Gerald Flashcards
“I hate those hard eyed dough faced women”
• Misogynistic tone: Gerald objectifies and judges women based solely on their appearance. The phrase shows a lack of empathy and a shallow attitude.
• “Hard-eyed” suggests these women are emotionally tough or cold—possibly due to difficult life experiences, like poverty or exploitation. Gerald dismisses them without considering their backstory.
• “Dough-faced” is a harsh, unkind term describing women as pale or unattractive. This reveals Gerald’s elitist and superficial mindset, where women are valued only for their looks.
• Class and privilege: Gerald, as an upper-class man, criticises working-class women in a setting where they likely had few choices. He distances himself morally from them while still using places like the Palace Bar for his own benefit.
• Dramatic irony: The audience sees that Gerald isn’t as honourable as he tries to appear. He claims to be saving Eva, but his language shows bias and hypocrisy.
• Priestley’s message: Priestley uses this to critique the objectification of women, and how upper-class men exploit and judge working-class women while pretending to be respectable.k
“Everything’s all right now, sheila what about this ring”
Dramatic irony and denial: Gerald tries to restore the status quo as if nothing serious happened. The audience knows Sheila has changed, but Gerald hasn’t learned anything.
• Dismissive tone: Saying “everything’s all right now” shows he believes the situation has been erased simply because there won’t be consequences. He completely ignores the emotional and moral impact.
• Symbolism of the ring: The ring represents control, tradition, and appearance. Offering it again suggests Gerald wants to pick up where they left off, pretending nothing happened—revealing how shallow his understanding of love and responsibility is.
“The girl saw me looking at her and then gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for help.”
Gerald honestly tells the story of how he met Eva. He was in the wrong to have an affair and then abandon Eva but, his use of emotive language ‘cry for help’ makes us realise that he genuinely felt sorry for her and wanted to help her.
“I didn’t ask for anything in return”
• Self-justification: Gerald presents himself as generous or noble, suggesting he helped Daisy out of kindness. However, this feels like he’s trying to excuse or lessen his responsibility.
• Power imbalance: Despite claiming he didn’t expect anything, he still entered a relationship with a vulnerable woman who depended on him for support. The line ignores the emotional and social power dynamic between them.
• False morality: Priestley may be criticising people like Gerald who try to appear morally superior while still exploiting their privilege.
• Naivety or manipulation: Either Gerald truly believes he was helping selflessly, or he’s saying it to defend his reputation. In either case, it shows his lack of self-awareness compared to Sheila, who begins to take responsibility.
