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Inspector Calls Essay

Hello, could anyone mark this essay please? It would be a massive help.
How is the character of Gerald presented in An Inspector Calls? [34 marks]
In J.B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls', Gerald Croft is a construct created to represent the capitalist upper class, as well as, when looked at from a morality play perspective, the deadly sins of lust and greed.

Firstly, Gerald Croft is a member of the bourgeoisie and acts as a stereotypical young upper-class man, who has inherited his wealth from his rich parents. There is one clear distinction between Gerald and Mr Birling - although Mr Birling can clearly be seen as the personification of capitalism, who had made all of his wealth through his manufacturing business, Gerald has a higher position in society due to being a part of the aristocracy. He was born into wealth, unlike Mr Birling, who has a 'rather provincial' manner of speech, and has never been able to understand the struggles of the working class (proletariat). Throughout the play, Gerald exhibits a lack of concern for the suffering of the working class and is happy to exploit them in his own business. For example, when Mr Birling tells the family how he fired Eva Smith and the other striking workers, Gerald quickly agrees with his decision and says that 'They'd all be broke' as they had gone on strike 'just after the holidays'. This shows the reader that he is comfortable with the fact that his business pays so little that workers would lose all their year's savings just by going on a one week holiday. The audience of 1945 were becoming increasingly socialist after the immense suffering and also the reduced divisions of classes during WW2. This would likely have given them an initial bad impression of Gerald and made them view him as selfish and greedy, and not benefitting society. It was in Priestley's interest to present Gerald and the Birlings as dislikeable characters, because he wanted to further his socialist message and criticise the exploitative nature of the bourgeoisie.

Gerald Croft is also used by Priestley to represent how upper-class men abuse their power and exploit women. The implication that Gerald is cheating on Sheila is first shown to the audience during the very beginning scene of the play - Gerald and Sheila are talking at the dinner table about their engagement. Sheila accusingly reminds Gerald of how he 'never came near her' 'all last summer'. Gerald claims he was busy working for his family's business. When Sheila warns him to 'be careful', Gerald says 'Oh, I will' and Eric 'suddenly guffaws'. This could be interpreted as him simply being drunk, however this could alternatively be taken to mean that he is laughing at the ridiculousness of the suggestion that Gerald would not have any more affairs. Perhaps Gerald is known 'about' the 'town' for having lots of affairs. This immediately makes the reader suspicious of Gerald and wonder whether or not he is the right person to marry Sheila. During Act 2, we find out that Gerald has cheated on Sheila with Daisy Renton, a young, working class woman, who the Birlings and Gerald collectively drove to the point of committing suicide. He went to the Palace bar, which he describes as a 'favourite haunt of women of the town', and found a young, vulnerable, working-class woman being cornered by Alderman Maggerty with 'that obscene fat carcass of his'. It seems as though he is distressed whilst describing what Maggerty did to Daisy Renton (which would be hypocritical), however we quickly realise that he only is upset as Maggerty is 'fat' and 'old', rather than 'attractive' and much younger like Gerald. He then proceeds to give Daisy Renton lots to drink, and then takes her back to some rooms he has been given by his friend, who is going away for 6 months. 6 months is exactly the length of the whole of 'spring and summer', which means that Gerald must have found Daisy deliberately, as soon as he was given the key, and subsequently 'broke it off' after he was aware his friend must be coming back. There is an extreme lack of care shown by him as he could have continued the relationship if he had rented some rooms for her to stay it, but it appears that she was not even worth the price of rent to him. Priestley is likely trying to show that both upper- and lower-class women are exploited by men (although upper-class women like Sheila are compensated more for it through the financial benefits of marriage). Ironically, Daisy Renton described her time with Gerald as the best time of her life, which shows that although women were often exploited, it was still considered somewhat preferable to the alternative of working in a low-paying factory job.

In 'An Inspector Calls', Gerald could also be viewed as the younger equivalent of Mr Birling. An interpretation of the play is that Gerald and Sheila are intended to represent Mr and Mrs Birling when they were their age, as they would have presumably got married at around the same age and there is the same age gap (around 5 years) between both of the pairs. Mrs Birling could be said to mirror Sheila, as Mrs Birling herself 'had to get used to' Mr Birling always being 'at the works', just as Sheila must now with Gerald. In this case, both Gerald and Sheila would be very unlikely to learn their lessons, and will probably get married after the events of the play and end up continuing to support capitalism like their parents. During their conversation at the dinner table at the start of the play, Gerald says he doesn't 'pretend to know much about port'. Sheila says that she is glad that he doesn't, as she doesn't want him to be like one of those 'purple-faced old men'. This could imply that he might become one as he ages and fills the role of Mr Birling as the older, head of the family under a capitalist system. Mr Birling and Gerald seem to be quite like-minded, as Mr Birling invites Gerald for a private conversation with him about business and his core capitalist values, and Gerald agrees with everything he says.

Finally, Gerald is also presented as a very manipulative character and also highly intelligent. After his private conversation with Mr Birling, when Eric joins the room and they all discover that a 'police inspector' has arrived, Gerald suggests that 'Eric's been up to something'. This may be a form of blackmail - perhaps Gerald is trying to convince Eric to not tell anyone about his affairs, by threatening that he will reveal the fact that he is an alcoholic and stole his father's money. This is also shown when Sheila and Gerald are arguing at the end of Act 1 over whether or not he has had an affair with Daisy Renton. Gerald does seem to observe during the conversation (as he is very perceptive) that even at this point, when Sheila is most angry, she seems to minimise what he has done in her speech using a euphenism, as she says he 'knew her very well', rather than describing what he actually did. This will make it much easier for her to forgive him later in the play. Gerald notices this weakness and calls her 'darling' in an attempt to belittle her and calm her down. This is also shown when Gerald says that after being exposed by The Inspector, Sheila must want to see someone else 'put through it'. This is likely a reflection of his own behaviour as he believes everyone else is as inherently manipulative as he is. Therefore the quote 'selfish, vindictive creature' is describing Gerald. Priestley would have wanted to present capitalists like Gerald as deceptive and selfish, to show that they do not have society's best interests in mind and should not be trusted.

Reply 1

potas5iumcrow

look at your repetitive words and see if you can restructure the line or change a word. for example here : [ This would likely have given them an initial bad impression of Gerald and made them view him as selfish and greedy, and not benefitting society ]

Also you can extend on points such as the first point of Geralds lack of care to lower class and greed. How does losing money impact the working class. Like the wage gap and the pressure put on the working class, the financial burden, etc.
Link your topic lines to the point you are trying to give. How does being manipulative and intelligient link to lust and greed. The topic sentence are the most important part of each paragraph to state what you are talking about and the way you write the lines make it ambigous
Use persuavive language!! Boring to read, I forgot half the essay's content while reading
"It seems as though he is distressed whilst describing what Maggerty did to Daisy Renton (which would be hypocritical), however we quickly realise that he only is upset as Maggerty is 'fat' and 'old', rather than 'attractive' and much younger like Gerald." "Ironically, Daisy Renton described her time with Gerald as the best time of her life, which shows that although women were often exploited, it was still considered somewhat preferable to the alternative of working in a low-paying factory job." - what is your point here? off topic

Most of your paragraph was re narrating what happened in the book. Less description, more analysis.

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