Augustus Newcastle

Augustus Newcastle is a twenty year-old slave who is at the heart of Rita Dove's play, The Darker Face of the Earth. He is the illegitimate child of Amalia Jennings Lafarge and her slave, Hector. Upon his birth, in order to cover up a scandal, Augustus is taken away by the Doctor in order to be sold at a later date by another family in Charleston.

Augustus is purchased and raised by a British sea captain, who treats Augustus as his own son. He travels the world with the captain, particularly to the West Indies. Along the way, Augustus is given a quality, classical education which he later uses to his advantage to impress the other slaves. When the sea captain dies, Augustus is sold into slavery once more by the captain's brother, rather than being freed as per the captain's instructions. Because of this, Augustus becomes...