GCSE English Literature A* / 9 An Inspector Calls notes - Gerald Croft
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Course
English
Institution
GCSE
GCSE English Literature A* / 9 An Inspector Calls notes - Gerald Croft.
Booklet of notes for Mr Birling, Mrs Birling, Sheila, Eric & Gerald available.
For each character, there is an overview followed by every quote in order related to that character, with a detailed analysis beneath the quot...
Gerald Croft works at his father's company, Crofts Limited, which is “both older
and bigger than Birling & Company.” His parents, Sir George and Lady Croft, are
above the Birlings socially, and it seems his mother disapproves of his
engagement to Sheila.
Gerald’s role in the “chain of events”:
• Gerald met Daisy Renton in the Palace Bar. He rescued her from Aldermand
Meggarty and felt sorry for her. He kept her as his mistress for a few months but
it eventually came to an end. When he starts to talk about her death, he appears
genuinely upset and goes out for a walk. The audience assume that he has
learned his lesson and that perhaps he will change for the better. After all, he
had initially acted out of kindness, which suggests that he is not a completely
bad character; however, he gave in to lust and cheated on Sheila, dropping Daisy
Renton when it suited him so he is far from faultless. When he returns, he has
news: the Inspector was an impostor. He returns to the way he was before; the
fact that he still did what he did does not make him change like Sheila and Eric.
• Priestley's Message (intended effect on the audience)
• He represents the selfish attitudes of the upper class.
• He lets the audience down; we had hope that he would change his attitudes,
but he doesn't, conveying how ingrained these attitudes were in the upper
class, and how difficult it was to change them. “The young ones,” on the other
hand, are “more impressionable.”(pg 30)
Gerald Croft's Key Quotations
Act 1
Pg 2: “Gerald Croft is an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be
a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town.”
, • Reveals Gerald is upper-class, with a polite, relaxed manner. Yet this
proves ironic later when the audience find he was in the Palace Bar,
Sheila’s disgust portrayed as she retorts, “Well we didn’t think you
meant Buckingham Palace.”
• The 'man-about -town' suggests that Gerald is man who knows his
attractions and perhaps, utilises them when he wants, Eric contrasts with
the easy confidence of Gerald.
• Pg 2: “I don’t pretend to know much about [port].”
• Priestley’s word choice is interesting, particularly given “all last
summer” when he “never came near” Sheila and covers up with the
excuse, “I was awfully busy at the works all that time,” even his
superlative language raising the audience’s suspicions.
• Similarly, he tries to hide the truth from the Inspector 'we can keep it
from him' (pg 26) but Sheila criticises this. She, being part of the “younger
generation,” recognises that “he knows,” rightly calling her fiancé a
“fool.”
• Initial Dialogue- Birling makes a direct attempt to ingratiate himself with
his prospective son-in-law. Gerald's response strengthens the initial
assumption that he is a member of the upper classes, as he refers to his
father as 'Governor', and he has enough self-worth to speak dismissively
of his own knowledge of "port7; obviously he is not trying to impress
Biding, his dialect reflects his class.
Pg 4: “You’re just the kind of son-in law I always wanted.”
• Sense of dissatisfaction with his son. He also makes clear, none too
subtly, that he has ambitions for Crofts Limited and Biding and
Company, though they are currently competitors, to work together at
some point in the future, as a result of this marriage. Gerald does not
appear embarrassed or annoyed by Bjrling's inappropriateness, rather
agreeing with his prospective father-in-law, thereby allowing the
audience to see that the two men, at least, are made for each other.
Pg 3: “I’ve been trying for long enough, haven’t I? Haven’t I? You know I
have.”
• Initial interaction with Sheila- She speaks to him 'possessively' perhaps
suggests an over -eagerness on her part to make their relationship
apparent
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