The Octoroon

“When she goes along, she just leaves a streak of love behind her. […] If she ain’t worth her weight in sunshine, you may take one of my fingers off, and choose which you like.” 

Scudder says this line to George and Mrs. Peyton in the first scene about Zoe, the titular Octoroon, as she’s introduced for the first time. The quote sets up Scudder’s love for Zoe—he is in love with her, as are George and M’Closky—but primarily introduces Zoe as being fundamentally “good,” making it easier to connect to the character and empathize with her as she meets her tragic fate, despite her race.

“Yes we do, ma’am; it’s in a darned bad condition. Ten years ago the judge took as overseer a bit of Connecticut hardware called M’Closky. The judge didn’t understand accounts—the overseer did. For a year or two all went fine. The judge drew money like bourbon whisky from a barrel, and never turned off the tap. […] So it went, till one day the judge found the tap wouldn’t run. He looked in to see what stopped it, and pulled out a big mortgage. ‘Sign that,’ says the overseer, ‘it’s only a formality.’ ‘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 riches half of Terrebonne.” 

Scudder says this to George and Mrs. Peyton, after Mrs. Peyton says they “scarcely know” about the condition of the estate. The speech explains the estate’s poor finances, which sets up the financial tragedy that will later befall on Terrebonne as the government forecloses on the estate. It also sets up M’Closky’s ties to the land as the estate’s proprietor, as well as his poor treatment of the Peytons that helped to spur the estate’s financial ruin.

George: “How can you ask that vulgar ruffian to your table?”

Mrs. Peyton: “Hospitality in Europe is a courtesy; here, it is an obligation. We tender food to a stranger, not because he is a gentleman, but because he is hungry.” 

George and Mrs. Peyton have this exchange about M’Closky, after he enters the room while the group is having breakfast. The exchange establishes the other characters’ poor opinion of M’Closky—helping to set him up as the piece’s villain—while also signifying Mrs.