The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

            The play, "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail," by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, calls for a simple production style. Lawrence and Lee explained that the purpose of this play was to go deeper than the words Thoreau spoke, and to probe the turmoil out of which he wrote them. Thoreau is at odds with society in quite a few ways. Society looks at Thoreau as a man who is obsessed with nature, lives a below average lifestyle, and believes in transcendentalism. Each scene in this play displays characteristics of Thoreau and of society. These characteristics consist of Thoreau's love for nature, his lack of desire for material goods, and his resent for the advancement of technology. These traits and beliefs can be found in scenes such as when Ellen and Henry are on the boat, when Waldo hires Thoreau, and When Henry is arrested.
             The boat scene with Ellen is a very important scene in the book, because it brings out some traits in Henry that we hadn't seen yet. In the beginning of this scene Ellen walks up to Henry and says that Edward will not be going to school anymore. Henry questions why, and Ellen tells him that it is because of her father. She says that her father does not like transcendentalists and that he tried to explain why but she didn't understand. Henry then tells Ellen to get into the boat. After rowing for a little bit Henry attempts to explain transcendentalism to Ellen. After his first attempt at an explanation fails, he uses examples such as the love for her father and the depth of the water. Ellen starts to comprehend but she is still confused. After this conversation, Henry attempts to tell Ellen that he loves her, but she rejects him and asks him to row ashore. Right before the scene ends, Henry invites Ellen to church for his brother. In this scene we see Henry's love for nature and his belief in simplicity.One can see that Henry is concerned for nature he says, "We're poisoning paradise.