Is the Octoroon a Typical Victorian Melodrama - Phdessay eNotes.com Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. eNotes critical analyses help you gain a deeper understanding of The Octoroon so you can excel on your essay or test. To notify all her donors, in 1860, Louisa put a notice in the Daily Gazetter telling of her mother's safe arrival in Cincinnati. Paul is also regarded as a slave and referred to by other characters as a darkey (43), although he is only one-quarter black (then referred to as a quadroon). This money was enough to transport her and her family the way to Cincinnati. Eventually, Zoe takes the poison and runs off. Time & Place. A spectacular collision of the antebellum South and 21st century cultural politics, An Octoroon is a gasp-inducing deconstruction of a moustache-twirling melodrama by 19th century playwright Dion Boucicault that twists a funhouse world of larger-than-life stereotypes into blistering social commentary. Mr. Peyton believed that he had freed his daughter, Zoe, but because he had already incurred a lien on the property, she wasnt his property to free. The aesthetic effect of the figure is essentially theatrical, encouraging the strongly empathetic participation of the viewer with both form and meaning. The Greek Slave depicted a white woman, however, not a person of mixed race. The word Octoroon signifies "one-eighth blood" or the child of a Quadroon by a white. The founding director of the Hutchins Center is Henry Louis Gates Jr., who is also chairman ofThe Root. Scudder tells Pete to go listen to what the men say about the house, while Mrs. Peyton enters and says shell remain at the house until the law compels her to leave. Review: 'An Octoroon,' a Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Comedy About Race Those qualifications have much to offer, but what An Octoroon needs is an auteur whos alert to the way the tempo and visual composition of a scene can shape its meaning. Three years later, in 1850, Louisa married Henry Picquet. He tells Wah-No-Tee, an Indian and his protector, to remove the cap from the camera. Scudder and Pete enter to tell the group of MCloskys guilt when MClosky enters and is quickly rushed on by Wahnotee. This character allowed abolitionists to draw attention to the sexual . Hired out by Cook to the Bachelor family, Picquet labored in Mrs. Zoe is then put up for sale during the slave auction, and despite bids from George, Mr. Sunnyside, and Doraand George pulling a knifeMClosky buys her for $25,000. In May 1860, Mattison met with Picquet to help her raise money to free her mother from bondage. Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! George doesnt know at first that Zoe is an octoroon, meaning shes 1/8th Black, but he refuses to let miscegenation law stand in the way of his hearts desire. How natural it felt to be back, sitting among colleagues, acquaintances and strangers at a press performance for a show! Log in here. With the judge's death, Zoe loses his protection, and her. George photographs Dora with his camera while she and Zoe plot to make George marry her. Charles McNulty is the theater critic of the Los Angeles Times. [3] After various slaves are auctioned off, George and the buyers are shocked to see Zoe up on the stand. Minnie comforts Dido and they look forward to their new lives on Captain Ratts boat. She is the so-called illegitimate (not produced by marriage) daughter of a plantation owner named Mr. Peyton and one of his slaves on this plantation, which is called Terrebonne. She explains that she felt that because she was committing adultery, she'd "have to die and be lost" (p. 22). The audience is catapulted into a space that plays to their stereotypes and questions our societys relationship to humanity and our history. Hancock, who has the toughest challenge of playing both hero and villain, occasionally seems underpowered. When Dora finds out, she is very angry at them and asks her father to buy the plantation, which he does. publication in traditional print. Zoe calls Dido Mammy, and she puts on a mammy character as they argue. Pete pleads for MClosky to not be lynched, so George demands that M'Closky be taken away, not revenged by Wahnotee, but M'Closky escapes and sets fire to the boat. This guide details the original Boucicault script and associated productions. Act II begins with Scudder showing off his camera, when Pete, an older slave, enters to say the estate has officially been put up for sale. BJJ, Playwright, and Assistant explain the significance of the fourth act, the sensation scene in melodrama. