36 pages • 1 hour read
The Octoroon
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Act IIChapter Summaries & Analyses
Act II Summary
Act II begins at the estate’s wharf, where Scudder takes a photograph of Dora while Paul and George look on. Pete enters and says that the sheriff is taking possession of the house. Dora tells Zoe that she must persuade George to propose to her because she is an heiress and her fortune “could release this estate from debt” (40). Zoe talks to George, but he professes his love for her instead, and asks her to be his wife: “Under the shelter of your love I could watch the storms of fortune pass unheeded by” (42). Zoe realizes that she is in love with him too, but they cannot marry, as she is an Octoroon, and, under 19th century laws, their marriage was legally prohibited. George still loves Zoe, telling her: “[T]his knowledge brings no revolt to my heart, and I can overcome the obstacle” (43). Zoe replies that she can’t and says she believes Mrs. Peyton would not approve.
They exit and M’Closky appears from behind a rock, where he has been listening to their conversation. He still vows that he will “have [Zoe] if it costs [him] [his] life” (44). At that moment, Paul and Wahnotee enter with the mailbags. The two joke and look through the camera, and Paul goes to sit for a picture when M’Closky appears. He realizes that Paul is sitting on his “prize” (45)—the mailbag—and so uses Wahnotee’s tomahawk to strike Paul on the head, killing him. He opens the mailbags and finds the Liverpool letter, which he knows “would have saved all” (46). M’Closky takes the letter and schemes: “But now I guess it will arrive too late—these darned U.S. mails are to blame” (46). He leaves and Wahnotee enters. Upon discovering Paul’s dead body, Wahnotee flies into a rage, using his tomahawk to smash the camera to pieces, before grieving Paul and carrying his body away.
Act II Analysis
Act II is a short but important act, in which two of the play’s central plot points occur. The first is Zoe’s reveal that she is an Octoroon, and that she and George cannot be together under the law. This emphasizes the strong racial barriers that were present in the pre-Civil War South at the time (and later, as interracial marriage was prohibited in Louisiana until the mid-20th century). It also shows the inherent racial prejudice in their society, as Zoe refers to her one-eighth of black blood as “poison” that makes her “unclean” (43). It also, however, helps to show George as a valiant man without racial bias (at least relatively speaking), as he loves her despite her racial background. Zoe’s simultaneous love for George and strong insistence that they cannot be together because of her race lays the foundation for her tragic ending and realization that the only way that her and George’s love can escape the law is in death.
The other central plot point is M’Closky’s stealing of the Liverpool letter and murder of Paul, which paves the way for both the auction that will sell off Terrebonne—and Zoe—and M’Closky’s own demise. This act is the first time that the photographic apparatus (the camera) appears, which was a technological marvel at the time and, because of its presence in this act, will later become a pivotal plot point. Paul goes to take a picture of himself right before he is killed, a minor event at the time that will end up bringing M’Closky to justice.
This act also showcases the relationship between Wahnotee and Paul. Although the two clearly have a very fond relationship, as demonstrated by Wahnotee’s extreme grief over Paul’s death, it also shows the stereotyping against Native Americans inherent in The Octoroon, as even Paul, Wahnotee’s friend, treats Wahnotee with scorn and as an alcoholic: “You nasty, lying Ingiun! It no use you putting on airs; I ain’t gwine to sit up wid you all night, and you drunk” (44). However, Paul’s death is a catalyst for Wahnotee to seek revenge.
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