Critical Analysis of the Octoroon

The Octoroon, just considered second amongst nonmodern melodramas, is a trifle written by Irish author Dion Boucicaut. The spiel focuses on the Plantation Terrebonne, the Peyton country and its residents, namely its slaves. During the clipping of its premiere, The Octoroon, inspired conversations about the abolition of slavery as easy as the overall mistreatment of the African Americans. Derived from the Spanish language, the word octoroon is define as unmatchable who is 1/8th menacing. Zoe Peyton, , The Octoroon, is the supposedly freed biologic daughter of Judge Peyton, spring owner of the plantation. In hornswoggle, the lovers, Zoe and the judges roue nephew, George Peyton, are thwarted in their quest by hightail it and the the evil maneuverings of a material-obsessed super named Jacob MClosky. MClosky takes Zoe and Terrebonne, and schemes to buy both. Boucicaults play focuses on the denial of liberty, identity, and dignity, man ironically preserving common Afro -American stereotypes of the antebellum period. The play does this by several characters, most importantly, through and through Zoe and the Household slave Pete. epoch the author attempts to evoke anti-slavery sentiments, the play is largely in indolent of being a unbent indictment of slavery by further perpetuating the African American stereotypes.\nZoe, the octoroon, serves as a means for the author to explore themes of racial prejudice without an excessively black protagonist; she is black, plainly non too black. She plays the image of the tragic mulatto a agate line character that was typical of antebellum literature. The purpose of the tragic mulatto was to lay off the lector to pity the hire of oppressed or enslaved courses, but only through a veil of whiteness. by dint of this veil the reader does not truly pity one of a different race but rather the reader pities one who is made as close to their race as possible. This is made evident in particular in Zoes spe ech patt... If you want to get a full(a) essay, order it on our website:

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