So in the recording you are going to hear, we are making a review of a play called An inspector calls by J.B.Priestley. There are five characters in the same house : two parents, named Birling and his wife Mrs Birling. They have a daughter named Sheila, another son that we are not naming and Sheila’s fiancé Gerald. Also the main character, which the play revolves around is called Eva Smith, as well as the inspector. Hope you enjoy, also remember that this is clearly based on what we read in the play and that it is not a general critique of capitalism. but the feelings that we had ect ect. bref
To watch :
OK, so what was its name? It was the inspector call
An inspector call.
By who was it?
J.B. Priestley.
Okay, cool. So that was a play I just read. My brain still ***weird sounds***.
I mean, you did say you wanna... You wanna read something that's low key wattpad, kind of like action drama.
Yeah. Yeah. Like easy to read. Done in half an hour.
You literally read that in half an hour.
Took an hour. I think I took an hour.
Okay. Maybe. But the thing is like the reason why it took me so long is because I was studying it. Every line that I read, I literally had to annotate everything. Did I have writing on it ?
No, no you didn't.
Okay. But normally I would have I've maybe written it in a book or something.
So you actually like analyze it pretty deep. So. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. That's cool.
I guess. Give us a summary of what even happened.
This feels like such a question for school. So in the beginning, they're all having. Okay. Five. Let's just say five people.A family, OK, two parents, a daughter, a son and a son in law, who's gonna marry the daughter?
Exactly.
Whose name is Gerald.
So they're all sitting down, chatting, having some wine, talking about marriage and life. Because Sheila and Gerald, they're gonna get married. Happy, stuff like that. Then a police inspector comes and he tells them…
A so-called police inspector.
So-called. Yeah. But I'm not gonna reveal that. He tells them there has been a suicide by a girl who drank bleach and then they all start revealing their part in in her suicide. I guess cause he keeps asking them questions one by one.
Yeah. That is an important part that we can talk about later.
Yeah. first it's the father who reveals that he fired her out of her first job. Sheila reveals that she got her kicked out of her second job because of jealousy. Then it's Sheila. Sheila's fiancée, I guess.
Also the mother right ?
The mother at the end, though. And he says like so. Sheila's fiancee like the daughter's fiance, has been in a relationship with her for the whole summer. And then he kind of said like, okay, he kind of broke it off. And then it was her brother that made her pregnant, I don't know. Okay. That basically kind of fucked raped her like he raped her,
Did he? I don't really remember what exactly happened. Did he rape her and how ?
She didn't want to. So I guess he raped her.
Was it that whole situation where he would pay her for ?
No, he didn't even pay her. That's a thing. Are you sure, someone paid her?
He paid her. He paid. They both gave her money like her fiancee and her brother, Sheila's brother. They both gave her money.
But how did you how could you tell that Eric raped her?
She literally said, I was so drunk. I was getting in a mood where a chap would break things and she didn't want to let me in.
I remember that line now. Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So was that like a bar kind of thing.
He was drunk.
Yeah.
So he was drunk. He raped her. He rapped her once and then she agreed to see him I guess. I don't know.
I think at that time she was a prostitute, right.
Yeah. She was just I mean she didn't have any money so.
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm not judging. I'm just trying to remember.
Don't be a prostitute, you're against the law.
Yeah, exactly.
Okay. So. So he raped her. She got pregnant. He didn't want, I guess, recognize the child. He started stealing money from his father to actually like give it to her and get drunk. And then she when she was like, he told her there was stolen money. So she said, okay, I don't want to take it anymore now. And then she went to a charity kind of thing that was organized, presided by the mother of Sheila, the mother, basically<
the wife of the house, like the mother of the household.
Yeah. And she basically refused out of, I don't know out of what.
Oh, wait. Yeah.
That's like, I mean it was really stupid, the whole thing because she started by lying
No, it was because she was pregnant with the random guy's child, right.
Yeah.
That's why
she also said like she started by lying and by giving a random name which was her name like she said...
No but she said the name of the daughter. Right.
She said the name of the mother.
Exactly. Yeah.