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. He concludes with a stern reminder that, "God never made man to be a slave" (p. 60). As the men try to put out the fire, MClosky swims away while Wahnotee follows to get revenge. He gives it a try but quickly realizes that getting white, male actors of today to play evil slave owners is not an easy task. Already a member? The Octoroon Dion Boucicault 2.66 431 ratings47 reviews This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Key Information Character Solon Show The Octoroon Gender Male Age Range Adult, Mature Adult Role Size Ensemble Time & Place mid 1800's, louisiana, plantation terrebonne, mississippi river Tags african-american slave server cook good-natured loyal ensemble southern creole accent Analysis African-American, Southern Creole Accent. Miscegenation in Marble: John Bell's Octoroon - Taylor & Francis George proposes to Dora, but Zoe confesses their love, which turns off Dora. The Octoroon by Dion Boucicault | Goodreads The Octoroon or, Life in Louisiana; A Play in Five acts Author: Dion Boucicault Release Date: June 24, 2014 [EBook #46091] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OCTOROON *** Produced by Roger Burch, from scans obtained from the Internet Archive THE . Part of his agenda in helping Picquet was to gain support for the abolitionist and temperance movement. Besides race, what are some representations of slaves and slavery that are not complicity with the dominant ideology of this time? One of the plantations overseers, Scudder, enters and informs them that the estate is in a darned bad condition (25), and has been mortgaged to a Yankee, Jacob McCloskey (MClosky), who now owns one-half of the estates land. Dido protests, but Zoe steals the liquid and runs away. McClosky intercepts a young slave boy, Paul, who is bringing a mailbag to the house which contains a letter from one of Judge Peyton's old debtors. You're no negro" (p.43). Similar classifications were octoroon for one-eighth black (Latin root octo-, means "eight") and quintroon for one-sixteenth black. An Octoroon vs. The Octoroon - An Octoroon Dramaturigcal Blog The Octoroon debuted in London just several months after the beginning of the Civil War. The Octoroon - M. E. Braddon - Google Books If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original The second is the date of MClosky announces that Terrebonne is for sale and plots to steal Zoe; because she is an octoroon, she is a piece of property and therefore a part of the estate. BJJ clarifies that in the time of the play, a photograph was a novel/innovative/contemporary way for the plot to be resolved. ), Matthew Lawrence says his agency dropped him after he refused to strip for director, Ed Sheeran blasts music expert for criminal testimony in Marvin Gaye copyright trial, Roman Polanski and the woman he pleaded guilty to raping pose together 45 years later, Paul Stanley of KISS dives into debate over transgender acceptance versus kids transitioning, Has the Justin Timberlake Its Gonna Be May meme passed its expiration date? All Picquet wanted was to "get religion" (p. 22). Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Suspense the melodramatists best friend is sent up even as its savored. For its form he turned to a another carved vision of abject captivity, the highly praised Greek Slave by the expatriate American artist Hiram Powers. Zoe enters along with Mr. Sunnyside, a plantation owner, and his Southern belle daughter, Dora, who tells Zoe she is in love with George. When Boucicaults play premiered at New Yorks Winter Garden Theatre in 1859, it was a controversial hit, angering both pro- and anti-slavery factions. The drama tells the moving story of Zoe, the mixed-race daughter of a rich Southern judge and plantation owner by his black paramour. Jacobs-Jenkins reframes Boucicault's play using its original characters and plot, speaking much of Boucicault's dialogue, and critiques its portrayal of race using Brechtian devices. The crunch comes when the good-hearted George Peyton has to choose between his love for Zoe, of one-eighth black ancestry, and his need to save the estate by marrying a rich heiress. That, however,. Ends Sept. 19Info: (323) 663-1525 or www.FountainTheatre.comPrice: $25 $45; Pay-What-You-Want on Monday nights, subject to availability.Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes. Adding to the meta-theatrical fun, Rob Nagle, who plays the part of Playwright (a.k.a. New York: The Author, 1861. Extremely popular, the play was kept running continuously for years by seven road companies. Download the entire The Octoroon study guide as a printable PDF! MClosky enters, and upon seeing Paul sitting on the mailbag, he uses Wahnotees tomahawk to kill Paul. [7][8] It was originally directed by Gavin Quinn of the Irish theatre company Pan Pan, but Jacobs-Jenkins took over the role after Quinn quit several weeks into rehearsals. MClosky, who everyone agrees is awful, falls in love with her, as does George, and Scudder is already in love with her. This much-celebrated work by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins toys with the machinery of melodrama, a form that relies on the elaborate sets and over-the-top spectacle of the illusionist stage. The term octoroon is thankfully not in circulation anymore, and it is likely that the melodrama would have remained in historys dustbin were it not for Jacobs-Jenkins ambivalent curiosity. The stage provided the inspiration for Bells subject. After some time, they had two more children named Sarah and Thomas. George does not care about her mixed racial ancestry and wishes to marry her, despite the illegality of a mixed-race marriage. As she dies, Zoe tells George that now no laws will stand between us. A short time later, Cook was taken to jail because of his debts, and all of his slaves were sold. Like Louisa, Henry was born to an enslaved black mother used as a concubine by her white master, who freed his enslaved children and their mother. Word Count: 465. MClosky then breaks some tragic news: The bank is foreclosing on their mortgage and Terrebonne is up for sale. The Fountains ambition in reopening the theater with this multilayered play must be acknowledged and applauded. During this time, Louisa's mother was repeatedly impregnated by Cook; her mother was "pretty white; not white for white people" though (p. 8). Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of The Octoroon by Dion Boucicault. In 1828, Louisa Picquet (1828-1896) was born near Columbia, South Carolina to fifteen year old Elizabeth Ramsey, a quadroon slave, and John Randolph, Ramsey's white master, which made her an octoroon, or an individual with one black and seven white grandparents. The Octoroon (Play) Monologues | StageAgent Wahnotee, accused by the members of Captain Ratts ship of killing Paul, is about to be lynched. I feel like it has interesting connections to "Lady Audley's Secret," though. He then confesses his love for Zoe. At Williams's death, in 1847, Picquet and her children were emancipated, but she had no way to leave the city, so Picquet moved in with Helen Hopkins, a black friend; by selling some of Williams' furniture, Picquet eventually acquired enough money to leave the South and got as far as Cincinnati, Ohio. The Octoroon (Play) Plot & Characters | StageAgent Page 1. . Shakespeare in the Woods 2023 Season Mrs. Peyton, for instance, refers to her slaves black ungainly faces (32) even as she extols her love for them, while Scudder speaks directly of the protection, forbearance, gentleness and other goods that show the critters the difference between the Christian and the savage (72). George defends him and demands a fair trial, while MClosky reluctantly takes the role of prosecution. All scenes are property and copyright of their owners. The Octoroon was written by Dion Boucicault and was adapted from the novel The Quadroon by Thomas Mayne Reid. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville Summaries. Narrative context is dispensed with to focus on the essential plight of the victim, a process often leavening compassion with a less chaste voyeurism. Poem: The Octoroon by Albery Allson Whitman - PoetryNook.Com At about two months old, Picquet and Ramsey were sold to David R. Cook from Jasper County, Georgia. One man, Jacob MClosky, is driven into such a frenzy by Zoe that he is willing to lie, cheat and kill in order to own her. The Art of Dramatic Composition: A Prologue, "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins: Feel That Thought", "The Great Work Continues: The 25 Best American Plays Since 'Angels in America', "Amber Gray on 'An Octoroon,' at Soho Rep", "The Octoroon Delayed Opens This Week at PS122", "Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Tries to Revive The Octoroon", "Disgruntled Cast Member Issues Invite to P.S.122's Troubled Octoroon", "Soho Rep Reading of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon to Feature Saycon Sengbloh and William Jackson Harper | Playbill", "Review: 'An Octoroon,' a Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Comedy About Race", "BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE | An Octoroon", "Cast announced for An Octoroon at Orange Tree", "Review: An Octoroon (Orange Tree Theatre)", "An Octoroon is taboo ridden, but thoughtful (Shaw Festival)", "Georgia Southern Theatre & Performance to Present "An Octoroon", "2017 Results | Critics' Circle Theatre Awards", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=An_Octoroon&oldid=1152449650, This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 08:55. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. The group also discusses Zoe, who lives at the estate and is the judges illegitimate child, although Mrs. Peyton loves [her] as if shed been her own child (26). McClosky, however, outbids her for Zoe; George is restrained from attacking him by his friends. Melodramatic and tragic, the events of The Octoroon unfold in a politically charged race to see if the plantation and Zoe can be saved from the clutches of Jacob MClosky. We don't currently have any scenes from The Octoroon . Picquet was born into a lineage of sexual victimization and strong maternal dedication. She faces the horrible prospect of being sold at auction, most likely to share the fate of her mother as the mistress of a rich white man. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. The Octoroon Analysis - eNotes.com The most overt of this is Zoes status as an Octoroon, a person who is one-eighth black. By 1863, the London Art Journal reported that Bells statue was well under way, though its formal exhibition took place only several years later, in 1868. Here, Picquet was hired out by Cook as a nurse and domestic help to a Mr. "Bachelor" whose wife ran the boarding house where Cook stayed. 