The Octoroon

The Octoroon begins at Terrebonne, a plantation in Louisiana. Pete, an older slave who is “lame” (22), enters and chases the slave children about. Next to enter is George, the nephew of the plantation’s owner, Mrs. Peyton, who has just returned from Europe. The slaves tell George that the children were all born on the plantation.

Mrs. Peyton enters, and George tells her about his European travels, in which he “left [his] loves and [his] creditors equally inconsolable” (24). Mrs. Peyton tells George he reminds her of her late husband, a judge. Scudder, a man who oversees part of the plantation, enters and says he has just seen Zoe, a woman who lives at the house and “leaves a streak of love behind her” (24). Mrs. Peyton tells George that the judge has left the plantation estate to George, although Scudder admits that the property is “in a darned bad condition” (25). Scudder says that the judge signed a “big mortgage” to Jacob M’Closky, who now owns “the richest half of Terrebonne” (25). Scudder owns the other half—which he has let fall into disrepair, as inventions he introduced failed “until he finished off with folly what Mr. M’Closky with his knavery began” (26).

Zoe then enters, and Scudder tells George that she is the illegitimate daughter of the judge, even though Mrs. Peyton loves her “as if she’d been her own child” (26). Sunnyside, a Southern planter, and his Southern belle daughter Dora arrive for breakfast, and George lambasts Sunnyside because “he [doesn’t] see Zoe” (27). George admits that he considers Zoe beautiful but hasn’t told her that in person because “it may be considered offensive” (28). Dora tells Zoe to ask George if he is in love with anyone, saying: “I wish he would make love to me” (28).

M’Closky then enters. The characters clearly don’t like him—Dora says, “I don’t like that man,” while George refers to him as a “vulgar ruffian”—but Mrs. Peyton says that being hospitable in the South is an “obligation” (29), even to him. George says he is going hunting and calls one of the slave boys, Paul, to come with him. Paul enters with a Native American man, Wahnotee, and Mrs. Peyton says Paul “was a favorite of the judge” and she “couldn’t bear to see him put to work” (30). Paul talks back to M’Closky, who then goes to whip Paul, but is stopped by the other characters. Sunnyside asks about Wahnotee and calls him a “nuisance,” but Zoe defends him, saying that he is “a gentle, honest creature, and remains here because he loves [Paul] with the tenderness of a woman” (30).

Mrs. Peyton tells George she cannot spare Paul and needs him to go pick up the mailbags, as she’s expecting an important letter from Liverpool. M’Closky then reveals to Mrs. Peyton some dire news: Her banker has died and the executors of his will have foreclosed on the overdue mortgages he oversaw, which means that Terrebonne is now for sale. Mrs. Peyton laments her fate and the prospect of losing her home and the “poor people” (32) that she holds as slaves. She says that there is hope, however, as the letter she’s expecting from Liverpool is a $50,000 debt owed to her husband that might now be repaid, which would allow her to keep the estate. Mrs. Peyton and Sunnyside leave, and M’Closky reveals in a soliloquy that he “hate[s]” the Peytons and wants to “sweep” them “from this section of the country” and claim Zoe for himself, as “she makes [him] quiver” (33).

Zoe enters and M’Closky offers to buy Terrebonne and make her its mistress, but she refuses. He won’t let her pass by him, when Scudder enters, taking out his knife to threaten M’Closky as Zoe exits into the house. M’Closky and Scudder argue with each other over the house’s fate, as Scudder says it’s more M’Closky’s fault. Scudder says he’d “like to” kill M’Closky, but won’t, and M’Closky tells him he thinks he’s just jealous because they’re both in love with Zoe. Scudder admits he does love her but tells M’Closky: “I don’t think you can get her, and don’t you try foul with her” (37). He exits and M’Closky opens the judge’s desk, where he discovers Zoe’s papers freeing her from slavery—which, due to the judge’s debts, are not actually valid, and Zoe is still a slave. “If this is so, she’s mine!” M’Closky exclaims (37). He goes to get the letter from Liverpool before Paul and Wahnotee so that he can stop Mrs. Peyton from keeping the house, vowing: “If I sink every dollar I’m worth in her purchase, I’ll own that Octoroon” (37).