Gerald Croft Character notes

GERALD CROFT

“Gerald Croft works at his father's company, Crofts Limited, which is both bigger and older than Birling & Co. He is engaged to be married to Sheila Birling. His parents, Sir George and Lady Croft, are above the Birlings (Mr Birling and Mrs Birling) socially, and it seems his mother disapproves of his engagement to Sheila. J. B.”- www.oxnotes.com

“an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy very much the easy well-bred young-man-about-town”

-Aristocrat: Through the stage directions, Priestley hints he is an aristocrat as he is “well bred”. This is then confirmed as he is the son of Lord and Lady Croft. He is the Birlings’ social superior and Mr Birling makes this clear when he says “Lady Croft - while she doesn't object to my girl - feels you might have done better for yourself socially.” This creates unease between them but it also suggests that Mr Birling is very comfortable talking to Gerald.

-Capitalist: In the first act Gerald shows that he has similar views to Mr Birling. He agrees with Birling’s speech about “increasing prosperity” and replies “You couldn’t have done anything else” after Birling reveals that he fired Eva Smith. Birling says that Gerald is “the kind of son in law I always wanted” which shows how Birling sees Gerald like himself- a determined man of business.

-Contrast to Eric: Gerald seems much more “manly” than Eric as he is presented as strong and confident, in general much more at ease than Eric who is “half-shy, half-assertive”. He is pleased with himself and relaxed, talking casually with Birling about port: “the governor prides himself on being a good judge of port” whilst Eric “suddenly guffaws” showing his awkwardness. There is much tension between Eric and Birling, shown through their differences in political views, Eric has more socialist views than his father and when he hears why his father sacked Eva, he supports the worker’s cause and says “Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? ... I’d have let her stay”. On the other hand, Birling and Gerald have very capitalist views. Birling even confides in Gerald about his “chance of a knighthood”, rather than his own son. This perhaps suggests to the audience that Birling would prefer to have Gerald as a son, rather than Eric.

-The audience is unsure whether he really loves Sheila: Priestley constantly makes reference to Gerald neglecting Sheila “all last summer” and although he claims he “was awfully busy at the works all that time”, Sheila’s “half serious, half playful” tone suggests that she doesn’t fully believe him. This makes us question the legitimacy of the love he appears to show to Sheila and makes the reader wonder the importance of what he did last summer. This builds tension and foreshadows Gerald’s part…