Gerald An Inspector Calls Analysis To Impress Your Teacher

[0:00]This is some Gerald analysis that is going to blow your teacher/examiner's mind. Now, we're not going to go basic with our analysis of Gerald, we're not going to say what everybody else is saying. We're going to draw ourselves apart from the masses and we're going to say this critical bit of analysis. Okay, let's look at a generic quote first that we would typically analyze for Gerald. Let's look at his first stage direction described him, "well-bred young man about town." Let's go through some analysis we would typically say. So, firstly, "well" connotes thoroughness. This illustrating that Gerald has undergone thorough and vigorous training to fulfill the role of a lord and lady's son. So, what I mean by that is he has been bred in this intentional way. He's been brought in this very thorough way, they have intentionally constructed him to become the man he would be because of the echelon of society he belongs to. Let's just go a bit further with this quote on our basic Gerald analysis. "About town" is suggestive that his charismatic and superior nature is well known. Therefore, we can see he is defined by his social standing from the offset. Because he is described as a well-bred man about town, again, that about town signifying he is well known. And what is he well known for? His charisma, his superiority, as being a lord and lady's son. Therefore, he is completely defined by his place in society before we even meet him, we can understand that. Okay, now let's get into some critical analysis about this. So, the analysis we just said is amazing. You could put it in the essay and then just add this as your alternative interpretation. Because as we know, alternative interpretations are a high-level skill the examiner loves to see. So, the critical interpretation we're going to take it is that Gerald is actually a victim to his society. He has been blindly indoctrinated (brainwashed) by capitalist ideologies and now falls victim to this. So, what I mean by this is Gerald has become a product of his environment. He's become a victim of his environment. He has not chosen to have these capitalist ideologies. But he's been brainwashed to act a certain way, to be a certain way in society. He has been bred, intentionally and thoroughly bred to be this person. So, it's almost like he's a victim to this brainwashing of capitalism. Okay, let's actually look at some techniques to further this. So, "well-bred" creates quite an animalistic image, showing that almost alike to a horse, Gerald has been bred with a purpose and has almost been bred to perform. He's been almost bred to perform and live up to this persona that his parents have ascribed him from a young age. As this is the first introduction we get to Gerald, it shows how he is entirely defined by his social status, and he cannot escape the expectations placed upon him. Therefore, he is a victim to this intentionally bred setting and upbringing. So, he is a victim, guys. Think about that as a complete 180. Gerald is young, just like Sheila and Eric, Gerald is young. But what is the difference with the character of Gerald? What do Sheila and Eric do that Gerald doesn't? He doesn't change. And why could that be significant? Gerald is part of the younger generation, just like Sheila and Eric. But the difference with Gerald from Sheila and Eric is he is of a higher class than them. So, he doesn't easily change his views because he has more to lose. He is so deeply entrenched in these systems, he cannot come out of this society. If he breaks free and has a socialist perception, he loses his whole life. He loses everybody around him because this structure has been so carefully crafted. It is perfect to foster the environment for someone like Gerald, but if he's to break that, he loses everything. So, this actually reinforces his victimhood because he is not able to progress, just like Sheila and Eric do. He actually regresses, goes backwards, because he actually has as part of the younger generation an opportunity for growth. Yet, he can't fulfill that because he is so bound to the expectations placed upon him from the upper class. Okay, let's put this in a bit of a grade 9 sentence that you could utilize in your essay. Gerald doesn't progress as he is not liberated by socialism in the same way Sheila and Eric are. His stance doesn't change, and therefore his character could be seen as stagnant. Yet, as he belongs to the younger generation, his capacity for change is greater than the older generation, and he still remains entrenched in his views. This reinforces his victimhood as he is the only member of the younger generation not to progress, but in fact, regress. So, that is a nice summary about Gerald, and also what is really high level about that is we're talking about character change. And character change is so important to get in a high level because it shows that you're not just focusing on one moment in the play, the text. You're looking at the whole play, the text. You're looking at how the character stays the same, they change or they regress, they go backwards. And we can see that in that sentence there, I've talked about him being stagnant, staying the same, and also regressing, going backwards, because he's part of the young generation. So, if you want to get this in a bit more detail, make sure you check out The Light Up Hub because we've got loads of critical analysis about Gerald and all the other characters on there that will blow your teacher/examiner's mind. If you like this video, guys, make sure you give it a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel. It helps the channel more than you know. And if you do really like it, make sure you share it with your friends so we can help as many people as possible. Have a lovely day, guys, and I'll see you in the next video.