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HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
and
THE BALA CE OF POWER :
A WOMAN ' S QUEST

A Thesis to the Faculty of the English Department
submitted in candidacy for

he degree of Bachelor of A ts

English with Honors .

Leigh Ann Brown
May 1990

On my honor, I have neither
nor received any unacknowledged aid
on this paper .

b(L~& 4-«-A & fl/}(_ )

in

T1I

r:w

Al

hough she has been criticized for

sentimentality and elaborate romance,
been acknowledged as one of
of

female

the woman's role

politics and religion.
male,

Harriet Beecher Stowe has

the most popular writers,

the nineteenth century.

to the forefront

her overwrought

male or

Stowe uses the novel

to bring

in the male - dominated arenas of

Assuming the distinctions between the

who represents the "thinking individual, " and the female,

who represents the "emotional

individual, "

world d o minated by the rational
the emotions of the woman.
of the woman ' s

position

1

man,

she asserts that

room needs to be made for

In order to emphasize the

shape their
novels:

lives appeal

' divine

as strongly

link," and the events that

to the emotions of the reader.

Uncle Tom's Cabin;

Mini ster's Wooing,

importance

Stowe draws her main female characters

in accordance with nineteenth-century stereotypes,
pious women who possess a

in a

or Life Among the Lowly,

and The Pearl

of Orr ' s

Island,

balance between the " head" and the "h eart"

In her

The

she stresses a

in dealing with ·he

issues of slavery and the religious question .
Stoweys first novel,
from the

later two.

Uncle Tom ' s Cabin

The man ' s

works differently

and woman's spheres

which become

progressively mo r e exclusive as one moves through these three
novels,

is not as obviou s

in Uncle Tom's Cabin .

reduces her repre s entative sphe r es
Cabin,

in each novel.

he gradually
In Uncle Tom ' s

she pre ents the womans sphere through female characters

who understand the emotional aspects of slavery

and the man ' s

sphere through characters who work to perpetuate the peculiar
institu ion for economic and poli

ical

reasons.

Stowe's

representative spheres are so broad that she includes the reader
in the sphere which accepts the existence of slavery.
attempts to convert the male reader to the woman ' s
emotional

While she

view -- the

side -- she also emphasizes to the female reader the

impor ance of

the woman's role

in such causes.

In the end .

she

hopes to encourage both sexes to abolish slavery .
In the
Pearl

later two novels,

of Orr's

and the reader
Wooing,

Stowe • s

is approached in'irectly .

the woman ' s

Dr.

Hopkins,

sphere,

while three male characters ,

and Colonel

Mara Lincoln,

In both novels

reader directly,

Aaron Burr,

James

represent

In The Pearl

of Orr's

Moses Pennel ,

and one male character

Moses

rather than trying to transform the

Stowe attempt

the transformation of

however

embod i es the

the opposing spheres are basically established by one

female character,
Penne I.

In The Ministe r' s

Mary Scudder,

particular traits of the male sphere .
Island

Wooing and The

representative spheres narrow

the main female character

traits of
Marvyn

lsland

The Minister' s

to convert the reader through

the male characters,

to a more emotional

view .

James Marvyn and

In al 1 three novels,

Stowe argues for a balance between the two spheres --

the woman's and the man ' s

--and a more receptive response to the

J
womans
pos1• t.10n. 2

2

"W i s h t

it

had been a boy , '' Lyman Beech e r

have remarked upon

learn i ng of

Litchfield

Connecticut,

Foote Beechert

th e birth of his sixth child

on June 14,

Harriet Elizabeth Beecher

181

On Septembe r

after the birth of Charles,
in November of

by whom he had his

where the boys were

Harriet was followed by her brothers

destined to be preachers .

later

Lyman and Roxana

Harriet was introdu c ed i nto a

household of strong Calvinist beliefs

year

She was born in

where her parents,

had settled .

Henry Ward and Charles.

was supposed to

25,

1816 ,

within a year

Roxana Beecher died.
1817,

Lyman married

last thr ee children.

A

little over a

Harriet Porter ,

3

Although Lyman k new that marriage was his daughters'
future
half

At six and a

he d id insist they ha ve some education.

years,

of 1817,

Harriet was able to read with ease

she was enrol led in Madam Kilbourne ' s

she started attending Miss Pierce ' s

Academy

began to write at the young age of eight .
composition teacher,
he read her essay

and

Immortality of

Mr.

John Brace

the Soul

during a

~roup of

one of whom was her father.

year,

Harriet went to Ha rtford

her older sister,
Though a

pupil

and in 1824
be Proved by

advanced

to teach some of the classes.

In 1826

Later that

to attend the school

had opened a

he r

earlier.

her

exhibition before an elite

Connecticut,

Catharine Beecher,

By 1819,

where she first

the Light of Nature?,
townspeople,

school

in the win ter

school.

inspi r ed her writing talents

Can the

only

few years

learning enabled Harriet
Har r iet off i cially joined

the te aching staff of Catharine's new Hartford Female Seminary,

3

ending her own formal
As a child .

education.

Harriet developed a

Although she read many of
found

4

i n her father's

hirst for

reading.

the religious treatises and sermons she

library

Harriet treasured the few books of
to read:

literature her father permitted he

The Arabian Nights

Shakespeare's The Tempest,

and the works of Lord Byron and Sir

Walter Scott,

She also en joyed the stories of the

her heroes.

New England settlers in Cotton Mather ' s Magnalia Christi
Americana.

These ' other war 1 ds '

created an escape for Harriet

during her reclusive childhood .

She often prefe rre d reading and

re - reading these books to playing with her b rothe rs and sisters
or

with friends.

5

Harriet had several
inherited this
Foote

female role models from whom sh e

intel lectual

strain.

She wrote _ of her grandmothe

"H er mind was active and clear·

her reading extensive . "

She added,

her

"My image of her

years

is of one always seated at a

books,

among which nestled her workbasket."

her of the women in her family,
Foote Beeche r

literary tast e

later

great table covered with

however,

6

Most impor tant to

was her mother

of whom her one distinct memory was

her read stories and novels to the children .
l ,.

in

iust ,

Roxana

listening to

7

Although her mother had also been raised for a

life of

" domesticity, " Roxana had used every opportunity to stimulate her
intellectual abilities.
Roxana

Fol lowing the death of her father,

lived with her grandfather

where "th ose girls used to spin,
and have merry times together .'

in Nutplains
read novels

8

Connecticut

talk about bea ux

Lyman Beecher also noted

I •

Roxana ' s early enthusiasm for

reading :

4

"A l 1 the new works that

I[

ere publ i shed at that day were brought out to Nutplains,
and discussed

Sally Hill

Roxana.

treat they had of

A great

developed her sk i 11 s
embroidery

When Miss Burney ' s

in the old spinning - mill .

Evelina appeared ,

rode out on horseback to br i ng it to

in draw i ng ,

she read all

i t ."

9

Although Roxana

painting,

sp inning ,

the classics she could,

Roxana ' s

T

September of

her children

but her

"I

life then

who " contr i bute[dJ

and her duties .

her daily routine :
breakfast,

to Lyman Beecher

11

evol v ed around

to enliven many a

She once wrote

in a

generally rise with t h e sun

take my wheel

which is my daily companion

for

besides wha

contented
possess

(if

can)

except what

others. "

13

Roxana ' s

fam i ly for a while
s

imulation:

"W e

so dull

12

Her time

1 average perhaps one page a

do on Sundays.

expect to be obl i g e d to be

with the stock o f

kno w l ed ge

I al r eady

I can glean from the conversation of

sister .

Mary Hubbard,

also commented on the
get no paper

so inactive

world goes on the same way . "
apathy seems to prevail

who stayed with the
lack of

i ntellectual

and know no more of

of the world than if we were not i n
quiet,

after

and the

writing and knitting . "

read in g declined rapidly :

letter of

and .

evening is devoted to reading,

week,

in

Not only had she been converted from

Episcopalianism t o Calvinism

gloomy moment",

learned to

10

life changed with her marriag e
1799.

her husband

and

studied a

variety of sciences -- espec i ally chemis ry -- and
read and speak French.

read

it .

the af f airs

Here we are so still

so

that we have forgotten but that the
She added,

over the face of

5

" A k in d of torpor and
th in gs ."

Though she had

tra ined and deve l oped her mental

abil ities

marriage

isolation and stagnation .

led to her

intellectual

After her mother ' s death,
influence in her

intellectual

Harriet ' s
gro wth .

towards her reading part i cular works

in her youth,

father becam e

14

the major

Besides his encouragement
Lyman also provided

indirect opportunities for Harriet to open her mind.
preparing his sons to be preachers

Roxana ' s

In

he often ra is ed theological

questions or points to be debated during the even i ng hours .
Although these discussions were meant for his sons
listened,

gaining knowledge as she did her chores.

While he sh o wed great concern f or her
more
'

(

interested

daughter ' s

and served as a

greater

spiritual awakening .

He wa s

and in 1824

Harriet often
15

int ellect,
influen ce,

forever

of grace in h i s

children

it in Harriet .

Fol lowing one of her father ' s

Lyman proved
in his

looking for

sign s

he believed he had found

I •

had exhorted his pa ris hioners to " Come ,
to th is faithful

I •

Wl. l l •

' 16

then,

That night she came to her fathe r

"conversion. "

.

of the First Congregational Church left her

She believed herself

-

t o b e saved.

He questioned

universe should be destroyed,
Upon hearing he r
assurance:

in doubt about her

" Do you fe e l

that

if the

sir," he then questioned her

trust,

deceitfulness of your hear

the pa·stor

you could be happy with God alone? 0

confidant "Yes,

"Y ou realize,

"I

and revealed her

When Harriet moved to Hartford with her s i ster

religious conviction.

.

and trust your soul

friend," Harriet felt her soul answe r ,

..
-

sermons in whic h he

in some measure at

least,

the

and that in punishment for your sins

God might justly leave you to make yourself as mi s erable as you
have made yourself sinful? 0 17

ll •

For

6

the next several

years

perhaps even the
soul.

In 1824,

ruth.

Harriet wrote

Edward,

" My whole

life

nothing

right.

I yield

temptation a

y deepest

to

and my sins

Earlier .

of

Catharine ,

his

take away all

1822.

Her

merciful

Yet Harriet still

God.

remained
" I

weak.

Original

in anguish over
wish

and my faults
e veryone.

I

perish

to that

promising
Unfor una ely

however,

in all

"He wi

which

found

but

litt e

reject the
fa"th

in a

mo e

She wrote her brother,
let the

remembrance of me
ive,

than

I often feel

-

a

trouble

to

so

so useless,

19

Harriet was beg i nning to open

She wrote:
[Christ)

l

never

7

" I

have had more

than ever before .

He will

my weakness.

She added,

his death ,

did not accept this new view ,

energy! "

friend

18

losing him on earth,

her sins .

the new faith.

to be grateful

impatient.'

a

harsh God provided

Sin and

How perfectly wretched

herself up to

I am be s et

beliefs.

time of

in the grave rather

so destitute of all

left me

the

could die young and

As early as 1827,

not

s

fathe

ine of

Charles.

at

not only for

alvi1ist doct

and

religio s

and eventually Catharine came t-

consolation

it

Harriet had watched her older

' justificat·on" was doubtful
in despa i r ,

I do

my happiness. "

A exander Metcalf Fisher ,

eternity as well .

older

most as soon as

had drowned when his ship was wrec ked .

left Catharine
for

her

is one continued struggle.

struggle with her

fia n ce .

looking

feelings are very evanescent.

behind and before .

in April

ion racked her

faith and constantly

brother,

professor,

l
l

her

this ques

f in d

Ca harine's

L_

the

life.

inward to

sister,

[._

her

leaving her unsure of

assails me.

r:_

rest of

never be

eason
He has

irritated or

show me my faults

ins

ch

a manner as to irritate without helping me .
day in my intercourse with others,

.

All

everything has a

through the

tendency to

destroy the calmness of mind gained by communion with Him . "
But it was not until

the winter of

be settled in her faith in a
once my heart ran with a

1844-1845 that she seeme

loving God:

with a current the other way .

exist.

find

" &l_L_ changed.

strong current to the world .
The will

me the steady pulse of my being.

.

can do all

to

Whereas

now it runs

of Christ seems to

skeptical

doubt cannot

things through Christ. "

21

Her

faith was quickly tes ed with the deaths of her sons,

Samuel

Charles in 1848

and Henry Ellis in 1857.

like many

Calvinists

ding her father and husband ,

incl

infant damnation,
Henry .

While she,

did not believe in

she did question the fate of her olde

A few months after his dea h,

arrive at a

however,

peaceful acceptance of Henry ' s

mercy],

salvation judging that
in God ' s

and to assume and steadily maintain that Jesus

had taken my dear one to his bosom."
to assure her faith

in a

given me talents
satisfied,

and

if He will

in love

This decision also seemed

loving God .

Despite her doubts,
Christ when she stated

22

son

Harriet seemed to

"it was my duty to resist them [her moments of doubt

[

20

Harriet seemed to have given her
"I

do not mean to

I wi 11

live in vain.

lay them at His feet,

accept them.

All

life to
He has

well

my powers He can enlarge.

He made my mind and He can teach me to cultivate and exert its
faculties."

23

together her

And it was at this point that Harriet brought
intellectual

capabilities and her religious

conviction to establish a direction which she fol lowed to the end
of her

life.

8

In 1832,

a

significant change occurred in Harriet's

Her father

received a

Cincinnati,

and took the whole family west .

position as president of Lane Seminary in

encountered slavery for

the first

began her writing career .
Colon club

1833

I_

[

time,

She joined a

While there

in her

life,

and

literary group,

the Semi-

A New Geography for Children,

By

though it was to be

published w i th Catharine Beecher as the author.

A bestseller

it gained its popularity among children by avo i ding d ry facts,
and employing a narrative to teach geog rap hy .

That same year
spent time on a

future use .
excursion

Harrie

took a

slave plantation.

her surroundings

l_

works.

she had already written her

It was an appeal

she tried to maintain in al 1 her fictive works.

[_

Harriet

met her husband ,

whose members met to read their original

a momentous year

first book,

life .

trip to Kentucky where she
Though apparently oblivious to

she stored various bits of

After her return to Cincinnati
she met Calvin Ellis Stowe,

teaching staff at Lane

and his wife

Also by this time,

Theodore Weld,

from whom Harriet most

slavery ideas,

had

Following the death of her friend

days

joined the

Harriet

liked them

25
Eliza Stowe,

Harrie t

in August

They became engaged

and married on January 6,

was an ardent Calvinist and a

from her school

just

likely received some anti-

Harriet slowly grew closer to Calvin .

before she married

from this brief

the ardent abol i tionist

joined Lane as wel 1.

in November of 1835,

information for

who had
Eliza.

both instantly .

1834

24

1836 .

Ca v·n Stowe

fol lower of Lyman Beecher .

Shortly

wrote to one of her closest friends

Georgiana May.

9

In the

letter she expressed

her apprehension about marriage,
my dear G.

"Well

about half an hour and your old friend

schoolmate

companion

and her resignation to her fate:

sister,

etc .,

will

Beecher and change to nobody knows who.

cease to be Hatty
My dear,

in a year or two to encounter a similar fate,
know how you shall

feel?

dreading the time,

and

should
come,

Wel 1,

my dear,

lying awake a ll

feel

nothing at all."

Though she dreaded ma rri age,

and do you wish to

have been dread i ng and

last week wondering how

live through this overwhelming crisis ,
and

you are pledged

and

lo!

it has

26
Harriet faced

the same choice

that so many other nineteenth-century women had experienced
before her .

Despite a

few exceptions

these women had also had

to choose between the road of spinst erho od ,
" poverty and

which often

loneline ss," or the road of marriage

frequently resulted in isolation and subjugation.

led to

which
Moreover

marriage seemed to provide the only opportunity for a woman to
obtain economic security .

As Harriet herself noted yea r s

later

in her novel

I:

some

centuries

My Wife and

in shutting and

locking every door through which a

woman could step into wealth
For Harriet,

"The world has been busy for

except the door of marriage . "

this too seemed the only door available.

many other women,

she resigned herself to a

upon her husband,

and reconciled herself

27

Li k e so

life of dependence

to being a wife and

mother.
For the married woman of nineteenth-century America,
revolved around her husband.
subservient to her husband,
for her husband's.

Most often,

life

the wife became

and pushed aside her needs or wants

As the industrial

10

revolution continued

the

woman ' s

ro 1 e was reduced "f ram producer to consumer. ' Technology

eased her chores but

left her position in society minim ize d .

seen in the case of Harriet's mother,
in her home remained

Roxana Beecher,

the woman

isolated from the outside world .

With the

"yoke" of domesticity around her neck,
her home,

the woman was bound to

an " invisible presence" to the outside world.

became identified by,

As

or through

her husband

She

losing her own

identity and slipping into obscurity .

With the knowledge that

his o wn daughter faced such a

father often provided h er

wi ha strong educational

f

te

background because he undertood

the experience of his own marriage)
learn would be
role .

a

(from

that this opportunity to

lost once she began fulfil ling her domestic

28
The "outside world " and the "home" became two distinct areas

of

life which separated the man and the woman.

sphere centered on work out s ide,
around

the woman ' s

While the man's

sphere centered

life inside the home -- the husband and family.

worked and the woman kept the home an ' oasis

in the desert," or a

"sanctuary" preserved from outside corruption.
within the home,
outside world .
woman was

Nineteenth-century myth further argued that th e

i nherently super i or morally and spi
" divine

link "

to God.

power was attributed to her maternal,

itually

o the man

Much of her exceptional

or " life-giving "

Her biological ability to "creatett -- this mira cle

gave her " d i vine
roles

By rem ining

she protected its "sanctity" from the tainted

and that she had a

abilities.

