Gerald In An Inspector Calls Essay

An Inspector Calls is a play written by J.B Priestley in 1945 but set in 1912. It is about the interrogation of the Birlings, an upper class family who were involved in the suicide of Eva Smith, a lower class girl. Gerald Croft is the fiancé of Sheila Birling who kept Eva as his mistress after she was fired from Milwards, but abandons her later. The audience feels differently about Gerald in the beginning, the middle and in the end of the play. Gerald Croft is described as “an attractive chap about thirty” and is the “easy well-bred man of the town”, revealing to the audience that he is of the upper class. Additionally, Mr Birling makes it clear that “Crofts Limited are both older and bigger than Birling and Company”, suggesting that he is of a higher class than the Birlings. However, he is very polite, constantly agreeing with Mr Birling. Being about thirty and agreeing with Mr Birling’s views make …show more content…
Gerald defends Mr Birling and claims that he “would’ve done the same”. This suggests that even though Gerald found out about the girl’s suicide, he is unaffected because he is focused on earning money and leading a successful business. Moreover, he tries to deny that he is guilty by pretending that he has never heard of the girl. He gets confronted by Sheila and she tells him to tell the inspector the truth because she believes that the inspector already knows the truth. Gerald ends up admitting the truth to the inspector. However, he had both good and bad intentions for Eva Smith, or Daisy Renton, when he kept her as his mistress. He cared for Daisy and payed all for her expenses. He gave her the “best days of her life”. Although he knew that he wasn’t going to marry her, he still provided her with money and a place to live in. He regrets his actions, causing the audience to feel sympathy for