Then I shall never leave Terrebonne---the drink, nurse; the drink; that I may never leave my home---my dear, dear home. That one black drop of blood burns in her veins and lights up her heart like a foggy sun. And all for the sake of that old woman and that young puppy---eh? | Contact Us that you will not throw me from you like a poisoned thing! An Octoroon is a play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Paul. What's here---judgments? Hold on! I'll put the naughty parts in French. Point. Zoe. Mrs. Claiborne Miss Clinton. stan' round thar! This lynch law is a wild and lawless proceeding. Eleven hundred---going---going---sold! ha---git out! *Re-enter*Lafouche,R.,with smashed apparatus. I think we may begin business. Scud. They owed him over fifty thousand dollars. A photographic plate. No; like a sugar cane; so dry outside, one would never think there was so much sweetness within. M'Closky. Aunt, I am prouder and happier to be your nephew and heir to the ruins of Terrebonne, than I would have been to have had half Louisiana without you. Pete. Don't b'lieve dey'll turn out niggers when dey're growed; dey'll come out sunthin else. Between us we've ruined these Peytons; you fired the judge, and I finished off the widow. Mrs. P.O, Salem! It will cost me all I'm worth. All right, Judge; I thought there was a mistake. With your New England hypocrisy, you would persuade yourself it was this family alone you cared for; it ain't---you know it ain't---'tis the "Octoroon;" and you love her as I do; and you hate me because I'm your rival---that's where the tears come from, Salem Scudder, if you ever shed any---that's where the shoe pinches. Scudder insists that they hold a trial, and the men search for evidence. Paul and Wahnotee arrive back with the mailbags and play around with the camera. Gentlemen, I believe none of us have two feelings about the conduct of that man; but he has the law on his side---we may regret, but we must respect it. Scud. Scud. "The free papers of my daughter, Zoe, registered February 4th, 1841." [*Exit*Thibodeaux, Sunnyside, Ratts, Pointdexter, Grace, Jackson, Lafouche, Caillou, Solon,R.U.E. Scud. You p'tend to be sorry for Paul, and prize him like dat. How to End "The Octoroon", John A. Degen, Learn how and when to remove this template message, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Octoroon&oldid=1114317331, This page was last edited on 5 October 2022, at 22:08. Act II Summary. Yes, den a glass ob fire-water; now den. hark! Go on, Colonel---Colonel Pointdexter, ma'am---the mortgagee, auctioneer, and general agent. Tableaux.*. Dear Dora, try to understand it with your heart. And so you really kept those foolish letters? Mr. Scudder, I've listened to a great many of your insinuations, and now I'd like to come to an understanding what they mean. M'Closky. Here 'tis---now you give one timble-full---dat's nuff. [Examines the ground.] Make an argument for each side of the slavery argument here, analyzing how the play could be read as both anti- and pro-slavery. You called it yourself; you wanted to make us murder that Injiun; and since we've got our hands in for justice, we'll try it on you. It ain't no use now; you got to gib it up! Scud. Scud. Is there any other bid? look sar! Dora. If Omenee remain, Wahnotee will die in Terrebonne. Scud. Those little flowers can live, but I cannot. Darn ye! Scud. Yah! Is de folks head bad? can you smile at this moment? *EnterPete, Grace, Minnie, Solon, Dido,and all*Niggers,R.U.E. Pete. O, let all go, but save them! O, laws-a-mussey, see dis; here's a pictur' I found stickin' in that yar telescope machine, sar! Top Quadroon And Octoroon Quotes. Terrebonne is yours. M'Closky. Scud. Sunny. Zoe. With Dora's wealth, he explains, Terrebonne will not be sold and the slaves will not have to be separated. He loves me---what of that? George, George, your words take away my breath! Scud. Born here! Dora Sunnyside (only Daughter and Heiress to Sunnyside, a Southern Belle) Mrs. Stoddart. M'Closky. The world, Zoe, the free struggle of minds and hands, if before me; the education bestowed on me by my dear uncle is a noble heritage which no sheriff can seize; with that I can build up a fortune, spread a roof over the heads I love, and place before them the food I have earned; I will work---. Last night I overheard you weeping in your room, and you said, "I'd rather see her dead than so! [Knocks.] What's here? I've got hold of the tail of a rat---come out. Zoe. Hold on now, Jacob; we've got to figure on that---let us look straight at the thing. You seem already familiar with the names of every spot on the estate. George. "No," say Mas'r George, "I'd rather sell myself fuss; but dey shan't suffer, nohow,---I see 'em dam fuss.". Yes, sir; they were the free papers of the girl Zoe; but they were in my husband's