The man

intelligence .'

Through this separation in the

certain traits became characteristic of each sphere .

11

The

man was "aggressive,
unchaste

exploitive,

and mobile," - all

impious

pure,

selfless

a n d conservative ."
gentleness ,

love,

29

delicate ,

on the other hand,

omest i c,

nurturant,

self-renunciation,

[and]

was

passive

she embodied " me e k ness,

Moreover,

pur i ty

physical ,

supposedly necessary to

The woman

survive in the outside world .
" pious

materialistic ,

humility,

subjection of

Wl. I 1 . " 30

Accord i ng to the nineteenth - centu r y,
lack of physical

strength and stamina,

necessary to enter the outside world,
spiritual and moral
ideal

woman,

period,

the

which were considered
the woman had superior

Fashion reinforced the role of the

senses.

who was phsically fragi l e and weak.

During this

women wore tightly bound corsets which "confined" and
While these corsets served aesthetic

•restrained" the body.
purposes,
I T

to compensate fo r

they frequently dislocated

wore them for an e x tended time .

No

to and d i ctate the woman's role of
emphasized the woman ' s
her physically.

internal

organs in women who

only did fashion contribute
inferiority,

it a l so

superior spir i tuality by furt h er weakening

31

Their physical ailments

left many women quest ioning their

abilit i es to perform their domestic duties .
this created fee l ings of

Women of

looked back to their mothers,

grandmothers as models of skill and achievement.
looked to the past as a

time when the woman ' s

importance than it was for
of the time,

the time

inadequacy in which they deemed

themselves not as capable as their ancestors.
nineteenth century often

Most of

them.

aunts

and

They also

role was of

greate

Like many of the female writers

Harriet Beecher Stowe used

12

the

literature to comment on

this sense of

inadequacy .

In her essay,

" Lady Who Does Her Own

Work " Harriet observed through the "wife":
I have often
in the course of my family history ,
seen the day when 1 have heartily wished for the
strength and ability to manage my household mat ers
as my grandmother of notable memory managed hers .
But I fear that those remarkable women of the
olden times are like the ancient painted glass
the art of making them is lost ;
my mother was ~ess
3
than her mother, and I am less tha n my mother.
In this same essay,

the husband praised the abilities of

tgrandmothers," and expressed the wish

the

hat those traits could

have been preserved:

r
[

[
[

[

It is impossible
however
that any th ing but early
raining and long experience can produce those
res ults
and it is earnestly to be wished that the
grandmothers of New England had only wr i tten down
heir experiences for o ur children ;
th ey would
have been a mine of maxims and tradit i ons, better
than any §ther tr diti ons of the elders which we
3
know of.
Harriet also wrote of the women of her own generation who
found themselves unable to cope with the strain of

their

labors .

As matters now are, the young housekeeper t akes
life at the hardes .
She has very litt le strength,
- no experience to teach her how to save her
strength .
She knows nothing experimentally of the
simplest processes necessary to kee p her family
comfortably fed and clothed ;
and she has a way of
looki ng at all these things whi ch makes the m
part i cularly hard and distasteful to her.
She does
no
escape , being obl iged to do housework at
interval ~, but she does it in a weak
blundering
confused way, tha
makes it twice as hard and
3
disagreeable as it need be.
In another e ssay,

" Servants, " Harriet wrote of he

the dec li ne even among

he domestic help

concern about

who also represented

the nineteenth-century woman .
The race of strong
hardy
cheerful g · rls, that
use d tog ow up in country places
and made the
bright
neat
New England kitchens of old tim es,

13

-

the girls that could wash, iron, brew, bake.
harness a horse and drive him, no less than braid
straw, embroider, draw, paint, and read innumerable
books, - this race of
omen, pride of olden time,
is daily lessening;
and in their stead come the
fragile, easily fatigued, languid g irl s of a modern
age, dulled in book-learning
ignorant of common
things .
The g eat danger of all this
and of all
the evils that come from it, is that society by and
by wil 1 turn as blindly agains
female intellectual
cul ture as it now advocates it, and having worked
disproport i onately one way, will work
35
disproportionately the opposite direction .
T

I

'

Even Harriet saw herself as one of

these women of

the modern age

who could not accomplish the tasks of her grandmother or mother
despite

he assistance of servants.

While Harrriet ' s own marriage fulfilled many of the
prophecies of the nineteenth-century woman ' s
,r r

some of them as well .
continued the

few days after her wedding

"A nd now

my dear

how this momentous crisis

perhaps the wonder to you,
in the

life of

wonder to myself .

am tranquil

on the present

leave the future

so kind to me. "

and
36

begun simply enough

quiet

It seem ed her

My dear

and happy .

life as a married woman had

In September of 1836,

her second son
time .
May,

Isabella Beecher Stowe.

she gave birth to a

son,

was born in 1843,

which

she faced the

twin daughters

In 1840,

left her

ill

and the only daughter to marry
and there fol lowed a

14

she was

Less than two years

Henry Ellis.

Frederick William

Her fifth child

is a

to Him who has hithe to been

trials of motherhood head on with the birth of
Eliza Tyler and

it

look Qllly

yet very soon after the honeymoon

expecting her first child .

as

such a wisp of

nerve as myself has been transacted so quietly .

later

she

letter she had start ed on her wedding day to

Georgiana May:
to me.

A

it changed

destiny

she had
fo

some
Georgiana

five year respite

I

while she recovered from
she had her

hird son,

child was born,
I 1 1838,
Georgy,
al l ;

Samuel

Harriet wrote

when

is,

-

and

in 1850,

In 1848

her

last

37

in a

letter to Georg i ana

nwel l

yes ,

I w i 11

it,

I can stop and t hink

my head from my heels,

[

Charles,

Charles Edward Stowe .

this marriage

for

the strain of child - bearing.

of

after

long enough to discriminate

I must say that

woman both in husband and children .

speak well

I think mysel f

My children

a

fortunate

I would not

\

I_

change for all

the ease,

wi tho t

They are money on inte est whose value will

them.

leisure,

.
.
constantly increasing
. "38

letter p r esented a

I could hav e

but there was evident strain .

she

he made constant demands upon her

loved Calv i n dearly ,

rece i ved a

left her weak and sick for
water-cure treatment

year ,

longest

Though

She often had to refuse him to prevent the childbirths

which often

over a

be

pleasant

picture of her marriage

sexually .

l_

Th i s

and pleasure that

she sti 11

interval

some time .

in 1844,

which

Although she

lasted a

little

suffe ed from various a· l ments .

The

in between births resulted from her separation

from Calvin when each received water-cure t reatments .

The

correspondence between them when apart reflected Calvin ' s desires
and Harriet ' s attempt s

to push him away.

Though Harriet used abstinence,
gain some control
w i t h d raw

f r om

over her

the u s u a l

life,

like many other women ,

d om e s t i c du t i e s .

from school

and

L
15

In an 1838

Mary Dutton,

wrote of her determination to escape her confines:
three hours per day in writing ·

to

she also found other ways to

" w i f e l y _" o r

letter to another close friend

39

she

" I have about

if you see my name coming

I

I

I I

out everywhere,
the pay.

f l

you may be svre of one thing -

that

I do

it f..Q.r_

I have determined not to be a mere domest ic slave ,

without even the

leisure to excel

I mean to have

in my dut ies.

money enough to have my house kept

in the best manner and yet to

I I

have time for

reflection and that preparation for

of my children which every mother needs ."

40

the education

Harrie t

break out of her economic dependence upon h e r

sought to

husband.

Though

she wished to supplement the smal 1 salary Calvin earned i n order
to help the family escape its

impoverished condition,

wanted to create an easier domestic
For Harriet

life for

as for many other women

she also

her self.

her children provided

'11" [

a
'lt: 1

sense of relief.

o hers,

She

liv e d for

her children .

She,

like many

also sought to praise the role of the mother.

Changing

child-care expectations and the heightened

importance of child-

'l'" C

rearing during the mid-nineteenth century made the woman's
as a mother even more significant .
child was more

Experts claimed that the

influenced in its early years by it s

than they had previously thought.

job

en vironment

Their teachings extended the

mother ' s

role of protecting the child from the co rupting outside

forces .

The woman was the better parent because of her mora

spiritual

superiority,

and her divine intuition.

further consoled by the belie f
through their children ,

Women were

that they could i nfluence soc i ety

especially the male children who we r e

enter that "o utside world ."

The ideal

even by women such as Ha riet .

She once wrote to

her husband

" so much do

I am under

the pressure

is my mind of en darkened by care
holds out few allurements -

that

so much

life seriously considered

only my children. "

16

to

of mot herh ood was praised

and exalted,

I feel

and

She considered

I
her role as mother "nothing great or brilliant in the world's
it

eye;

lies in one small

fam i ly ci r cle ,

which

I am called to be

I ll

he central
r,

greatly,

point ."

41

Although her daily duties strained her

her children served as a

Harriet,

source of

as wel 1 as many other women,

another means of relief.

joy and hope.
sought in relig i on

The nineteenth century was marked

the movement to a more emotional

y

and ex ressive religious faith .

With the greater number of female attendants who professed this
1 t:t

new faith,

the movement gradually became more widely accepted

within the churches.
TC f

This new movement resulted

in what Barbar a

Welter has termed the " feminization of religion ."
time
men,

For some

women had been attending church in greater numbe r s
a

fact no ed by Cot on Ma her as early as 1691.

new movement,

however

faster

ra e .

female membership increased at ev en a

the men by 1835 .

Revolutionary War and the subsequent
lost interest in the church

of

level

involvement made

more emotional

accomodating -

'feminine.'"

43

with the pious and virtous wife and mother ,
into the woman ' s sphere.
one of

the woman ' s

men

which enabled women to take

Women's greater

more

Revolu i on,

Religion became relega t ed

religion " more domesticated ,
in word,

result of the

I ndustrial

issues .

of significance,

the churches.

As a

and paid more attention to political

and economic -- " masculine" --

control

With this

The percentage of women attending church grew to

almost double that of

lower

than

and especially after the Second Gre a t

Awakening of the 1830s,

to a

42

In turn,

ch i ef duties .

44

17

more soft and
Religion

consistent

became incorporated

converting t h e husband became

Women discarded the male-dominated and controlled religion
of Calvinism,

and adopted a

like Harriet Beecher Stowe

more sympathetic faith.

often rejected the strict structure

and unforgiving harsh Father-God of Calvinism
more gentle,

and

was referred

wrote:

though t

Love Religion,

in America.

making the capacity to feel,

itself evidence of redemption. "

45

freer

Th i s new faith
another outgrowth

As the historian Gail

"Sentimentalism restructured t

salvation

and found a

loving Brother-God in Christ.

o as Sentimental

of sentimental

The women,

Paker

e Calvinist mode o f
and above all

to weep

in

In opposition to the stoic

Calvinist faith of New England in which painful

self-examination

left one in doubt and d espair,

sign of salvation

emotion became a

and proved important to women who
means of

looked for a more universal

finding their way to heaven.

46

In accordance with this rejection of
favor of

the

loving Christ

t he Caivinist God in

church practices also changed .

Congregations relied more on the New Testament than the Old,

l

which spoke of a
Jesus '

vengeful

and wrathful God.

love and friendship for all

New hymns aff·rmed

who were downtrodden and

.
47
su ff er1ng.
Many women iden ified with this new "God," who was meek

L
L

humble,

selfless,

sacrificia l ,

were the charac eristics of
often

and forgiving

the woman herself.

led the woman to "feminize" Christ,

Maria Child,

After al 1,

these

This associat i on

as did the author Lydia

who wrote :

That the feminine ideal approaches much more to the
gospel s andard
than the prevalent idea of manhood
is
shown by the universal tendency to represent the
Saviour and his most beloved disciple with mild meek
expression, and feminine beauty.
one speak of the

18

L
bravery , the might, or the intellect of Jesus ;
but the
devil is always imagined as being of acute i ~~ e llect
political cunning, and th e fiercest courage.
In their

identification with Christ,

women also began to relate

to His agony and suffering on the cross
suffering was the means to sa lv ation .

r_

suffering,

they became one of

L

I

the " elect " or saved.
for

thei r

The women
own manner of

Such was the course prescribed for women in Harri

Bee cher Stowe s

[

Through their own

then adopted Christ ' s beha v ior as a model
living .

[_

and concluded that

essay,

t

" The Cathedral":

Absolute unselfishness, - the death of self, - such
wer
its teachings, and such as Esther ' s the characters
it made.
' Do the duty nearest thee " was the only
message it 0 ave to " men with a miss i on "·
and from duty
to duty, from one self-denial to another
they rose to
a majesty of moral strength impossible to any form of
mere self-indulgence.
It is of souls thus sculptured
and chiseled by self - denial and self-discipline that
the l ivng temple of the perfect hereafter is to be
built .
The pain of the d isciplin~ is short , but the
9
glory of the fruition is eternal.
Women were redeemed through suffering which set
apart from men .

her

This belief sepa r ated the male and female

spheres even more,
complementary.

hem fu r

but their

The duty of

roles also became more
the female was to convert o

tts ave "

the male .
Ha rriet Beecher Stowe further
woman .

identified Christ with the

She saw motherhood as a means for

Christ ' s

love,

selflessness,

brother

Henry Ward Beecher,

hold the

faith

in the world .

and self-denial .

[It is]

in their own bodies. 0 50

Jesus more of

In a

letter to her

she expressed this belief :

suffer and must suffer to the end of
beloved

the woman to portray

the wives and mothers who
time to bear the sins of

She herself noted,

the pure feminine element than

19

"W o men.

the

" there was

in any other man . "

in
51

t• •

This " connection "

to Christ enhanced the belief

super ior spiri uality,

in the woman ' s

and enabled Harriet to accept the burden

of her allotted role.

Despite

he consol a tion she found

Harriet resisted her confinement

and

in Christ and religion,
l i ke other women

writing as another means to gain her freedom.
of the first areas to "admit " women,

approximately half of

the

l

1

literature written from the turn of the

l

I

Women of
entering the
escape .

and most of their works

Harr·et ' s Uncle To m' s Cabin alone sold

about 350,000 copies in the U. S.
1 , 500 000 in Britain.

Though women authors

" d-d mob of scribbl i ng women ,"

century to the Civil War was by women,
sold by the thousands.

Writing became one

and Harriet joined many

others who sought to express themse ves .
were considered by some as a

turned to

within the firs

yea r

and about

52

the nineteenth century had several
l i terary field .

Many found

reasons fa

it was a means to

As Caroline Howard wrote to her future sister-in-law

Louisa Gilman :
on paper,

will

" If you are distressed,

unburdening your thoughts

compose your mind an d promote reflection·

to an innocent heart is almost invariably a
added that

in writ i ng down one ' s

thoughts,

relief. "

53

which
She

'' we may deri v e benefit

i n planting them more clearly in our own mi nds " and " undoubtedly ,
in unfolding by writing the germ of any idea
its proper

ies,

we more pla i nly see

and more understand i n g ly apply them ."

For Caroline Howard and othe r
of " unburdening oneself

women

54

writing became a means

" but others saw it as an opportunity to

20

glorify and emphasize the i mportance of
"liter ary domestics, "

the womans role .

women who retained the i r

home while also writing for publication,
conflic

between the promotion of

their situations.
of the ir role

function

These

in the

of en f a ced a n internal

the ir rol es a n d the reality of

While they sought t o heighten t he importance

they a lso found unhappiness and disil lusi onm e nt .

Their self - examination could not be too searc hing,
expose the negat ive aspects

for

they might

in their own attempts to provide a

bright pictura of their position .

The

literary domestics found

f 1

that if

they " condemned" their roles ,

' condemned "

They often chose to exploit the stereotypical

themselves .
I

they then

traits

imposed upon them by nineteenth-century society,
emphasized the woman's role.
Still

and thereby

55

other women shied away from this self-e x amination and

chose to write of heroines who might serve as role models for
young g i rls .

The se authors recognized the

limited number of

r •

young and old -- to wh i ch they

works o ffe red to fe male readers
could relate .
"N o my s i ster

As Harriet wrote to fell ow author,
.

there are things about us no man can kno w and

consequently no man can write."
Harriet,

George Eliot

56

Most often the women,

glorified the woman as p i ous and d i v i ne

reflected her more spiritual

nature.

as w ith

whose emotions

Through this medium,

women

sought to assert their power and influence in areas dominated by
men .

57

While al 1 these reasons for writing most
her own,

Harriet saw other uses for

the novel.

l i kely agreed with
Harriet noted a

change in the purpose of fiction:
The use of

the novel

in the great questions of moral

21

l i fe

is coming to be one o f the f eatures of the age.
F ormerly
the onl
object of fictitious writing was to amuse.
Now
nothing is more common than to hear
he inqui ry of g work
8
of fiction
'W hat is it intended to sho w or prove? "
Harriet sought to " show or prove "
best means was through a
a

parable,

we mean a

i ntent

and

issue,

for Harriet

" parable-l i k e" tale .

in which the artistic is merely i ncidental. "
becam e of primary importance.
the " truth ,"

the people in t he way they will

art i stic work

but as a moral

the moral
59

The

She added tha t

When a

not mainly as a

instrument .«

her readers the " tru h " by dra wing o u t

60

person does
l it e ra ry or

Harriet off ered to

the emoti o na l aspect of

the issue .

The woman represented the seat of the emotions and

he "divine

link '

the moral
woman ' s

judgment .

