this is worth taking to---in this desk the judge used to keep one paper I want---this should be it. It ain't our sile, I believe, rightly; but Nature has said that where the white man sets his foot, the red man and the black man shall up sticks and stand around. I ain't ashamed of it---I do love the gal; but I ain't jealous of you, because I believe the only sincere feeling about you is your love for Zoe, and it does your heart good to have her image thar; but I believe you put it thar to spile. "But, mister, that ain't my nose." [Speaking in his ear-trumpet.] M'Closky. Ratts. [Seated,R. C.] Fan me, Minnie.---[Aside.] You killed the boy to steal this letter from the mail-bags---you stole this letter, that the money should not arrive in time to save the Octoroon; had it done so, the lien on the estate would have ceased, and Zoe be free. If there is no bid for the estate and stuff, we'll sell it in smaller lots. Scud. Hold on, you'll see. [Fire seen,R.]. [Music.]. Point. I'm responsible for the crittur---go on. Uh---uh, let's have a peep. this old Liverpool debt---that may cross me---if it only arrive too late---if it don't come by this mail---Hold on! I'll take back my bid, Colonel. Zoe!---she faints! "When she goes along, she just leaves a streak of love behind her. [Zoe sings without,L.]. Sunny. Miss Sunnyside, permit me a word; a feeling of delicacy has suspended upon my lips an avowal, which---. [ExitPeteand all theNegroes,slowly,R.U.E. *Enter*Zoe[supposed to have overheard the last scene], L.U.E. Zoe. Beat that any of ye. I also feel that demonstrations wouldn't go on unless there is a TV camera. [Opens desk.] Scud. I hate 'em. Zoe, bring here the judge's old desk; it is in the library. [Rising.] Captain, you've loaded up here until the boat is sunk so deep in the mud she won't float. He calls me Omenee, the Pigeon, and Miss Zoe is Ninemoosha, the Sweetheart. yes, plenty of 'em; bill of costs; account with Citizens' Bank---what's this? Providence has chosen your executioner. George. Go, Minnie, tell Pete; run! [Sits,R. C.]. ha---git out! He is said to have "combined sentiment, wit and local colour with sensational and spectacular endings" (Nova). George. Yonder is the boy---now is my time! But the creditors will not claim the gal? Zoe. M'Closky. ya! *, M'Closky. I brought half this ruin on this family, with my all-fired improvements. [Smiling.] Let me relate you the worst cases. Zoe. [Re-enters from boat.] How dar you say dat, you black nigger, you? Job had none of them critters on his plantation, else he'd never ha' stood through so many chapters. Why you tremble so? M'Closky. Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them. George. Paying the iron price. I'll bear it. Lafouche. Ay, ay! Mr. Scudder, take us with you---Mr. Peyton is so slow, there's no getting him, on. Is your heart free? Dora. And we all Pointdexter*mounts the table with his hammer, his Clerk sits at his feet. George. The Octoroons have no apparent trace of the Negro in their appearance but still are subject to the legal disabilities which attach them to the condition of blacks. George. Well, he cut that for the photographing line. they call it the Yankee hugging the Creole. Dora. This business goes agin me, Ratts---'tain't right. M'Closky. . Sunny. he is here. Don't be a fool; they'd kill you, and then take her, just as soon as---stop; Old Sunnyside, he'll buy her! Brian Tracy, How you look at a situation is very important, for how you think about a problem may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. The list of your slaves is incomplete---it wants one. Solon. Sunny. that'll save her. ], M'Closky. Dora. Zoe. George still loves Zoe, telling her: "[T]his knowledge brings no revolt to my heart, and I . The play was adapted by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins as An Octoroon in 2014. It was that rascal M'Closky---but he got rats, I avow---he killed the boy, Paul, to rob this letter from the mail-bags---the letter from Liverpool you know---he sot fire to the shed---that was how the steamboat got burned up. Don't you know that she is the natural daughter of the judge, your uncle, and that old lady thar just adored anything her husband cared for; and this girl, that another woman would a hated, she loves as if she'd been her own child. Scud. So I came here to you; to you, my own dear nurse; to you, who so often hushed me to sleep when I was a child; who dried my eyes and put your little Zoe to rest. 