So she was like oh that's impertinent or whatever.
Yeah. She was like that's rude. I mean I get where she's coming from, but at the same point. It's not like you're giving her your personal money it is the money of a charity.
Exactly.
On behalf of the charity.
And I was thinking like I just thought at some point, if you have 100 women and you need only to help one, you're gonna help. Like it's kind of an application process, you know. Then at the same time...
Listen, No this is Victorian time.
Exactly. I don't think it was like that, she could have given her money. It wasn’t like she had India to feed...
But at the same time, she could have also not given her money< As arbitrary It would have been to give her the money would have also been as arbitrary.
Yeah, but it wasn't fair how she used her influence to influence other people into not giving money. I think that she could have decided for herself she didn't have to go around and be like, okay, fuck you, you too are not giving her money.
And I think that was the point of...basically yeah finish the summary. Then we can analyze it. Yeah. Okay. So at the end they're all like basically kind of I mean….
That was a shit dinner.
Yeah. And then Gerald like the girl’s fiancee, he comes back and he actually starts thinking it over and saying like are we sure it's the same girl. Are we sure it's the same person that we're all talking about. Because the guy only showed, like the guy gave different names and said like, okay, basically it's the same girl, but she's changed names. So he started asking that because like they were all at some point they were saying, look, we have no proof that that is actually an inspector, a police officer. Stuff like that. And by the end, like they were all convinced it was not the same girl. And then they called the hospital to ask if somebody has killed themselves. And then they said no. And everybody, like basically everybody wanted to go back to how things were, except for the daughter and the son. I mean, the son, obviously, like he was a drunk.
Yeah.
And the daughter was completely destroyed.
Like a green girl.
Green girl ?.
Yeah. Like I literally remember that quote when Mr. Bolling's like you green girl.
Really?
Yeah.
I don't remember that.
I swear he did say that. Like he was like. Ah the mother was like you are being too hysterical.
Yeah. She said that
You green girl. I just remember someone calling her a green girl and that clearly stuck with me so…
Is that a common thing you say?
No, no, no, no. But I actually think like considering the fact that you literally read that in less than an hour, you pretty much grasped. Everything that J.B. Priestley was trying to convey, or at least that I think he's trying to convey.
I mean, I didn't skip read. I think you just like. Yeah. I think anyone could.
You're just a fast reader.
No, I think anyone could read that at that speed. I think you just like have that...
All right. Ness. I get it. I'm stupid, okay.
I mean, I'm analyzing it. Fuck off. Okay. What was I saying? Yeah. But then at the near end, this is actually like the plot twist, like the final line when they say so. So like the hospital calls them and tells them there's a police officer coming because somebody has killed themselves by drinking bleach. So this is... let's just like jump into it. This is what I don't get, like. So the fake inspector, the first inspector. Why was he warning them? Because I felt like it was a warning.You know, I thought.
This is the thing like. I think the play more so than like a clear plotline, why would an inspector come to warn them? I think is more of an an allegorical kind of message, like I think more ...
Being deep
No, that's the thing NEss. It is deep. Like more so than it being like a character of like, why did he come up this time? Why did... Think about it chronologically. Logistically, how would that timeframe fit? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like, yes, sure. Like he could have been a ghost. He could have been a ... I don't know. Imagination of the people there. Like whatever, whatever. But like skipping the logistical factors of like, how did that work? I think it's more of like, why did that work?
Why? Why was it that it happened right before a real inspector would come and ... ? Okay. I know you don't want the chronological or logistical kind of thing, but was the end really just a plot twist? Or did it have something more to it? I don't think it was just a plot twist to be like **ouhh**a horror movie.
I don't know. Like, first of all, it could have just been a plot twist just to OH... And also, I remember. I remember. Okay. So obviously there's many, many, many different like analysis you can give you can interpret it differently. But I remember when I was reading it the way that I interpreted it, it was like. Think about it. This is like Victorian time, like let’s contextualize it in like the contemporary audience that it would have had at the time of publication.
It was published a few months before 1912.