" By

it " must be offered to

take it best .

the work is to be judged .

the

She explained,

work of fict i on written solely for

when it came to talking of

t his

the " trut h," and she found

and she was the one best qu a l ifie d to provide
Fo r

this re ason,

view must be considered .

L
L

l
L

L
22

Harriet believed that the

L
f_

,~

I

In her first and most successful
or Life Among the Lowly,

L
L

as a

"moral

She had become an ardent abolitionist in

influenced by such people as Theodore Weld,

events as the reward posted for
their deaths

in the press.

with the passing of
Law,

the Compromise of 1850 and the Fugitive Slave

Disappointed in her northern

and especially Senator Daniel

to the Compromise,
amazing

she wrote her sister,

mournful!!

I feel

Harriet to act through a

if

as

if

"I

Mrs.

To me

it is incredible

should be willing to sink

letter concern ing the Fugitive Slave

remember distinctly saying in one of

could use a

62

declared,

Harrie
"I

will

them,

'Now Hattie,

I would write something that

pen as you can

what an accursed thing slavery

then supposedly crumpled the
write something.

appeared to be the first

61

recalled encouraging

Edward Beecher

would make the whole nation feel
is.'"

Webster who con ributed

it were al 1 this sin and misery to sink in the sea.«
Her sister-in-law,

law :

runaway slaves and the reports of

in which Northern congressmen agreed to return escaped

brethren

L
L
L
L

and such

Her attitude became more vehement

slaves who had settled there.

with

Beecher Stowe used her fiction

intrument" with which she attacked the peculiar

institution of slavery.
Cincinna i

Harrie t

Uncle Tom's Cabin:

novel

I will

if

letter and
.
, 63
1 1ve.

This

step she took towards writing the

renowned anti -sla very novel.

In a

letter to Gamaliel

Bailey,

editor of an abolitionist newspaper

she addressed the

slavery as one on which women as well

as men must speak out:

Up to this year

I have always felt

23

that

I had no

the

issue of

L

r_
L
[

L

r_

parti ular call to meddle with this subject
and I
dreaded to expo se even my own mi nd to the full force of
its exci ing power.
But I feel now that the time is
come when even a woma n or a child who can speak a word
for freedom and humanity is bound to speak .
The
Carthanegian [sic] women in the last peril of their
state cut of
their hair for bow-strings to give to the
defenders of their country·
and such peril and shame
as now hangs over this country is worse tha n Roman
slavery, agg I hope every woman who can write will not
be silent .
After comple ting the novel,
Annie Fields,

publisher

r_
I-

[_

[

I

" wrote for me."

65

She

Lord himself wrote it,

Harriet wrote

about th e

letter to her

' irresistab l e

later believed this
and

in a

impulse" which

impulse was God:

was but the humblest of

"The

instruments

To Him alone should be given a ll

But she sti

had her own purpose in mind when she wrote the

novel,

t he pra i se."

66

i n his hand .

and she was very much determined to bring to

aspects of slavery and i

s harm to society - -

all

light various

society,

wh i te

and black .
Though Harriet s

rongly denounced slavery ,

she did not

foresee the major rift that opened between the North and the
South.

She had not,

after all

wanted to punish the South :

It was my hop e that a book so kindly intended
so
favorable in many respects
might be pe r mitted free
circulation among the .
[Sou th erners] and that the
gentle voice of Eva and the man l y generosity of St .
Clare might be al lowed to say those things of the
67
system which would be invidi ous in any other form.
She had not

intende d to alienate t he South with her novel,

but to

soften the southern character and " to show the best side of the
thing .

.

.

Harriet did

and something faintly approaching the worst ."
howe er,

68

intend to at ack slavery:

My vocation is simply that of painter, and my object
will be to hold up in the most lifelike and graphic
manner possible slavery, its reverses, c h anges . and the
egro character
whi c h I have had ample opportunities

24

I
for studying.
There is no arguing with pictures
and
everybody
impressed by them
whethe r they meant to
be or not.

[_

Harriet did become a

"painter," and sketched scenes that occurred

in the slave's

especially events which she had apparently

life,

ignored during her visit to the Kent cky plantat i on.

r

Harriet probably became more
novel,
Mann,

than she had planned .

death of her son,

r
I

l

L
L
L

In an 1852 lette r

she adm i tted that " the case

itself with my l ife."

r

involved in the issue,

70

Harriet ' s

Samuel Charles

Cincinnati cholera epidemic

speak for

to edi or Horace
[has] enwoven

own experiences,

(Charley)

a nd the

such as the

in the 1849

enabled her to sympathize wi h the

slave mother's separation from her ch ildren.
connection when she wrote to a

friend ,

in 1853

She explained this
of

this sorrowful

experience:
It was at his [Charley Stowe's] dying bed and at his
grave that I learned what a poor slave mother may feel
when her chi l d is torn away from her .
In those depths
of sorrow whi ch seemed to me immeasurable, it was my
only prayer to God that such anguish mig ht not be
suffered in vain.
There were circumstances about his
death of such peculiar bitterness , of what seemed
almost cruel suffering , that I felt I could never be
consoled for it , unless this crushi ng of my own heart
might enable me to work out some great good to others.
I allude to th is here because I have often felt
much that i s in that book ["Uncle Tom's Cabin "] had its
root in rhe a wful scenes and bitter sorrows of that
7
summer.
Her role as a mother strongly influenced her efforts to write the
novel .

She alluded to this

in a

letter

o one of her children:

well remember the winter you were a baby and I was
writing " Uncle Tom's Cabin . "
My heart was bursting
with
he anguish excited by the cruelty and injustice
our nation was showing to the slave, and praying God to
let me do a little and to cause my cry for them to be
heard .
I remember many a n i ght weeping over you as you
lay sleeping beside me, and I
hought of
he slave
7
mothers whose babes were torn from them .

25

This anguish took the " hearts blood " out of her,
strength.

She commented on its effects :

would fail

utterly;

me ti I 1

got through,

above strength . "

73

but

"I

and drained h er

thought my health

prayed earnestly t hat God would help

and still

In the end

I am pressed beyond measure a n d
she accomplished her task ,

perhaps saw herself as one of God ' s

pawns

eradication of slavery which culminated

in His plan for

in the Civil

and
the

War:

This great afflicti o n that has come upon our country
is so evidently the purifying chastening of a Father
rather than the avenging angel of a Destroyer, that al 1
hears may submi t themselves in a solemn and holy calm
still to bear the burning that shall make us clear
Earn
dross and bring us forth to a higher national l ife .
Harriet saw it as her task to make a
civilized humanity . "

to a

75

Uncle Tom ' s Cabin deals wi
makes the novel

"despairing appeal

h the

issue of slavery

distinctly the work of a

woman -- at

according to nine een h - century ' spheres "

--

Stowe appeals to the maternal

the reader.

her asides to the reader,

emotions of

but what

least

is the fact

that

Through

she incorporates him into the opposing

sphere -- the so-called "m ale " sphere -- which permits the
perpetuation of
readers

the "pe c u l iar

institution . "

to see the other side of slavery -- not the economic or

political

but the emo

ruptures.

Stowe uses gen der

ional

side brought about by the family
to emphasize the emotional

s lavery,

in which her

maternal

sympathy needed for a

Women,

She forces her

such as Mrs .

impact of

female characters usually e x press the
ful 1 understanding of the

Shelby and Mrs .

B i rd,

mother and empathize with her position,

26

issue .

identify with t he slave

recognizing the s uffering

J
I

l

that various female slave characters experience after
their children .
I

perversion of the mother ' s

·~
I
~

Marie St .

Clare represents a

TI

L

I
I
I
I
I

In contrast,

losing

perhaps "masculinely , '

role

She behaves brutishly,

toward the slaves,

corrupting effects of slavery.

and

demonstrating the

The distinctly " male " characters

point up the inhumane and narrow-minded "male " view.
provides a more balanced male character

Yet Stowe

in Augustine St .

Clare ,

"

L ff

l~

t=
t=

•-=

who shows several

" feminine "

sympathize with the pligh

traits which enable him to

of the slave.

Uncle Tom ' s

" feminine "

nature also allows the r eader to unders and the emotional
slavery.

Free from prejudice,

Little Eva demonstrates the proper

democratic attitude toward the slave.

The glorification of her

death reinforces her opposition to the cruel
mete out to the slave.
like fig ures

Both Lit

.

stand for God's ideal.

as Christ-

They also emphasize the
and sanctify the

,,76

The scene that opens the novel
the slaveowner,

and Mr.

a

Stowe immediately

transaction.

Haley,

depicts two men,

the slave trader,
cri

as " gentlemen . '

with a

She suggests the slave trader

strictly speaking

r.

Shelby,

in the midst of

icizes the men who engage

in this business when she describes them

not seem,

treatment others

le Eva and Uncle Tom,

identification of the woman with Christ,
"woman's view.

side of

hint of sarcasm,

is one who "did

to come under the species "

Stowe reduces the role of gentleman to a

(11) .

" species " an animal-

like classification similar to the slave trader ' s classification
of
the

the slave.
level

She reverses the posi

of a beast:

27

ion,

and puts the trader on

I

He was a short, thick-set man
with coarse, commonplace
features, an d that swaggering air of pretens i on which
marks a low man who is trying to elbow his way upward
in the wo Id.
He was much over-dressed
in a
gau d y vest of many colors.
. His hands, large and
coarse, were plent i fully bedecked with rings;
His conversation was in free and easy defiance of
Murray's Grammar, and was garnished at convenient
intervals with various profane expressions, which not
even the desire to be graphic in our account shall
induce us to transcribe (11).

II

She describes a

very coarse and common man .

is despicable in taste and manner,
appearance of a

gentleman"

the wealthy slaveowner as a

r:o
I
I
l

(11) .

the slaveowner has " the
Perhaps she does not see even

gentleman,

but as a man who has

merely donned " the appearance " of one.
true gentleman deals

While this cha ract e r

One may infer that no

in this trade .

Stowe further alludes to Haley ' s materialistic qualities
which are

included in the male sphere .

and the slaves,

While discussing religion

he remarks on how he appreciates

' pious niggers , "

and describes one slave who was particu l arly religious :
[HJe was quite gentle and quiet like .
He fetched me a
good sum
too, for I bought him cheap of a man that wa s
' bliged to sell out ;
so I real i zed six hund r ed on him .
Yet
I consider religion a va l eyable thing in a n i gg e r ,
when it ' s the genuine article
and no mis t ake (12) .
Ironically ,
religion,

Stowe demonstrates Haley's concern for

rather than its appeal

for

the slave .

He

the " value " of
is only

concerned with how much money he can make from such a

trade.

Stowe notes Haley ' s masculine inte est in buying and selling
slaves as well

part of the world of power the man occupies .

Economics ta .es precedence over any
between the male slaveowner and the slave .
r .

Shelby

who is "sorry to par

out of necess i ty.

elationship establish ed
Such is the case for

with Tom," but feels he must

The man sees the slave primarily as valuable

28

property

and the economic need o tweighs the personal

This attitude fur her aligns Mr .
reminds Haley about a

Shelby wi h Ha ey .

also points out that that
Mr.

C44) •

you well

I
t=
I
I
I

L=

know,

the tr der

Shelby has

' "

furthe

identi fi es the two char cters desp i te Shelby s

sits ' with his
body an
the

soul

loss o

they may

b 1 i ge me

from the trader .

little account boo
under

the head of

the slave

( 44).

' body and soul '

ins

ttempt to
slave

C 60-

She

the slave owner ' s wife,

in financial

ter ms .

itution.

77

epresents the womans side which is based on

pecuniary sacrifice" and is
inconvenience "
slaves by
values ,
hem,

fa ' thful

each i n

and

if,

for

e

mome t

concern .

' the hear

.'

she is willing to " make a

' ' will i ng

o bear .

the

importance of fam· l y and Chri s t i an

" how can

the sake of a

excellent,

rs .

S he emphasizes her efforts to help the

them

lamen s

from him in a
(47)

(47) .

Th e

in erest of the two men onl

r e flects an emotional

In order to avoid parting with Tom,

he

He understands

n contrast to the econom i c concerns of the men,
Shelby ,

This

nd put(s) don the miss· ng

,

losses. "

serve to perpetuate the peculiar

too ' "

When Haley loses a

narr w-minded th ' nking and econom i c

just

to which Ha ey

' 'Wal

you know,

Tom

claiming

obliged me

I ever hold up my head again among
tle pa l

ry gain ,

we se l I s uch a

con fi ding creature as poo

Tom,

al 1 we have taugh

love a nd value?' '

According to S towe

Mrs.

him to

S h e l by ca r es for

29

I

"

replies

distance himself

.~

into,

is exactly what Mr.

Shelby excuses himself,

" Circumstances,

I
I
I

going

tachment .

Although he

promise that he ' ·wouldn't sell

without knowing what sort of hands he ' s

done

a

and

the slaves

ear

a nd

has taken the time to help them and involve herself

in their

lives .
s.
un · t,

even among slaves

which
not

Shelby recognizes the

impo

and attr·

little boy,

who wi

l

es

he recogn i zes T om ' s wort

but in human terms

Har y ,

the family as a

u es to them human quali

he men are unwilling to do .

in financ i al,

ace of

just as she does with the

be sold from his mother,

Eliza

Mrs .

Shelby tells her husband that she has talked to E iza about 'her
d

ty to

her son] a

and now what can
and body,
money?

-

to a

I

a Christian mother
say,

' and complains

if you tear him away and sell

him,

sou

profane.

unprincipled man, just to save a little
l
have told her that one soul is worth more than al 1 the

money in the world;

and how wil 1 she believe me when she sees us

turn around and sel

her child?' n

husband

recognizes the

society

and emphasizes Eliza ' s

the moral

contradictions that

(47)

impor ance of

Ms.

Shelby

the family

role as a mother,

if n ot her

in slave
understanding

hey themselves would make when

they sold Tom and the child .
Later,

Mrs .

Shelby denounces slavery as an evil

institution:

This is God ' s curse on slavery. - a bitter . bitter,
most accursed thing ! - a curse to
he mas er and a
curse to the slave!
was a fool to
hink I could make
anything good ouJ of such a deadly evi
I t is a sin to
hold a slave under l a s like ours
- I always felt it
was , - I al ways thought so
hen I was a gir 1, - I
thought still more so after I joined the church·
but
thought I could gild it over, thought, by kindness,
and care
and ins ruction , I could make the c ondition
of mine bet er than freedom - fool that I was! (48)

.-

She understands the inhuman i ty of slavery when it ruptures
.
f am1. 1 1es
an d

a

78
. t 1an
·
perver t s Ch r1s
1· d ea s .

tempted to improve

he

Though she has

ives of her slaves

30

she ul

imately

I

realizes

ha

freedom

husband,

a

~ignal

the evil

ins itution.

is the only answe .

from Stowe to other women to speak out against

Stowe also uses

rs.

Shelby to criticize the church for
n '

apparent support of slavery:
perhaps,

-

can

She speaks out to he

cure it

inisters can ' t

any more than we can,

it always went against my common sense '"
agreemen

help the evil
-

but defend it!

(48) .

with the stereotypes of the period ,

its

a

Naturally

n

oman makes the

argument because she has the emotional authority

o do so .

nine een h-century beliefs of spiritual

superiority

further author·ze women to make moral

and moral

The

judgments upon slavery

I
which often brings them in conflic
When she

earns that E iza has run away with her child

She by ex resses relief :

" 'The Lord be thanked!

she is

She even interferes in th e search

[escaped] ' "

(5

).

efforts to allow Eliza more time,
"'Wel 1,

-

Sam,

Haley,

and help him.

Be careful

of the horses

a

last week;

don ' t

little

lame

s

rang emphasis"

master at Sam ' s
part.

ride

Shelby spoke the
(62).
ins

Later ,

igation

She came forward,

for Haley ' s acciden,

and

Sam,

you know Jerry

hem too fast ' '

last words with a

as

(62).

Stowe

low voice

and

horse has thrown his

Shelby "now resolved

o do her

courteously expressing her conc e rn

pressed h " m to stay to dinner

the cook should bring it on t h e table immed i ately '
own subversive manner

tr s

to show him the road

after Haley s

Mrs .

Ms .

tel ling one of the slaves:

you are to go wi h Mr.

adds that " r s .

-

with the men.

say i ng that
(65).

In her

she at empts to help El i za re ach freedom .

Although these tactics are pass i ve in keeping with the " woman ' s
nature

_..

n

they demonstra e the wom a n ' s means of undermining the

31

.

ma 1 e s d om1nance.

79

More importan ,

confrontation with her husband,

like Ms.

Shelby's earl i er

these "Carthaginian " actions

encourage other women to do the same .
Another examp e of a woman expressing her v i ews and
ini

iating effor s

Senator ' s wife.
legis l ature ' s

to hep a

Mrs .

slave escape is

-

Shelby,

he

"'passing a

law forbidding people to give meat and
that come along ' ''

she sees such laws as un-Christian .

When she
law

denounces him and the
abominable

law,

a chance;

and

and
I

la

itself:

I ' 1 1 break

hope

sha l l

I

his outburst foreshadows
at their home.

rs.

s a

shameful,

wi ked,

for one,

the first

time

I do !"

(100)

" 'II t

have a chance,

Bird further admits ,

I must feed

but

the hungry

and tha

Bible

" '

ow John

clothe the naked

1 mean

to follow "

ing "

piety

implications.

he path of

lef

on their own,

love .

80

ives

and there

object · ons

the slaves escape for pol i tical

nd

Bird understands the relig ' ous and
In keeping with the woman ' s

she relies on the words of Christ

her

The fact

her Savior ,

trait of
to teach

hat these people would suffer

forces her to rebel against the

law.

ice floes.

