How is Gerald presented in An Inspector Calls?

Where does Gerald stand in the play?

The stage directions call him an "easy well-bred young man-about-town". He is about thirty, older than Sheila and Eric and younger than their parents, and the son of Sir George Croft, whose firm is a bigger rival to Birling's. The engagement suits both businesses, which is why Mr Birling is so pleased with it.

In Act 1 he sides with Birling over the sacked strikers: "You couldn't have done anything else". He already thinks like an employer.

In Act 2 he tells the truth about Daisy Renton, and for a while he looks like someone who might change. In Act 3 he comes back with proof that there is no Inspector Goole on the force, and leads the family's relief.

What are the key moments for Gerald?

His reaction to the name. When the Inspector says "Daisy Renton", Gerald gives himself away with a single startled word. Sheila sees it at once. Priestley ends Act 1 on the two of them alone, with the Inspector's "Well?" in the doorway.

The affair. He met Daisy in the Palace bar and helped her get away from a man who was pestering her. He found her somewhere to live and gave her money, and she became his mistress. He ended it when it suited him. He says he did not feel about her as she felt about him, which is honest, and is also the problem.

Sheila's judgement. She calls him "the wonderful Fairy Prince", and says he must have adored it. The fairy-tale title is sarcastic: he enjoyed being a rescuer, and the rescue lasted only as long as he wanted it to. She still respects him for telling the truth.

The ring. Once the family decides it was all a hoax, he holds it out again: "Everything's all right now, Sheila. What about this ring?" For him the evening was a problem, and the problem has gone away.

Is Gerald a good character or a bad one?

Priestley makes him hard to judge, and examiners reward answers that say so. He did help Daisy when she needed it, he is visibly upset by her death, and the Inspector says he "at least had some affection for her". None of the Birlings gets that much credit.

But he kept her in a way that left her with nothing when he walked away, and he lied to Sheila for a whole summer. His real test comes in Act 3. Sheila and Eric say it makes no difference whether the Inspector was real. Gerald thinks it makes all the difference. He joins the parents.

What context matters for Gerald?

Gerald belongs to the landed upper class, a step above the Birlings, who made their money in trade. His mother, Lady Croft, is thought to disapprove of the match. Class works inside the dining room as well as between it and Eva.

A man in his position keeping a mistress was a quiet scandal in 1912, and the woman bore the cost. Priestley shows the double standard without needing anyone to preach about it.

He is also the future of business: young, capable and unchanged. If Sheila and Eric are Priestley's hope, Gerald is his warning that the next generation of the powerful might carry on as before.

What might an exam question on Gerald ask?

AQA sets An Inspector Calls in Section A of Paper 2. You choose one of two essay questions, and no extract is printed, so every quotation has to come from memory. The question carries 30 marks, with 4 more for spelling, punctuation and grammar (AO4). Other boards also set an essay on the play, so check your own board's past papers for the exact wording.

Two focuses to practise:

• How does Priestley present Gerald's relationship with Eva Smith?
• How far does Priestley present Gerald as a character who learns from the Inspector?

What does a strong paragraph on Gerald look like?

Here is an original model paragraph for the second focus.

Priestley presents Gerald as a man who feels guilt and then puts it down. In Act 2 he is the most honest person in the room, and even the Inspector grants that he "at least had some affection for her". Sheila's phrase for him, "the wonderful Fairy Prince", is harsher: it suggests he liked the part of rescuer more than he cared about the girl. The proof comes in Act 3. Having shown that the Inspector was not a real policeman, he says "Everything's all right now" and offers the ring again, as if a confession stops counting when nobody is there to hear it. Priestley uses him to warn the audience that being sorry for an evening is not the same as changing.

Key Gerald quotations to learn

Short phrases you can quote exactly, each with a use.

• "easy well-bred young man-about-town" (stage direction, Act 1): confident and comfortable.
• "You couldn't have done anything else" (Act 1): he backs Birling over the strikers.
• "the wonderful Fairy Prince" (Sheila, Act 2): he enjoyed being the rescuer.
• "at least had some affection for her" (the Inspector, Act 2): the fairest thing said of anyone.
• "Everything's all right now, Sheila" (Act 3): he has learned nothing that lasts.