The Escape
- Reading level
- Easy
- Price
- Free
About the book
"The Escape; Or, A Leap For Freedom: A Drama, in Five Acts" by William Wells Brown is a play written in 1858. This pioneering work of African American dramatic literature tells the story of two enslaved people from different plantations who secretly marry. When the wife catches the dangerous attention of her owner, Dr. Gaines, and his jealous wife seeks deadly revenge, the couple must flee for their lives. Their desperate journey follows the North Star toward freedom in Canada, with slave hunters in close pursuit.
- African Americans
- Political plays
- Slavery
- Enslaved persons
- Abolitionists
- Slaveholders
Updated September 2026. Public domain in the USA. Text and summary from Project Gutenberg eBook #65519. The Escape on Wikipedia.
More free books by William Wells Brown
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Three Years in Europe
Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave
The Negro in the American Rebellion
My Southern Home
Illustrated Edition of the Life and Escape of Wm. Wells Brown from American Slavery
Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave. Second Edition
The Anti-slavery Harp
