Research Paper on:
The Escape or A Leap to Freedom by William Wells Brown Analyzed

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but, most effectively, through the first-person narratives of one-time slaves like Frederick Douglass, Linda Brent, and an ardent abolitionist and spokesman for slaves rights, William Wells Brown. Brown was,  himself, the product of a relationship between his beautiful mother and a relative of her white plantation owner. Brown would eventually be successful in "escaping" to the North, but  would not allow his obvious lack of education deter him from delivering his passionate activism in lectures, fiction, and in drama. His play, The Escape; or, a Leap of  Freedom, was published in 1858, and while it was never staged by the author himself (Seller 39), and was not actually performed until years later, it is historically significant in  that this was the first play to ever be published by an African-American, and vividly described the horrors of slavery some three years before the Civil War officially began. Historical  importance aside, the play itself is definitely a product of the times in which it was written, which does not necessarily lend itself well to contemporary audiences. As Brown  explained in his preface, "The play, no doubt abounds in defects, but as I was born in slavery, and never had a days schooling in my life, I owe the  public no apology for errors" (ii). Escape; or, A Leap For Freedom is a five-act play featuring 26 characters, but focuses on a pair of protagonists, the newly (secretly)  married slave couple, Cato and Melinda, who work on the Muddy Creek plantation owned by the merciless Dr. Gaines. The plot, which is designed to reflect the inhumanity of  slavery, concerns the efforts of Dr. Gaines to separate the young couple in order to receive sexual favors from Melinda. The characters are one-dimensional, with the white plantation owner