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    Summarized & Analyzed: “Twelve Angry Men”
    Summarized & Analyzed: “Twelve Angry Men”
    Summarized & Analyzed: “Twelve Angry Men”
    Ebook49 pages37 minutes

    Summarized & Analyzed: “Twelve Angry Men”

    By Student World

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    The play begins and ends in the jury room. The judge is not physically present in the main action, but before the beginning of the play, he gives instructions from offstage vantage point, telling the jurors that they have to say not guilty if there is a reasonable doubt. The judge obviously does not want an innocent man to be sentenced. He instructs the jurors to be unbiased and honest.

    The jurors are made to realize that they have a very serious responsibility of deciding whether the accused boy is guilty or not guilty. Through the twelve jurors, the judge, and the way the deliberations and voting takes place in the play, the playwright is successful in telling the audience about the American justice system. The play has an obvious objective to attain through the jurors who are going to decide whether the accused is guilty or innocent.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRaja Sharma
    Release dateMay 7, 2017
    ISBN9781370253388
    Summarized & Analyzed: “Twelve Angry Men”

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      Book preview

      Summarized & Analyzed - Student World

      Summarized & Analyzed: Twelve Angry Men

      Student World

      Copyright

      Summarized & Analyzed: Twelve Angry Men

      Student World

      Copyright@2017 Student World

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      Summarized & Analyzed: Twelve Angry Men

      Copyright

      Introduction

      Plot Overview

      Major Characters

      Complete Summary

      Critical Analysis

      Note

      Introduction

      Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose was first shown on television in 1954. The play revolves around the jury of a murder trial. The play was adapted for the stage performance in 1955.

      This play was made into a very successful movie in 1957. It is notable that the play has been adapted and remade several times since its first performance.

      When the play begins, the jury are almost unanimous in their decision of guilty, except for the one jury member who is for not guilty. This dissenter continues to sow a seed of doubt throughout the play.

      The latest production of the play opened in November 2013. It was the London West End production. The play ran continuously up to 1st of March 2014, but seeing the number of people still waiting to watch the play, the date was eventually extended until 14th of June 2014.

      Plot Overview

      The year is 1957. The play is set in the jury room of the Court of Law in New York City. As the play begins, we first see the empty jury room. The judge is not present on stage but his voice is heard. He is giving a few pieces of final instructions to the jurors.

      The audience is informed that it is a murder trail case. The accused, if found guilty, is going to be given death penalty. When the instructions given by the judge are followed, the jurors appear on stage.

      Before the beginning of deliberation, the jurors take a short break. The jurors complain that it is quite hot inside the room. The room is not air-conditioned. The fan is there but it does not work.

      The majority of the jury members have already presumed that the defendant is guilty. The defendant has been accused of murdering his father. The twelve take their seats and then a vote is taken.

      Except for the 8th juror, all other jurors vote ‘guilty.’ The 8th Juror does not think that the defendant is guilty. Since the decision has to be unanimous, the jurors are compelled to discuss the case again.

      The other jurors are angry and very violently against the 8th juror. Eventually, the jurors decide to explain why they think that the boy is guilty. They hope that they will be able to convince the 8th juror.

      During the trial, an old man who lives under the boy and his father testifies that he had heard a fight upstairs. It is revealed that the boy was shouting that he was going to kill his father. After that threat the old man heard a body hitting the ground. Then the old man saw the boy running down the stairs.

      During his cross examination, the boy had testified that he was at the movies at the time of the murder of his father, but he was not able to tell the court the name of the movies or the name of the people who were the actors in those movies.

      There is a woman who lives across the street. She testified that she had seen the boy kill his father. She says that she had seen the murder through the windows of a passing elevated train.

      It is revealed that there was an argument between the boy and his father the night of the father’s murder. During that argument, the father had hit the boy twice. The court is informed that the boy had been involved in several other offences in the past.

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