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.
Thoreau's best-known work is that of his book, Walden. In 1865, Thoreau decided to go to jail, rather than support the Mexican War by paying a poll tax. ... While in protest of slavery, Thoreau refused to pay taxes and spent a night in jail. ... In conclusion, Thoreau's essay was extremely powerful. ... I admire Thoreau for standing up for what he believed in. ...
Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau was a man who expressed his beliefs of society, government, and mankind while living under his own self-criticism. ... The Thoreau's were a tight knit family. ... During his stay at Harvard Thoreau spent a good deal of his time reading in the college library, the first good collection of books to which he had access. ... Thoreau searched nearly a year for another teaching position. ... Then shockingly 1842, John Thoreau died of lockjaw. ...
However, his interests were else ware as Harding notes, "Thoreau himself was seemingly more interested in the outdoors than in school and spent all his spare time in Concord's woods and meadows and on her rivers and ponds" (The Days of Henry Thoreau 30). ... He would only spend a night in Concord's Middlesex Jail. ... Thoreau spent most of his time in the woods and fields of Concord after his return from Walden. ... He takes a mocking tone when discussing the jail, because he thinks people put in jail for protest have an even stronger voice and that he did not for a moment ...
Thoreau spent more time outdoors than in the small cabin he built by Walden Pond. ... Thoreau considered himself rich, not in money, but in sunny days, and he spent them lavishly Thoreau did not care that he did not waste more of the sunny days in the workshop or the teachers desk. ... Thoreau knew slavery was wrong. ... For his refusal, Thoreau once spent a night in jail. ... You just have to be willing to pay the price, as he did in going to jail. ...
That is why she was willing to go to jail for what she believed was right. ... (Thoreau, 1) He was opposed to the Mexican War, taxes, and slavery. ... Also, he refused to pay toll taxes for six years and he spent one night in jail for not paying. ... (Thoreau, 7) In Henry David Thoreau's essay "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience." ... They both were willing to go to jail instead of complying with the government. ...
One could say Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience inspired Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail. ... On the contrary, civil rights movement, justified in King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, secured the repeal of segregation laws and unfair voting restrictions. ... On the other hand, Thoreau's target, slavery, was the defining institution of the south. ... Letter from Birmingham Jail is a direct attack on particular of way of thinking. ... He was once jailed, but "the night in prison was novel and interesting enough- and he spent it chatting up his cellmate ...
Both Thoreau and Dr. ... David Thoreau had spent a night in jail for not paying a tax because he did not agree with the governments' choices of how the taxes were being used. ... King found in Birmingham City Jail. ... However, King stated that the government's main problem is that it was "unjust in its application" yet throughout his life he spent it, "expressing the very highest respect for the law." (Letter from Birmingham City Jail). ...
King was locked up for protesting (nonviolently) and Thoreau was put in jail for not paying taxes to the government which he felt was unjust. Martin Luther King Jr. decided to spend his time in jail writing his letter to the clergymen for support. ... Henry Thoreau deeply anylized his one night experience. He gave the feeling of total seclusion from the world when describing his jail cell. ... Both men also spent time in jail for the cause that they believed in. ...
King was locked up for protesting (nonviolently) and Thoreau was put in jail for not paying taxes to the government, which he felt, was unjust. Martin Luther King Jr. decided to spend his time in jail writing his letter to the clergymen for support. ... Henry Thoreau deeply analyzed his one night experience. He gave the feeling of total isolation from the world when describing his jail cell. ... Both men also spent time in jail for their passionate views. ...