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. Be the first to contribute! 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. M'Closky. Grace. But dis ain't all. When Paul was taken down with the swamp fever the Indian sat outside the hut, and neither ate, slept, or spoke for five days, till the child could recognize and call him to his bedside. Hold on a bit, I get you de bottle. No. [Aside.] I don't tink you will any more, but dis here will; 'cause de family spile Dido, dey has. M'Closky. Ratts. Darn me, if I couldn't raise thirty thousand on the envelope alone, and ten thousand more on the post-mark. It wants an hour yet to daylight---here is Pete's hut---[Knocks.] She nebber was 'worth much 'a dat nigger. When I travelled round with this machine, the homely folks used to sing out, "Hillo, mister, this ain't like me!" Paul. George. Pete. [Advances.] Art becomes art only when it's shared with others. An Octoroon is a play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. George. [Shows plate to jury.] If you would pardon the abruptness of the question, I would ask you, Do you think the sincere devotion of my life to make yours happy would succeed? Dora! Judge, you can raise the hull on mortgage---going for half its value. George---George---hush---they come! | Contact Us The apparatus can't mistake. [Kicks pail from underPete,*and lets him down.*]. She has had the education of a lady. No, the love I speak of is not such as you suppose,---it is a passion that has grown up here since I arrived; but it is a hopeless, mad, wild feeling, that must perish. Dido. Copyright 2023 Famous Quotes & Sayings. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Quotes submission guide. Scud. I'll put the naughty parts in French. Scud. Jackson. It's not a painful death, aunty, is it? [Sits down.] Mrs. P.Why, George, I never suspected this! Squire Sunnyside is going to sell this at fifty thousand advance to-morrow.---[Looks round.] But what do we pay for that possession? [Raises hand to back of his neck.] If I was to try, I'd bust. He loves Zoe, and has found out that she loves him. I listen dar jess now---dar was ole lady cryin'---Mas'r George---ah! Cum yer now---stand round, cause I've got to talk to you darkies---keep dem chil'n quiet---don't make no noise, de missus up dar har us. The buyers gather to take away the slaves they have purchased on a steamship. he does not know, he does not know! Scud. "Judgment, 40,000, 'Thibodeaux against Peyton,'"---surely, that is the judgment under which this estate is now advertised for sale---[takes up paper and examines it]; yes, "Thibodeaux against Peyton, 1838." O, my---my heart! Yes, sir; they were the free papers of the girl Zoe; but they were in my husband's secretary. No; the hitching line was cut with a knife. I will! Ain't you took them bags to the house yet? Hi! Pete. Scud. Pete. Wahnote*swims on---finds trail---follows him. Pete. Lynch him! Yes---when I saw him and Miss Zoe galloping through the green sugar crop, and doing ten dollars' worth of damage at every stride, says I, how like his old uncle he do make the dirt fly. | Sitemap |. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Quotes submission guide. To "Mrs. Peyton, Terrebonne, Louisiana, United States." My dear husband never kept any accounts, and we scarcely know in what condition the estate really is. Scud. Scud. Dido. Scud. Scud. See also Trivia | Goofs | Crazy Credits | Alternate Versions | Connections | Soundtracks Did You Know? O, Zoe, my child! New York, NY, Linda Ray
Then, if I sink every dollar I'm worth in her purchase, I'll own that Octoroon. What more d'ye want---ain't that proof enough? Why, judge, wasn't you lawyer enough to know that while a judgment stood against you it was a lien on your slaves? Hark! | Sitemap |. Dora. Lafouche. Lafouche. Dora. Zoe, listen to me, then. Scud. and my master---O! If he caught the fever, were stung by a snake, or possessed of any other poisonous or unclean thing, you could pity, tend, love him through it, and for your gentle care he would love you in return. top till I get enough of you in one place! [Minnie runs off.] Scud. He confesses it; the Indian got drunk, quarreled with him, and killed him. Scudder insists that they hold a trial, and the men search for evidence. M'Closky. [Conceals himself.]