STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS FOR INHERIT THE WIND
By Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Act I, Scene 1
1. The playwrights describe the set as having the courtroom in the foreground and the city of Hillsboro visible behind it. Why is this arrangement important to the play?
2. Why is Rachel particularly worried that her father will find out that she has been visiting Bert Cates?
3. What has Bert Cates done that has gotten him arrested?
4. What is E.K. Hornbeck's interest in this particular trial?
5. Why did Brown not like what Drummond did in Ohio? Did Drummond do the right
thing?
6. Why, according to Hornbeck, have ordinary people ceased to exist?
7. What is the historical importance of the two opposing lawyers, Henry Drummond and
Matthew Brady? What different values do they represent?
Act I, Scene 2
1. For which belief does Henry Drummond dismiss a prospective juror early in this scene?
2. How does Henry Drummond earn the title of "temporary Honorary Colonel in the State
Militia"? What is the symbolic significance of this title?
3. Drummond accepts the next prospective juror. On what basis does he accept him?
4. Why does Drummond object when the judge announces a prayer meeting from the
Judge's Bench?
5. According to Drummond, why is the town so upset with Cates?
6. What conditions does Drummond give for Cates changing his plea?
7. Both Bert and Rachel are very upset about the next day's possible testimony. Why?

Act 2, Scene 1
1. At the prayer meeting led by Reverend Brown, what attitude does Matthew Brady indicates by both his actions and his words?
2. According to Matthew Brady, the phrase "inherit the wind" is a quote from what famous source? What is the significance of this phrase to the trial in question?
3. What does Drummond mean by his remark to Brady on page 60?
Act 2, Scene 2
1. In Act II, Scene 2, Henry Drummond reveals to the courtroom exactly what he thinks is at stake in this case. What is it?
2. What is the significance of Howard’s comment on page 65, “I gotta think it over”?
3. What is the allusion being made when Cates says “Et tu Brute”? Is this an effective comparison?
4. Why, according to Rachel, did Bert Cates quit going to Rev. Brown's church?
5. What is the main thrust of the prosecution's case against Bert Cates?
6. Why were Dr. Amos D. Keller, Dr. Allen Page and Walter Aaronson all called and
dismissed?
7. How does Drummond use Biblical stories to confuse Brady?
8. How, throughout the scene, is Brady’s vanity used against him? Look up the word
hubris and explain how it applies in this scene.
9. What is holy to Drummond? Why is it so important to him?
10. What concession does Drummond get from Brady that begins to sway the case toward the defense?
11. What admission does Drummond finally get from Brady that ruins Brady's credibility with the jury?

Act 3
1. Drummond offers Bert Cates some advice based upon his own childhood experience with a favorite toy. What is his advice?
2. What important “first” in history does this trial introduce? What, do you think, is the significance of this ground-breaking?
3. In what way (s) does the outcome of the trial surprise(s) everyone?
4. At the conclusion of the trial, what has happened to Matthew Brady's reputation?
5. According to Drummond, what is the personal significance to Bertram Cates of the outcome of the trial?
6. Who supplies bail money for Cates? Is this investment significant? If so, what does it signify?
7. What is the point of Hornbeck’s poem?
8. Rachel surprises Drummond and Bert with her grasp of the meaning of the trial. What does she understand?
9. After Brady's death, what surprising discovery does Hornbeck make about
Drummond?
10. What do you think is the significance of Drummond's final gesture of the play?