Gerlad

• GERALD [laughs]: You seem to be a nice well-behaved family -

  BIRLING: We think we are -

  Act One

  Coming early in the play, these lines also exemplify Priestley's love of dramatic irony: the last thing the Birlings have been is well-behaved. These lines also suggest the alliance between Gerald and Birling, two men who share the same values, whose bond will become stronger after the Inspector's exit.
• GERALD: "Absolutely first-class"

  "I insist upon being one of the family now."

  Act One


  At the beginning of the play Gerald appears to be very polite and well mannered. He seems to be enthusiastic and wants to fit in with the family.
• GERALD: "You couldn't have done anything else." (After Birling reveals that he fired Eva Smith.)


  In the first act Gerald shows that he has similar views to Mr Birling.
• GERALD: "I want you to understand that I didn't install her there so that I could make love to her."

  Act Two

  This shows that he is kind and willing to help. It also shows that status and class don't seem to matter to him as much, maybe because he is of higher status than the Birling's so more secure in his position.
• GERALD: "Why should you, its bound to be unpleasant and disturbing."

  Act Two

  He seems to adhere to traditional views concerning men and women, he tries to protect Sheila from hearing about his affair, not only because he wants to hide it from he but he fears she will be too weak willed and find it very upsetting.
• GERALD: "Everything's all right now, Sheila. What about this ring?"

  Act Three

  In the end Gerald shows clearly that he believes nothing has changed. He expects that Sheila will have gotten over it so soon and he believes that now that the situation is over everything can go back to normal, this shows quite a naive side of Gerald and shows that he has had no understanding of the lesson the Inspector was trying to teach and that he has little respect for Sheila.
• GERALD: "She was young and pretty and warm hearted - and intensely grateful" - "and"

  Act Two

  His words spill out; he has so much to say about Eva because he was intimate with her. He knows her in a positive light, unlike Sheila, Mr & Mrs Birling. He knows her feelings and emotions. "intensely grateful" proves he also looks down on the lower class. He only knows how to give and help in terms of finance.
• Gerald's character description:


  Gerald is the only one who really seemed to genuinely care for Eva. Anyone else who was involved with Eva pushed her away in order to gain something for themselves.

  Gerald didn't push Eva away; he saved her from the man in the Palace Variety Theatre. He made her live at Morgan Terrace because he felt truly sorry for her and wanted to help.

  The fact that they ended up in a relationship shows that Gerald must have been a really good friend to Eva for them to become comfortable with each other. He is an example of the people in the higher class with respectable morals, who are held back by their own people and traditions.

  This is why he appears to agree with both the Birlings and the Inspector; he doesn't want to go against his own class but he didn't want to turn away from his mistakes either.

  He wanted to fit in with the Birlings to impress Arthur so that he could marry Sheila; their talks of business ventures proves this, where Mr Birling presents his ideas and Gerald simply agrees.

  Priestley uses him as an example of the conflict society is faced with; his confusion mirrors the audience's in terms of what is right and what is expected of them.