44 pages • 1 hour read
Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. LeeInherit the Wind
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1955A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Scientific Context: Evolution and Creationism
Creationism is a Christian fundamentalist belief that God created all life on Earth. There are many different types of creationist beliefs. Some people believe that God guided the evolution of living beings until they developed into their current forms, while other people believe that all living creatures were originally created exactly as they are today. Creationists may debate the age of the Earth, as well. In Inherit the Wind, Brady and several other characters espouse what is known as “young-Earth creationism,” claiming that the Earth was created just 6,000 years ago. Most young-Earth creationists believe that the world was created in seven 24-hour days, a claim that Drummond explores in the play. There has been a long debate about whether it is ever appropriate for teachers to teach creationism in schools. In these debates, creationism is sometimes referred to as “intelligent design.”
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection proposes a scientific explanation for the origin and development of life on Earth. His theory suggests that life began with single-celled organisms that gradually diversified and developed into a complex array of species. Individual organisms are more likely to survive if they are particularly well suited to their environment, which is a concept called “fitness.” If an organism possesses traits that make it fitter, it is more likely to survive long enough to pass those traits on to its descendants. Fitness does not refer to animals that are particularly physically strong or fearsome; it might refer to animals that camouflage especially well or have some other adaptation that enables their survival, such as a bird’s beak shape. When the fittest animals reproduce and pass on their traits, their descendants will gradually evolve. This process is called evolution by natural selection. Darwin was not the first person to propose that animals had evolved over time, but he was the first to propose natural selection as the mechanism for change. Evolution is called a “theory” not because scientists are uncertain of its validity, but because a scientific idea is only called a theory when it is backed up by a lot of evidence. In scientific parlance, a “theory” is a comprehensive explanation for a natural phenomenon that is backed up by communal consensus among experts and replicable findings through research.
Historical Context: The Scopes Trial
Inherit the Wind is based on The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, more commonly known as the Scopes trial or the Scopes Monkey Trial. There are some key differences between the real trial and its fictionalized version. The Scopes trial took place in Dayton, Tennessee, in July 1925. While Bert Cates is arrested for teaching evolution illegally, Scopes actually deliberately incriminated himself. The Butler Act, which forbade the teaching of the theory of evolution in public schools in Tennessee, had only recently come into effect. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agreed to defend anyone accused of breaking that law. The trial drew a great deal of national attention. Matthew Harrison Brady is based on William Jennings Bryan, the case’s prosecutor. Like Brady, Bryan ran for president three times but was always unsuccessful. He died a few days after the Scopes trial, though the events were not directly related as they are in the play. Henry Drummond is based on Clarence Darrow, Scopes’s defense attorney. Darrow and Bryan were former friends whose perspectives had diverged.
Scopes was not detained prior to or during the trial; the owner of the Baltimore Sun, Paul Patterson, paid his $500 bail. The characters of Rachel and her father are wholly fictional, as are the townspeople of Hillsboro. During the Scopes trial, Darrow really did put Bryan on the stand. He did ask questions about Cain’s wife and biblical literalism. The jury deliberated for just nine minutes before finding Scopes guilty. There was an appeal process, just as Drummond alludes to at the end of the play, and Scopes’s conviction was overturned on a legal technicality. The trial was part of a long debate in America about whether creationism, evolutionary theory, or both ought to be taught in schools. Currently, American public schools are not permitted to teach creationism, though some private schools and charter schools still do.
Social Context: McCarthyism
Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957) was an American senator who spearheaded a decade-long campaign against alleged communists and Soviet spies in the United States, particularly in universities, in the government, in labor unions, and even in the entertainment industry. His campaign targeted left-wing individuals thought to be too subversive. Many people were fired for suspected ties to communism. Some were put on trial, and some were even imprisoned. This period of American history, which reached its peak in the 1950s, is known as the second Red Scare. Many things were considered grounds for suspicion, though the charges of communist affiliation were often spurious. Gay and lesbian people, particularly those working in government offices, were also targeted; homosexuality was still considered a psychiatric disorder at the time, so LGBTQ+ people were considered sexually subversive and potentially dangerous. This element of McCarthyism is now known as the “lavender scare.” McCarthy was opposed to labor unions, helping to quash them and targeting those suspected of supporting workers’ rights. Eventually, McCarthy’s claims fell under scrutiny, and he was censured.
Inherit the Wind was first performed just after McCarthy was censured. The trials, and McCarthyism in general, were still a major source of public discourse. The play uses the Scopes trial as a backdrop, but it is really using the evolution/creationism debate to advocate for intellectual freedom, critical thought, and the importance of questioning established narratives.
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