Transcript Inherit the Wind

Inherit the
Wind
By Robert E. Lee
&
Jerome Lawrence
Overview
• The
Play/Authors
• Historical
Context/Setting
• Main characters
• Themes
The Play
• Opened 1955 on
Broadway
• Made into a film in
1960, 1988, 1999
• Historical fiction not
meant to be a
documentary
• Parable satirizing
McCarthyism
The Authors
• Jerome Lawrence
and Robert E.
Lee collaborated
on 39 plays
together
• Both ended their
careers in L. A.
Historical
Context/Setting
• Scopes v. State of
Tennessee, 1925
• A test case, not a
real trial
• Viewed as an
historic national
debate played out in
a courtroom
• Called the “Trial of
the Century”& the
“Monkey Trial.”
Google
Earth
Charges Against John Scopes
• In violation of The
Butler Act
• The Butler Act
forbade the
exclusive teaching
of the theory of
evolution in the state
of TN
• So what’s the big
deal?
Theory of Evolution
• Posited in early 19th
Century
• Charles Darwin
wrote On the Origin
of the Species
• Published in 1859
• Not intended to
incite controversy
• Intended audience
of scientists
DarWin’s Theories
• Simply put, all life
changes and
evolves over time to
adapt to its
environment
• Natural Selection
• Conflicts with literal
translation of the
Bible
Dark Side of Evolutionary Theory
• Many unintended
results/interpretati
ons
• Eugenics
• Social Darwinism
• “Survival of the
fittest”
• Nazi Germany
Facts about Scopes trial
• ACLU (American
Civil Liberties Union)
advertised for a
willing violator of the
Butler Act
• Paid for legal fees,
fines
• Max fine $500
• No jail time
Facts about Scopes trial
cont.
• Scopes – high
school football
coach and substitute
teacher hired by
local merchants to
violate the law
• Why would they do
this?
$
Historical people and fictional
counterparts
• John Scopes
• Sub teacher
• Answered ad from
ACLU and local
merchants
• Morally indifferent
• Bert Cates
• Full time bio teacher
• Stands moral
ground
• Spends time in jail
and faces serious
charges
• Portrayed as a hero
Characters cont.
• William Jennings
Bryant
• Prosecutor
• Presidential
candidate 3 times
• Hero for small town,
rural America
• Matthew Harrison
Brady
• Prosecutor
• Presidential
candidate 3 times
• Portrayed as a
gluttonous,
egomaniacal
blowhard
Characters cont.
• Clarence Darrow
• Preeminent attorney
• Favored
controversial cases
• “Leftist”
• Paid by ACLU
• Henry Drummond
• Defense attorney
• Seeks symbolic
cases
• Paid by Baltimore
Herald
Characters cont.
• H.L. Mencken
• Writer, journalist for
Baltimore Sun
• Witty, sarcastic
social critic
• E.K. Hornbeck
• Reporter for
Baltimore Herald
• Sharp-tongued
journalist
• Supports Cates
while jeering locals
Themes
• Traditionalism vs.
Modernism
• Growing pains of
American culture
 Industrial Revolution,
Urbanization, and
multiculturalism
The End