The Octoroon

The Octoroon is essentially a story of doomed love, and contains all the elements of great melodrama - murder, corruption, threatened poverty, a thwarted love affair and suicide.

The story centres around the inhabitants of the Louisiana plantation of Terrebonne. Zoe, the “octoroon” of the title, is the daughter of its owner Judge Peyton by one of his slaves, but she has been raised as part of the family.

When the Judge dies, the plantation falls into financial ruin and the Judge’s handsome nephew George arrives as heir apparent.

George and Zoe soon find themselves in love, but their future happiness is thrown into jeopardy by the plantation’s evil overseer Jacob McLosky who has dastardly designs on both the property and Zoe. McLosky will stop at nothing – not even murder.

History 

The Octoroon first opened just two years before the American Civil War, when tensions concerning slavery in the 1850s had grown to fever pitch.

Boucicault knew that his melodrama of “life in Louisiana” was sensational material and would be attended by crowds hotly divided by its issues.

But understanding the need to cater for a mass audience, Boucicault also knew that he couldn’t afford to alienate either side of the political divide.

The result is a play with an ideology that is sometimes hard to pin down, and is perhaps best summed up by one of its original cast members:

'The dialogue and characters of the play made one feel for the South, but the action proclaimed against slavery and called loudly for its abolition.'