CPL310 10/8/2004 Inherit the Wind Jerome Lawrence is from Cleveland and is still alive. Authors say their play is theatre not history. -- Dr Hye calls it a morality play (as in the Middle Ages); he wrote the authors who said they hadn't intended that but they agreed Hornbeck is like Mephisto in Faust. This play was a reaction to McCarthyism, which was going on while it was written. Frederic March played Brady and looks like the real William Jennings Bryan (who always wore a cape); Spencer Tracy played Drummond; Gene Kelley played Hornbeck. Review of original Broadway production from NY Times: -- playwrights had two purposes in mind: 1) drama of people caught in an intelletual ferment they did not completely understand (compare to peasants in Galileo) 2) to remind us once again that in conformity and thought control are enemies of progress and enlightenment Town is a main character of the play. -- local color; dialect; cultural descriptions; various characters; stylized, not a documentary, but still tells us something -- not everybody can deal with big issues such as evolution when they're trying to survive day by day and feed their kids, etc.a Townspeople are also a character (small town folk whose little world is being invaded by progress, change, Drummond, newspapers, big cities, radio and connection to WGN in Chicago). See the stage directions. Historical equivalents of main characters 7/10-7/21/1925 Hillsboro -> Dayton, Rhea County, TN Baltimore Herald -> Baltimore Sun Matthew Harrison Brady -> William Jenings Bryan (hadn't tried a case for 25 years; ran for president 3 times; died shortly after the trial) [there was a real Matthew Brady famous for photographing the Civil War] Henry Drummond -> Clarence Darrow (most influential lawyer in the US then; 1857-1938) [there was a real Henry Drummond, a professor in Scotland, friend of Dwight Moody, the American evangelist from Chicago; the Scottish Drummond was also an evangelist but believed in evolution] Bertram Cates -> John Scopes E.K. Hornbeck -> H.L. Menken (1880-1956, prominent reporter and social critic; worked for Baltimore Morning Herald and then was with Baltimore Sun during the trial; wrote 6 volumes of critical essays, many quite caustic; 5 or 10 years ago Menken scholars argued over whether Menken was personally quite bigotted) Rachel -> totally invented Rev Brown -> totally invented and a characature (the weakest part of the play, per Dr Hye) xxx -> ACLU (which is not in the play; they went to local businesspeople in Dayton who thought the trial would be great for business) Kids' eye view of Drummond and calling him the devil Title of the play comes from the Book of Proverbs. -- after the scene where Rev Brown is cursing his own daughter because of her allegicance to Cates -- Brady reminds him that "he who troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind" -- beat down your own daughter, your family will break apart and you'll have nothing but the wind Actual trial was in Rhea (pronounced "ray") County courthouse and also on its lawn when it was simply too hot inside. -- Tennessee Evolution Case; Scopes Trial; Monkey Trial -- technically Tennessee vs. John Thomas Scopes Dr. Hye went to Dwight Morrow High School in NJ. Dwight was Anne Morrow's father and Charles Lindbergh's father-in-law and was ambassador to Mexico. Lindbergh met Anne while the Morrows were in Mexico. -- kidnapping was in Hopewell NJ, a few hours south of where Dr Hye grew up Notice what Hornbeck says about himself; he sounds like Faust -- Faust said he was the spirit who always denies -- Hornbeck is a lot like that -- Hornbeck sees himself as a critic not a reporter More about the authors' perspective -- didn't want to characterize the town as a bunch of rubes -- spinning a yarn, telling a story -- notice how they attribute motives and thoughts in the stage directions to the characters -- authors say they're trying to be objective but one could argue they have a point of view Quotes from clippings on trial: -- Dayton was transformed from slow paced town to magnet for newspapermen, tourists, charlatans -- town is a character caught up between progress and tradition -- carnival atmosphere during the trial; filled with food stands, salespeople, etc. -- initially town is very positive towards Brady; notice the shift of the town towards Drummond; eventually sympathy for Brady wears off; Brady melting down is not exactly historically accurate Play is usually staged in 2 tiers -- courtroom on one tier -- town visible above and behind it -- what happens in courtroom creates conflicts and dilemmas in the town -- theme of "The Chinese Wall" is a metaphor for putting up a barrier to hold up the future (the atomic bomb in that play); in this play one comment is that Hillsboro wants to put up a sign saying "gone fishing, don't bring any new ideas" Conflicts -- Brady and Drummond -- Cates (very loosely our scientist; Scopes wasn't even a biologist; he just volunteered to teach the biology class since they needed someone; he brought in a book he didn't fully understand; he was a test case) vs. Town -- Cates and Rachel -- Rev Brown and Rachel Cates as scientist -- scared; everyone hates him Rachel is stuck in the middle -- has to hash this out for herself -- person of faith who has to figure out science (a little bit like the Little Monk in Galileo) Last scene of the Bible -- Drummond weighs the Bible and Darwin's books in his two hands, slaps them together and carries them both out -- called a hypocrite but says no, he's open minded Issues: -- progress -- free thought (right to think is the term Drummond uses) -- education (does the state have the right to say what should and should not be taught) -- faith of the people -- truth (contrasted by Brady with blasphemy); is what is true more important than what is right? -- good law vs. bad law -- culture and tradition</plaintext><br /></body></html>