32

'f

This is

the very act which she performs when Eliza and Harry cross the
river ' s

et

( 00-101) .

to 'a i d i ng and ab e t

emotional

and comfo t

who understands the Kentuckians '

Mrs .

I

don ' t

I can read my Bible

Unlike her husband,

economic reasons

she

he events to come when Eliza ar

know anything a out politics

the desolate :

it

ike

(99) .

discovers that her husband has helped to pass such a

see that

-

Bird ,

Bird questions her husband about the

drink to these poor colored folks
Mrs.

rs.

....

-

The scene of Eliza s arrival
o

ican

Stowe

the stronges t

.

81

like S owe

suffered the

exhaus ion,

she admits she

is a

slave .

leave such a

.

''' Ma' am

death,

many women,

.

Even

fain t·ng from

hough her masters
They ask

insists she must run away.

good situat io n
and she
I
lost a child? " (105)
have you eve

Bird immedia ely r esponds with sympat hy

e

side o

which makes this an

regains consciousness a fter

her why she would then

laid in

child,

fective appeal .

she

it was only

mother and a

o bring out the emot ion al

loss of children

so

For

o mothers .

bet ween a

have treated her well

replies

s a

home

During the nineteenth century,

issue.

When Eliza first

...

love

the save
1
y

excep ionally e

Stowe makes

bond is tha

and she draws upon thi s

-

ha

he appa l

signi

at the Birds '

Mrs.
" for

as do the others

a man h since a darl ing ch il d of the family ha d been
grave "

( 105).

When Eliza learns o f t e chi

d s

she replies:

Then you wil I feel for me .
I have lost two , one after
another
- left 'e m buried there wh en I came away·
and
I had only this one left .
I never slept at night
without him ·
he was all
had.
He was my comfort and
pride
day and night;
a nd ma ' am, they were go i ng to
take him away from me · - t o ~ him
- sel I him down
south, ma am
to go all alone
- a baby that had neve
been away from his mother in his life!
1 could n
stand it
ma'am.
knew I never should be good for
anything
if they
id. (105).
What mother could resist not feeling for
forever
be.

L

SPparated from her child

The realiza ion of

Senator to teas .
hel

s

He

ignores

he

law he has

o secu r e

even the

just passed

their f reed om .

also be moved by such cases

33

ho may be

not knowing what his fate may

this womans pl i ght bring s

Eliza and her child

that the reader will

this woman

nd

Stowe hopes
and not

just

ignore,

but abolish

Eliza's situation to help mothe sunders and the

Stowe use
horrors o f

slav ry.

' ' If

eader:

laws permitting slavery.

She interrupts the narrative to

it were your Ha ry,

or your Willie

mother

--

if you h d seen the man,

to-mar ow

and heard tha

the papers

were signed

nd del · vered,

till

to make good your escape,

mornin

walk? ' "

(67 -68)

that

trader

were going to be torn from you by a brutal
mo ning

ddress the

and you had only from twelve o'clock
-

how fast could Y.QQ

hat the "mothers of America

Stowe suggests

to unde stand the

ma ine the separation from their own child en

ruptures between slave mother and child that occurred almos
I

She ass them to see that th

daily.

slave mother no more wants

o part wi h her child than does any free mother.
Late

I
I
I
I

Stowe makes an even stronger appeal

to mothe sand

their emotions whe n she depicts a scene on a st eam boat which
carries Haley

and the slaves he has bought.

slaves are on board,
of

~lavery,

affections,

one woman comments

to my mind,
-

L

the separating of families,

' 'Suppose

from you

" 'The most dread ul

ma ' am

and sold? ' "

part

is its outrages on the feelings and
for example '

( 150) .

esponse from another passenger

After receiving a negative
asks,

Learning that

(1 50 ) :

should be taken

there

your two children
the very ques

she

ion Stowe has proposed

7

I

earlier to the reader.
most

Another woman coun e s that the slaves

likely would not feel

responds

Indeed ma'am

say so ,

the same way as she.

The first woman

you can know no hing of them

was born and brought up among them .

do feel,

just as keenly,

(151).

his

-

even more so

is Stowe's effor

o dispe

34

perhaps,

i

kno

you
they

- as we do ' '

acist beliefs that the

save does not have emot · ons or feelings ,
time
of

and part of the white man ' s effort to prove the

the black .
T

-

a common belie

Stowe relies on emotions provoked b

the separation of mother and child .
mother and daughter

life with Tom

oner because of

the

Susan and Emmelin e

two

are distraught after being sold

to d iff erent owners at a n auction .
discusses her

· nferiority

8

oughout the novel ,

slave women

at that

the slave,

La er

explaining

er bitterness to ward he

loss of her children .

third child to ensure his "freedom."

Cassy,

She even kills her

83

One mal e character in whom Stowe/ includes some " feminine'
tra its to emphasize the need for a
Augustine St .
dau hter
inh e

i

l_

Evangeline .

Stowe int oduces St.

in his

" 'she was di

goodness

life.

He tells his cousin

ine!

.

.
f rom b ecom1ng
.
h 1m

Miss Ophelia

tha

( 263) .

His mother ' s

influences his

·
1.
comp l e t e 1 y cyn1ca

Alfred:

strong,

fine Roman prof ile,

' ' He had black

golden hair,

keeps

side wh n he

he contrast between him and his twin

brother

b ue eyes

life an

84

lare fu ther alludes to his " feminine"

discusses wi~h Ophelia

that

She was a direct embodiment and

is the sole factor

S .

L_

' [hJav·ng

His mother proves to be one of the most influentia

personification of the New Testament'

(_

Cla e as

ed from his mother an exceeding delicacy of constitution"

< 1 3) .

peopl

balanced approach, is
I
Clare of New Orleans
who buys Tom for his

and a

fiery eyes

rich brown complexion .

a Greek out ine,

was active and observing,

coal-black hair

35

I had

and fair complexion .

I d eamy and inactive •

.

.

-

a

he was

He

my fathers pet
more

and

like an angel

I my mother ' s '"

(263-4) .

While St .

with his fair characteristics

Clare is

his brother has

a darker complexion suggesting a more earthy nature .

Moreover,

he describes his father as a ' ' born aristocra ' ' with an "' old
court pride ''' and his "' brother was begotten in h i s
< 264) .

Alfred

Augustine,
cont as

akes over the plan ation

and runs

it in his fat her ' s

lef t

to him and

despotic manne .

between the t wo brothers extends to

Little Eva and Henrique,

image"

~he i r

This

own children

as seen when she tries to d i ss ade her

85
.
f rom b ea t 1ng
·
h 1s
'
1
cousin
save.

....

~t.

his mother ' s pa h .
I
" morbid sensitiveness and acuteness of fee i ng.
possibl

Clare clea ly fol low s

down on her
-

things

(264) .

subjects '"
lap

hat

and cry

I had no

He remembers ,
and dream

nature enn bles her to bring out St.

St.

bounced off his brothe

(264)

"' t

Clare ' s emotional

and the aesthetic "

[_

remaine

-

or

so many things .

ey sunk deep in o me'
' male '

C266) .

His

view with her ' woman ' s " v i ew,

( 183) .

St.

Care searches " for

When he

loses the

because of a deception played by her fam · y,
romance and idea

side

is more ba lanced.

During his early years ,

l

His mothers

hough his mothers views merely

mother counters his father ' s
and his behavior

lay my head

oh i mmeasu ably!

to al low him to "f eel '

Clare acknowledges that

on al 1

I would

and feel

language to say. ' "

perhaps '' feminine ' side ,

"

He has her

of

the real

life for Augustine St .
like the flat

bare

the ideal

love of his

life

so tt ended the whole
C l are .

But the real

oozy tide-mud

the blue sparkling wav e

with all

and

its music of oars and chiming waters

hite-winged ships,

36

its company of

glid i

when

g boats
has

I

L_

l

gone down

and thee

it

lies

exceedingly real "

(185) .

' feminine " nature,

enables S .

with more compassion and

flat

His suffering,

and bare ,

along with his

love .

He

is also able to see the

bare,

oozy

ide-mud" of the ev

. u t.10n . 86

1

St.

Clare treats his slaves as human beings.

clothing
to a

ith his personal

servant ,

Adolph

position of greater equality as a

in his encounter with the uncont olla

St.

le slave

Sc"pio.

ho has been injured in his

attempt

week :

good bed made for

him

1

'I

dressed his wounds

he got fairly on his feet again .

time,

I had fee papers made out for
liked '"

(2 74 ).

St.

And ,

him

Sc i pio does not

had a

in the process of

and told him to go
leave St .

Clare

but the

in his heart he

and h 1 rnan.

Clare is unable to find comfort in religion when he

discovers that people
the words of

and even theologians,

the Bible to make it favor

his mothers understanding of
truth.

last escape

and tended him m self,

episode suggests that though he owns slaves,
considers them fre

S.

took him to my own room,

un il

where he

Clare more

enlightened behavior

Clare' tames " Scipio
after about a

shares his

He

elevating the slave

person .

clearly demonstrates what Stowe considers

from

-

Clare to see things diffe ently

reality of slavery -- the "f lat,

.
ins

slimy

Unable to find

it

After Tom's arrival

his mother's pure faith,
Realizing

' ' Mas ' r

slavery.

the Bible --

religion in tha
St .

twist and manipulate
He

longs for

in its purity and

pure form,

he turns away

Clare recognizes the slave has

and his doubts about religion fade.

was n t a Christian , ' Torn tells St.

37

Cla e

that

he is concerned for
m 'fraid i

will

good Book says,
adder " "

his salvation:
be

" it bite h

(2 2)

h with him,

S

a

afe.

fil-1_ -

body and soul .

serpent and stingeth
just as S t .

The

like an

Clare smother

Clare prom·ses Tom that he will

manner anymore,

too,'" he is more

and adds

"

I ' l l

kee

my

likely making the promise to

(242).

Clare dies after he
On his deathbed

o pray

like a

When St .

not behave in such a

his mother

-

my dear young Mas

Tom quotes the Bible

she would have done.

fai

loss of all

" '0

is fatal

y stabbed during a

brawl

at

he calls Tom to his side commanding him

an

' when Torn ceased to speak
St . Clare reached out and
I
look·ng earnestly a
him
but say · ng nothing '
took his hand

I
I

St.

<369) •

mother used to sing
opened his eyes,
and said

[_

t:
I
I

C 1 are the

Clare ' s

slowly and quietly repeats a
and " [ ' Just before

with a

' Mother!

light,

as of

(370)

lare s memories of his mother.

takes on 'masculine'

rai

capacity to " feel " as most of
lac · s

daughter ' s

s .

however,

"'That ' 11

make my head ache '''
mother,

with the

( 196).

St.

Clare s

From the beginning,
She has no

do

-

ta e care

wife,

Marie ' s
the

the other women in the novel

her husband ' s affectionate nature
hugs·

hen he

87

In an instance of role reve sal

Marie

Clare opens

nature appears to revive St .

nature has been self-centered and selfish.

I

Torn is by St.

which suggests that when St .

Tom ' s maternal

he

joy and recognition,

looking at -- and perhaps through -- Torn ,

n sees " his mo her .

Marie,

he spirit parted,

and then he was gone!'

side as he dies

his eyes he is

sudden

hymn his

do .

and res i sts her
ch i 1 d,

-

don ' t

you

Marie seems unable to respond as a

loving and gentle nature that marks the other

38

women.
the

Perhaps Stowe suggests tha

'peculiar

exposed

institution '

this

is a

pan a woman ' s

possible effect of

nature.

Having been

o the male view growing up on her fa her ' s Louisiana

plan ation and spoiled by the slaves ,

Marie

as been corrupted

She remarks that the only way to treat

and "mas culin ize d " .

servants is " ' to put them down and keep them down.
natural

to me,

from a. child' "

(204) .

When he

" male" attitude towards the slave .
to be whipped

sends the slaves ou
emphasizing t

eir va lu

Marie

It was always

incorporates the
husband die s

and eventually sells them,

as chattel .

Unlike the other women in then

e l,

Maries corrupted
ammy s

na ure precludes her from feeling sympathy with her
separation from her husband and children.

-

Miss Ophelia,
And

just as if

Eva!' "

-

(207)

ammy could

child

love her dirty

arie cannot understand

St.

as

Cla e
at

tel ls

should .

little babies as

ave

he o her mothers do ,

feelings when separated from her children.
arie dem ons rates her selfish

When Little Eva becomes ill,
fo

Mrs.

have the feeling

Even towards her own child ,
nature.

-

ammy couldn ' t

the save mother ' s

she

she pays

little he d to the

she was c mple ely absorbed in study i ng out tw

or

three new forms of disease to which she believed herself was a
vie im "

(320).

maternal

fears about Eva, "

wor se

arie considers her own heal

When she does become concerned about Li

ironically
saying

Despite Miss Ophelia ' s attempts "to awaken he

she scolds St.

Clare for

-

kno w' "

you don '

39

tle Eva

his attempts to comfort her

"'You have not a mothers feelings

could understand me!

h much

St .

(321).

Clare !

You

I n act ua l · t y

ever
s

e

I
does not have a mother ' s
case of Eliza,

-- a

fee l ings

for a

true mother

as

in t

e

slave mother at t a t -- has concern only for

her child.
Little Eva stands

in cont as

to her mother ' s harsh nat re.

More

like her grandmother,

she too is

and

' seemed

shadow

o move

like a

hrough al

without contracting a spot ors ain"
on ai

ta 1 ways dressed in

(176) .

rather than walk on the ground,

t hi her

hi te"

sorts of places
She appears to

loat

"flying hither and

with an undulating and cloud-like tread "

(176>.

S owe

adds:
Her form was the perfection of chi dish beauty,
The re was about i t an undula inl(' and aerial grace, such
as o e might dream of for some mythic and allegorical
being .
He r face
as remarkable less for i ts perfec
beau yo
fea · ure
han for a singular and
reamy
earnestness of expression .
. the l ong golden brown
hai
that floa ed like a cloud
the dee
spirtitual gravi y of her viole
blue eyes
nd shaded
by heav y fringes o f
o lden
own , - all marked her out
from other children (175).
This desc iption sugg sts an e hereal

nature,

and Little Ea does

physcal ly represent the tra i ts of the nineteenth-century woman ' s
sphere

such as

pirituality and p iety.

aboard the s earn boa
be ieved

L_

Tes ament"

t.

eath,

When Tom se e s

is taking him down

he

iver

he
"he half

hat he saw one of the angels step out of his New
(176).

She is given her grandmother's name in
ive a

hope that "s he would
her

L

that

88

Li

tle Eva professes her fai

C l are discovers

in his mother "

reproduction

in her the " fee

(34 ).

out the emotional

ust as St .

s i de in her son

natu~e help to bring it ou

of her
hand

A

love in Christ,

and

had seen before

Clare ' s mothers nature brings
so too does Little Eva ' s

in the reader .

(186).

ing wh"ch h

image

he

Like her father and grandmother ,
sensitive to cruelty and
the slaves .
child,

her

inhumanity to others

When she hears Pruey ' s
tcheeks grew pale

over her eyes .
heavily "

(256) .

repl i es

' '[

Discovering

She

most especially to

story about

and a deep ,

he

earnes

loss of her

shadow passed

laid both hands on her bosom

and sighed

When Tom asks her what is the matter

Jhese

h i ngs s i nk

into my heart "

large,

she

(257) .

" the ~pi r it- l ike f orm of

later that Pruey has died

Evangeline ,, stands with "her
horror

very

Little Eva i

myst i c eyes di la ed with

and every drop of blood driven from her

lips and cheeks "

< 25 7) .

She remains deeply affec ed by stories of hor or
I
89
concerning the slaves.
S owe att

I
I
I
I
I
l
I

i butes this spec·a1

woman-like feeling,
St .

but also to th

.

without children? .
St .

that s he is a

child .

"' What would the poor and
Your

l ittle child i s your only

Clare remarks that a child

l i e Eva

true democra '"

(21

is too

to exper · ence the prejudices that develop wi th

time,

innocen
and

towe,

child

i s ab e

loo

one who

when Li

) .

to accept everyone as an equal .

Accord i ng to

not o n ly must one unders and the woman's view ,

must also

a

an i ssue with the pers ec iv
his

is pure of mind .

tle Eva ,

own special

agains

her mother ' s

' vinaigrette "

assoc·a ion with Chris .
sailor gazes on his

91

Tom

image of

reverence and tenderness "

gives her Mammy her

wishes

hea d ac h es .

he child Jesus -

41

Later,

as

90

tle Eva is her

looks at her " as the

(302).

innocent

demonstrated

is c l earl

aspect of Li

but one

of an

to ease the old woman ' s

Perhaps the most powerful

,....

fact

Clare explains to Miss Ophelia,

lowly do

l

sensitivity not only to Eva's

Ita l ian

with a mixture of

he two si

and read

the Bible,

Li

knowledge of

tle Eva foresees
his

and she tel ls Tom

the spirits bright,

T o m;

I ' m going before

them

Tom

if

I

could' "

says good-bye .

ives them

(307).

She

(323) .

Littl e Eva s

it

think

par

the slaves will

ords.

bl

the s

Speaking

when she first a r rives

ck

I would

hat

part o f

there "

(339) .

Just as

o remembe

herself.

She also

join

er

which

92

oic New Englander
loftily of abolitio

Miss Opel · a

and she

loved you and am gone

into heaven and
level.

J s

and tells

of Himself by whic

e

or

I would

nd white.

lock of her hair

Little Eva gives the slaves a

iss Ophelia ,

this misery.

to

She echoes the words and

I want to see you all

he Disciples a

promises tha

that

the slaves gather round her be

look a

and that

Jesus gives
Him,

She

'[wJhen you

Even

I

.