secretary. If it was the ghost of that murdered boy haunting me! [Rises.] Zoe. Zoe. Gentlemen, we are all acquainted with the circumstances of this girl's position, and I feel sure that no one here will oppose the family who desires to redeem the child of our esteemed and noble friend, the late Judge Peyton. Scud. M'Closky. Now's your time, sar. See also Trivia | Goofs | Crazy Credits | Alternate Versions | Connections | Soundtracks Did You Know? M'Closky. "All right," says the judge, and away went a thousand acres; so at the end of eight years, Jacob M'Closky, Esquire, finds himself proprietor of the richest half of Terrebonne---. Mrs. P.Why, George, I never suspected this! Poor Injiun lub our little Paul. M'Closky. Come, Mr. Thibodeaux, a man has a chance once in his life---here's yours. It is an adaptation of Dion Boucicault's The Octoroon , which premiered in 1859. Mrs. Pey. [Aside.] Git away dere! Bless his dear old handwriting, it's all I ever saw of him. Ya!---as he? Everybody---that is, I heard so. [Takes them.] You don't expect to recover any of this old debt, do you? But for Heaven's sake go---here comes the crowd. 1, Solon, a guess boy, and good waiter.". Here's a pictur' for a civilized community to afford; yonder, a poor, ignorant savage, and round him a circle of hearts, white with revenge and hate, thirsting for his blood; you call yourselves judges---you ain't---you're a jury of executioners. *EnterPete, Dido, Solon, Minnie,and*Grace. [L.] Yelping hound---take that. I see it in your face. The eye of the Eternal was on you---the blessed sun in heaven, that, looking down, struck upon this plate the image of the deed. Scud. here are marks of blood---look thar, red-skin, what's that? Here's the Picayune [producing paper] with the advertisement. Scud. Just as soon as we put this cotton on board. M'Closky. George, you may without a blush confess your love for the Octoroon! Mr. Sunnyside, I can't do this job of showin' round the folks; my stomach goes agin it. The Steamer moves off---fire kept up---M'Closky*re-enters,*R.,*swimming on.*. Scud. *, M'Closky. At the time the judge executed those free papers to his infant slave, a judgment stood recorded against him; while that was on record he had no right to make away with his property. Mrs. P.But it may be years yet before it will be paid off, if ever. The White Slave; or, the Octoroon (1913) - Quotes - IMDb Edit The White Slave; or, the Octoroon (1913) Quotes It looks like we don't have any Quotes for this title yet. Zoe. *EnterPete, Pointdexter, Jackson, Lafouche,and*Caillou,R.U.E. Pete. We've had talk enough; now for proof. Sunny. Silence in the court; stand back, let the gentlemen of the jury retire, consult, and return their verdict. look here, these Peytons are bust; cut 'em; I am rich, jine me; I'll set you up grand, and we'll give these first families here our dust, until you'll see their white skins shrivel up with hate and rage; what d'ye say? Thank ye; thank ye. Pete. Hi! Don't be afraid; it ain't going for that, Judge. Take that, and defend yourself. come home---there are strangers in the house. Zoe. Zoe. No; not you---George. Their presence keeps alive the reproach against me that I ruined them; yet, if this money should come. The Octoroon This project is the construction of an annotated, digitized text of the American and British versions of Dion Boucicault's controversial 1859 melodrama of interracial relationships and plantation life in antebellum Louisiana, with an archive of materials on performance for scholarly and pedagogical use. EnterPete,R.U.E. [he is lame]; he carries a mop and pail. Well, he lived in New York by sittin' with his heels up in front of French's Hotel, and inventin'---. Point. Top Boucicault The Octoroon Quotes. Scud. Go with Dora to Sunnyside. Good morning, Mrs. Peyton. [*To*Zoe.] That judgment still exists; under it and others this estate is sold to-day. George. Pete. I daren't move fear to spile myself. Scud. Grace (a Yellow Girl, a Slave) Miss Gimber Dido (the Cook, a Slave) Mrs. Dunn. [ExitPeteand all theNegroes,slowly,R.U.E. *Enter*Zoe[supposed to have overheard the last scene], L.U.E. Zoe. Pete. Come, Judge, pick up. Enjoy reading and share 1 famous quotes about The Octoroonwith everyone. [Wakes.] I will, quicker than lightning. Zoe. O, none for me; I never eat. That's about right. Stan' back, I say I I'll nip the first that lays a finger on Him. Pete. Go now, George---leave me---take her with you. This is folly, Dora. You gib me rattan, Mas'r Clostry, but I guess you take a berry long stick to Wahnotee; ugh, he make bacon of you. [R. C.] Pardon me, madam, but do you know these papers? There is a gulf between us, as wide as your love, as deep as my despair; but, O, tell me, say you will pity me! George. then I shall be sold!