gerald croft Flashcards
purpose of gerald
he dissapoints the aduience with his inability to shift to socialism despite a vauge undertsanding of rules, this disspaoimtnet reminds the audience of the entrenched attitudes of the upper class
man about town/ early descriptions of gerald explained
dancy and man about town allude to him being a popular socialite and a respected fellow, however theres also an undertone of his unfaithful nature
were unsure to his persona
geralds feelings towards eva
he is accustomed to the prositutes as he knows shes out of place and can describe the hard eyed dough faced women, but he is entirely driven by lust rather than the fairytale chivalry he tries to prove, he sees her as ‘young and fresh’ as if she is new, untarnsihed and fertile and also draws connotations to meat. its clear he can pass his actions off as not sinful if shes of innocence.
he is only upset by her deeath afted detailing her appearncae showing that his compassion and love is overhsadowed by the shallowness
he uses a semantic field of finance such as ‘this business’ to show how he views her as no more than an object of his desire, he proves that its ok for men to do things if they keep it sectretive
gerald controlling the narrative as he tells his tory whilst also seeming very euphamistic on the details shows how men of power hold the autonomy of women
he sees himself as chivalrous for making her ‘take some money’- trying to pass himself off as charitable- but its clear he lacks any real empathy as these are momentary exchanges not real help
geralds moral stance
he is possesive of a moral compass mr and mrs b do not have, he knows wrongs but as an inheritant of his familys old money business he has to uphold his name above all else
he comndems alderman maggarty publicly and views what he does as a matyr like aiding of fallen women, but his actions are all driven by his lust after a new and fresh woman.
he aids eva with a home and affection, though very driven by a persoanl gain, but only in the privacy and drops her despite his love at the prospect of sheila discovering
he is only affected by immorality when the consequences fall on him, comndeming megarty and such was easy but he does not wish for actual justice- pireslty needs a middle character for many act in this manner
geralds materialism
priesly wants to show that human socail relations are what impacts the most, eva does not care for gerlads money only his affections whilst he uses a semnatic field of finance and transactional terms to show their relations such as ‘in return’ and ‘this business’
geralds misgony
geralds chivalrous act is a facade for his deeply objectifying views on women, hes attracted to the fact shes ‘young and fresh’- as if she is both fertile and meat, but would not try and save uglier or more seasoned women at the bar
gerald tries to shoo sheila away as he fears its too disturbing- further sielcning women and prpeserving their naivity- but we see misogyny stems from a place of ego because hes trying to hide her from his affair-‘shes had a long exciting and tiring day’
he calls her hysterical meaning blah we know hysteria by now
takeaway of geralds character
hes a fairly ambigious character as hes not chnaged but also not comndemable like the parents, rather hes a midway like the many who have a clear moral compass but are too entrenched by their societal standards to break free
in some ways the audiences liking for gerald as theres worse than him indoctrinates them into the mindset of the class system and the complacency, they are content to igore the subtle issues but ok to expose the clear wrongs- mr and mrs b.
geralds shift at the end to defned his character will be a dissapoitment to the auience, turning them against the upper class,
geralds narration of his encounter
much like eva s lack of presence throughout- gerald symbolises the patriarchy by wholey narrating his account of events which we will have to take as fact, despite having a tendancy to lie and undermine
empathy for gerald
unlike the heartless manner of the briling parents, gerald has a dramatic exit rather than answer sheilas question upon whether he loved eva, the leave could be symbolic of him confronting his feelings on a more emotional level
but he could not act upon feelings as he values his status more
gerald and mr birling
gerald represents a new gen of capitalists whos views alrgely align with mr bs, the only dif being gerald may feel compassion for loweers at this age however likely not in the future when its entrenched in him and not when it threatns his social status gerald supports mr b as a good son in law
gerald and sheilas relationship
its unconventional and likely why mrs croft fears he may have ‘done better for yourself socially’ as to contnue the seantic field of finance rich men often transactioned their new wealth for an old money wife, like mr and mrs b.
its unsure if he genuinley loves sheila or if hes been ‘trying for long enough’ and views winning women as a prize, like eric with the hunting imagery ofgood sports, and like himself chasing women at the palace bar.
sheilas suspicions of the affair are consitricted by her families pressures to bargain her off in this successful marriage and the lack of autonomyheld by women in 1912.
their marriage is a symbol of the capitalist transactional even coutrly romance that is toxic and backwards, the ring being a symbol of geralds power and materialsitic importance
geralds hpocracy
prieslty exposes the moral issue with the upper class is their desire to prove themslves not in the wrong so that they can contnue living a peaceful life in luxury
gerald can recall an appearcne that echos sheilas and even tells im she mentioned the strike and the shop, but when given the chance he jumps to prove shes a fraud
geralds change paragraph
what about this ring, wed have to start all over again
taken it in properly- that shes dead
his dramatic exit around confronting his feelings
i suppose were all nice people now- this shows a shift in gerald when he realises that they cat brush off their actions regardless of the truth of the inspector and act morally superaior as these actions define them as people. Shows he has a grasp of collective resposbility and a willingness to accept wrongs that the older generation do not have.
hes a fairly ambigious character as hes not chnaged but also not comndemable like the parents, rather hes a midway like the many who have a clear moral compass but are too entrenched by their societal standards to break free
in some ways the audiences liking for gerald as theres worse than him indoctrinates them into the mindset of the class system and the complacency, they are content to igore the subtle issues but ok to expose the clear wrongs- mr and mrs b.
geralds shift at the end to defned his character will be a dissapoitment to the auience, turning them against the upper class,
