Gerald eva birling control mrs gerald’s sheila she’s

Text	The Inspector and Gerald At the end of Act One the Inspector reveals that Eva often went by a different name (Daisy Renton) and upon hearing this Gerald shows obvious recognition. In an effort to remove Sheila from earshot Gerald says: ‘I think Miss Birling ought to be excused any more of this questioning. She’s nothing more to tell you. She’s had a long, exciting and tiring day […] and now she’s obviously had about as much as she can stand’. In the same condescending tone that Mr Birling adopted earlier in the play, Gerald seeks to assert his patriarchal influence by speaking on Sheila’s behalf and as such suppressing her voice. As well as very obviously patronising, there is even an undertone here of something more sinister: he seeks to control Sheila, not only what and how she ought to think but even to exert a certain control over her body by suggesting she should be removed and that she is tired. This apparent willingness to exert control over Sheila foreshadows much of the subsequent revelations about Gerald’s pernicious interactions with Eva Yet, Sheila does not accept this and assertively states that she is staying. This represents a significant change in her tone and manner that will continue throughout the play, but it also highlights Sheila’s ability to reject Gerald’s attempted control in a way that Eva could not. Perhaps Priestley is hinting already at the success of the Inspector’s interrogations. Before Gerald has a chance to relay his involvement Mrs Birling appears and attempts to end the Inspector’s inquiry with this comment: ‘I don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class –‘ This demonstrates the clear class prejudice that both Mr and Mrs Birling share and Priestley’s choice of ‘that’ has the same dehumanising effect that Mrs Birling’s earlier use of ‘these’ had. One can even imagine the actress spitting out this word, exhibiting, as it does, a certain repulsion that Mrs Birling has for ‘girls of that class’ Furthermore, it also emphasises that for Mrs Birling all that matters is Eva’s class: her worth and value as a human is inextricably linked to her social class and, again, this is the view that in writing the play Priestley sought to challenge and subvert. At this point we discover Gerald’s true involvement: he met Eva whilst at an event and took her, as he would like us to think at least, under his wing. He offered her a place to stay and gave her money and she soon became his mistress. As Shelia summarises: ‘Gerald set her up as his mistress and then dropped her when it suited him’. To Gerald Eva is disposable: he is able to do what he wants with her without any consideration of the consequences. She is simply a plaything to him and as her name suggest she is, in his view, for ‘rent’. Indeed, the way in which Gerald speaks of Eva helps to capture this rather insidious attitude: she looked, he says, ‘young and fresh’ and was ‘out of place’. Priestley makes it clear, here, that Gerald recognised Eva’s vulnerability and took advantage of it for his own ends. The use of ‘fresh’ is especially revealing and a rather odd way in which to describe someone. ‘Fresh’ suggests vulnerability and youth, and as such the promise of a future squandered, but also indicates Gerald’s sexual attraction to Eva. It implies a rather sickening recognition and awareness of her inexperience and the ability for this to be exploited and leveraged. Gerald knowingly and manipulatively ‘set her up’ and in doing so manufactured a situation where Eva depended upon him for the necessities of life (food and shelter) so that he could, at his own whims, sexually exploit her, finally ‘dropping’ her when it no longer suited him. The cruelty at the crux of the play is that different people held power over and had control of Eva, and perhaps none so as manipulatively and insidiously as Gerald. Whether it be as an employer, as a customer where she works, or as a man she turns to for help, people had power over Eva and then abused that power for their own ends. At its most fundamental the play is an attempt to provoke a reconfiguration of society where no one person has a monopoly over the life of another.

Text

The Inspector and Gerald

At the end of Act One the Inspector reveals that Eva often went by a different name (Daisy Renton) and upon hearing this Gerald shows obvious recognition.
In an effort to remove Sheila from earshot Gerald says: ‘I think Miss Birling ought to be excused any more of this questioning. She’s nothing more to tell you. She’s had a long, exciting and tiring day […] and now she’s obviously had about as much as she can stand’.
In the same condescending tone that Mr Birling adopted earlier in the play, Gerald seeks to assert his patriarchal influence by speaking on Sheila’s behalf and as such suppressing her voice.
As well as very obviously patronising, there is even an undertone here of something more sinister: he seeks to control Sheila, not only what and how she ought to think but even to exert a certain control over her body by suggesting she should be removed and that she is tired. This apparent willingness to exert control over Sheila foreshadows much of the subsequent revelations about Gerald’s pernicious interactions with Eva
Yet, Sheila does not accept this and assertively states that she is staying. This represents a significant change in her tone and manner that will continue throughout the play, but it also highlights Sheila’s ability to reject Gerald’s attempted control in a way that Eva could not. Perhaps Priestley is hinting already at the success of the Inspector’s interrogations.
Before Gerald has a chance to relay his involvement Mrs Birling appears and attempts to end the Inspector’s inquiry with this comment: ‘I don’t suppose for a moment that we can understand why the girl committed suicide. Girls of that class –‘
This demonstrates the clear class prejudice that both Mr and Mrs Birling share and Priestley’s choice of ‘that’ has the same dehumanising effect that Mrs Birling’s earlier use of ‘these’ had. One can even imagine the actress spitting out this word, exhibiting, as it does, a certain repulsion that Mrs Birling has for ‘girls of that class’
Furthermore, it also emphasises that for Mrs Birling all that matters is Eva’s class: her worth and value as a human is inextricably linked to her social class and, again, this is the view that in writing the play Priestley sought to challenge and subvert.
At this point we discover Gerald’s true involvement: he met Eva whilst at an event and took her, as he would like us to think at least, under his wing. He offered her a place to stay and gave her money and she soon became his mistress.
As Shelia summarises: ‘Gerald set her up as his mistress and then dropped her when it suited him’.
To Gerald Eva is disposable: he is able to do what he wants with her without any consideration of the consequences. She is simply a plaything to him and as her name suggest she is, in his view, for ‘rent’.
Indeed, the way in which Gerald speaks of Eva helps to capture this rather insidious attitude: she looked, he says, ‘young and fresh’ and was ‘out of place’. Priestley makes it clear, here, that Gerald recognised Eva’s vulnerability and took advantage of it for his own ends.
The use of ‘fresh’ is especially revealing and a rather odd way in which to describe someone. ‘Fresh’ suggests vulnerability and youth, and as such the promise of a future squandered, but also indicates Gerald’s sexual attraction to Eva. It implies a rather sickening recognition and awareness of her inexperience and the ability for this to be exploited and leveraged.
Gerald knowingly and manipulatively ‘set her up’ and in doing so manufactured a situation where Eva depended upon him for the necessities of life (food and shelter) so that he could, at his own whims, sexually exploit her, finally ‘dropping’ her when it no longer suited him.
The cruelty at the crux of the play is that different people held power over and had control of Eva, and perhaps none so as manipulatively and insidiously as Gerald.
Whether it be as an employer, as a customer where she works, or as a man she turns to for help, people had power over Eva and then abused that power for their own ends.
At its most fundamental the play is an attempt to provoke a reconfiguration of society where no one person has a monopoly over the life of another.

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