Exactly a few months before Titanic sank. Think about that kind of audience that would be in like in the theater at that time in Britain. It was first actually performed in Russia, I believe.
Ouu Russia.
Yeah.
They literally say in that book, Russia is gonna always be behind. Russia is underdeveloped
Yeah but also has an extremely socialist message. So I think it had a much...
true. Yeah. Imagine nobles in Great Britain seeing that.
I think literally I don't want to spread fake news. Like I mean, I know this has been like I need to fact check this, actually, but I kind of remember something about how it was like banned in the UK or something like that.
Okay.
But I'll check that. But no. But the first time like it would have been played like even in the UK eventually when it was performed. It would have been to an extremely bourgeoisie audience right like the kind of people going to the theatre wouldn't be like the Oliver Twist kind of people. They'll be like the Ebenezer Scrooges right.
Yeah
So it would kind of be like a dramatic effect, like a dramatic technique, to... Okay... Maybe not so much a plot twist in as far as like the cliche cliffhanger at the end of the horror film, but more so like leaving the audience with something to chew on, like with something to think about, like to not leave the cinema theatre and be like : Gerald that was absolutely fantastic. Ilike leave it in silence thinking, am I a terrible person, if you know what I mean.
Yeah. It also kind of makes me feel like that, you know, they were all like laughing. I mean, the two parents basically and the fiance they were all laughing, being like, oh, it's all over now. Etc., etc. And I felt like that was a big fuck you, you know,
to who ?
To them.
To the audience ?
no to these three characters like saying oh you thought you could get away well you're not, you're not at all getting away with it.
Well that as well.
Because they were really thinking like. Except the two... I think. Yeah. I think also the younger people like this son and the daughter they were the only ones to learn out of it.
I think that's actually like a really important part of the play because it's sort of the idea that there's a new wave, there's a new mindset, the new generation are the only hope like. The older generation are going along with their conservative ideals of capitalism and wealth and industrialization, like laissez faire.
And every man for himself
Whereas there is a very real and like threat to these ideas with the like welcoming of a welfare state in the UK. And all of these sorts of ideas is kind of like a warning or at least like a sort of like prophecy. It had a very prophetic tone to it, especially with the inspector, the way that he spoke. Like if you analyze, I know obviously you were pissed off by like by the amount of stage directions and all of that. But I think they were very significant in analysing the the presence of the inspector and his very prophetic sort of presence on the stage. Kind of eerie, foreboding...
Even when he he just like he was just walking through the stage and they were like imposing man, like he had like it just reading it. You knew that that character had an aura. You know, he could make everybody shut up. He can make everybody speak. So, yeah, I think it had a very prophetic side to it also. But even though it had that kind of message, I didn't really get Gerald as a character like the fiancee. Okay. So was the girl’s fiancee. He seems kind of attached to her ...
Sheila ?
No to the girl that killed herself
What's her name ? Eva Smith
He seemed kind of attached to her. And then like when when he actually learned of her death and when he actually likes let it sunk in, he was like, oh, I'm really troubled. I need to get out. I don't know if that was an excuse. I kind of believed him. Then at the same time, when he came back, he started acting as if nothing was happening. But if he was really attached to that girl, you would have some kind of hate towards the people that actually killed her, you know?
I mean, he was one of them, right?
He was one of them but I mean, he broke up with her. He broke up with her and he gave her some money. Like, what was he supposed to do ? Do you know what I mean ?
True. And also, I remember like just thinking of Gerald as being the kind of guy like he, I feel like he didn't really enjoy, Eva’s presence more so than he'd enjoyed her dependency on him.
Yeah, they said that at some point.
Yeah,
Which is really interesting, you know.
Yeah, I don't know.This is kind of giving me flashbacks to Paradise Lost. Actually, I don't know why my brain's working in this way.
You read that shit. Wow.
Anyway, but like it kind of just reminds me of like this idea that like does love exist more than just the idea ...
Loving yourself through the person's eyes
Exactly. Yeah. Yes. You love someone else for the sake of loving yourself.
So true. I think that's so true. Like it may be really cynical.
