Gerald Croft

• Has a potentially transactional relationship with Eva Smith (her body vs money)
• Begins the play engaged to Sheila Birling but ends it on rocky terms. He is socially superior to the Birling family.
• Has Capitalist views just like Mr Birling - "You couldn't have done anything else"
• Is part of the older generation who refuse to learn their lessons and accept responsibility
• Comes across as being confident and charming at the beginning of the play
• Challenges the Inspector - "Getting a bit heavy handed". He is shocked because people normally respect him
• Priestley uses Gerald to attack the upper classes of post war Britain
• Has wealth and status within the community, so sees himself as superior and more capable than others
• Stage directions describe him as "an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred man about town"
• Manners are immediately evident in the way he reacts to Mr and Mrs Birling. Also could appear to be being tactful with them
• Mr Birling trusts Gerald because they both have similar views on business and capitalism
• Becomes evasive when Eva is mentioned and tries to avoid the subject - "All right(....) leave it at that"
• Eventually gains respect from Sheila and the audience for being honest - "We met again, not accidentally of course"
• Gerald's class of people were still capable of questionable behaviour, but it was just hidden better
• Priestley suggests that Gerald saw himself above all of the problems of the working class
• Priestley uses Gerald's failure to develop his sense of social responsibility. Even death won't change him
• Idiomatic phrasing suggests Gerald is a fashionable socialite and it could foreshadow his unfaithful nature
• Has a minor role at the beginning which allows Priestley to maintain a fairly vague and neutral portrayal so the audience is ambivalent (unsure) how to feel about him
• Portrayed as an ideal husband due to his financial security and higher social status
• Is condescending and patronising toward women. Eva's rescue is a facade for Gerald
• He is attracted by Eva's weakness, innocence and vulnerability.
• He helps to show how easy it is for the upper class to manipulate other people and the truth
• Has a distinct emotional reaction to Eva's death. This could be classed as a feminine trait.
• Disguises prostitution as charity through monetary exchanges rather than financial aid
• He is portrayed as misogynistic as he objectifies women. Eva is seen to satisfy his lustful desires.
• Priestley portrays Gerald as predatory towards Eva. This also has connotations of Eva's purity and could be euphemistic for her still being a virgin.
• Gerald represents the hypocrisy of the upper classes who are supposedly moral but act immoral