Evolution in the limelight.(NEWS AND COMMENT)(Inherit the Wind)(Theater review.) (located under evolution in the limelight in the T drive)

"Evolution in the Limelight" is reviewing Inherit the Wind as a play. This site said that it was an extremely well performed play and it actually stayed with the script of the original book written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. This page talked about the growth of the play through broadway and after the movie was made. Also mentioned was the comparison of fictional characters to the real Scope trials. It stated that the Preacher and his daughter were strictly fictional characters. It made it clear that that they were made up characters to enhance the plot of the work. They were also present in the book Inherit the Wind but they were not present in real life.

“Inherit the Wind: A Historical Analysis” (link at bottom of page)

“Inherit the Wind: A Historical Analysis” site compared the reality of the Scope trials to the written version of the trials, Inherit the Wind. This site compares the actual knowledge of the characters of Brady and Drummond. In reality Brady had a wide knowledge of Darwin’s Theory in the scientific field and just disagreed with it, while Drummond had very little knowledge of the actual theory and just went along with it simply because it was scientific. In Inherit the Wind this was pretty much the opposite. Drummond had the extensive knowledge of the theory and Brady did not. This site did point out the similarity of one of the qualities of Drummond’s character in real life versus the fictional character, Drummond was religious in both cases. This site mostly just covered the comparison between these two characters but it did bring up the comparison of the fictional townspeople versus the historical townspeople. In reality the townspeople were always very nice to both lawyers and in fiction they were rude to Drummond, this came from newspaper clippings from the times from an actual quote from Drummond.

“The Scope Monkey Trial- Inherit the Wind” (link at bottom of page)

“The Scope Monkey Trial- Inherit the Wind” site was comparing the actual historical events to the work of Lawrence and Lee. This site informed me that Inherit the Wind is not an accurate source for the truth about these trials. For one the book had fictional characters, in which two of them, the preacher and his daughter, were completely made up and not relative to the case at all, and they were important characters in the book. Many of the actions in the book were far less dramatic and just plain wrong. For example man who was Matthew Harrison Brady in real life was actually the one to read some of Darwin’s works, unlike in the book where Henry Drummond was the one to have read his work. This really switches up the view on the trials to know this because this makes Brady know so much more than was portrayed in the book and it gives him a right to disagree and because he knew what he was fighting against. Overall this site shares that Inherit the Wind was really written about at the time McCarthyism not so much to give us a historical background on the Scope trials like so many people think.

Allusions to Inherit the Wind

Inherit the Wind is a playwright. So a lot of movies and broadway plays have been performed based on this play. For example there were three movies created based on this work, one in 1965, one in 1988, and one in 1999. They were all called Inherit the wind. There was also a spoof done in the Simpsons on this book and the Monkey Suit Trials, which is what this book was about. Inherit the Wind is also an allusion to heaven and hell as well. Henry Drummond was evil Matthew Harrison Brady was good. And the ways of thinking were evil and the ways of tradition were good. Also, to me, this book was an allusion to most of the major court cases that were conducted through out America's history, for example Roe vs. Wade, Brown vs. Board of Education, Frost vs. Nixon, ect.

Archtypal Characters, Settings, and Actions

There are many archetypal factors in Inherit the Wind. The preacher, Mr. Brown is an archetypal character that fits into the group of Ruler. Mr. Brown was the ruler over the town and was kind of selfish in wanting the town to always stay in his correct biblical way of thinking and tradition and never accepting change. Rachael Brown is also an archetypal character that fits into the group of innocent embarking on a journey. She fell in love and had to embark on more of a mental journey through out the trials, on whether or not to disobey her father and follow her heart. Bertram Cates is a seeker archetypal character. He chooses to go against the normal and he chased after that adventure of being different and trying to make a difference in the town. The little southern town that this takes place in is an archetypal setting. It represents the same traditional setting where people over react if there is any change, kind of like Whitehall.