It is very cynical, but I think it's like a very realistic sort of like view of things because like, I don't know the reason why it takes my brain back to Paradise Lost, because I think that's like the epitome of an example of like, I don't know. I feel like people analyze Adam's decision to eat the apple as being like the epitome of love and devotion to someone and like unconditional love for Eve. Like the fact that he would like
That was what Paradise Lost was all about ? I didn't read that
What do you mean like ? No, like that's just what people interpret it as being like so like the fact that Adam. Just so that he could be with Eve, you know, like people don't like omg, like he condemned himself to like like.... because at that point, the punishment that they both believe that they were gonna get was death. Right ? Because that's what God said. So like people analyze being like he was willing to die just to be with her like if you think about it, that act of like love was entirely conditional because it was conditional on his content. Like, he literally like gave the rationale. He was like he would rather be he would be happier being dead, but being with her than being alive and being alone. And thus as much as you can interpret that as being loving, it's more so like no, he's actually thought about it and he realized that he'd be fucking bored out of his mind if he was on his own and you'd actually rather be dead. So in fact it is actually completely selfish decision. Like there's nothing loving about that.
Yeah. So it's like kind of not loving yourself enough.
What else did you think about it?
I thought it was kind of disturbing that at some points like I was listening to the fucking bourgeoisie noble arguments and I was like, yeah that might be true.
What ?
so like capitalism ingrained through your brain.
Capitalism or laissez faire, like I feel like there are two for one package, they come together. But I want you to, like distinguish.
I don't get what that word means.
Laissez faire is literally French.
Ah laissez faire pardon.
Laisser faire
Laissez faire is literally adding vowels to a word that doesn't have
Laissez faire
Ouais, no, I mean, no, it wasn't really laissez faire because at some point it was your decision.
What are you talking about?
The mother, for example, when she had to choose, you know, I mean, we've already mentioned this, but she had to choose to give her the money or not. Oh, yeah. Like I was understanding her point of view.
Yeah.
You have many candidates and one of them is lying to you rather then when I've heard about it. I was like, why the fuck would we live in a world where you have many lives to save and you can only choose one?You could...
But I mean, ....
Sell your fucking necklace, which would be worth thousands of pounds.
Exactly. Vraiment
And even the guy like with the kind of strikes thing.
Who
She did some strikes and then that's why he fired her. She wanted to be paid more.
Ahh.
I mean.
Birling right.
Yeah.
I mean I get it. It's not that I get it, but yeah I do get it. Like if you have a business to own, you know, like you're gonna. I don't know. You're gonna keep them. The people I know it's very like cruel, but it's also very pragmatic. If you have a business one, you're gonna keep the people that keeps the business running. Look, obviously. So maybe he could have paid them more, but maybe he couldn't. Like, how do we know? Do you get it? So I think there's a very fine line. That's what I'm saying.
I get what you're saying. I just think it depends on what your rationale is, right. If your rationale is just like get everything working. Everything like. I don't know, like things moving fast money being made quick, productivity, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Then yeah, sure. According to that rationale, Birling did the right thing in firing someone who wanted to hire higher pay. The wife did the right thing in like not giving her the money. But like if your rationale is like actually to like improve humanity because you're aware of the fact that your situation is an incredibly privileged one.
I get it.
Then like it is a different mindset, it is a different rationale like it depends on which criteria you're making your decisions because at the end of the day, everything can be rationalized. It just depends what your criteria is.
I agree. But at the same time, I think I'm giving them way less choice then what they actually had like I'm saying, oh, she had 100 applicants. You only had to choose one. That's not true. She could have easily. And saying, oh, he had a thousand workers. He needed to choose one. I mean, I don't think that's true. I think he could have given them the money without being completely broke. He was pretty...the play could have shown that more. The play could have said like they were living in a luxurious life. They had more than they needed ...
Right. Like obviously when you're reading a play you can't really see like the jewellery around their neck, like the leather on the seats of the dining table, whatever, whatever. But like I think even the fact that it was setted, cooked like the entire everything about it, the entire play was only in the living room. That was the only setting like when I saw in the theater there was also a moment outdoors which was actually not in the place. That was a pretty light modern interpretation of it.