8.) eNotes.com Those who could move beyond Bells sentimental conception of the tragic mulatto might have contemplated the wider implications of this degree of miscegenation within the dominant social structures of the time. The second is the date of [2] In a 2018 poll by critics of The New York Times, the work was ranked the second-greatest American play of the past 25 years. Synopsis A Black playwright is struggling to find his voice among a chorus of people telling him what he should and should not be writing. Pete, George, and Dora acquaint themselves when Zoe enters to meet George. Scudder tells them that all could be saved if George marries Dora, but says he knows that Zoe and George are in love. The men leave to fetch the authorities, but McClosky escapes. Through artfully constructed layers of sentimentality and aesthetic contrivance emerges one of the primary justifications for the enslavement of a whole group of human beings: the notion of one drop of black blood, the drop sinister, by which a light-skinned person could be consigned to a life of bondage. Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. Soho Rep's An Octoroon. Following the act three climax: the plot lines must converge, the moral is made clear, and the audience has to be hit with a "theatre trick" which overwhelms the audience with technical elements. Pam Trotter, left, Vanessa Claire Stewart and Matthew Hancock in the Fountain Theatres An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The title of the play refers to a character named Zoe. The plot focused on Zoe, a young woman who is an octoroon (i.e. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville Review: Fountain Theatre's 'Octoroon' by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins - Los Take a look at our library of free scenes . George says he can overcome the obstacle (43), but Zoe protests that they cannot be together. Dora, oblivious to George's lack of affection for her, enlists Zoe's help to win him over. eNotes.com, Inc. 2 Come with Scudder insists that they hold a trial, and the men search for evidence. The show that I decided to watch was "An Octoroon" directed by Branden Jacobs Jenkins. The Octoroon takes place on the Terrebonne plantation in Louisiana, which is home to Mrs. Peyton, the widow of a judge. Summary of Louisa Picquet, the Octoroon, or, Inside Views of Southern Quadroon. If there are three dates, the first date is the date of the original Role Size. He is beloved by an old Indian man named Wahnotee, who lives nearby and keeps watch over Paul. The Octoroon Play Writers: Dion Boucicault Scenes Sorry! Given its 19th century Southern setting, the play is also filled with numerous examples of racial discrimination beyond the institution of slavery, even by the plays more sympathetic characters. Pete is Paul's grandfather. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? Jacob M'Closky, another northerner who has taken over as a planter, has used underhanded measures to acquire half of the land on the estate, and he seems likely to purchase the rest of it. Download the entire The Octoroon study guide as a printable PDF! Jacobs-Jenkins knows Boucicaults play cant be redeemed, but he challenges us to see whats there. Boucicault's manuscript actually reads "Indian, French and 'Merican." A stereo photograph of the original allowed even those of modest means to view it with a convincing illusion of depth. Devoid of any actual references to plot or the characters identity, the figure stands naked, chained and ready for sale to the highest bidder. Eveline becomes very fond of her and finally persuades her father to buy the Octoroon from her French owner. In a far less theatrical sense, women in mixed-race relationships continued to suffer the combined opprobrium of state and society far into the 20th century. Zoe reciprocates his feelings but says that they cannot be together, as she is an Octoroon and interracial marriage is illegal. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Boucicaults racial attitudes are both progressive for his day and unmistakably traditionalist, which is to say white supremacist. Because of a nefarious plot by Mr. MClosky to buy the plantation out from under its inheritor, Mrs. Peyton, the estate is put up for auction along with all of the slaves, including Zoe. Although she claims its because someone is sick, she actually wants to use the liquid to poison herself. Paulwith the mailbagsstops to take a photo of himself with Georges camera. Picquet recalls that slaves were stripped of their clothes to be appraised and then sold to the highest bidder. Lafouche comes to run the auction of the property and announces Zoe will be sold. Where larger, better funded theaters in Los Angeles have played it safe, the Fountain has made room for bold, boundary-breaking drama. The use of essentially the same body for both women only heightens the sense of irony for the situation of the octoroon, so close is she to normative whiteness. George reveals his love to Zoe, who loves him too, and the fact that she is the daughter of a slave does not deter. Hiram Mattison, New York: N. Tibbals and Son, 1870. mid 1800's, louisiana, plantation terrebonne, mississippi river. The play starts with the director telling the audience, in a hilarious way, what inspired him to . The Octoroon: A Tragic Mulatto Enslaved by 1 Drop - The Root [22], From May 18 to July 1, 2017 An Octoroon was performed at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London[23] in a production directed by Ned Bennett and designed by Georgia Lowe.