I ' ve felt

who died f o r ~ men has

to heaven

too.

if my dying could stop all

before her dea h sh

them,

"

long "

here .

I ' ve felt so

Because

puts black and white on an equal

I

" ' I ' m going

us .

actions of Chris

]

as J esus had

' ' I can understand why Jesus wanted to d·e

die for

I

jus

later tells him

be glad to die,

I
I
I
I
I

her dea h ,

is af f ected by
and educat·o

i s unable to treat the slaves

as fully human.

St .

which is as bad

if not worse than the Sou t hern form:

Clare points out her

orthern prejudice ,

I h ve often noticed in my travels north
how much
stronger this [pe sona
pre · udiceJ was with you than
with us .
You loa he them as you wou d a snake or a
oad
ye
you are indignant at their wrongs .
You would
not have them abused·
but you don t want to have
anything to do with them yourselves .
You would send
hem to Africa, out of your sight and smell
and then
send a mi siona y or two to do up al l the se l f - denia
of elevating them comprehend i ngly (211) .
iss Ophel i a

herself finds

it difficul

42

to manage the mi sc ievo s

Topsy,

the child whom S .

eventually

Clare buys for

and

hips her -- the exact behavior she denounces

southern slaveholders.

93

After Eva ' s death

cries that there is no one
comfor sher

"

child [EvaJ.

left to

I can

lave you,

hope

I've

however,

love her,

though

can

love you;

I do,

grow up as a

good Christian

and

i r l ' 0

Miss Ophe ia the true way to

in

when

opsy

iss Opheli

am no

that dear

learnt something of the

from her .

show

her to teach

little

love of Ch ist

try to he l

OU

L · ttle Eva ' s

death

love -- with Chr i st '

love.

(

I ' 11

349) .

A character equally imper ant to the novel

to

as L i t tle Eva is

Uncle Tom .

From the ve y beginning he reflec s
everal tra i ts
I
haracte istic of the women.
For one , he a l lo ws himself to be

sold

Harris,

El i za's husband

who goes off to free himself

Tom

remains,

denying himself

freedom and putting his faith

in h·s

loving God .

94

As noted
maternal

in his scenes with St.

nature as well.

leaves with

he t

ader :

He
' '

old.

Clare ,

Tom po sesses a

Shelby just befor

eminds Mr.

was

as ' r,

old when ale Missis put you in

o my arms

and you wasn ' t

she says

Tom

that's to be your youn

g o o d ca r e o f

h i m , '' say s

s he ' "

(74 ) .

mother would

young child.

Anothe

side.

personality is his strong religious faith

43

ta e

a

the
so helps

95

obvious trait that reflect

is also a Chris -like character,

Mas '

and raise,

l i e Little Eva ' s

to draw out the readers emotional

a yea

Tom r eceives the baby jus

and helps to take care of

His feminine nature

he

jist e'ght years

" Thar

as a

,L·-

con rast to George

rather than escaping with Eliza.

Tom ' s
in a

' female'
loving Jesus.

just as Eva is .

his

is mos

Tom

-

evident in the scenes following St .
purchased by a brutal
apostolic tt manner,

-

slaveowner

lare's death when Tom is

Simon Legree .

Tom continues to try

Jesus among Legree' s

slaves .

96

does for St.

Clare.

entreaties

to win him from a

of his fa her,
a

"[bJ oisterous

unruly,

Legree takes the path

and tyrannical"

death:

'He opened i t,

and a

and that dying,

in a

hair which,

long

and

On

(433).

learns of her

curling hair fel 1 from

letter told him his mother

T

she bl est and forgave him'

(434) .

itself when Legree discovers Little Eva's

piece of paper that had hung from Toms neck:

There drop ed out of
-

lock of

and twined about h is fingers.

This scene repeats

-

life of sin '

letter from his mother

golden curl

just as he

Despite his mother's "passionate prayers and

he receives a

was dead

-

pious nature,

ship,

i

'quite

o spread the word of

Tom reminds Leg ree of his mother ' s

-

In a

like a

·t

.

.

a

long,

living thing

shining curl

of fair

hai

twined itself round Le ree's

fingers '

( 432) .

recoils

in fear

of evil

that turns things sweetest and holiest to phantoms of

Horrified

he thinks of his mot er ' s

[tJhere is a dread,

for

hair ,

unhallowed necromancy

horror and affr i aht "

(434) .

" damna ion."

thi king he has seen his dead mothe

him,

Shaken,

he claims he wil

did he get that hair?
up,

know

he dead ' '
om.

did!
(435-6).

The scene affirms his sin and

leave Tom alone,
t

and

couldn ' t

would be a

and then asks,

have been that!

joke,

i

before

' 'Where
burnt

hat

hair could rise from

Legree ' s mother seems to be acting through

97

A

houg

Tom ' s

fa i th wavers as he experiences his own Garden

""""
44

of Gethsemene,

it quickly returns stronger than before .

Christ,

and bleeding,

"b ent,

journey to Calvary

Like

struggl i ng' under the cross of His

so too has Tom struggled,

bleeding and bent

under his burden of slavery on his path to freedom and salvat · on .
But
wi

he

h an exultant tread;

was his s

rang faith

he blows fell

firme

in the Div in e," he "walked
than the ground he trod on
love '

now only on the outer man

him elf

hat his power over his bond thrall

heart.

Once Tom has completely resig

blows.

to be beaten fo

he no

Learee realizes "that

between him and his victim '
During the

Soon after

and not

[and] Legr e could no

on t

allow himsel f

(457) .

Leg r ee again finds an excuse to beat Torn

before ,

C459) .

e

for

merged

in Almighty eternal

this transfo mation,
but

.

his 'human will.

to God,

longer truly feels

he

an

the

who was standing

98

last beat·ng before his death
or

hide fr om

was somehow gon "

d his soul

it was GO

(459).

as

" 'Mas'r,

if you was sick,

in trouble,

save ye

I'd give ye my hearts blood;

Tom tells Legre

or dying,
and,

if

could

and

tak ing every drop

of blood in this poor old body would save your precious sou l

L=
I=
L

L:

L:

give

em freely,

like

he

as the Lord gave his for me'

is wi l ling to give up his

sa vation .

This sacr i fice

repeats

empted

y Satan

place of

the escaped slaves ,

he knew tha
could

tmos

holy trust'
reader ' s

Tom also feels

extremi y wring f

faith

in Tom.

Chris

his master ' s

itself when

just as Ch ist is

tempted to reveal

the hiding

n Li e his

but he res i st~:

if he saved others

(480-1).

life for

(480) .

aster

himself he could not save ·

om h i m words

I'd

s

ve of praye

no
and

Stowe 's allusion to Christ strengthens the
99

But Toms goodness has a negative

45

[lliil

effect upon Legree
Tom
ye

-

and the master continues to beat the slave .

hen tel ls him in words reminiscent of Christ
with al

mind of the

my sou 1 ! ' '

Stowe plants doubt in the readers

( 481 )

justice of an institution which allows such crue ty

to a be i ng of simi a

nature to Christ.

that the slaveowner

is beating Christ ,

T om.

She seems to suggest
just as he is beating

100

Much
brutal

l ike the two thieves crucif"ed with Christ,

have

the two

slaves who work closest to Legree ask forgivenesss and

passage to heaven.
if

Tom responds,

I pray. '"

loves everyone,

black and white

this type of
slavery .

" 'I ' d be wi 11 ing to bar ·

it ' 11 only bring ye to Chri:lt.!

two more sou s,

..,,..

"' I f o g · ve

love

Like Christ

(482)

Lo d.

al 1

give me these

nd Little Eva,

thief and saint.

Stowe hopes to move the reade

Tom

By describing
to abolish

101

In the chapter en itled " Concludi n g Remarks ," Stowe makes
appeals to the reader to take action against the peculiar
·nst · tution .

She revea s

hat

caused her to question her fe
think,

low man

iv e Slave Act of

of whom " she could only

She addresses herself to her southern readers,

own secret souls,

what are here shadowed

if

in this accursed system,

or can be shadowed? '

to the Southern readers to

46

asking

they have not " in

in your own private conversings

there are woes and evils,

appeal

if

such a question could never be open for discussion"

those " generous n ble-minded men and women "
yo r

1850

These men and Christians cannot know what slavery is·

they did
( 513) .

he Fug i

(513)

felt that

far beyond
She make

look at the system with a ne

an

understanding

-- with the woman ' s

exists there.

She calls on them to feel

does,

and to free their slaves.

that

view -- and see the evi
and act as St .

Towards the end,

Clare

she makes her

stron est appeal

the same one that h s echoed throughout the

novel

to the "mothers of America '

-- the appeal

(574):

[YJou who have learned by the crad es of your own
chi I ren, to love and feel for al I mankind, - by the
sacred love you bear your child· by your joy in his
beautiful
spotless infancy; by the motherly p i ty and
tenderness with which you gu i de his
ro wing years;
by
the anxieties of his education ;
by the prayers you
breathe for his soul s ete nal good · - I beseec h you
pity t e mother who has al 1 your affections , and not
one legal righ
to pro ect
gu i de
o
educate, the
child of her bosom.
By the sick hour of your child·
by thos
dying eyes , which you c n never forget ·
by
hose l ast cries ,
hat wrung
o
heart when you could
neit er help nor save ;
by the desolation of that
emp y c adle, tha
silent nursery, - I beseech you,
pity
hose mo he~ that a e constantly made child
ss
by the American slave trade!
And say, mothers of
America
is this a
hing to be defended, sympat ized
with, passed over in silence? (514-5)

·r

She appeals to moth rs everywhere to understand the plight of
slave mother,

7-

child,

if only out of sympathy for her separation from her

and to work to abolish the peculia

calls on 'every individual'
A

at osph

being'

to " see to

instit tion.

e

it that they feel

e of sym athetic influence encircle

(515) .

the

right .

every human

102

S owes rongly prates s against slavery by calling on her
reade s

to take into acoun

erno ions and feeling .

the womans view

the one of

She sets aside the econom · c and political

aspects of slavery which serve only to per etuate the
institution. "

She points out that the most dectructive aspect of

slav ry is that i t s parates
child.

Most of

' pecul · ar

h

family,

the mother and the

he female characters sympathiz

47

wi th

he plight

of the slave,

if only because they ident i fy with her as a mother .

She also shows the destructive elemen s
ole,

he mot er ' s

estroying her posi

corrup ed b y t e slave system ,
becomes bru al

and

Chris -l " ke f"gures
of slavery.
die to " save "

o the slaves

ruel

worth only as property.

adop s

ive traits .

to sugges

The mother,

the ' ma e" view and
and understand s

importantly

Mos

he slaves

at slavery in a diffe ent

a

Gods support for

the eradication

fa e which puts the t o -- a
level.

light

thei

Stowe draws on two

T heir deaths show the horrors of slavery .

and a black -- on an equal

Both al low the reader

They must
white
to

look

reflected through the woman's
/

heart.

-

48

I

of slavery that twists

I
II
I......

I
II

inister • s Wooing,

emotions of

~

[:

the reader,

t:

he

om's Cabin,

authority

and S

i

to understand

in a more

le Eva.'

oving

The main female
the woman ' s

s

role .

Stowe depends on

, ' which gives the nineteen h-century

o pass

ad,

we exp oits these traits to

importance of the woma

oman the

judgment on the religious questio .

S owe employs such characters as Dr.

Mo eover

Stanley Hopkins and

olonel

Aaron Burr as symbols of her rejection of Edwardean Calvin · sm.
Mrs.

arvyn,

through he

son,

demonstrates the reason for a break from the harsh faith of

Calvinism to a more

anguish over the sup osed death of her

loving faith.

love with her

arvyn,

James

he novel

opens

the reader

pe formed a

greater numbe

women,

he Wid ow Katy Scudder,

asse

like

' faculty ".

titude

is

103

introduced to a

during the " golden period" when
of

cousin

and becomes a more balanced

character once he accepts the womans view.
When

ary s

also marks this change in a

towards a God who is al !-loving

" pre-railroad times'

t:

in Uncle

epitomizes the traits of

as did Little Eva,

the "div in e

_.

~

as

ary Scudder

emphasize

the

Though she draws on the maternal

she also relies heavily on another " Lit

who is in

1=

the main theme is the relig · ous question:

the woman's view of religion and her faith

sphere

I
II -I

o the slavery issue in The

eturns

rejection of Calvinism.

character

I

I
I

Whi e Stowe briefly

tasks with s

i

1 and

1 "fe of

omen

speed .

These

have a

peculiar

ew England

Stowe exp ains that

' acuity

s

which among that shrewd people ,

a

'gift ,

commands m r e esteem tha

beaut

~

49

-

riches,

learning,

or any other worldly endowment

emphasizes the womans role before the
i s introduction of

industrial

(527-8) .

Stowe

revolution ,

and

labor-saving technology:

To her who has facul y no
ing s all be impossible .
She shall scrub floor s, wash
wring , bake, brew, and
yet her hands shal 1 be smal 1 and white ;
she shall have
no percep~ible income, yet alwa ys be handsomely
dressed
she shall have not a servant in her house , wit
a dairy to manage
hired men to feed
a boarder or
two to care for, unheard of pickling and preserving to
do, - and yet you commonly see her every a f ternoon
si
ing at her shady pa lor-window behind the lilacs,
coo
and easy
hemming muslin cap strings, or reading
the last new book .
She who hath faculty is n ever in a
hurry, never behindhand .
. Of this genus was the
Widow
cudder (528) .
S owe also describes Katy Scudder as

' an excellent wife" who put
I

aside her desires to satis y those of her husband.

Though she

'naturally as proud and ambitious a

lit tle minx as ever breathed

and [ ' s]

at Georges [her husband ' s

thoroughly grieved at hear

want of worldly success,
Redbreast,

she covered u

leaves of

tru e

<533) .

love,

' ' Mr .

t

e

nine eenth cent ries .

' Who ca es for

·s dictated by the

Scudder used

Katy Scudder is the ideal

little Rob·n

gra e of her worldliness w · th the

and sung a

Even her religion

husband :

like a nice

wife

s

o believe
f

She se she

he

it ,

that? '

above

it '

ct · ons of her
-

l wil l'" (534) .

lat -eig teenth an

wishes as i de for

those of her

husband.
Although she has the ' faculty " of her mother
remains d ist inctly d ifferent from her .

ary Scudder

104

. she could both read and wr i te f uently in the
mother tongue.
She could spin both on the lit le and
he great wheel;
and there wee numberless towels
napkins
sheets, and p i llow - cases in the household
store that could a test the sk i l of
er pretty
fingers .
She had worked several samp lers of such ra e
merit,
hat they hug framed i n dif erent rooms of the

50

house, exhibi ing every va ie y and style of poss ible
letter i
the best marking stit h .
he was skilful in
all serving and embroide y
·n all shaping and cutting
with a quiet and deft handiness that cons antly
surprised her energe ic mother who could not conceiv e
that so much could be done with so l i t t le noise.
In
fac , in al 1 household lore she was a veritable good
fairy·
her knowledg e seemed unerring and intuitive.
< 39) .
Her

traits

however,

are more artistic,

seeme

o turn to poetry all

"stands

in the doorway wi

flickering

golden

the prose of

" her gent e

life "

(539).

think

as we

lines of statuesque beau y,

beauty
As Mary

h the afternoon sun streaming

light on her smooth pale-brown hair

hat have pictures,
its

for

in spot

.

e1

ook on her girlish face,
on the tremulous,

with

half-"nfant·ne

/
expression of
and purity,
<538) .

her

lovely mouth,

and the general

of some old pictures of

Even he

name

implies a

the girlhood of the Vi

further

--

in the novel .

thoughtful
< 539) .

sphere .

usion to the Virgin

nature,

predispo ed to moral

her

tr

'reli gious facul

ie s

to

ary

' inhe rited a

is

and religious exaltation'
d fo

Roman
' yet she

of New England wh · ch

ake "ot her forms '

(539).

Instead of
ing entranced in mysterious raptures at
the foot of altars , she read and pondered treatises on
he Will
and lis ened in rapt a tention
whi e her
spir"tual guide, the vene ated Dr. Hopkins
unfolded to
her the theories of the great Edwards on the nature of
true virtue .
Woman like
she felt the subtle po try of
hese sublime abstractions which dealt with such
infin · te and unknown quant · ties
- which spoke of the
universe
of its great Architect
of man
of angels

51

ic of

deep and

saint and angels

in the sterile environmen

the

trait cha racteris

she seems better f i t

I aly with its paintings of

inds herself

a

Se has appa ently

In many respects,

Catholic

forces

The al

from the rest of

emphasized by her strong piety

the woman ' s

gin "

connection to the Virgin Mother.

