Today, I am thankful for the knowledge that all’s well that ends well.
All the world’s a stage, and all its men and women are merely players; they have their exits and their entrances; and one person in his time plays many parts. In the play of life, you will often be confronted with a Tempest of emotion and the occasional Comedy of Errors; however, if you tackle each issue Measure for Measure, all that extra drama might just be Much Ado About Nothing. In the end, what really matters most is the final outcome. In other words, all’s well that ends well.
Although William Shakespeare is best known for his tragedies and his historical plays, I always found his comedies to be the best of all. Among them all, the comedy All’s Well That Ends Well is my favorite. Written in 1623, the tale chronicles the life of Helena, a ward of a French-Spanish countess, and her love with the Countess’ son, Bertram. However, Bertram has no interest in Helena, but once Helena saves the life of the King, who happens to be Bertram’s father, the monarch forces his son’s hand to accept Helena’s hand in matrimony. However, he refuses to consummate their love, until Helena pulls a fast one on Bertram. Once Bertram realizes the extraordinary extent by which Helena when to bear him a son, he naturally falls in love with her. The love is requited, and, as they say, all’s well that ends well. This comedy is one of Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays’, a trilogy he wrote that rapidly shifts from heavy, tragic undertones to light, comical satire. These 3 ’tragicomedies’ tackle ethical predicaments that are not easily resolved with a simple answer.
Today, I’m reminded of a court case in the history of the United States that Shakespeare, if he were alive in 1925, would say met the criteria of a ‘problem play.’ Many of you who took American history probably recall the tale of the Scopes Monkey trial, which pitted the teaching of evolution in public schools against the fundamental Christian belief of creationism. The way the trial played out over the 11 days in Dayton, Tennessee, would make for a wonderful play at the London Globe. After Charles Darwin came out with his theory of evolution in the 19th Century, many religious leaders decried the tenet that humans have a common ancestor with the monkey as sheer blasphemy. By the early 1900s, many called for the denouncement of evolution and even sought the passage of state laws prohibiting the public teaching of this theory. One of those was the state of Tennessee, which passed the Butler Act in March 1910, making its teaching in public schools punishable by a misdemeanor crime. Many scientists and educators were outraged, as was the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). One teacher, John Scopes, conspired with his students to claim he had taught evolution, thereby bringing a charge against him. He was charged with the crime, and a court date was set.
Well, what happened next was pure theater. Seeking to gain some fame for the small town of Dayton, local townsfolk elevated the story nationally, resulting in the descent of throngs of spectators to the small town. After the ACLU said they would support Scopes, the famed lawyer and Christian fundamentalist, Williams Jennings Bryan, joined the prosecution, forcing another famed lawyer, Clarence Darrow, to join the defense team. When the trial finally started on July 10, 1925, a carnival-like atmosphere had filled Dayton. Barbeques, hotdog vendors, lemonade stands, carnival games, a few monkeys dressed in suits, and a short man that resembled an ape (with protruding jaw and receding forehead) paraded on the courthouse lawn. Inside the courtroom, thousands crowded in the seats and hallways, as the 2 teams presented their opening arguments.
Immediately, the circus scene outside on the lawn spilled into the courtroom. Jennings focused on the legitimacy of the law, while Darrow chose to defer his closing argument for a longer opening statement, giving a 2-hour passionate opening salvo. Each speech was accompanied by loud applause and repeated cheers. Worried that the floor might fall due to the extreme weight in the room, Judge Raulston moved the case out onto the lawn, which only added to the drama. After Jennings called Scopes’ students to testify against him, Darrow called a zoologist to provide testimony on the science of evolution. Infuriated, Bryan convinced the judge to allow for Darrow’s experts to be cross-examined. In turn, Darrow called Jennings to the stand, as a self-purported expert of the Bible, mocking him and making him admit that the Bible often did not provide useful answers to scientific topics. Even more embarrassing, Darrow ended his testimony by asking the jury to convict his client Scopes as guilty, thereby denying Bryan the opportunity to have the last word with a closing argument. On this day (July 21), after deliberating for a total of 8 minutes, Scopes was found guilty and forced to pay the minimum fine of $100. However, the verdict was overturned a few years later on a technicality. In 1968, the Supreme Court would finally put an end to the state’s practice of forbidding the teaching of evolution in public schools.
Basically, all was well as it ended well in Dayton. And, the spectators received some entertaining theater in between.
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