---sold! Top a bit! Zoe. McClosky, however, outbids her for Zoe; George is restrained from attacking him by his friends. [Searching him.] Dora, oblivious to George's lack of affection for her, enlists Zoe's help to win him over. "No. George. Work! George. Aunty, there is sickness up at the house; I have been up all night beside one who suffers, and I remembered that when I had the fever you gave me a drink, a bitter drink, that made me sleep---do you remember it? George. Why you out in de swamp dis time ob night---you catch de fever sure---you is all wet. [*Points down, and shows by pantomime how he buried*Paul.]. M'Closky. [Raises hand to back of his neck.] here's Mas'r Sunnyside, and Missey Dora, jist drov up. Scud. Zoe. Scud. *] Whenever I gets into company like yours, I always start with the advantage on my side. Zoe. I brought half this ruin on this family, with my all-fired improvements. Hold on! O, aunt! The first lot on here is the estate in block, with its sugar-houses, stock, machines, implements, good dwelling-houses and furniture. Here are evidences of the crime; this rum-bottle half emptied---this photographic apparatus smashed---and there are marks of blood and footsteps around the shed. Excuse me ladies. Adam had a job, a place to live, and food that he could provide for his woman. Scud. "No. Then I'd like to hire a lady to go to auction and buy my hands. I'll lend you all you want. Paul. Here you are, in the very attitude of your crime! "Ma'am," says I, "the apparatus can't mistake." It's dem black trash, Mas'r George; dis ere property wants claring; dem's getting too numerous round; when I gets time I'll kill some on 'em, sure! He's going to do an heroic act; don't spile it. if dey aint all lighted, like coons, on dat snake fence, just out of shot. Dora. EnterLafoucheand*Jackson,L. Jackson. Hold on a bit. [*Seeing*Dora.] She didn't mind how kind old judge was to her; and Solon, too, he'll holler, and break de ole lady's heart. Zoe. What was this here Scudder? Scud. Come, form a court then, choose a jury---we'll fix this varmin. Lafouche. good, good nurse: you will, you will. Zoe, you are pale. here's the other one; she's a little too thoroughbred---too much of the greyhound; but the heart's there, I believe. Hush! [They rush onM'Closky,and disarm him.] 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 Octoroon was a controversial play on both sides of the slavery debate when it debuted, as both abolitionists and pro-slavery advocates believed the play took the other camp's side. Say, Mas'r Scudder, take me in dat telescope? Scud. I will! Pete. Dora. Wal, as it consarns you, perhaps you better had. Point. save me! It carried that easy on mortgage. "No. Why should I refer the blame to her? Zoe, bring here the judge's old desk; it is in the library. Wood up thar, you Polio---hang on to the safety valve---guess she'll crawl off on her paddles. Yes, I'm here, somewhere, interferin'. Ratts. Dido. The Octoroon: The Story of the Turpentine Forest (1909) Quotes It looks like we don't have any Quotes for this title yet. Buy me, Mas'r Ratts, do buy me, sar? O, my husband! George offers to take her to a different country, but Zoe insists that she stay to help Terrebonne; Scudder then appears and suggests that George marry Dora. Death was there beside me, and I dared not take it. Five hundred bid---it's a good price. Squire Sunnyside is going to sell this at fifty thousand advance to-morrow.---[Looks round.] George, do you see that hand you hold? When she goes along, she just leaves a streak of love behind her. Mrs. P.[Embracing him.] [Makes sign thatPaulwas killed by a blow on the head.]. [Sees tomahawk in Wahnotee's belt---draws it out and examines it.] Improvements---anything, from a stay-lace to a fire-engine. He looked in to see what stopped it, and pulled out a big mortgage. The men accuse Wahnotee of the murder, and McClosky calls for him to be lynched. M'Closky. George. Go it, if you're a mind to. Don't say that, ma'am; don't say that to a man that loves another gal. Mrs. P.O, sir, I don't value the place for its price, but for the many happy days I've spent here; that landscape, flat and uninteresting though it may be, is full of charm for me; those poor people, born around me, growing up about my heart, have bounded my view of life; and now to lose that homely scene, lose their black, ungainly faces; O, sir, perhaps you should be as old as I am, to feel as I do, when my past life is torn away from me. No; Wahnotee is a gentle, honest creature, and remains here because he loves that boy with the tenderness of a woman. Peyton.] Why you speak so wild? Fifteen thousand. Scud. We have known each other but a few days, but to me those days have been worth all the rest of my life. My home, my home! How came they in your possession? 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