Th is distinct i on s ets M ry apar
characte s

air of simplir.i y

matters of

intimate and daily con emplations

As she breathes in the words and

-

eachings of Edwards,

mean

sermons and treatises,

to

ideas,
e

e

Eva.

well-thought-out

into poetry.

spiritual aspects are almost unreal

t

she converts the

ogical,

n keeping with her pious nature

Li

(539) .

physical

and angelic,

o occupy

She appears

Mary ' s

and

simi ar

to

he

high re ions of abstract though, - often compr hendi g
through an ethereal
learness of nature which he [Dr .
Hopkins
had laboriously and heavily rea s oned out·
sometimes when she turned he
grave, chi dlike face
upon him
ith some question or reply
the good man
s arte
as if an angel had looked suddenly out upon him
from a cloud.
Unconsciously to himself
h
often
seeme
o follow he , as Dante flollowed the f ight of
Beatrice
through the
scending circles of
he
celestial spheres ( 39-40) .
Not only does she appear to be of some "other world " she rises
han h er men t or,

even further
Dr.
boarder

tanley Hopkins,

who

.
105
H op k ins.

lives with

is opposite inn ture to Mary.

and ethereal,
reverential

Hopkins had his 'orig i n

and

metaphysician

logical"
a

earnest sense a
intellec

of

he

philanthropis,
min

ter of

octrines

different sexes:

' Bu

w · th sublime assurance,
footsteps;
individual,

-

and

he Scudders as a

and

ar

soul

a

once

"philosopher,

a

in the highest and most

good on earth, "
(578) .

omantic

While Mary is

in a

He is a

(540).

difference between Hopkins '

2)

Dr .

following

he

But Stowe sugges s

tha

' s natures

lies

he

in their

whee theorists and ph i losophers tread
woman often fol lows wi th bleeding

women are always turning from the abstr ct to
and feeling where the philosopher only thinks."

The distinction Stowe makes

he
(541-

is that the woman feels while the

52

The "bleeding footsteps '

man thinks .

enables the woman to
This asso

iation wi

link' and

uthority.

Dr .

Hopkins

conside s

and profane matter,

a

repute
i

(578).

" That at a

including
sphere,

in romances

Ma riage

i

.

self

time and place sui

' di

ine

love .

he

to be a

foolish

serious and

is only an
ing,

he should

look

woman of a

pleasant countenance and of good
I
earnest Christian, and well ski led in the

zealous,

ems of household management
theology,

Calvinis

logically

unworJhy the attention of a

reasonable creature"

which

and to turn to Him .

thought of the woman'

as treated of

out unto himself a

he sufferin

h Christ also emphasizes the woman ' s

looks at everything

" love ,

arrangement:

hris,

identify with

he sentimental

Lacking

suggest

Dr .

< 5 78 ) .

eepin

In

Hopkins sees this s

e

,

wi

h his

" ke all

others

,.....
i

one s

life

as preordained.

would be there
fal

ing

'' des

in

......

is

waiting to marry him .

ave

especial

y not wi

· n e d to awaken i n h i m a l l

paining

poetry awaken

creating him an w

logical

seems to pervade

he Doctor ' s

of

some divine

angel

Yet

she seems

that cons c i o us n es s

thought

soul.

When she

influence "

it not '

into poetry fo

usic,

w h i ch

and

is even no

(583).
him.

She
H

is

(583).

xhaled'

53

is

spirit

ary is the source of his
in his study,

it

eemed so

But he does not

ealize it

and never wonders " from the robes of what

t i s sweetness had

it

106

realizes that

rejuvena ion.

emanates from her

h Mary.

wife

on

in more evenly developed minds;

able to turn his

ful

He does not coun

which as yet he knows

The Doctor neve

his fu u e

looks up

of her creative presence that

the silent breathin

spiritual

When he

(583).

During hi

se mans ,

I
I

hers

a d bright wi

I
I

I
I
I
I
I
I

face,

is the ' one earnest youn
h in el lect,

everkindling wi

fol lowed on his way,

h feeling

and he felt

up if ed and comforted"

(583) .

fair and mys

the Lamb s wife, " and " only after she

ical

bride,

had passed by [did]

that mys

Seeing her

ical

ision seem to him more

more easy to be conceived "

radiant

away from the

more strongly,
Ano

In the end,

and he gives Mary up

er characte

is the historical

figure,

Colonel

England,

e

Calvinism.

He seems almost dawn
as his perception

however,
o

who serves as a

ames.

Calvinism pulls him
107

po entia

su i to

a

for

Although he was

Aar'an Bur .

t e grandson of Jonathan Edwards
in

(583).

alvinist faith towards her,

~ains greater clarity .

he thinks of" hat

the renowned Calvinis

le der

he rejection of Edwardean

Burr symbolizes

He is quite taken with Mary,

for she

eminds Burr of

r-

his pious mo

1
1~
r-

[=
I=

er.

Despi e

succeed in converting him.

his association,

Mary does not

Though he experiences several moments

in which he believes in the possibility of an " elect '
membershi

in the end he remains on the outside.

When the two first mee
a y ' s beauty.
Burr

at a party

Burr is taken abac

likes to control

o demonstra e his power,

others and

l=

has a different effec

upon him

mother

and ea ly sain · ed

l

~ave way at once to the emotion;

'he beautiful

(659).

grandfather

by

Characteristic of nineteenth-century male traits,

wont to boast that he could subdue any woman "

eyes"

and his own

urr

later recal

(686).

ad is
ary

Yet

and makes him think of his

-

s a

real

sther Burr, " and ' h
ears stood in h i s

fine

let er written by his

in which he found a descrip ion of Mrs.

Edwards,

which reminds him of Mary

108

e
say .
that there is a young
ady
ho is
beloved of t ha
Grea
Being who made and rules
he
wor l d
and that there are cert in seasons in w i ch this
Great Bei
in some way or o her invisible, comes to
her and
il ls her mind with such exceeding sweet
del i ht, that she hardly cares for any hing except
to meditate on him·
tha
she expec s
af er a while
to be received up where he is
to be raised up out of
he world and caugh
up into heaven, bei ng assured that
he loves her too wel
to le
her remain at a distance
from him always .
. She has a strange s ee t ess in
he
mind, and singular purity in her affec ions;
and
you could not persuade her to do anything wrong or
sinful. if you should give her all the world .
She is
of a wonderful sweetness
calmness, and universal
benevo lenc e of mind , especially after
his great God
has manifested h · mself to her mind.
She will some times
go from place to place singing sweetly, and seems to be
always full of joy and pleasure·
and no one knows for
what
She loves to be alone, waking in fields and
groves , and seems
o have some invisible one always
conversing with her (687).
In Mary

Burr sees t hese same tr

'Was there
with God ,

then,

a

its

hich

truth in that inner union of chosen sous

of which his mother and her mothe r

much witness,
he a labs e r

-

walls of a

the possibil i ty of
At one point
every moral

temp l e? '

(687)

Bur

Though he is certain that

Mary creates doub s

its existence.

in Bur

about

109

acknowledges that " [iJn him

t a t remarkable f

original y

(691).

This feeli~g ret trns

f ormer

lover,

later af er he reads a

Madame de Fron ignac.

him elf whi e-robed and crowned,
loathed his present self "

in

mily from which he was descended "

Burr,

from
if his

glass in which he saw

and so dazzling

(779) .

lette

He feels almo st "a s

dead mother's hand had held up before him a

L

l amps through

faculty and sensibility was as keenly strung a~

any member of

he

before her had borne

their souls shining out as sacred

there was no " inner union,"

I

lead h "m to wonder :

n puri y that

ho we v er,

wholly

destroys whatever remains of
hims e

f

( 779) •

the ' godlike and the pure " within

He returns · o his o 1 d be l i e f s

met and demonstrated
religious dogmas

to his own satisfaction,

in which

is

led

the " inner

o rebel

" dishonored grave'

for

ism tha

the

He sees an

according to Stowe,

Calvinis s

'absurdity" to

leads him to a

in the West .

may be

self-examination and growth .

He

(688) .

having killing Alexander Hamilton,

committing treason by his scheming
he fa a

the nullity of

its discriminating doctrines,

a gainst God .

life," which,

ly

ew England faith was based"

is dis il lusioned by Calvinism and
and he

having ' 1 o g i ca

and for

Stowe points out

led to during

heir religious

Although Mary comes close to
I

conver

in g him

she fa "l s

One is then

left with the

affirm,

th

he has

purity

white robe,

su i

or .

and crown.

o never finding

a

decided effect on another man

her cousin

tt fine athletic figure

ary .

Stowe desc ibes

and.

a

sort of easy,

and confident a ir which sa. not unhandsomely on him.

For the rest

a

a keen

high forehead shaded by rings of

dar

eye ,

a

the blackest

firm and determined mouth

gave the

im ression of one who had engaged to do battle wi th
only wi
is a

ha will

sailor

but with shrewdness and abili y "

ho seeks adventu eon

describes him as having all
male ' s

that

10

James contrasts physically with

dashin~,

later seems to

wh o proves to be the third and the successful

him as havin

hair

h ic h his dea h

" dea,

resined himself

ary also has a
James Marvyn,

because of his Calvin ist upbringing .

sphere,

St we adds

he h ' gh seas.

the stereotypical

just as Mary has those of

not

(546 .

James

Stowe

traits of

the

he womans sphere .

that when he deals wit h his mother,

56

l ife ,

he

s

s

Yet

tender

as a woman'

(597) .

This minor detail

potential

to be a

balance

" female '

and " male "

t aits.

Unlike Mary ,

'

implies that he has the

individual,

who can express both

James appears to have daubs about his faith
mes realizes this ,

which serve to separate their two spheres .
and tel ls

ary early in the story:

ense,

quite unknown to me

to me·

.

man

hey

and then

and the natural

Spirit.
he stands

ell

in him·

man '"

(547-8).

Later,
women don ' t

spiritual
When he

Why May,

man",

Whereas she

he must attend to

he

' a

sort of

'feared he

' 'You girls and

you are a

ospe 1.

living

can't

stran e power over us boys.

and God ' s efficiency,

is so enraged about ·

can do me good '"

" natural

is with Mary,

the hang of predestination

ability

As a

(549) .

know your power .

understand all

Hopkins

natu e

ames reveals her effect on him:

You have always had a

I ' m a natural

cha racter .

like the Apostles of old

entered into a cloud '"

Dr .

' s because

in contrast to Mary's ethe eal

those which are more earthly

natural

me i

anywhere and nowhere

man understandeth not the things of the

can grasp those things of a

awe awoke

elieve you have a s i xth

it ' s all

I am a natural

Well

''

(550) .

and mora

abil · ty

and mans agency
can understand

but

and

which

:tQ.!:!.

-

y_g_g_

Not only does James recognize Mary ' s

power as a woman to grasp the word of God and f u 1 f i l 1 its
commands

but he also sands against

the doctrinal

Hopkins -- Calvinism .

He can understand

feels

James needs something mo e

it through her.

doctrines

and thus he relies on Mary .

57

faith of Dr .

ary's faith because he

He adheres

tang ible tha
o the belief

that the woman must be isolated from the
people .

He claims that women who

' ' not women 'n but "' creatures ' "

l iv e

(551).

'w orld " wh i ch corrupts

in the outside world a e
This

idea emphasizes the

nineteenth-century philosophy that the woman
isolated in the home,

can save the man.

who remains

111

James recognizes the distance between Mary ' s
and his more earthly one ,

yet he

longs to brin

'hi her sphe e "

them closer.

He

acknowledges her attempts to bring him nearer to her sphe e.

o

do so

he knows he must have the assu r ance of his salvation that

ary has of hers.
Chr i st,

He mus

which holds tha

choose between the

and
I
which hold,... daubs and u ncertaint i es of

lo ving fa i th of

h e Calv'nist faith

assurance ,

' E ect i on 11 •

Their

spheres s eem so distant that he be li eves himself unwor hy
touching the hem of her garments
woman touchi n g

esus

garment .

Christ foreshado ws James '

a B i blica l

f

reference of the

While this allusion to May ad

eventual

choice

it

also rema ks upon

II!!"'

the association with a
n a

-

" feminine ' Ch ist.

letter Mary receives af er James has returned f

om a

shipwreck and supposed death

he tells her of the c ange he has

experienced:

' 'From that hour

here was

- a

hich has

purpose

storm hits and
" felt He

led me upward e ver since'"

he ship wrecks

[ esus] was there

crush him for his sins
will

unders ands this God - -

rathe

a

is no

faith of

the

<840) .

n e ed .

This is no

James

loving God o f

a matter of wha
lave .

James '

i

(838) .

itself against the rock

as Edwards suggests

save him in his time o f

This faith

new purpose

my sou
Whe n the
James

a God wh o wi

but rather One who
ecognizes and

compas si on and f e eli ng .

to do and what n ot to do,

but

sphere moves closer to Mary's as

58

he gradually adopts the woman,s vi

w

awards religion.

While

this merging of their spheres enables Mary and James to marry
al

o demons rates a

hat

Another convert

Stowe

Hopkins,

His mother becomes hysterical

the shipwreck

writes of

when her son,

H_nry

his "election.

and rejec s

James

ow 1

after

sense

aith with Jesus.
mother,

Mrs.

for

she

ly under the harsh Calvinist doctrines

drowned

In a

is

the Calvinist doctrines .

in

8 7 / and there was doubt about

this book

roves to be a

working out her own doubts and misgivings

-

izes he

the event from first-hand experience

oo had suffered emotiona

rests her

symbo

is made during the time in which James

ieved to be dead.

learning of

mes over Dr.

112
C a 1 v1n1sm.
. .

.
t 10n
·
reJec
of

be

The fact

rejec ion of Calvinism by bo h.

ary has chosen J

means of

in which she finally

113

arvyn,

reminds us of the intellectual

Stowe:

7

In her bedroom
near by her work-basket stood a tabl
covered
i h books .
. One who should have looked
over this table would have seen there how eager an
hungry a mind was hid behind the silent eyes of this
quie
woman .
History
biography
mathematics
volumes
o f t e encyclopaedia, po try
novels
all alike found
their
ime and place there, - and while she pres rved
her household labo s
the busy
acti e soul with'n
travel ed cycles and cycles of thought, few of which
ever found expression in words (589).

Her

in el lee ual

happiness

nature prevents Mrs .

in the spiritual

Marvyn from finding

world:

The consequence of al 1 her lis ening was a history of
deep inward sadness.
That exultant joy, or that entire
submission, with whi h others seemed to view
he scheme
of the universe, as thus unfolded, did not visit her
mind.
Everything
o her seeme
shrouded in gloom and
mystery;
and that darkness she received as a
oken of
unregeneracy
as a sign that she was one of those who

59

L

it

are des ined
by a mys erious decree, never to receive
the light of
he glo ious gospel of Christ.
Punc ilious in every duty, exact
reverential
she
still re arded he rs elf as a child of wrath, an enemy to
God, and an heir of perdition (590).
Unable to find happiness
considers her failure a

in Dr .

Hopkins '

sermons,

Mrs.

Marvyn

sign of her rejection from Gods

"Elect."
When James
disappears .

is re orted drowned

rs .

he existence of
-

it is all

goodness
he mos

-

b e i n g ! ' ''

left

"'M ary,

~ad:

hard,

no

Marvyn is

unjust,

even her semblance of

in des air and even
canno,

cruel !.

will

uestions

be resigned!

To me there

is no

justice

no mercy in anything !
Life se ms to me
I
tremendous doom that can be inflicted on a helpless
(733 )

Her ran i ngs suggest

despair and defea
tea hings .

when

ha

one may only find

looking for consola ion in the Ca v · n · st

Events such as these cause one

understand the reason for

it s occurrence,

whe her one is or

member of

cannot abide the
chosen:

not ,

faith

is not a

o rack ones soul
and wha

the "elect."

idea that so many souls are

"Thin k what noble minds ,

what warm,

to

it meas -Mrs.

Marvyn

lost and so few
generous hearts,

what splendid natures are wrecked and thrown away by the
thousands and tens of

thousands!"

which relies on Christ's

love,

(734)

Unlike Mary ' s

faith

Calvinism abounds with all

the

twis sand

urns of self-examination.

of

when God may destroy their souls for al I eternity.

living

othing nor no one can help

rs.

a

She questions the pur ose

vyn unti

Candace enters the

.
114
s1' t ua 10n.

Candace is one o
whom

ames

is a

.&

the

.1.a.vor1• e

arvyns '

slaves,

Candace has a

60

recen

ly freed,

for

ready turned against

Calvinism when she refused Catechism,

because she is unable to

accept the doctrine which teaches that al
the grace of God as a

of

resul

men have fal

the Original

cin committed by

Adam and Eve.

Her reaso ing is simple in that she

eat dat ar '

le "

a.p

(611).

She finally accep s

Catechism but on y after Dr .
cousin .
but

sticks

~O

her own faith

g atitude.

in a

Christ's

love:

loves ye,

honey!

died for him' '

e Lord a'n ' t

others have not,

and

love and hope,

doctrine.

with

' [t]he flood-gates
form'

looked on His mother,

when she stood fain

n

under de cross,

like you?

car Mass ' r
consid ' a

ames

le more o

ie for nothin',
Her words of

(736-7) .

is one o '

' lect·

de

'

de

lave a ' n ' t

an'

fai

h could not.

L
61

with words

trembl i n '

about mothers
ater she adds,

and

" ' I m

' m c l ar dar's
Why,

e us didn t

gw i ne to be wasted '

love and hope help to comfort Mrs .

way the Calvinis

Hopkins'

'member how He

ect dan people tink .

al l da t

heart as

and healing

Marvyn

He knows a

break yours '

He

These wo ds speak

(736).

ye

He won ' t

-

loved him and

ere rent;

Don t

s .,

-

arvyn s

o comfort Mrs.

Candace continues

concerning her role as a mother:

hea

ink,

un ike the condemning words of Dr.

jes '

he

he words of

like what ye

hese words open Mrs.

sobs and tears shook the frail
of

sermons

however,

He died for Mass'r Jim,

(736) .

he

loving arms o

he more

She comforts her former mist4es
Why

Hopkins'

he end,

In

Chr ' st.

'

the word of the

loving Christ.

arvyn to

Candace turns Mrs.

nebber did

Hop ins has bought freedom for

he then ag ees to believe the Dr .

it seems more out of

en from

arvyn s

<737).

soul

the

I
As

in Uncle Toms Cabin,

During a

time when

Stowe appeals to a mother's

he death of chi dren was common ,

love .

many

readers would ident i fy with this s · tua ion .

