The Octoroon

First, the main characters in The Octoroon have no complex qualities, but all are unidimensional and stereotypical stock-characters. For example, the character McClosky simply represents the purely villainous “yankee” who only wishes to commit malice in order to advance his own selfish desires. In addition, McClosky does not wish to conceal his villainy; rather, he assumes the archetype of an unsubtle and unhesitant trickster. This can be seen most evidently when McClosky finds a judgement (worth 40,000 dollars) on half of the plantation against Judge Peyton (owner of the plantation in Terrebonne) which would invalidate the “free papers” of Zoe (Peyton’s illegitimate daughter with his slave-woman) (I. 492-495). While Judge Peyton could use…

Women face many problems in America that have deep roots in America’s culture. In Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon, these issues are highlighted. An Octoroon does a good job arguing about issues that women face in everyday life by using the slave women to face these issues Grace is a pregnant field slave was leaved by her husband (Solon) and other slaves. She is talking to Minnie and Dido who are house slaves. She said “I think Solon left me....I think he ran off wit dumbass Rebecca” Grace…

An Octoroon Performance Critique I had the opportunity to attend Theatre UCF’s production of An Octoroon at the UCF Theatre in Orlando, Florida. Throughout my life, I have had the experience of going to productions at the secondary school level, club level, collegiate, and professional/Broadway level. In my opinion, Broadway shows have always amazed me and continue to bring the highest level of acting and musicality. However, shows at the secondary, club, and collegiate level all have the…

In this paper I will discuss and go into great depth on Sarah Kane’s Blasted and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins An Octoroon and the postdramatic theatre elements that are represented in both of them. Muller’s statement in Steegmans, After Postdramatic Theatre refers to a crisis of drama, which consists of the apparent inability to convey the complexity of the modern world. It’s that the problems of the present exceeds the representational capacity of the situational dramatic art. When we look at…

The setting of this play takes place when slavery is legal at the plantation terrebonne in Louisiana. I feel that Jenkins is trying to challenge our idea about race and make us sympathise because the story focuses on Zoe being an octoroon in which the individual is ⅛ black. Zoe is viewed as a beautiful young slave girl who is treated very nicely by the host family and adored by men who sees her. This is evident because George and M’Closky showed affection towards her. As Zoe being ⅛ black, Zoe…

During the Harlem Renaissance, it brought about other fine artist during this decade. A well-known painter, named Archibald J. Motley Jr. He has been identified with the Harlem Renaissance and probably best known for “his depictions of black social life and jazz culture in vibrant city scenes” (Blumberg, 01). His paintings were mostly of the black nightlife using bright colors, with everyone in the painting always in a hurry to go somewhere. Motley’s style was humor, drama and honesty. “In 1928…

The ways in which black women are looked at has not changed, but what is used to look at them has changed. Firstly, John Bell’s statue The Octoroon (1868) presents a nude female slave, bound with rope. ‘Octoroon’ was a word used to classify an individual’s blackness, and how they would be classed in society by law. The woman’s nudity firstly shows the sexualisation of the subject, as a commodity it is not deemed unacceptable for her to appear this way. As she is nude and bound, it shows that she…

is admired by both blacks and whites for her graceful personality. The depiction of her nearly perfect life, away from the horrors suffered by many in her family who lived as slaves, as well as her personality traits and beauty all together lead the reader to anticipate a tragic downfall. The way she is portrayed makes it all the more sorrowful to the audience as the character becomes detached from her racial precedence. Very often there is little that reminds the reader of her black ancestry,…

evolution of race is most evident in the ever changing racial category options on the United States Census. In 1790, there were only two options for race on the census: white or black (Brown). In 1850 a new category, mulatto, was added to capture the amount of “racial mixing” between white and black people. Today, this term is seldom used to describe biracial people and is exclusively used in a historical context due to its negative connotation. In 1870, Native American and Chinese categories…

Jim Crow was a reactionary movement that was led by Southern Populist farmers. Segregation brought many conflicts to the south. A key case to note is Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and the effort it had to remove these clauses. In June of 1892 Homer Adolf Plessy, a light skinned man of one-eighth African descent (octoroon), bought a one-way First Class ticket and proceeded to board the white only car at Press Street Station in New Orleans. A conductor of the railroad and accomplice of Plessy asked…