Gerald

• "The easy well bred young man about town"

  "Absolutely first class"

  Act 1


  -He is a paragon of social superiority; his wealth, family name, attractiveness and age place him at the top of the social pecking order - prejudices in edwardian society work in his favour -he is self assured and has no reason to question his social standing

  -"well-bred" - highlights the antiquated edwardian values

  -"man-about-town" - foreshadow him finding a mistress in the palace bar- he keeps a facade

  -"absolutely first class" - his social interactions are advised and calculated he acts in a way which charms and pleases people- manipulative
• [mr B]"lower costs and higher prices" - Gerald replies"hear, hear! And i think my father would agree to that"

  he talks about his "mother" and "father" a lot


  -on surface level Gerald is displayed as supportive of capitalist views with the preoccupation of maximising profits in a selfish manner

  -upon further inspection Gerald gives the opportunity to explore how these views become hardwired and internalised

  -Gerald references his "mother" and "father" on multiple occasions - could lead audience to question whether Geralds world view is merely a product of his upbringing and so he is almost presented as a victim of his society - not easy for him as he is "well-bred"- can't change
• Sheila says "he means I'm getting hysterical now"

  "Women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things"


  -Gerald attempts to excuse Sheila from the conversation - Sheila is aware of this and exposes him

  -Hysteria was a diagnosable condition to disregard women and silence them politically and socially - Geralds colloquial reference to this represents him as misogynistic to his own wife

  
  

  -"women ought to be protected..."- says it in a pseudo-heroic manner

  -not only is this repressive and patronising but it is laced with irony as he willingly exposes Eva
• "Suicide business"

  "Install her"

  "In return"

  "She didn't blame me at all. I wish to God she had now"

  Act 2


  -He uses apathy to distance himself from the tragedy "suicide business"- euphemisms Eva's death through the insensitive noun of business- thinks about death this way to protect against grief

  -"install her" + "in return" - vocational semantic field makes it seem like a transaction- reflect wider societal flaws at the time, almost all relationships were corrupted with money and wealth

  -Puts on facade of remorse by saying "she didn't me at all..."- ironic as Gerald prioritises ridding himself of the blame of Eva's death, so he does not wish for the blame he claims to
• "Everything is alright now Sheila. What about this ring?" - Act 3


  -He suppresses and downplays the events of the evening

  -"ring" - metonym for marriage displays Geralds materialistic view of marriage- it ignores any sense of emotion or love

  -reverts to this traditional symbol of power and possession to reassert himself; he finds comfort in the ingrained societal beliefs which make life easy for him

  -Geralds creates cyclical structure- focussing back on their engagement - shows his unwillingness to change