The Little Foxes

The Little Foxes Summary | Act 1 Summary

The stage is set in a living room of a house in a small town in the deep South in 1900. It is the home of the Giddens family: Regina, her husband Horace and their daughter Alexandra. The room is filled with fine, expensive furniture. The first character to appear is Addie, a 55-year-old Negro woman who is moving about closing windows. Cal, a middle-aged Negro man, enters carrying a tray with glasses and a bottle of port. Addie takes the tray from him and arranges the items on the table. She can't believe that Cal has brought in that particular bottle of port. He replies that Miss Regina told him to serve it in honor of their guest.

Birdie Hubbard, Regina's sister in law, rushes in through the dining room doors. She compliments Addie on the delicious meal and tells Cal that she wants him to have one of the kitchen boys run to her house to pick up a music album. Their dinner guest, Mr. Marshall, is interested in that album, and Birdie wants to show it to him before he leaves for his train. Birdie's husband, Oscar, comes out of the dining room and chastises her for making such a fuss, saying there is no need to send anyone for anything. He tells Birdie that Mr. Marshall was merely being polite by talking about her music album. Oscar thinks she has had too much wine and has chattered like a magpie all evening.

Birdie and Oscar's son, Leo, enters and tells them that the dinner guests are coming into the parlor. Regina enters with Mr. Marshall. Alexandra and Ben Hubbard, Regina's and Oscar's brother, follow. Regina tells Mr. Marshall that she would love to live in Chicago because of all the people and theaters. Addie serves the port, and Mr. Marshall comments on the fine quality of the drink. He thinks that Southerners live better than the rest of the country. He says they eat and drink better and it's a wonder they have time to do business at all.

Mr. Marshall also seems surprised and pleased that Regina, Oscar and Ben have stayed in the same town and are raising their families there. His family in the North is much more scattered, he says. Regina mentions that Horace is ill and is at Johns Hopkins for a heart condition. Regina doesn't want to dwell on it, and she suggests that Birdie and Alexandra play the piano for Mr. Marshall.

Mr. Marshall brings up the subject of Southern aristocracy again. He says it's remarkable that aristocrats stay together and keep what belongs to them. Ben challenges that, arguing that they are not aristocrats. Birdie is the only one of them who ever belonged to the Southern aristocracy, Ben says. Her family owned the Lionnet plantation, which was the best cotton land in the South in its day. But when the war came, the men left the cotton and the women to rot. And after the war, the sons came home and ruined it.

Theirs was not the only plantation that went that way, Ben continues. He says the Southern aristocrat can't adapt to anything, and he's too high tone to try. Mr. Marshall tries to rescue the conversation by saying that learning new ways is hard sometimes. But Ben says that may be the reason it's profitable. He says his family learned the new ways and how to make them pay. And to make a long story short, they now own Lionnet.

Ben continues that a man isn't in business only for what he can get out of it. He says it has to mean something to his heart too. Mr. Marshall takes this as his cue to validate that he wants to do business with this family. They convinced him six months before that they wanted a mill built in the town because it would be much more profitable to bring a mill to the cotton than cotton to a mill.

Mr. Marshall has to leave for his train, and Leo and Alexandra are recruited to drive him to the station. Mr. Marshall says his goodbyes, and Regina gives him a hearty commitment that she will come to Chicago to visit.

After Mr. Marshall leaves, Regina throws up her hands in happiness—they're going to be rich! Mr. Marshall is their future. Regina says she can't wait to move to Chicago, and now she'll have the money to do it. Birdie is concerned that Horace might not be up for that big a change, but Regina ignores her. Then they all take turns describing what they want with their new money. Ben wants a stable he has seen in Savannah. Oscar thinks a few trips would be nice, and he says Jekyll Island has great shooting. Birdie wants Lionnet restored to the way it was before the war. The she dares to mention one more wish—she wants Oscar to stop shooting. She says she hates how he kills small creatures and then throws them away. Oscar ignores Birdie, and the rest of them talk about delighting in watching the bricks go up as the building starts.

Ben has been conspicuously quiet, and it is discovered that they still do not have Regina's one third of the money for the deal. For 49 percent, Mr. Marshall will put up $400,000. For 51 percent, the family will put up $225,000. They have all written to Horace about the urgency, but he has not responded. If they don't have the money in two weeks, they will not be part of the deal. Regina suggests that Horace is holding out for more than a third of the deal. The brothers don't think Horace is really interested in the deal or in coming back home.

Regina says she will not be denied this opportunity for wealth and springs into action. She decides that Alexandra will go to Baltimore tomorrow to convince her father to return home immediately and that she and her mother both miss him and want him home with them.

Ben doesn't understand what all the fuss is about because the money will stay in the family. He's not married, so it will all go to Alexandra and Leo eventually anyway. He says maybe Alexandra and Leo will even marry each other someday. Oscar likes that idea because he would be certain then that the share he might be giving up to Horace and Regina would someday return to his son. Birdie is aghast at the thought, but the rest of them ignore her.

Alexandra and Leo return from the train station, and Regina tells Alexandra that she will go to Baltimore to get her father tomorrow. Regina becomes irritated when Alexandra says she will go but she won't bring Horace back if he is too ill to make the trip. Regina bristles and tells her to do what she's told because it is for her father's own good. Regina tells Alexandra the best cure for Horace is to come home and be taken care of.

Birdie pulls Alexandra aside and warns her of the others' conversation about marrying her off to Leo. Alexandra is incredulous because they are cousins, and she says they couldn't possibly marry. Alexandra hugs Birdie and heads upstairs. Birdie moves to get her coat and hat, and Oscar slaps her hard across the face. Alexandra runs downstairs when she hears Birdie cry out. Birdie tells Alexandra it was nothing and that she just twisted her ankle. Alexandra stands on the stairs watching after her.