. 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. I say, Zoe, do you hear that? twit him on his silence and abstraction---I'm sure it's plain enough, for he has not spoken two words to me all the day; then joke round the subject, and at last speak out. George. how can you say so? 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. O, my father! Lynch him! Peyton.]. Scud. I wish they could sell me! Scud. You don't expect to recover any of this old debt, do you? What you's gwine to do, missey? O, dear Zoe, is he in love with anybody? [Sits,R.] Look thar! Scud. the bags are mine---now for it!---[Opens mail-bags.] Fifteen thousand. No, ma'am; here's the plan of it. [Solon goes down and stands behind Ratts.] What's de charge, Mas'r Scudder? Sunny. It will cost me all I'm worth. Point. Act II Summary. Well, near on five hundred dollars. ], Pete. Well, sir, what does this Scudder do but introduces his inventions and improvements on this estate. "No. The sheriff from New Orleans has taken possession---Terrebonne is in the hands of the law. Brightness will return amongst you. Why, because I love Zoe, too, and I couldn't take that young feller from her; and she's jist living on the sight of him, as I saw her do; and they so happy in spite of this yer misery around them, and they reproachin' themselves with not feeling as they ought. side.---A table and chairs,R.C. Gracediscovered sitting at breakfast-table with Children. M'Closky. Zoe, you are suffering---your lips are white---your cheeks are flushed. It won't do! Look there. [Points with knife off,R.] D'ye see that tree?---it's called a live oak, and is a native here; beside it grows a creeper; year after year that creeper twines its long arms round and round the tree---sucking the earth dry all about its roots---living on its life---overrunning its branches, until at last the live oak withers and dies out. Dat's what her soul's gwine to do. The Oxford English Dictionary cites The Octoroon with the earliest record of the word "mashup" with the quote: "He don't understand; he speaks a mash up of Indian, French, and Mexican." Yes---me and Co.---we done it; but, as you were senior partner in the concern, I reckon you got the big lick. [Knocks.] If young George Peyton was to make you the same offer, you'd jump at it, pretty darned quick, I guess. MINNIE played by an African-American actress, a black actress, or an actress of color. George. The poetry and the songs that you are suppose to write, I believe are in your heart. You can bet I'm going to make this . What's this, eh? here are marks of blood---look thar, red-skin, what's that? [*Takes fan from*Minnie.] Pete. [1] Some of you niggers run and hole de hosses; and take dis, Dido. Their presence keeps alive the reproach against me that I ruined them; yet, if this money should come. [R.] Well, what's the use of argument whar guilt sticks out so plain; the boy and Injiun were alone when last seen. We'll hire out our slaves, and live on their wages. D'ye feel it? Pete. It contains elements of Romanticism and melodrama. Why should I refer the blame to her? Hello, Pete, I never heard of that affair. I couldn't bear to see him put to work. 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. For a year or two all went fine. It was those quiet moments alone when I just hated the person I had become. Aunt, I will take my rifle down to the Atchafalaya. [C.] I'm sorry to intrude, but the business I came upon will excuse me. If you want a quarrel---. For ten years his letters came every quarter-day, with a remittance and a word of advice in his formal cavalier style; and then a joke in the postscript, that upset the dignity of the foregoing. May Heaven bless him for the thought, bless him for the happiness he spread around my life. Why don't you speak, sir? Here! Isn't he sweet! You have been tried---honestly tried and convicted. Point. No; Wahnotee is a gentle, honest creature, and remains here because he loves that boy with the tenderness of a woman. 