Inspector Calls - Gerald Croft

Question 1

What does Priestley use Gerald’s character to represent?

Answer 1

The indivudalism of the upper class.

Question 2

How does Gerald disillusion the audience?

Answer 2

They hope by the end he would’ve changed his capitalist selfish attitudes but he fails to do so.

Question 3

What does Priestley use Gerald’s fauilure to convey?

Answer 3

How entrenched these upper-class attitudes were; death won’t change them.

Question 4

What happens to the good natured portrayal of Gerald at the start?

Answer 4

It begins to deteriorate as the audiencelearns about the nightime activities.

Question 5

What does Priestley portray Gerald as regarding prostitution?

Answer 5

A man who spends a considerable amount of time in bars and socialising with and using prostitutes.

Question 6

How does Priestley evidence his familiarity with prostitutes?

Answer 6

Through Gerald’s vivid description of them - “I hate those hard-eyed dough-faced women”. This opinion can only come from experience

Question 7

Why did Eva seem “out of place” to Gerald?

Answer 7

He must have known what was ordinary for a prostitute.

Question 8

Why did Gerald care for Eva?

Answer 8

Only because of his lustful desires.

Question 9

Where does Priestley’s use of aposiopesis come after?

Answer 9

After Gerald describes Eva’s beauty - “She was pretty- soft brown hair and big dark eyes - [break off] My God!”.

Question 10

What does Priestley’s use of aposiopesis reveal?

Answer 10

Gerald only felt attracted to Eva physically as he feels the greatest grief when remembering her physical beauty.

Question 11

What does Priestley skillfully reveal?

Answer 11

Gerald’s flaws.

Question 12

How does Priestley skillfully reveal Gerald’s flaws?

Answer 12

In a way that does not make him relatable or likeable to the audience but rather a hypocrite.

Question 13

Being working class or upper class does not make you more or less what?

Answer 13

Naturally superior.

Question 14

Who declares that your class determines whether or not you are naturally superior?

Answer 14

The aristocracy.

Question 15

Priestley reveals how insubstantial what is through Gerald’s hypocricy?

Answer 15

The lies the upper class are feeding themself and the rest of society.

Question 16

Gerald is portrayed by Priestly as following a moral stance when?

Answer 16

It suits his needs.

Question 17

What is Gerald content with doing?

Answer 17

Lying about his affair with Eva as “awfully busy at the works all that time” over the summer.

Question 18

What is it clear that Gerald is in regard to his lies about Eva?

Answer 18

Unrepentant until Sheila finds out.

Question 19

What does Geralds pragmatically moral character reveal?

Answer 19

The crux of the inspector’s current issue with society as Gerald doesn’t care about his wrong doings until there are possible consequences that may affect him.

Question 20

How does Priestley portray Gerald viewing the world in?

Answer 20

A materialistic light.

Question 21

How did Gerald try to help Eva and why was this wrong?

Answer 21

Through financial aid when it was his care for her that had the most signifcant impact and pushed her to her suicide.

Question 22

His interactions with Eva are encompassed in a semantic field of what?

Answer 22

Business and finance rhetoric. For example “install her”, “in return”, “business”. Gerald percieves his relationships as transactions like marriage.

Question 23

What message is Priestley trying to convey with Gerald’s materialism?

Answer 23

Money and class corrupts relationships.

Question 24

What do human relations do?

Answer 24

They are of greater power and wield greater power that money.

Question 25

What does putting an extensive amount of emphasis on finance do to humanity?

Answer 25

Leaves it devoid of tenderness, warmth and connection.

Question 26

How does Priestley see putting an extensive amount of emphasis on finance as?

Answer 26

Destructive. He calls for society to rethink it’s values. This message reverberates through generations.

Question 27

Gerald is one of the central what?

Answer 27

Male voices that oppress the voices of women in the play.

Question 28

Gerald attempts to exclude Sheila as?

Answer 28

She recognises “he means that I’m getting hysterical”.

Question 29

What was hysteria?

Answer 29

Hysteria was a fabricated disorder, that has historically been used to marginalise women from politics and society for exhibiting ‘unfeminine’ traits.

Question 30

What does Gerald imply about Sheila?

Answer 30

That she is too emotional to too think clearly and logically; she should leave the thinking to men.

Question 31

What does Gerald perpetuate?

Answer 31

A demeaning sense of victimhood as “young women should be protected from unpleasant and disturbing things” because they are too fragile to witness the harsh reality of the world.

Question 32

How is the conviction that Gerald holds about women ironic?

Answer 32

He failed to protect Eva from the “unpleasant and disturbing” sexual desires that he holds himself.

Question 33

What is the truth behind Gerald ‘s belief about women that Priestley exposes?

Answer 33

It only exists to benefit men and for them to maintain their own power. Another example of how upper-class men manipulate social norms to benefit them.

Question 34

What is Geralds true motive behind his desire for Sheila to leave?

Answer 34

So she doesn’t hear about his affair with Sheila.