The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail

Henry David Thoreau

Core works and topics Civil Disobedience Herald of Freedom The Last Days of John Brown Life Without Principle Paradise (to be) Regained A Plea for Captain John Brown Reform and the Reformers Remarks After the Hanging of John Brown The Service Sir Walter Raleigh Slavery in Massachusetts Thomas Carlyle and His Works Walden A Walk to Wachusett Wendell Phillips Before the Concord Lyceum The Writings of Henry D. Thoreau Thoreau Society

Related topics Abolitionism · Anarchism Anarchism in the United States Civil disobedience Concord, Massachusetts Conscientious objection Direct action · Ecology Environmentalism History of tax resistance Individualist anarchism John Brown · Lyceum movement Nonviolent resistance Ralph Waldo Emerson Simple living · Tax resistance Tax resisters · Transcendentalism The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail Walden Pond

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The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail is a two-act play by Robert Edwin Lee and Jerome Lawrence written in 1970. The play is based on the early life of the titular character, Henry David Thoreau, leading up to his night spent in a jail in Concord, Massachusetts.

Plot

The play does not present events in chronological order; rather, the play features Thoreau remembering earlier parts of his life, not necessarily in the order they occurred. The play opens with Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his old age, recalling the memories of his friend, Henry. The play quickly shifts to Henry's current time in jail because he refused to pay the tax to support the war, where he meets Bailey, a homeless man falsely accused of arson. After meeting Bailey, Thoreau reflects on his recent past.

David, who would have graduated from Harvard, but refused to pay the one dollar fee to receive his diploma, becomes a schoolmaster and attempts to teach a class against the school's curriculum, but Deacon Ball, a logical, respected teacher, makes him flog the children, after which he quits. After leaving the school, Henry and John (Henry's brother) start an outdoor school, but soon all of the children are pulled out of classes by concerned parents. Ellen, the sibling of one of the former classmates, went to the school to find out more about Transcendentalism, which her father claimed the school was based on. After the school is disbanded and the children leave, Henry takes her on a boat ride. He tells her about Transcendentalism, and about how he loves her, but it becomes very awkward and he tells her to go to church with John. John is in love with Ellen, and proposes to her, but later Ellen tells him that her father wouldn't allow her to marry either of the Thoreau brothers.

Soon after, John dies from blood poisoning caused by a shaving cut, and Henry tries to cope with the loss. The scene switches back to the jail... the play was written in protest to the Mexican-American War.

Characters

Henry David Thoreau 

Henry is the titular person of the play. The play is based on his early life. He is a somewhat radical Transcendentalist and refuses to pay a tax, due to his opposition to the Mexican-American war. His unorthodox beliefs are not very well accepted by the city of Concord.

Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Emerson (referred to in the script as Waldo) appears, for most of the play, middle-aged. At this time, Emerson has already become famous and is a very recognizable feature. He and Henry become good friends, despite a few differences of opinion.

Lydian Emerson 

Lydian is the wife of Waldo. There is some attraction between her and Henry, but nothing results of it due to their mutual respect for her husband.

Deacon Ball 

Deacon Ball is a respected and stern teacher, who believes strongly in corporal punishment and believes Thoreau should do so, which Thoreau refuses.

John Thoreau 

John is Henry's older brother, who shares many of the beliefs of Henry. He falls in love with Ellen, but then dies from blood poisoning soon after Ellen admits she does not love him.

Ellen Sewell 

Ellen is the brief object of affection of both John and Henry, but is unable to marry John because of her father's disapproval of Transcendentalism.

Bailey 

Thoreau's cellmate when he is locked up in the Concord jail. Thoreau teaches Bailey how to write his name and inspires Bailey to live a full life after he is released from prison.

Edward Emerson 

Ralph Waldo Emerson's son, who becomes friends with Thoreau when the Emerson's hire Thoreau as a handyman.

Mother Thoreau 

Thoreau's mother, who has to deal with Thoreau and his backward-thinking mind. Throughout the novel, she is displeased with Thoreau's insistence on nonconformity.

References

• The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee.
• M.C. Norris (played Thoreau in 2008 production).
• N. Stanko (played Deacon Ball in 2008 production).
• Geoffry Epperson (directed 2008 production).