Gerald Flashcards
(17 cards)
Rough plan
Beginning - self preservation, maintaining façade of respectability
Middle - actions towards eva, lustful and exploitative
End - extrinsically motivated, falls with older gen
Opening quotes
‘After all, y’know, we’re respectable citizens and not criminals’
‘Getting a bit heavy-handed, aren’t you, Inspector’
‘You don’t. Neither of us does. So - for god’s sake - don’t say anything to the Inspector’
Opening intentions
- positions him as a character who evades neat categorisation into older or younger gen, building tension as to whether he will accept responsibility, to remind audience that each of us have a choice to make suggesting a right and wrong one
- social class as arbitrary, having no relationship with morality
- criticising the level of corruption within the police force and how easily they are swayed by bribery and nepotism from the upper class.
- indicting way upper class conceal info to save themselves as oppose to face consequences of their actions
Middle quotes
‘She was very pretty - soft brown hair and big dark eyes- (breaks off). My god!
‘Old Joe Meggarty, half-drunk and goggle-eyes, had wedged her into a corner with that obscene fat carcass of his-‘
‘and then told the girl that if she didn’t want any more of that thing, she’d better let me take her out of there. She agreed at once.
‘then gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for help
Middle intentions
- using an outsider generalises the attitudes of the upper and middle classes so that these crimes are not just exclusive to a fictional family
- criticising the upper class who constantly frame themselves as chivalrous when committing atrocious deeds
- criticising the lack of opportunities the working class had for employment in society
End quotes
‘We’re rather worried about one of our employees’
‘We’ve no proof it was the same photograph and therefore no proof it was the same girl’
End intentions
Priestly is imploring for the upper class to disassociate themselves from the way of the likes of Gerald Croft who has not learned his lesson and will in a much more punishing way.
‘After all, y’know, we’re respectable citizens and not criminals’
- attempts to hide his injustices by implying there is a direct correlation between social class and morality, defending himself
- attributes criminality to the working class and believes morality is an inherent trait of the upper class
- uses social status to distance himself from any wrongdoiongs and maintaina facade of respectability
‘Getting a bit heavy-handed, aren’t you, Inspector’
- views Inspector’s behaviour as officious and unacceptable for a police inspector
- low threshold for expectation of their actions
- feels overwhelmed as if the Inspector is physically exerting power which is emphasised through alliterative ‘heavy-handed’
- indicates level at which corruption occurs within legal system as officers do not usually exert pressure on upper class in investigations
- suggestions that he is hiding something
‘You don’t. Neither of us does. So - for god’s sake - don’t say anything to the Inspector’
- tries to appease Sheila by dismissing her guilt, before exerting power over her showing him to be manipulative
- not being found guilty is at the centre of his priorities as he operates on self preservation, representing the way how the upper class conceal info to save themselves
‘She was very pretty - soft brown hair and big dark eyes- (breaks off). My god!
- ostensibly seems guilty, sad through emotional response mirrored by dashes paired with stage directions
- aligns him with Eric and Sheila who feel emotionally about wrongdoings
- however, syntax of this aposiopesis coming directly after reminiscing her appearance demonstrates he only feels grief when remembering her beauty, lustful
- audience unaware if he will change being on the periphery of 2 generations
‘Old Joe Meggarty, half-drunk and goggle-eyes, had wedged her into a corner with that obscene fat carcass of his-‘
- positions himself as chivalrous describing Alderman Meggarty as a villain
- dehumanises him with animalistic noun of ‘carcass’ creating grotesque image
- hypocrisy of Gerald seen as he portrays Meggarty as lecherous when they have arrived at the Palace Bar driven by the same lust
- justifies himself as the only difference with him is their aesthetic appeal
- account seen as misleading and biased as he decides which details to omit and include
- Meggarty involved in local gov showing misogyny to be rife within
‘then gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for help
- portrays Eva as desperate for help as he misinterprets a non-verbal look
- similar to Sheila misinterpreting Eva
- seems deeply biased and subjective as he only helped her due to sexual motivation
‘and then told the girl that if she didn’t want any more of that thing, she’d better let me take her out of there. She agreed at once.’
- Eva is clearly in a state of vulnerability and desperation, Gerald uses this to exploit her
- option of going with Gerald is obviously preferable but the lesser of 2 evils
- he may be oblivious to the imbalance of power as he sees her as consentful and grateful, which is undercut by her vulnerability
- limited agency in her decision due to her powerlessness
‘We’re rather worried about one of our employees’
- facade of compassion of care for wellbeing of others to obtain information he wants
- mirrors how he acted when he was seemingly concerned for Eva
- cyclical nature of his actions
‘We’ve no proof it was the same photograph and therefore no proof it was the same girl’
- obsession over insignificant factors such as whether the Inspector showed each of them the same photo
- fixated on the credibility of the Inspector and the crop he used to alleviate their guilt and diminish this responsibility
- whether he showed them one or multiple photos doesn’t change the fact that they all acted in a morally reprehensible way, it could in-fact make it worse as they could have hurt more girls
- actions do not become any more condonable
- tries to find loophole to claim being slandered and hence free of any guilt or crime by repeatedly referring to the noun ‘proof’
- removal of inspector eradicates any extrinsic pressure to change, due to fear of punishment or social status tarnished
- discovery of fraud allows characters to showcase morality, Gerald does not internalise teachings and sees this as a victory
- juxtaposes younger generation, falls with higher
Overview
Priestly uses the character of Gerald Croft as a vehicle to indict the way that the upper and middle classes conceal information to save their social status as opposed to facing the consequences of their actions. Gerald’s initial portray as a respectable man with a great social standing is tarnished by his repeated attempts to conceal his mistakes as well as his infidelity with Sheila. Through the interrogation, the Inspector reveals the exploitative relationship between Eva and Gerald in which Gerald was motivated by lustful desires. Within this, Gerald perceives himself as a hero saving Eva from Alderman Meggarty. Priestly is criticising the upper class who constantly frame themselves as chivalrous even when committing atrocious deeds through Gerald. After the Inspector being found out as a fraud, Gerald is seen to be extrinsically motivated by the fear of ruining his social status due to him being overwhelmed with joy that they are free of being accused of crime.
