12 Angry Men
Dear Mr. Reginald Rose,
After viewing and reading the various versions of your play, 12 Angry Men, I believe that there is room to state that it is a ‘timeless’ play. After being written in 1955, it was re-created at least a further three times at different stages in history with extremely minor differences.
The attention to detail that you have included in 12 Angry Men makes your play timeless. Through the themes, characters, language and structure of the play, viewers and or readers are able to connect with it and make it an accessible text to a wider audience.
Some of the themes are generalised in the play and the movie. The constant mentioning of ‘they’ or ‘them’ reflects this. By only mentioning ‘them’ or ‘they’ the prejudiced comments can be adapted to the point in time it is viewed or read, a very clever technique that you used. In my opinion, if a particular ethnic group had been mentioned that was specific to the period it was written in, the play would lose its relevance within perhaps a decade or so.
Another theme that resonates with the reader and or viewer is the theme of ‘justice’. Seeking justice in an ever developing world will always resonate with a reader and or viewer, and is a topic that 12 Angry Men is based around. There are 12 very different men in one room, each bringing their own perceptions to the table, trying to reach a decision in the case of an 18 year old boy who has been accused of murder. The eighth juror is the one juror who votes ‘not guilty’ and causes the jury to go into a conflict, so to speak. As humans, we will always want to have our own opinion on an event and often allow emotions to cloud our judgement when doing so. This was evident in 12 Angry Men. This conflict engages the reader in the text and again reinforces the point of 12 Angry Men being a timeless play.
As mentioned above, each character brings their own perceptions to the table and this is what makes the play so engaging to a reader. Humans have the
After viewing and reading the various versions of your play, 12 Angry Men, I believe that there is room to state that it is a ‘timeless’ play. After being written in 1955, it was re-created at least a further three times at different stages in history with extremely minor differences.
The attention to detail that you have included in 12 Angry Men makes your play timeless. Through the themes, characters, language and structure of the play, viewers and or readers are able to connect with it and make it an accessible text to a wider audience.
Some of the themes are generalised in the play and the movie. The constant mentioning of ‘they’ or ‘them’ reflects this. By only mentioning ‘them’ or ‘they’ the prejudiced comments can be adapted to the point in time it is viewed or read, a very clever technique that you used. In my opinion, if a particular ethnic group had been mentioned that was specific to the period it was written in, the play would lose its relevance within perhaps a decade or so.
Another theme that resonates with the reader and or viewer is the theme of ‘justice’. Seeking justice in an ever developing world will always resonate with a reader and or viewer, and is a topic that 12 Angry Men is based around. There are 12 very different men in one room, each bringing their own perceptions to the table, trying to reach a decision in the case of an 18 year old boy who has been accused of murder. The eighth juror is the one juror who votes ‘not guilty’ and causes the jury to go into a conflict, so to speak. As humans, we will always want to have our own opinion on an event and often allow emotions to cloud our judgement when doing so. This was evident in 12 Angry Men. This conflict engages the reader in the text and again reinforces the point of 12 Angry Men being a timeless play.
As mentioned above, each character brings their own perceptions to the table and this is what makes the play so engaging to a reader. Humans have the