Stowe uses emo io s

to

Stowe speaks from

urn her readers to a more

loving fa i th .

her own experience in that she anguished over these same
questions and doubt

as

rs .

arvyn,

and she turned t o t e

loving and healing power of the words of Christ.

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

Lastly,

Stowe int educes Madame Virginie de Frontignac

French Catholic who befriends Mary.
to demons rate the po er of

Stowe u s es t his character

love and Christ.

Both

ary and

Virginie consider the other woman outside the " rue Church " .
I
When Virg i nie thinks • 'that there are some saints that are not
i n the T rue
Christ·

hu r ch

.

.

" Mary remarks,

' 'All are one who

we are one i n Him "

( 7 65) .

Sto we

picture of " the Ca ho ic and the

uritan

each st r ong

repective fa i th ,
and so r row,

ye

melt i ng

age h er

in tha

love

pres e nts a
n her

embrace of

joined in the great communion of suffering '

Both hav e suffe ed from

love - -

adame de Front i gnac having

Mary having

las

Colonel

lost James,

Burr - - and

love
(765) .
and

hey both

turn to the Savior for comfort.

Stowe recognizes

and James

love and how it unifies,

unl i ke

the Calv i nist doctrines which exclude many and choose an

'elect"

f ew .

the power of Christ ' s

as do

ar

116

n the end,
Scudder

a

look a

Stowe provides trough the main character
the woman ' s

considered when addressin

I

a

view and asser s

sphere" she

its need to be

issues such as religion .

and superior spirtua ity are characteristic o f

Since piety

.he " woma n' s

as the authority to promote a more

62

Mary

lov i ng and

gent e

faith wi

h Christ as the center,

under a harsh and unforgiving God - The woman ' s

father.

7

stricter faith

the religion of Stowe s

identificati on with Christ,

also prov·des

May the assurance in this

loving faith.

she does not suffer

inner struggles about her salvation,

intense

but is reassured by Christ ' s

other characters.

ary ' s

nature,

ethereal

goodness
Burr

in May

ontrast

and wishes

t he " wom n s v i e w '' o f

leads

o a

marriage ,

e 1t

In

a

r e 1 i g i on .

ary ' s

" rejection" of Dr.

Mrs.

friend

but

sphere change s.

Hopkins'

not

propos

of Cal

just an 'e lect '

63

of

inism .

that

not

and how i
number .

n

andace shows her .

Madame de Frontignac,

ave

e

hey are able

and

in a

represents the power of Christs

and

This transformation

ultimately finds consolat ion

loving Christ

Like

grasp its

Marvyn,

the French Catholic,

faith,

na ure has

same goodness .

she reiforces her own " rejection'

mother,

people of

James '

imon

arvyn recognizes the

James

"b alance " be ween James and Mary,

a Calvinist God,
Mary ' s

er as his evil

a

With his conversion,

ado pt s

to marry.

Like

but remains unconver ed .

By

Hopkins,

Burr is drawn to

he rejects Calvinism because he canno

doctrines.

James'

Colonel

he rejects religion altoge

perverted his soul.

Unlike Dr.

Her certainty in her fa . th

love .

affect several

egree,

,....

against a

unif i es al

In The Pearl
' balance '

sand

of Orr ' s

th-t she initially

towe writes about

eveloped

in Uncle Toms Cabin

more thorough y

in _T_h_e_ _1_ ._i_s_t_e_r__s__
W_o_o_i_n~g~ .

idea using

wo main characte s ,

Penne 1.

he

Un 1 i ke

ary and .James

and finally mar y,

ara and

too far apart and may not
her,

join.

ara foresees a

v·ew

Their

the

voman s

he

ensuring his earthly union wi

res

of

the world.

h her

(9).

Bu

Having

las

her fa her

ha

looked at her
her,

she does thrive,

(28).

she was not

in a

but also by

y Kittrid e .

great sorrow"
chi dren ar

Her

so hard

of en remind t
.

e

They that

father's eye had never beheld

cup had rested on he

These f acts seem to separate her

64

(28).

and after three years she

1 and singular as

her

shipwreck and her

introduced to th

like other children .

remembered tha

and her baptismal

Sal

ara is

" seven months

has " ways and manners so sti
neighbors

union

Stowe sets Mara L · ncoln apart from the

is discounted for

raise "

joined

She becomes his

frien

reader as having been " the outcome of a

o

while

intends to bring Moses to the

mother after her own premature birth,

survival

sphere,

efo e

union in heaven which may be brough

" savior, " not only by ensuing their eternal

--

ary

hough they cannot be

and c oser to her sphere.

From the beginning,

spheres " ar

Like Little Eva and

sphere.

about only through her death.
woman ' s

Mara Lincoln and Moses

who seem to achieve this balance

ara epitomizes the traits of

on earth ,

but

She expounds on thi s

oses do not.

Moses represents the male ' s

he

mother ' s

coff i n"

from the others and make

her unique.

116

Even Mara ' s
of stature,
with a

description dis

gives a

has that sort of

she

looks not exactly in il 1 health

transparent appearance which one fancies

(134) .

Even a

le go den-haired

dreamy ,

' s

Like her

be an attribute of fairies and sylphs "
I

seventeen

Mara is still

excitable,

fanciful

predecessors,

Pear

nature which evokes a
When she plays,
with a

' he
'

lit

of Or

le Eva and Mary,

Li

(28-9).

and her cheek has a clear

and frail

.'

like her

hat manner which

peculiar expression of dreamy wistfulness '

transparent brilliancy.

Is and "

Mara seems "like a

wild spirit of glee'

(39).

and her

117

fairy sprite,

Others notice

eeling herself all

and nerves al 1 active,

(196).

she possesses an ethe eal

spirit-like quality.

o be "'thinking and

of

but her eyes were dark

lids drooped over them in

Mara appears " slig t

migh

and moulded

fine waxen delicacy that won admiration from al 1 eyes .

mother ' s and the

bu

she 'was smal 1

beyond the wont of children of her age

Her hair was curly and golden,

Later

inguishes her:

ha

possessed
she seems

into mere spirit -

little body so f

ail ' "

brain

(168) .

One

the more interesting episodes occurs when she dreams she is

playin~ wi

h Sally Kittridoe on the beach where they encounter a

woman with a

chi d .

The woman is "dressed in a

garment '

and the

something

lost "

playmate.

Later that morni

and child who
The mother
Mara ' s

little boy is
(52) .

' c ying and

long white

looking about as for

Te woman delivers the child to Mara as a
g,

ally and Mara d i scover a mother

ave washed up on the beach following a

is dead

grandpa ents ,

sh i

wreck .

but the child surv i ves and the Pennels,
take him to raise .

65

The Pennels name him

oses

Mara ' s dream foreshadows

I
I
I
I
I

mortal

life.

boundaries to communicate to a

l i fe form of a

breaks
higher

o possess this " dim rememberance of a

spirit once affiliated to some higher sphere "

(320-1).

ethereal

' d i vine

nature suggests that she maintains a

Her
link ' which

allows her to act an intermediary between the two regions .
Mara ' s spir·

ual

nature

is also ref l e

From

er birth ,

seems to be closely a

tached to religion and God.

which her mother recites

her not Naomi,

call

very bitterly with me '"

hr

(8).

ara,

for

118

in her piety,

1

"' Call

woman s sphere . '

ted

distinct trait of the

from Scripture,
,--

S o we adds that

state .

love for her son is/sos rang that i t

Mara ap ears

sphere.

,--

events :

world and move into the spiritual

spiritua

,--

the actual

hat Mara somehow has the ability t o t anscend the

the dead mother ' s

is baptised at her paren s '
Seri pture,

"' A fa her of

habi ation '.,

( 14).

God ' s domain,

and for a

a

she

Her name come

just before her death·
the Almighty hath dealt

These

lines are repeated when Mara

funeral.

The minister reads from

,-

L:

I

in Mara ' s

It may be that our present faculties have among them a
rudimentary one,
. by which the spi itual world
becomes sometimes an object of perception , - there may
be natures in which the walls of the ma erial are so
fine and translucent that the spiritua l is seen through
hem as a glass darkly.
It may be too
that the love
which is stronger than death has a
o er some imes to
ma e itself heard and felt through the walls of au
mart lity.
(60-1).
Stowe suggests

[=

I
I
I
I

figure

Stowe attempts to explain this strange phenomenon in wh"ch

r=

I

and he becomes the central

he fatherless

is God in his holy

She seems destined for a s ecial
special

purpose on earth.

rela ionship for shadows her fate.

,-

66

place in

This

A
spiri

one pain

ual

in the nar ative,

Stowe comments on th·s

nature which certain people

most especial

y women .

possess:
But there a e; both men and women, beings born into
this wo ld in whom from childhood th
spirit al and the
reflective predominates over
he phys i cal .
. They
are
he artists, t e poe s, the unconscious seers to
whom the purer tru hs of spiritua
ins
uction
re
open .
Surveying man merely as an animal
hese
sensitively-organize
beings ,
ith
heir feebler
physical powers. are imperfect specim ns of 1·te.
Looking from the spiritual side, they seem to have a
nobles rength
a divine force.
he
ypes of this
latt er c la s s are more commonly among women than am ong
men.
Multitudes of them p ss away in earlier years
and leave beh·nd in many hearts the anx ·o us wonder, why
they came so fair . only to mock the love they k " ndled.
They who live t
maturity are th~ pr·ests and
priestesses of
h
sp·ritual
ire
ordained of God to
keep the ba ance between the rude but absolu e
necess
ies of physical 1 'fe and the higher sphere to
which the
must at length
ive
lace (178-9) .
n this .assage.

Stowe alludes to

sensitive natu e ,

a

cha acteris

among women than amo g me
her physical

being,

he fac

and she appears to be a
perh ps one

maintain the balance bet een the spiritua

'ho a

ho ever ,

towe sug ests
e not destined for

tran s lated to a

long

more
y

y predominates over
airy sprite .
ary ' s

l i ke

Those

serve to

and the ear hl
ike those othe s

that Mara is

life on earth,

and sacri

nineteenth-cen ury women

but are soon

Everyth'ng she does

r

herself

is fo

him,

the woman y

ice for Moses ,

common tra · ts of

emphasize her spiritual and pious

Ever since she was a

'[s]he has no drams f

learned all

a

higher realm.

1ara's self-denial

qualities .

so

ic wh·ch is found " more comma

This spir " uali

.

natures which remain on ear h ,

worlds

that Mara

lit

chi d
a

Mara has

they are all
d

'[

or

i

ived for
for Moses

;:)ake she

le accomplishments which

6

( 133) •

as
s .

oses ·

She knits

Kittridge has dragooned into

ally [her best friend].

his mittens and his stockings

and hems his pocket-hand erchiefs

and aspires to make his shirts all
love fa

oses had always had in it a

maternal

and care-taking element "

almost Christ-like:
suffered in him,
he se f

"She felt

(210).

and saw,

and enjoyed,
a

that

and

higher natu e

in

judged and condemned .

kind of guilty pain,

as if

his sins were borne bleeding in her heart

her own;

Mara ' s

Her devotion becomes

by wh"ch unwillingly he was often
er with a

(133-4).

large admix ure o

and yet was conscious o

His faults affect

(2 11).

herself "

they

ere

in s ilen ce "

/

19

ara's Christ-Ii e behavior manifests itself early i n the
navel .

When she discovers that Moses has become involved with

smugglers,
her old

she risks her own safety to save him.

riend

Captain Ki

voyage for Moses that will

-

for help,

and he arranges a

ke p him away from crime .

This

episode foreshadows Mara's gre ter sacrifice at the end .
Mara discovers that she
she grew up wi
does not

-

tridge,

She calls upon

h

eel ipse "

but she does not want

ave her

resting upon 'he r
(328) .

loves Moses more than a

he same way .
heart [as]

obody shall

long time

love him,

-

(329)

Later,

fear

he

the shuddering sorrow of a dim
cross,

and

while he is one of his voyages :

nobody shal 1 dream it,

hat he is away ,

overcome !'"

him for

She seems to bear this burden as a

know

the brother

Th i s burden over helms her,

hopes only to survive the ordeal
"'

o tell

20

-

and in the

long

shal 1 have strength given me t o
when Moses discovers that Mara does

Sally chastizes him:

" 'Yes,

68

Moses Pennel,

she

loves

you

l " ke an angel,
Sally

( 338) .

a l mos t

escribes Ma a's

(359).
li

prayers,

he does

oses Pennel ' s.

Sally points out

"'natures are opposite as any two could well

Unli e Mara,

hearte

tle urchin";

Moses

is " a

strong-limbed,

'n ot conduct himself as a babe of grace"
Moses

and selfish (80).

is a

On one occasion when he

opportunity to rebel
ho would n t
exp ains
one
rs.

merry-

and while she behaves respectfully at

Though Mara is selfless and self-denying,

let children do as they pleased"

(79) .

is " self-·willed"
child,

and takes Mara a ay "from all

he sees an

grown

(114) .

eople

As Stowe

" There are two classes of human beings in this world:

lass s em made to give

love

Pennel and Mara be onged to
oses to the

aster

[

love for Moses as unique and

ife contras s with

to her that the · r

I
I
I
I

loved ' "

. . t ua l . 121
sp1r1
ara s

be' u

as none of you men deserve to be

the typical

late '

Now

and the other to take it .
he first class,

and

litt e

oses represe ts for Stowe

(111) .

male concerned only with himselt.

122

Moses represents the worldly ambitions characteristic of the
mans sphere.

About to emba k on his first voyage,

the difference between himself and

(136) .

Their spheres grow

farther apart as

rea izes that

ose

canno

"He was handsomer,

think of

clevere

her as

and had a

thousand other things to do and to think of -

he was a boy

short,

and going to be a

al 1 over the

world"

(162) .

g l orious m n and sail

in

His place is the world and her place is the home

-- the distinct spheres of

he man and woman of the nineteenth

century .

69

l

He is the "glorious

just a

much as she does of him :

I
L

a a.

knight, ' while she is
ar

girl

he remarks on

I-

I

Moss'

r:

•=
r:

I
I
I
I
II-

I-

L::
I
I

I
l

""'"

obliviou

sphere is so distant from Mara's that he remains

to all

the things she does for him.

insensitivity by su gesting that "[nJot only was he

ions within himself which mad

knowledge possible '

His sphere is so far

(161) .

a a s that she cannot even reach him.

Theirs heres are not
but also

separa ed mentally by their different ways of pe ce ivi ng and
.

f ee l 1 ng .

123

When he seems disappoin ed that she has not told him tha
she will
be in.

mi ss him

she reminds him

"

[YJou know your career must

Your must make your fortune '

' saintly '
strong

(329).

But she is not so

and self-sacrificing when she attacks

ma e' attitude:

enterprise

his

"'You men must have everything .

.

the adven ure

that you are something
besides all

oses for

this,

he novelty,

you want the satisfaction o

women are fol lowing

the

he pleasure of feeling

and can do som thing in the world·

and

knowing that we

in chains behind your triumphal

car '"

(330) .

ara condemns

oses for wanting too much.

Her words remind us of

e

iticisms of his selfishness.

They also sugges ,

earl ier c

howver,

tha

the worn n ' s

sphere is not a l ways easy to

live

hin .

any part of himself

to God .

n a

Unlike

' that one unfailing Confidant -

the

1 he

comfort and guidance never fail

does tha

he can not give

a a who places her trust

in

Invisible Friend to whom the

solitary child could pour out her hear

,

and whose

inspiration of

to come again in return to true

70

L

but

removed from

separated only physically by the world and the home ,

oses is so self-centered

[ =:

ignorant,

he had not even those condi

wi

--

Stowe explains h · s

I
I

r:

•·=
-

I

stand alone

souls " Moses mus

God in his estimate of

lif e

-

(213).
and a

none"

' feared relig i on ,

(248) .

He

entertained that

I
I
I

I

·-

L:

Il
I
.,,,...

r«t!'

from a suspicion whi ch he

its rules,

He

lest he might find

them in some future time inconveniently strict n

(248-249).

rebellion against God emphasizes h"s resistance to

au hority and his own self-will .

Although he rejects God

ames Marvyn,

the angel

good deal

I-

here should be

it mi ht hamper some of his future schemes .

Moses '

7

there is " no

sort of secret unsuspected

the bottom of his heart that

did not wish to put himself under

I
II-

oses,

determination a

I-

I-

For

o

he is not

' without

susceptibility
the

which is God ' s witness

in the soul .

something apart f rom the real

But this

however

was

life

- a sort of

to which he gave

little heedn

purpose of his

voice cry in g in the wi derness -

am ition

He had a

o poetic feeli ng, the power of vague
/
lancing after the good and beautiful,

a nd dreamy aspiration,

<249) .

in him.

like

Although his " angelic " part remains subordinate to his
l i ke James ,

he has the potential

to move closer to the

" higher realm. "
At one pain.

sks Mara to give up her

Moses

He inquires,

that she can love him more .

love for God so

' 'Why should you

love

an unseen and distant Being more than you do one whom you can
feel

and see

your own? "

who holds you in his arms
(348)

like a

l i ke

While he sees God only as an abstract Being

Mara sees Him differently :
much

whose heart bea~s

father as

' ' God has always been to me not so

like a dear and tender mother .

never remember the time when
joys and my sorrows .