Yeah, traditional plays, three acts. Same setting.
Yeah. Like it was very constrained to one room and also. Yeah, it was three acts pretty sure. And the fact that it was at the dinner table, it was a formal dinner. I think in itself was an indicator of the privilege of that family, like the fact that they were gathered around indoors having a nice dinner chatting about the Titanic politics like well before the inspector came, he was talking about how business was going, how he was going to receive a knighthood like all of that. A clear indication of, wealth, so like you say, like so they like is a yes, sure. You need them to make money, but it's like not you don't need them to make money. It's only if you paid them more, you would be getting less than you would need like issues. \
You would be getting less than you would want,
less than you could maximize. That is less than maximum.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he he like he said it. He literally said I'm giving them pretty much what the other people in the market are giving them. So if everybody keeps giving everybody the lowest pay possible and nobody get high... yeah you get the maximum profit and that's economics and economics.
Thank you. shout out to Napolitano. Yeah. Anyway, but like that's the thing. Like the problem with capitalism isn't necessarily even like you want to make more money.
We're getting into that now.
Yes, we are getting into that, next review is gonna be on the Communist Manifesto. The problem isn't that like people want to make more money. The problem is that they just want to be making ... They don't want to be making any less than the maximum that they could be making. Even when we draw indifference curves, it's always at the maximum profit. Like it's not even like the profit you need in order to still have ....
the economy we're being taught is fucking capitalist like exact. Nothing. Productivity. Maximize your stuff. Not caring for anybody else
It is maximizing is never like his the indifference curve the point at which demand is a sufficient supply is when demand is it maximum supply? Like why does that need to be the case, you know?
At the same time, loike, I feel like I don't know, like I mean, I'm obviously I hope I'm never gonna become like Birling or something. But, you know, but it's really easy to lose track of our privilege. We all talk about how, like, oh, when we are going to be old : We're going to help the refugees stuff like that. But are we really like ? That's the question.
That's such a good point
Because I think like a lot of people are talking about it.
But that got very deep, very quickly and I think it's necessary.
Did the older generations like...I think they said the same thing. That's a problem. At some point we must, like cross the line, you know?
Yeah. Like my French teacher who actually, is the reason why I'm at sciences po right now. He's literally like a socialist. And he always reminds me like that socialism is the only way to go and that like everyone when they're young, like they're normally pretty liberal, pretty progressive, and then like as you get older, like it's just like a factual thing, like you become progressively conservative as you get older.
And I mean, there are some people conservative right now. I don't what happened during their childhood
Clearly some sort of trauma like they were dropped or something. Meritocracy is bullshit. You were saying. Yeah.
Meritocracy. And the fact that like nobody gets too rich. I don't believe that. For me, like like people, billionaires, you know, like we should take even more than half their salary by tax incomes. I don't care. They also have millions. It shouldn't be left up to them to choose to give it to charity.
I was gonna start ranting about the people who say taxing is just punishing the rich.
Exactly.
I'm like, listen, you're acting like you did something to get this money. Why are you acting like that? Like. Where's this sense of entitlement coming from? It's not like you came out of the womb inherently more deserving, inherently more intellectual, no fam. You did nothing. The only reason why you have all this money is because you inherited it. And why would someone have like all this money? Clearly, at some point there was an extent of like, I don't know, like mistreatment or like I don't know.
I mean, some people could say that obviously some of us are smarter than others. I mean, that's the argument those people are going to give. They're gonna say they were smarter, they worked harder. So it isn't fair to give them less than the others. You know, who didn’t work that hard? who weren't that smart.
But that's the thing like you. It's so much to do with luck as well. Like you can literally have like you can be so, so, so smart. But be in the ghettos of, I don't know, Brazil. What like what's going to come out of that? Nothing, the fact that you were smart and you had an environment that supported that and that like allowed that to progress into something more than just having a smart brain that in itself is a privilege that you don't really like….There's nothing that makes you deserving of that. Really
Yeah. But at the same time, look. Are you sure if you were in that position? I know some people in France, even in Sweden, are taxed up to 50 percent. So, I mean, I get 50 percent, you know. But would you go over that? Look, imagine would you be OK with 50 percent of your money going and maybe going to some politicians dinner? Because you don't you never know where you ... That's a thing. Maybe when you give half your money, you should at least know where it's going and you have that with charity
Yeah, for sure, I completely agree.
