Gerald Croft

• "Women ought to b protected against unpleasant and disturbing things."


  Gerald triesto mainatin an heroic image by trying to protect women from disturbing things however this couls also be depicted as him controling women and keping them hidden from the reality of the world.
• [The easy, wee-bred young man about town]

  there is an animalistic image on "bred" as it evokes imagery about animal breeding which presents Gerald as a metaphorical image that he is a product of meticulous cultivation and so he is a victim to capitalist ideologies as he was exposed to capitalism before he even had the agency to make his decisions for himself, he has been groomed from birth. This could present him as a victim of higher society to a certain extent. The adjective "easy" shows that he easily blends into upper sciety as he has been meticulously cultivated to be as he is and that he is a paragon of upper class men. Gerald's reluctance to stay conformed to capitalist idologies could be in fear of losing his place in the hierarchy and being isolated by the elite.
• "We're respectable citizens and not criminals."


  collevctive pronoun "we're" creates a segregation ideology asgerald uses it to unite the Birlings as they also share a similar ideology.

  Alliteration on 'citizens' and 'criminals' creates a sense of similarity reflecting priestley's portrayal of blurred lines between morality and criminality as one ascends the social hierarchy.
• "she looked young and fresh and charming."


  the noun 'fresh' coonotates innocense and purity wich presents Eva as vulnerable prey whereas Gerald is shown to be consuming Eva as a predatory position.

  The repetition of 'and' amplifies the qualities of Eva which he is recalling however the adjctives serving [physical attributes show how Eva acted as a physical fantasy for Gerald to be safe from the constraints of his engagement and the pressure of keeping up with the demands of his social hierarchy."
• "everything's alright now Sheila... what about the ring."


  gerald fails to express accountability as he would rather pretend to make everything go back to normal than lose the familiarity of his place in the hierarchy. Unlike the rest of the younger generation, Gerald is obstinate and does not express any maleableity.

  The ring is a metonym for the way gerald views marriage as materialistic as he reverts back to this traditional symbol for power and posession in order to reassert himself as he finds comfort in ingrained societal beliefs whic make life 'easy' for him.