The Little Foxes

Ben is one of the two Hubbard brothers in The Little Foxes. As the eldest brother, Ben often serves as the mediator between Oscar and Regina. He hates conflict and tries to defuse it as soon as possible. His cool and collected approach to greed contrasts with Oscar’s quick temper and Regina’s defensive nature.

One of Ben’s most notable traits is that he does his best to remove his name from all his crimes. He is more calculated in his involvement and is careful to avoid “knowing” certain details about Leo stealing the bond. This way, he can have deniability if the family is caught. He embodies the theme of the play that exposes the evils of Passive Violence Against Oppressed Communities. It is his idea to take a percentage of Oscar’s share in exchange for a marriage between Leo and Alexandra. On the surface, he looks like an older brother doing his best to pacify his siblings. In reality, he is the only one who did not have to forgo anything he was originally promised.

Ben also degrades his sister throughout the play. He is constantly telling her to smile, among other sexist phrases, to exert his power over her. He does not believe that Regina could be as cunning as she is, which ends up being his downfall.

Oscar is the younger of the Hubbard brothers, husband to Birdie, and father to Leo. He is as selfish as his siblings, but even more quick-tempered. His outbursts range from shouting at his family members, to physically and verbally abusing Birdie. He speaks for her, rarely asking her opinion about anything, and is solely focused on securing a fortune for himself and for Leo.

Oscar initially married Birdie for her wealth and status. He forbids her from playing her beloved piano often. Birdie explains, “He said that music made him nervous. He said he just sat and waited for the next note” (56). Oscar does not like anything in women that is unpredictable and outside of his control, and music represents these very things for him.

Oscar has a habit of shooting, one that bothers Birdie very much. His excessive shooting of animals he has no intention of eating represents his controlling, greedy nature. He is more interested in the sport of it, just as he is more interested in building wealth for his own sake than he is in the harm it will cause to others.

Like Ben and Regina, Oscar is all too quick to save his own neck at the expense of others. He resents Ben for promising Regina a percentage of his share in the deal. He does not pass up any opportunity to get ahead of his siblings and to get back at Ben for swindling him out of his share. However, he hypocritically demands loyalty from Regina. When she threatens to blackmail them into giving her more money, Oscar says, “What kind of talk is this? You couldn’t do anything like that! We’re your own brothers” (75). He expects that which he would never give in return—selfless loyalty—and finally pays the price for his greed.

Horace is Regina’s husband and father to Alexandra. For five months, he has been away at a hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, to try and treat a heart condition. He suffers from terrible pain and fatigue, often employing the use of a wheelchair. He does not appear until Act II of the play, and until then the audience only knows what Regina reveals about him. Aside from his illness, Regina makes him out to be a suave businessman. The illness is true, but his business acumen proves to be entirely false.

Regina had hoped, by marrying Horace, she could turn him into someone as ambitious as her brothers. Instead, Horace’s time away gave him plenty of time to think about the legacy he will leave on earth once he passes away. When Regina presses him to explain why he won’t take the deal with Ben and Oscar, he replies, “I’ll do no more harm now. I’ve done enough. I’ll die my own way. And I’ll die without making the world any worse” (53). He sees the greed of his family and will have no further part in it.

Horace’s change over the last few months is also represented in the contents of the lockbox (See: Symbols & Motifs). The lockbox contains the bonds, but also an assortment of sentimental items that hold no amount of monetary value. Similarly, his attention shifts to his daughter, Alexandra, and to Birdie, who both bring him joy through the playing of the music. Unlike Oscar, who is unnerved by the unpredictability of music, Horace finds comfort in it and used to play himself. He does everything he can to make sure Alexandra will have freedom in life, even after he dies. His principles end up costing him his life, but his one wish is still granted: Alexandra leaves that life behind.

Birdie is Oscar’s wife and mother to Leo. She is “the only one of [the family] to belong to the Southern aristocracy” (11). Her family home, Lionnet, was home to the best cotton for miles around. Birdie is more similar in temperament to Horace, though she is often too fearful to stand up for herself. Her husband abuses her, and she does not like her son, so she finds what joy she can in three things: alcohol, music, and her niece, Alexandra.

Birdie finds herself dwelling on the past, especially her home at Lionnet. There, she claims, people were kind and happy. To escape the violence and oppression of her life, Birdie turns to alcohol and gets lost in the memories of her childhood. She drinks alone, and her husband covers up for her struggles by saying she has headaches when she gets too drunk.

Music is another way Birdie distracts herself from her life. Though Oscar does not like it, every now and then she will play for a willing audience, often alongside her niece. She plays the piano beautifully, and once played with Horace on the night she met all the siblings together for the first time. Now, she shares this love of music with the person who is dearest to her heart: Alexandra.

Alexandra is set to follow in Birdie’s footsteps if she is not careful. Birdie warns Alexandra off from anyone who might end up hurting her, including her own son, Leo. Birdie believes it is too late for her to make a life for herself, but if she can help it, she will ensure Alexandra has a different end to her story.

Alexandra (also called “Zan”) is the 17-year-old daughter of Regina and Horace. She is torn between childhood and adulthood and is constantly told whether she is or isn’t old enough to do something. As part of the plan to invest in the cotton mill, Ben uses Alexandra (who will inherit a significant amount of money) as a bargaining tool with his brother, Oscar. He promises Alexandra will be wed to Oscar’s son (her first cousin), Leo. It is this part of the deal that drives the main conflict between Horace and Regina.

Though Alexandra is young, she is wise beyond her years, and has the biggest heart of anyone in the family. Her strength is foreshadowed in Act I, when Regina asks her to go to Baltimore and bring her father home. She tells her mother, “I couldn’t. If I thought it would hurt him” (26). Alexandra’s conscience is much stronger than the rest of her family’s, and she will always choose to follow it, as opposed to what her parents or any other authority figure says. This gives her the most agency in the play out of all the female characters, as well as the most strength and the most kindness. By rejecting her mother at the play’s end and leaving with Addie instead, Alexandra takes control of her own life while escaping the cycles of greed and abuse that have plagued her family.

Leo is the son of Oscar and Birdie, and is something of a troublemaker. He frequently visits a number of women in Mobile, Alabama. “Leo is a wild boy” (24) his mother says, “There were those times when he took a little money from the bank” (24). He is known for being a crook, but is much less smooth about it than his family is. He breaks into his Uncle Horace’s safe, and has no interest in the sentimental artifacts that reveal Horace’s true treasures. Instead, he is interested in the bonds, which could provide a quick fix to the holes in his family’s scheme.

Leo is promised that he will marry Alexandra, which frightens Horace and Birdie. Leo is abusive toward the horses (Alexandra reveals they are late returning home because “[h]e beat the horses” [27]), which mirrors the physical abuse Oscar shows toward Birdie. Between his greediness, his abusive nature, and his affairs with multiple women, he is a poor match for the independent, kind, and bright Alexandra.