I think, maybe it's a problem of like giving your money to the state and not knowing what happens with it, then, you know, I truly think that some people said that, like you should follow up.
I think all tax like doesn't matter 50 percent, 10 percent, 2 percent, whatever you should know You should have a full breakdown of where your taxes are going full break down
It would be really complicated, though.
I don't really care to be honest. If you made that money, you deserve like whatever is complicated. Okay. Get a fucking like accountants and like, you know, how complicated can it really fucking be?
There needs to be like an official office for it.
Okay.
For every, for the sixty million people that are paying taxes in some countries.
Okay. If I ruled the world, I would set out the ministry of tax breakdown
Yeah. But I think it matters in my opinion it would matter more to me if it was 50 percent than it was if almost 10 percent. I feel I would have other problems anyways you know then where my taxes are going
Even then. Even then.
Yeah. Like you matters more to people like that. Yeah.
It gives, it gives you something of transparency. Yeah. I feel like...bref
Would you be up to like 60 percents taxes on your …
Right fucking now? I mean it depends on how rich I am. Listen if I am at a point my life and I am rich enough to be taxed to 60% alhamdulillah, clearly I have done well in life, let’s hope, let’s pray that I’m a point in life, that I get taxed 60%
But that 60% might prevent you from buying the nice car you wanted to have, the huge trip….
That’s the thing Ness. I think capitalism is a self fulfilling prophecy in as far as I only wanna do that because it is now an option. Why should it be an option for me to do some batshit crazy stuff ?
yeah
They create the items then they create the market….
The Need for it
I don’t fucking need to live a 5 room hotel suite. The only reason why I would ever need or want to do that it’s because it is fucking there
It kinda brings out the worst in us in that way
So an Inspector calls clearly ...
Fuck capitalism
Fuck capitalism, first takeaway. What’s the second takeaway Nesrine ?
Mmmmmh
Men are trash second takeaway
I mean true. No man in that play was worth a second. Birling was a fucking asshole, rich as fuck. The fiancée
Dickhead. He literally cheated on her and was like do you still want to get married ? Fuck off fam. Are you dumb?
Yeah, yeah he also provoked the whole debate of loving yourself through somebody's eyes. That was his thing. Third guy fucking raped the girl, when she decided she was pregnant, he started stealing money instead of working. Why didn’t he start working ??
You end up being in a setting where your wealth is clearly determining your attitude towards life. your setting and sense of need to assimilate in the maybe ghetto community blabla makes you like….Here it is the inverse of that : you might have people here that are actually genuinly poor, but the need to assimilate with this surrounding of all the french parisians whatever. You end up living like you are rich when you’re actually not.
We can keep telling ourselves what we want but it is very easy to slip into that as well.
I just hope I won’t end up graduating; working for some investment bank
I think we need to listen to this podcast every three years.
Fucking sell my soul…
To the devil
Guys 12pm this tuesday we’re launching a proletarian revolution. We have got nothing to lose but our chains. In front of sablettes. Be there or be square
That was such a good quote. Should we end this ?
I think we should. Okay guys. We highly recommend you read the play. It’s a fantastic play. Clearly very invoking, thought provoking
You might think by the middle that you figured it out, but you haven’t
We literally made a summary. Even if you think, you really didn’t, even though we just told you within the first five minutes of this podcast. Every person has their own thoughts so you might read it and interpret different things to us and thus have a different experience, so it is worth reading it anyway. Also there is a BBC adaptation of it on youtube. So you can watch that if you are less of a reader. But I still think reading plays is one of the funnest things you could ever do so…
Also ready good for procrastination. Improves your english for all the French trackers and doesn't(t take like 8 hours of your life like a Netflix show.
Okiii byeeee
Yeah cut that
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