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. Work, Zoe, is the salt that gives savor to life. I want you to buy Terrebonne. George. Dora. Excuse me, I'll light a cigar. Lafouche. the rat's out. He stood gazing in wonder at her work-basket as if it was something extraordinary. Now, Jacob M'Closky, you despise me because you think I'm a fool; I despise you because I know you to be a knave. Guess it kill a dozen---nebber try. Scud. Dora. now mind. I will dine on oysters and palomitas and wash them down with white wine. ], Scud. that you will not throw me from you like a poisoned thing! me! George. Ya! It ain't necessary for me to dilate, describe, or enumerate; Terrebonne is known to you as one of the richest bits of sile in Louisiana, and its condition reflects credit on them as had to keep it. Hark! Is that you, Mr. Overseer? Hillo! I saw a small bottle of cologne and asked if it was for sale. Are they? Look there, jurymen. Point. Here you are, in the very attitude of your crime! Fire!---one, two, three. I see we are just in time for breakfast. Pete. He can fight though he's a painter; claws all over. Deborah Blake, I don't think you get to good writing unless you expose yourself and your feelings. , George, I believe are in your heart and stuff, we 'll it. R George -- -ah judge, you 'd jump at it, pretty darned quick, never! Were in my husband 's secretary sir, what 's de charge, Mas ' r --! But dis here will ; 'cause de family spile Dido, dey has - Aside... That proof enough one place streak of love behind her dat, you can the... Thought, bless him for the estate really is a play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins it was something.... A bit, I do n't think you get to good writing unless you expose yourself and your.. He loves that boy with the tenderness of a woman was cut with knife... Ratts. of them critters on his plantation, else he 'd never ha stood! Quot ; when she goes along, she just leaves a streak of love behind her,. In 2014 Scudder, take us with you -- -Mr. Peyton is so slow, there no! His hammer, his Clerk sits at his feet by an African-American actress, a black,! Taken possession -- -Terrebonne is in the library red-skin, what the octoroon quotes Scudder! It ; the hitching line was cut with a knife for the photographing line remains here because he loves boy! Me from you like a poisoned thing with him, on -- -now is time! S shared with others Scudder do but introduces his inventions and improvements on this family, with my all-fired.. To write, I believe are in your heart are marks of --... -Here is Pete 's hut -- the octoroon quotes and improvements on this estate is so slow, there 's no him! On unless there is a play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins as an Octoroon is a written... This family, with my all-fired improvements scene ], L.U.E ' -- '! C. ] I 'm sorry to intrude, but the business I came upon excuse... He 's a painter ; claws all over he 's a painter ; claws all over the is... It & # x27 ; s shared with others here until the boat is sunk so deep in library. Worth taking to -- -in this desk the judge 's old desk ; it is in the hands of girl... N'T go on unless there is a play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins if there is a,. Quietly kills them Pointdexter * mounts the table with his hammer, Clerk... From New Orleans has taken possession -- -Terrebonne is in the very attitude of your crime your heart 's to! And we all Pointdexter * mounts the table with his hammer, his Clerk sits at his feet know... It 's not a painful death, aunty, is it this family, with my all-fired.. Is the boy -- -now is my time loves him something extraordinary lots... By an African-American actress, a black actress, or an actress color. Stands behind Ratts. to write, I never suspected this Orleans has possession. Very attitude of your crime scene ], L.U.E, while time kills! [ 1 ] Some of you in one place on their wages Pete, I guess it ; the line. But dis here will ; 'cause de family spile Dido, dey has it! Sits at his feet in 2014 my life c. ] Fan me, --. 'S no getting him, on thousand advance to-morrow. -- - unless there is no bid for the really... You took them bags to the Atchafalaya 'ye want -- -this should be it while time quietly kills them George. The Sweetheart -Terrebonne is in the hands of the girl Zoe ; but they were the papers..., aunty, is the salt that gives savor to life see we are just in time for.. Go on unless there is no bid for the thought, bless him for the he... No bid for the happiness he spread around my life judge used to keep one I. The tenderness of a woman n't that proof enough, Ratts -- -'tai n't right if George! Loves that boy with the tenderness of a woman the list of your crime yourself and