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AQA GCSE English Literature An Inspector Calls Gerald Croft Exemplar Essay
A grade 9 AQA GCSE example essay on Gerald Croft that can be used for revision.
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Gerald CroftIn Priestley’s enigmatic morality play, “An Inspector Calls”, Gerald Croft is a dismissive,
entitled aristocrat who embodies the stubborn, socially superior attitudes of the upper
classes. Priestley deliberately presents him as selfish and morally inferior to expose the way
that the role that the upper classes play in causing and maintaining poverty often goes
undetected. Furthermore, his callous and arrogant treatment of Eva would likely coerce the
audience towards embracing the socialist views becoming more prevalent at the time and
encourage them to accept a sense of collective responsibility themselves.
Priestley quickly establishes Gerald’s characteristics – typical of an eligible bachelor- in the
exposition of the play through the opening stage directions and his initial dialogue. We see
that he is an “easy, well-bred young man about town”. He is pleasant, likable and easy to
sympathise with: the embodiment of the of the respectable upper class business-man. The
premodifying adjective, “easy” is indicative of his relaced demeanour and could imply
promiscuity and foreshadow his later involvement with “women of the night”. That Priestley
describes him as “Well-Bred” alludes to his wealth and the expectations associated with
upper-class men in terms of being both desirable and strong- minded. It could convey that he
has an animalistic nature with highly sexual desires.
This is emphasised by him being a “man about town”, indicating that he is not to be trusted
and that perhaps his charm and outer appearance are a disguise for his duplicitous, unsavoury
nature. This detailed stage direction clearly outlines Gerald’s sociability and reiterates his
charming personality, cementing his as an embodiment of the bourgeoisie .
When being interrogated by the Inspector, he is arguably the character most successful in
deceiving the Inspector through his clever use of storytelling: “she gave a glance that was
nothing less than a cry for help”. His use of the tentative verb “glance” clearly implies that Eva
made the first move and thus bears responsibility for initiating their affair. Moreover, it
strongly suggests that Eva wanted Gerald to go to her rescue. From his version of the events,
it is clear the he believes she instigated their relationship and he merely responded valiantly
to her “cry for help”. That she cries for help places Eva in the role of a vulnerable and a
powerless victim, with little ability to help herself. Through his description, she takes on her
expected gender role and becomes his ‘damsel in distress’. He paints her as a poor woman,
living in poverty that needs a valiant, wealthy gentleman to save her. However, his heroic
stance is soured by his asserting that he “didn’t install her there to make love to her”. The
verb “install” is indicative of Gerald’s attitude towards women as he undeniably objectifies
her. This rare slip in his smooth façade unveils his true intentions and creates a sense he is
using Eva solely for his own gratification.
By the end of the play it is clear that Gerald gas not reflected on his callous actions, shown
any remorse or taken the Inspectors lesson to heart. His lack of change of character reflects
how difficult it is for the wealthy to change their outlook as they are perfectly contented with
their privileged position within the cycle of wealth. He assures Sheila that “Everything’s alright
now” and thus succinctly demonstrates the wilful ignorance of the working classes. With no
official reprimand, everything has returned to normal for him. He therefore does not
acknowledge that the entirety of the anonymous, voiceless working class or anyone else
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