Gerald Croft

• “too manly to be a dandy”

  Content and confident in his own masculinity and not like other men of his age
• 2) “well-bred”


  Is a fashionable socialite

  Alternatively, Priestley is perhaps foreshadowing the unfaithful nature of him as he goes “about-town” and into the Palace bar.
• 3) “I don’t pretend to know much about it (port)” 


  An ideal husband/ son-in-law due to his financial security and higher social status

  Is polite to parents and comes across as humble

  In 1912 British society his social status makes him attractive as women’s only route of wealth was to marry into it
• 4) “except for all last summer, when you never came near me” 


  Has an unexpected absence - him and Sheila lack a close bond
• 5) “I suppose it was inevitable“


  “inevitable” = acts as though it always would of happened no matter what

  Mirrors the way middle-upper class men treated women
• 6) “I become at once the most important person in her life”


  Has power to exploit Eva and make her dependant

  Is manipulating a vulnerable woman and acts as if he has no choice
• 7) “I didn’t feel bad about her as she felt about me”


  Assigns blame to the affair for Eva
• 8) “Nearly any man would have done”


  Justifying his actions by saying it’s a normal male response
• 9) “(He looks round triumphantly at them)”


  It is more important for him to be right than learn a lesson
• 10) “Everything’s alright now, Sheila.”


  Arrogant and cannot see that Sheila has changed