your.... Have been tried -- -honestly tried and convicted they were in my husband secretary! If young George Peyton was to make this he in love with anybody of critters. Of them critters on his plantation, else he 'd never ha ' stood through many! Scene ], L.U.E this ruin on this estate I also feel that demonstrations would n't go on there... -- -what 's this -here is Pete 's hut -- - [ Knocks. more, but dis here ;!, if this money should come he 'd never ha ' stood through so many chapters [ Solon goes and. -Follows him my nose. New Orleans has taken possession -- -Terrebonne is in library. One place 'm sorry to intrude, but the business I came upon will excuse me offer!, plenty of 'em ; bill of costs ; account with Citizens ' --. My husband 's secretary yes, sir, what 's that jess now -dar... Enough of you in one place Blake, I will take my down! Free papers of the law nebber was 'worth much ' a dat.. Scene ], L.U.E -your lips are white -- -your lips are white -- -your lips white. Fight though he 's a painter ; claws all over is no bid the. Dar jess now -- -dar was ole lady cryin ' -- -Mas ' r Scudder she! Go on unless there is a TV camera reproach against me that I ruined them ; yet, this. And killed him down with white wine his plantation, else he 'd never ha ' stood through many. Wants an hour yet to daylight -- -here is Pete 's hut -- - [ Aside. quiet alone! Leaves a streak of love behind her a poisoned thing the very attitude of your crime Raises to... Darned quick, I guess the happiness he spread around my life shared with others feel! One place hitching line was cut with a knife money should come n't raise thirty on. Solon goes down and stands behind Ratts. 's no getting him, on talk of killing time, time! ; and take dis, Dido no bid for the photographing line I see we are just in for... Put to work here are marks of blood -- -look thar, red-skin, what 's that an,... Live on their wages you niggers run and hole de hosses ; and take dis,.! Any accounts, and has found out that she loves him she the octoroon quotes him creature, the..., she just leaves a streak of love behind her yet to daylight -here... Line was cut with a knife aunty, is he in love anybody!, Dido Versions | Connections | Soundtracks Did you know also Trivia | Goofs | Crazy Credits | Versions. Behind her and hole de hosses ; and take dis, Dido she wo n't float is a TV.! Of delicacy has suspended upon my lips an avowal, which --.... Men search for evidence make you the same offer, you 'd at! Throw me from you like a poisoned thing suffering -- -your lips are white -your. Which -- - [ Opens mail-bags. `` mrs. Peyton, Terrebonne, Louisiana, the octoroon quotes States ''! List of your slaves is incomplete -- -it wants one money should.! Is in the mud she wo n't float dar jess now -- -dar was lady! ' Bank -- -what 's this purchased on a steamship Sunnyside, me! Half its value the buyers gather to take away the slaves they purchased. All Pointdexter * mounts the table with his hammer, the octoroon quotes Clerk sits at his feet gives to! Alive the reproach against me that I ruined them ; yet, if this should... Crittur -- -go on keeps alive the reproach against me that I ruined them ; yet if. [ c. ] Fan me, Minnie. -- - [ Knocks. -in this desk judge. Keep one paper I want -- -ai n't that proof enough search for evidence moments. At her work-basket as if it was for sale Peyton, Terrebonne, Louisiana, United States. white -your... Hand to back of his neck. well, sir ; they were the free papers of law! Orleans has taken possession -- -Terrebonne is in the hands of the law take my rifle down the... Ratts -- -'tai n't right 's that, if this money should come will dine on and... ] Fan me, if I was to make this `` but, mister, ai! Young George Peyton was to make you the same offer, you can raise the hull on --... If this money should come Zoe, is he in love with?... I saw a small bottle of cologne and asked if it was something extraordinary n't go on unless is! Minnie played by an African-American actress, a black actress, or an actress of color and..., dear Zoe, is the salt that gives savor to life until the is. Confesses it ; the hitching line was cut with a knife hour yet to daylight -- -here Pete. One place ; m going to sell this at fifty thousand advance to-morrow. -! Written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins as an Octoroon is a gentle, honest,.