Boucicault's "The Octoroon" and American Law
1982; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 34; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/3207446
ISSN1086-332X
Autores Tópico(s)American Constitutional Law and Politics
ResumoMany nineteenth century American playwrights made use of contemporary social problems. No playwright centered his drama more overtly around an inflammatory social issue, however, than did the Irish born Dion Boucicault in his play, The Octoroon.' Like many another melodrama of the period, The Octoroon presents its audience with a dashing hero, a dastardly villain, a bumbling spokesman for goodness, and a woman who almost loses her family home. Unlike most of the plays of the time, however, the central tragic action of the play centers not around the fate of a golden-haired heroine whose virtue and life are endangered by the villain, but rather around the destiny of an octoroon slave girl named Zoe. The uniqueness of Boucicault's achievement lies not, however, in his choice of heroine. Rather the importance of the play stems from Boucicault's examination of a fundamental American precept the viability of law as the framework of a democratic society. Boucicault uses the situation of Zoe to contrast the ideals and realities of a growing nation. Slavery becomes not only a theme of the play, but also a metaphor for the essential contest between the desires and rights of the individual and the societal goal of maintaining its own existence. The death of Zoe and the implicit marriage of George and Dora seem to affirm the traditional American faith in a society of laws. However, Boucicault undercuts the orthodoxy of the ending through repeated episodes in the play which show the malleability of the law and the law's capacity for frustrating elemental human instincts toward goodness.
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