GERALD Flashcards
“in the stalls bar at the Palace Variety Bar”
We can begin to question his instincts and motivations in his presence at the Palace Bar. We can infer that since Gerald is a “man about town” he would know his way around Brumley. Presumably, he was, as many men at the time would be, looking for a woman to be with for the night, and knew that the Palace Bar would be a destination for prostitutes.
This demonstrates Gerald’s shallow personality and the way in which this was normalised for men. Patriarchal.
“I hate those hard-eyed, dough faced women”
His misogynism is displayed once he refers to such women as “hard-eyed (and) dough-faced” and claims that he hates them. This immediately shows that he is basing these women’s worth on their age, and appearance as well as commodifying them. The detail “hard-eyed” suggests that they are broken and desnsitised due to the disturbing experiences they have endured, though once he lays eyes on Daisy, he sees her in a “different” light to them - she has not yet been broken, that is as Gerald puts it ‘young’ and ‘fresh’. The fact that he notes her youthful appearance signifies that he is not perturbed that he specifically selects a young, vulnerable woman to prey on and ultimately exploit. Moreover, Gerlad’s use of the term ‘fresh’ is indicative of Daisy’s virginity underscoring his inherently Patriarchal view of women: that women are worth more having not been touched by another man.
“hate” - he’s hateful and callous, showing his desensitive treatment of people, not only of a lower class, but also of women who do not satisfy his needs - his needs being a beautiful, young “fresh” woman.
“She was very pretty (…) (breaks off)”
He only acknowledges his grief when he recalls her physical beauty, shows that he was only attracted to her physically and that was all she was worth to him ->
“cry for help” -> Gerald justifies his actions by explaining that Eva was in need for him -> He’s obsessed with the role of the “wonderful fairy prince”
“young and fresh”
As man men at the time would, Gerald places emphasis on her youth and inferrably her virginity.
Perhaps Gerald feels powerful as he takes Eva’s virginity - he selects a vulnerable girl to prey on.
“she lived very economically on what I allowed her”
Gerald’s relationship with Daisy is deeply marked by a significant power imbalance. Although on a surface level, he provides her with money and a place to stay seemingly out of sympathy, he positions himself as her benefactor and creates a dependency, where Daisy is not only reliant on Gerald but also almost in debt to him.
He explains that “she lived very economically on what I allowed her” proving his immediate social superiority over her. Much like Mr Birling, Gerlad inevitably exposes a more selfish side to himself as he uses language of business and finance to describe his relationship with Daisy, as Priestley repeatedly depicts the way that an Edwardian aristocrat’s life revolves around his business persona. The verb “allowed” suggests authority and that Gerald uses his wealth to control Daisy, which is predatory behaviour. To add to this, Gerald ultimately turns Daisy into a prostitute, as he pays for her needs and hints that she was “intensely grateful” in return.
“ I didn’t feel about her, as she felt about me”
Reveals a significant imbalance in emotional investment in their affair, and despite Daisy’s affection and gratefulness towards him, Gerald’s use of her company for his own satisfaction, until he had to return from his ‘business trip’ highlights his selfishness and sexual exploitation of lower class women.
The end to their relationship finally underscores a predatory element as Gerald discards Daisy once her utility to him is exhausted, leaving her to face the consequences alone.
“Everything’s all right now Sheila. What about this ring?”
Gerald’s complete lack of respect for Sheila, unfortunately for him, exposes his own - he’s naive and oblivious to the Inspector’s lesson completely.
Priestley is once again highlighting the upper class’ desire to remove as much responsibility from themselves as possible and their refusal to face their problems when running away from them and treating everything as though it is “all right” has been adequete until now.
Patriarchal view on women; as though all a woman like Sheila wants is to be married to an equally rich man, despite his treatment of her -> reduces Sheila’s feelings to nothing of importance.
“Not if it was just after the holidays. They’d be all broke- if I know them”
We as an audience know that Gerald does not “know them” just as Mr Birling does not understand politics and other world affairs - they only think they “know” and that is always an understanding through a capitalist lens.
Furthermore, Gerald views the working class as irresponsible people who gamble their money away on short term pleasure instead of viewing them as a portion of the population struggaling to survive on their salarys. he assumes that because they are a working class they cant be striking for the right motives. He has never experienced economic struggle or been forced to sympathise with the lower classes, therefore, cannot see the suffering and desperation of these people. Although these capitalist caricatures that Priestley constructs talk as though they have superior knowledge, it is salient that they only parrot what they have been taught from a young age -> their parents and older generations of rich, capitalist business owners have taught them that they do not mix with lower classes, or adopt socialist ideas, since this would damage their chances of continuing to profit off of the lower classes -> due to this, Gerald and other young people in the upper classes in the Edwardian era alike, had a solidified view on the poor that was not based on any first-hand experience, or understanding of the human condition, or truly understanding politics and accepting that the system benefits them at the cost of others, but rather a view that removes responsibility from them, and allows them to give a half-hearted reason to continue their ways without feeling empathy.
