to the gender stereotypes of the Era and the way in
which women were expected to comply to their partners. He states: ‘I don’t
come into this suicide business.’ This is a clear denial of any responsibility in
Eva’s death, despite the fact he knows he was in an affair with Eva. The
determiner ‘this’ however conveys how involved Gerald actually is, and his
hidden concern towards the consequences it may have on him. The noun
‘business’ used to refer to Eva’s death is also one used by Mr Birling, and
highlights their shared capitalist beliefs – Gerald emotionally disassociates
himself from the death. His use of a simple, short syllable sentence
demonstrates his lack of care towards Eva, and foreshadows his exploitative
treatment of her later on in the play, discarding her when he no longer had
interest. This evokes anger and antipathy in the audience towards his self-
assured manner and dismissal towards Eva, Priestley also presenting his
patronising character to women through Sheila.
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