Twelve Angry Men
Themes
Characters
Background
Reginald Rose
•Reginald Rose: born December 10, 1920 – died April 19, 2002
•He was an American film and television writer most widely known
for his work in the early years of television drama.
•Rose is known for writing about controversial social and political
issues. His realistic approach helped create the genre of television
drama of the 1950’s.
Twelve Angry Men
 Was originally written for television by Reginald Rose.
 Reginald originally got the idea to write the show after he
served on the jury of a murder case. Some of the events that
take place in the story actually happened.
 The play, written by Sherman Sergel, is an adaptation of the
television production.
Historical Context
 1950’s
 A socially conservative time.
 People were very materialistic. The American
Dream had turned into the dream of owning
things.
 Juvenile delinquency was said to be at an all-time
high
 African Americans were subject to racial
discrimination.
 Comics were published and growing in
popularity.
 Television sales were booming.
Discrimination
 Some of the jurors think the boy is guilty because of his
background and ethnicity.
 Slum: A thickly populated area marked by poverty and dirty
or deteriorating houses.
 (No.8) “I don’ t think it was a very strong move. This boy has been
hit so many times that violence is practically a normal state of
affairs with him. I just can’t see two slaps in the face would have
provoked him into committing murder.”
Justice
 The administration of the law
 Fairness
 Righteousness
Integrity
 Adherance to a code of values.
o Juror # Eight
Important terms to know:
 Burden of proof: the necessity of proof always lies with the
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person who lays charges.
Due process of law: the state must allow all of the legal rights
that are owed to a person under the law.
Presumption of innocence: the defendant is legally assumed
to be innocent until he or she is proven guilty.
Circumstantial evidence: evidence used which may or may
not be true.
Reasonable doubt: doubt of a person’s guilt based on
evidence or reason.
Vocabulary
A text that is acted
out in front of an
audience
The first major
division of a play
The division of an
act
Play
Act 1
Scene 1
Scene 2
Act 2
Scene 1
Vocabulary
 Abstain: Refrain from an action
 Antagonize: To provoke hostility
 Coroner: Doctor who investigates causes of death.
 Deliberate: Carefully think through.
 Drab: Dull
 Petty Jury: A jury of twelve people
 Rapport: Relationship
 Subservient: Passive and obedient
Vocabulary
 Dialogue: Conversation between two or more parties.
 Naïve: Someone who is inexperienced in the ways of the
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world.
Unanimous: The agreement of all.
Hung Jury: A jury that cannot agree.
Sadist: Someone who enjoys seeing other people suffer.
Reasonable doubt: Doubt based on evidence or reason.
Premeditated: Planned before an act is performed.
Homicide: Murder.
Bigot: Someone who is racist and discriminates against
people.
Act 1
 Takes place in a jury room where most of the jurors think the
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defendant is guilty of murder.
Jurors 7 and 10 ridicule the defendants story.
Juror 8 votes “not guilty”
The jurors discuss the facts of the case
There is a call for a secret vote.
The result of the vote is 10 guilty and 2 not guilty
Act 2
 We find out that juror 9 cast the second not guilty vote.
 The jurors discuss the case further taking a close look at the
facts of the case.
 Juror 3 becomes enraged and swears to kill juror 8
Act 3
 The jurors take another vote the results of the vote are 6 to
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6.
The jurors discuss the case more
The jurors take another vote the results are 11 to 1.
Juror 3 stands alone in his conviction that the defendant is
guilty.
Eventually, juror 3 gives in to the pressure and votes not
guilty.
The jury gives their recommendation to the court and the
defendant is set free.
Characters
Foreman
Juror two
Juror three
Juror four
 A small, petty man who holds authority
over jury. He is formal and not overly
bright.
 A meek hesitant man who finds it difficult
to maintain any opinions of his own.
 A very strong, forceful, opinionated man
with whom can be detected a streak of
sadism.
 A man of wealth and position. He presents
himself as a little bit above the rest of the
jurors.
Characters
Juror five
Juror six
Juror seven
Juror eight
 A naïve, frightened young man who takes
the case very seriously.
 An honest man who makes decisions slowly
and carefully.
 A loud, flashy salesman who has more
important things to do than to sit on a jury.
 A quiet, thoughtful, gentleman who sees all
sides of the story and constantly seeks the
truth.
Characters
Juror nine
Juror ten
Juror eleven
Juror twelve
 A mild, gentle, old man who has been
defeated by life, and now simply waits to
die.
 An angry, bitter, antagonistic man. He is a
bigot and places no value on human life.
 A refugee from Europe. He speaks with an
accent and seeks justice.
 A slick, bright advertising man who thinks
of human beings in terms of percentages,
graphs, and polls.
Witness #1
 The old man who lived on the second floor
under the room where the murder took place.
 The old man heard loud noises and then heard
“I’m going to kill you” in the upstairs
apartment . A second later, he heard a body
falling.
 He saw the kid running down the stairs and out
of the house.
Witness #2
 “Here’s a woman who’s lying in bed. She can’t
sleep. It’s hot.And right across the street, she
sees the kid stick his knife into his father’s chest.
Look, she has known the kid all his life. And she
swore she saw him do it. “