I did no

I never had a

I could not say to Him '"

(348) .

feel

his presence in my

thought of

oy or sor ow that

Stowe emphasizes the feminine

71

a~pects of God through
and perhaps ma ernal,
rejection of

-

much a
It

part of

and

my

ual ly

the end,

" life. "

latter

Minister ' s

Wooing,

religion

oses

rom

ara ' s a

-

an

sti 1 l

feminine

"'His

1 ave

is so

life withou

By asking her to
sphere ,

it.

love him

Moses

is

She can either marry Moses and die
ie phys i cally and

is her " choice " .

live spiritua l ly.

eat

Mara must die

lambs,

of

ins too distant

love Moses completel

In her Christ-like manner,
sou 1 ,

Stowe explains:

lives of Chr · st's

view

.

in order to

oses '

In

in The

he " woman s

and h " s 1 sphere rem

the time of her

life to save

ames

Unlike

who comes to understand

union may take place.
silent

(349).

from that highe

live spiritually.

sacrifice he

Mara remarks,

cannot conceive of

is unable to,

In the end

loving,

This seems to underscore Stowe ' s

breathe' "

I

or she can

the

.

life tha

o remove herself

taking away her
spiri

Chris

the Calvinist faith .

is the very air

more

ara as she describes a

Mara must

in order that an etern

I

" Not vain are even th ese

whom may an earth - bound heart

has been roused to follow where the Shepherd bore them to the
higher pastures.
like Christ ' s

.

in tha

they take part

w

hou

he i r

Comforter
ara ' s

these are among those whose

they were made
(398)

become bread to us
hey go away.

all

he adds,

Like their Lord

an

Uncle Tom's Cabin.

She

their

(398-9) .

as well

as Li

life

is

but to

Such

and

that

o d i e·

incomplete
way does

he

is the purpose of

tle Eva ' s

and Uncle

is destined to save Moses,

72

w s

is expedient f or us

not til 1 they are gone

u l 1 y come to us "

li f e and death

" It

themselves

they come to suf f er ,

in his sacrif i ce;
death,

not for

Ii e

om' s

and to br i ng

in

,..

him to Christ.

She serves the same purpose Mary does for Ja es

in The Minister ' s Wooing,
the same result.

impending dea h

At first

when

however,

,-,_

-

-1
•I ~

I

I

I
I

him from understanding God's

love,

to die.

he dying Mara,

fter a

visit with

thinking of her and his

lov

for

·s

as Mara does,

hi

feel

trivial

her.

He

ambition · and

the so e wo th and value o f

he is

in al lowing her

he spends time ala

later discove s

" sorrow was doing her ennobling ministry within him,
in her fierce fires

dying

His selfishn ess prevents

love.

that

melti

low desires,

g off

and ma<

That which in othe

he paramount value of

I""'""

love h s

(414) .

taken one st p from an earthly to a
The sor ow of

spiritual

ara sap roaching death and

existence

loss to h"m

~

j

enab es
~

his desires and ambitions for a more

oses to shed a l
love .

He begins to see mo e clearly ad

important

oal

selflessly

and to put his

just

s

love for

she had done with her

ore

er above al 1 other things

love for

has moved hiss here closer to hers

him.

With this step

he

and closer to a woman's .

This transit · on is fully ef ected when Moses talks
with Captain Kittridge who comes upon him as he is thinking.
he Captain comforts Moses with his assurance that Mara is going

I
(_

g

days had seemed only as one good thing among many now seemed the

91llY.. thing in life . And he who has learned

I
I

oses begins to

oses discovers that Mara

unable to see beyond his on desires.

-1
- -

in order to achie e

124

With Maras
ch nge.

but Mara must die

to heaven:
Them ar bells in the Celestial City must be all a- there ' 11 be joy that side o '
he
ringin ' for her
rive
I rec on when she gets acrost.
If she 'd jest
leave me a hem o ' her garment to get in by , I ' d be
glad·
but she was one o' the sort that was jest made

73

r

II
I

o go
o heaven. She only stopped by a few days in ou r
world.
. She never said much to me
but she kind o '
drew me.
Ef ever I shou d ge
in there
it ' 1 be she
led me (416).
His words arouse some emo ion wi

certainty of the Captains belief,

I
I

of Mara ' s destined purpose.
mortal

I
I
J
J

hopes

I

not only from the

but also from the realization
they are too far apart

but he finally recognizes that her

enable him to be with her for eternity,

o have the " hem o '

n

her garmen

for he too

o get i n by . ' '

oses

takes the Captain ' s words to heart when t he older sailor says:
'

[SJhe ' s

goo

[Mara is]

i nd o'

·

so kind o '

akes

for

one o

makes me want

and fe els drawn to be one of Ch r ist ' s

Moses underst nds

the hymns

(418).

Af ter

he

the ol

man.

He rema r ks

sphere that re v olves a1ound

that only

ara becomes Moses '

in

akes ano her step away from
ara

ara ' s dea hand the so r

induces may bring about this understanding

emot i onal

ye k n ow '"

f l o ck.

he significance of her death .

Stowe sugges s

this means,

o be

ara had m rked for

is selfish,' " and he

m

the Lo d ' s

Mo s es a ckno w ledges Mara ' s abil i t y to see the goodness

kind o '

earth and into the spir i tual

r-

thinks

(417) .

' 'our grief

r-

g r anted

s he

ye k no w.

Captain reads one of

,....

i

god and innocent,

people ,

him,

I

I
I

oses

He kno s

life to be together,

dea h will

I
I

hin

savior .

and dramatic scene to force

i n Moses .

Once more,

wit

T h ough
Stowe uses an

he reader t o t ake sp e c i al

,--

not i ce of the i ssue and

-=-

~

view .

Wh en Moses approaches Mara the s e cond tim e

.--

I
l
.-l

he woman ' s

He tells her ,
past.
for me ,

" ' I would g iv e my

l if e ,

if

have never been worthy of you .
and

li ed for my se lf .

could take ba c k the
.

deserve to

74

h e ha s chang e d .

You al wa ys

liv ed

lose you ,

but it

r
is none

he is willing
for

I-

I
I
I-

sacrifice

loved her:

this

'

thought and f

eling

eart

for

larger ,

s

I did.

tie duties

round the world '"

(423).

a ra realizes that she

they would never have come

Her death will

wider nature

and the narrow l i

Since their spheres are so far apart ,
must die,

is

hat she is making

live in your heart

Yours went all

little home.

he

loved him more than he could

I knew you had a

a wider sphere to

ine was al

he first time,

o make the same self-sacrifice

ever

than mine

For

and though it cannot be possible,

ara explains why she

have

of

(422).

him .

I
I

ogether while on

bring th em eternal

I

unio

:

Moses,
. for all I know you have loved me dearly,
yet I have felt that in all tha
was deepest and
dearest to me
I was alone.
You did not come near to
me, n r touch me where I feel most deeply.
f
had
lived to be your wife, I cannot say but
his distance
in our spiritua
nature mi ht have widened .
You
ow
what we live with we get used to;
it grows an old
story .
Your love too might have grown old and
orn
out.
If we lived together in the commonplace toils of
life
you would see only a poor th eadbare wife.
I
might have lost wha
Ii
le charm I ever had over you·
but I feel that if I die
this wil l not be.
There is
someth · ng sacred and beautiful in death;
and I may
have more power over you, when I seem to be gone , than
should have had living (424) .

l

I
I
I
I

less bitter"

willing to make a

I-

I
I
I
I

he

Just a
I

Chri~

recognized tha

His death also heightened the

importance of His teach in gs among the people,
see a

greater power over Moses as a

glorification in dea h will
for

her death shall

her death,

secure

save his soul.

result of her death .
oses for
She

they would have continued

o

love is strongest,

75

her

Her

in eternity,

recognizes that without
l ive apart and their

love would have " grown old and worn ou ."
lovers while their

so too does Mara

They part as earthly

only to reunite a

I
spiritual
In

lovers at that same strong

[_

I
l
I
I

beginning,
she

apart

Sally ' s

She is

her

i

introduced as ' a

( 36 ) .

Un li e

looked surly and wrathfu
(34).

to Sally s

in marked contras
ara who

in that

healthy

v · gorous

labored over the chore she was pe forming

"

spheres

fers greatly from Mara's

large black eyes

golden curls " stand
ha i

best

From the

and even intersect at places .

character

is more " real. "

girl,' and
she

Mara ' s

This union seems more plausible because thei

are not so fa

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I-

Moses marries Sally Ki ttridge,

he end

friend .

lev

as

a a'

" crow-black

as not been trained to work

"' Sally could oversew and hem when she wa'n't more'n three years
I
( 39) .
After the two have grown, Sally still dif f ers in
0 1 ' '
appear nee from
has

'a

ara

face with a

glowing cheeks ,

eflects a more earthly nature .

rich Spanish complexion,

marked eyebrows ,

Unlike Ma a
translucent,

which

whose simple

and

large black eyes

lustrous black hair'

ethereal

character

Sally is more complex and human

to find what was

and ''[wJhen one

strong,

if one could but get at it "

while the depths of

(300) .

much as Moses '

thee

generous and
This suggests that

ara ' s nature are more easily discovered ,

ally s may also be found but with a
suggests that Sally ' s

he

in the depths of her character

was abundance there of good womanly feeling,

(196) .

is almost

got s ufficiently far down through the foam and froth of
surface,

She

Stowe

little more effort .

inner depths need some form of relea e

do .

The closer relationship betwee~
may be seen through her view of
subject of Moses '

leaving on a

love.

oses

and Sally ' s

spheres

When Sally addresses the

voyage following months of

76

their

I

I
I
I
I

' da ing, ' she claims that she does not care that he is go i ng:
" 'We l I ,

I do care for

him sort o ' ,

should break my hear
man "

1
I

(307)

for

is that any reason

bu

his going? -

that ' s

Her remark implies thats e,

too much for any

like Moses,

does no

have the ability to commit he self,

even though she

loves the

person.

oses than any of

the other

Though she cares more for

men she has dated,
completely .

she

is still

that she does not

rea

too,

ly

hurt by

love.

oses

like

love

and wants to

She admits to Mara

and be always putting him before myself

as you do?

o,

and de erves to get me fo.r a

have the self-less,
closer to Moses '

He's a

uld n
wife ' '

(308).

Do

"'Love?

ara does :

L would bear with Moses P nnel all his i ns and

and ups and downs
every hing

love him

She thinks primarily of herself

pro ect herself from bein

you suppose

unwilling to

uts
in

sinner

Sally does not
Her

love is

devotional

love that Ma a

has.

love for Mara,

in which she

is not yet ready to

give herself up.

As

eath approaches

hange .

Mara ' s

death brings about the same transformation in

Sal 1 y as

it does

inner change :

in

her

mys erious de ths

ose s.

,~

pa he ic power of a

Her physica

spark in

eyes.

and tender,

fl e

tone of her vo · ce had a

[

Sally s nature begins to

ara ' s

features

reflect the

had in them now

t · ng shado s

subdued tremor .

[TJhe deep

noble heart was being born "

Sally Kittridge seems to draw upon Ma.ra for

he very

and

(401) .

her new

The new

life .

"S ome

influence sprung of sorrow" enables her to assume some of Ma a's
nature -- her spiritual

nature -- and ma e

77

it a

part of herse f

r
l
I

I
I
I
]

(401) .
Whe

Moses and Sally meet fol lowing Maras dea h

both changed.
them:

Moses comments on this difference in both of

"'You and

I are neither of us what we were then ,

We are as different as

if we were each another person .

been trained in another
C436) •

life

-

educated by a

together

]-

the other "

oses then proposes :

o on alone? ' '

each of us

S owe implies that
that Mara and

]

I~

I

thei

While the·
"sorro" and

unite the spheres s~ they may become mutually

sharing of one another.

(436)

"'Why sh uld we,

Although she never answers ,

he two do marry and create the eart

ly union

oses never could have had .

This balance between the two characters may be better
understood through Stowe ' s comments on the education and
i nte 1 i gence of

women.

s a child,

M ra becomes

in her books:

reads forthwith she aspires to read too,
younger,

]

great sorrow'"

(436).

spheres may have been somewhat apart before

rea ing ad absorbs herself

]

We have

and now they 'have a world of thoughts and memories

their " memories'

I
I
I]-

Sally .

The changes brought by Maras death have dawn the two

which no one can understand bu

]

they a e

reads with a

far mor

Recognizing her abilities

"naturally

the

and though three years

Mr.

Sewel 1,

Stowe compares her

decides to

o Moses

as

having "a more quiet and scholar-like turn than he -

more intel le tually developed
excep iona]

" Wha ever book Moses

precious insight. • (134)

the ministe ,

tutor Mara along with Moses.

involved in

< 183) .

This evaluation i

in the nineteenth century when women were considere

intellectual

inferiors of men.

Stowe actually considers the man and the woman to be

78

I
I

I

intellec ually balanced
knowledge.

I

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

[_

I
I

and the one may benefit from the other's

Those who contend against
ivi g woman the same
education as man, do it on the ground that it would
make the woman unfeminine - as if
atu e had done her
work sos ightly
hat it could be so eas i ly ravel led
and knit over.
I
fact , there is a masculine and a
feminine element in all knowledge, and am n and a
woman pu
to the same study extrac
only what their
nature fits them to see - so that knowle ge can be
fullx orbed only when
he two unite in
he search and
share the spoils (134).
In contras

o those who claim

unfeminine,

hat education makes a

Stowe retorts that an individual ' s

easily changed or "ravelled over. "
her belief

sex may not be so

Hrr argument

in two kinds of knowledge -- a

woman

is based u on

feminine and a

masculine knowledge.

She contends that the

particular pieces of

information in accordance wi h his or her

sex.

For

his reason

she argues that

"masculine e l ements," -- the
extracts the

feminine elements'

towe also proposes that,
insig t,

however

of

woman ' s

is t a t the

-- while

-- the emotional

1 ike Mara,

gleans

he man extracts the

elemen s

he woma

elements .

women have " more precious

which differs from the man ' s

" mo r e p r e c i o us ' be ca u s e
balance

lo ical

individual

pe ception

'd i v i ne

1i n

. ''

and perhaps
The key to the

if ering 'knowledges " must be

brought together and mutually shared .

Only then mayo e

fully

unders and an issue.
n conclusion,
between

Stowe argues

that a balance must exist

he masculine elements and the feminine elements of

knowledge -- the ' head " and the
woman's view,

heart".

She implies that

t

the " feminine elements," has been neglected by a

male-dominated society,

but now must be recognized.

79

In Uncle

r

]

I

r-

1_

Tom ' s Cabin
Island,

The Minister ' s

he religous ques
perspective of

]

I-

of Orr s

the two

issues.

better and more complete
The womans emotional

towards a

response to

eveals the hor o s

of

institution," which counteract the economic and

advantages proposed in the male vie1 .

concerning

he religious question ,
loving

merciful,

the woman ' s

Like1,, · se,
emotions d aw her

and perhaps " feminine '

God,

over

the

h rsh and unfo giving Fathe -God of the male-a iented Calvin·st
faith.
s

]

ion provide a

the family ruptures within slave society

political

I

and The Pearl

towe ar ues that the worn n's view towards s avery and

he ' peculiar

]

Wooing ,

oreo er,

ereo ypes

' d " vine

she prov · des her main female characters

au hority to pass

Stowe

elieves

wom a n ' s

views ,

and a

in accordance with'nineteenth-centu y

at
a

judgment on those

hrou h the

issues.

integration of

reater "wholeness

80

Ultimately

the man ' s and the

of knowledge may be achieve

more enlightened perspective deve l oped

I
I
I
I

ith the

EN

;:)tows:
P ess .

/_

OTES

-Gaye Kimball~ The Relig"ous Ideas of Ha
Her Gospe
of Womanhood 1982), p.
85.

E l i z ab e t h Ammon s • " H e r o i n e s i n Un c 1 e
ab i n , ••
American Literature 49 (1974) :
161- 79·
Th"s thesis is
simplis ic
bu
so too is the nine eenth-century ste eat pew ich
se
apart t e male and female spheres.
Of course
he sphere
were not so simply divided.
Harriet Beecher
towe and others did
not necessarily agree w·th these stereotypes, but they used them
·o emphacize the im ortance of the womans rol
which had bee
reduced by the industrial revolution./ Of en these stereotypical
roles which ~he woman's sphere created.
ere
he on y mean
women
had of retaining any
i nifica ce in nineteenth-century societ . .
ere ore, her argument sometimes falters w· en she is unable to
main ain these unna ural boundar·es betwee
them n and wo an.
3

Fores
Wilson
Cr sader i
rinoline:
The
Life of Harrie
Beecher Stowe J.B. L"ppinco ~ •
• 9LJ.1), p .
20 - 21 . 22 . 36 , 38 , 39
45, 46
sup lies
he major·ty
of the bibliog aphic i forma ion
ng with Mary Kelley •s
Priva e
oman. Public Stage:
Li e arv Domes+-i ·ty i
Nineteen· Centu
America C ew York:
Oxford Univers it y P ess
1984)
p.

79.
b.

4

'

48.

79·

Kel le_v, Private Woman.
5 , 60, 6 , 63-64, 75.
5

wi lso , Crusader
p.
58.
Dunham Fo~~er, Heroine~ of Modern
acMi l lan
ompany, 1922)
p.
91.
6
7

Kelley,

p.

Ke 1 l ey

12

Ibid

44,

4

ilson ,

Pri ate Woman .

iow.1 I son.
11

p.

Crusader ,

59 :
Elmer
. Adams and
rogress C ew Yorl· :
The

44 .

bid.
Ibid .

9

Private Woman,

Wilson,

p.

Kelley .

Crusader.

p.

p.

33 .

Kel

ey,

Priva e Woman

p.

3

-35:

81

Crusader .

p.

33 .

45 .

Pr iv ate Woman.

44 .

p.

46.

p.

arren

r_
13
14

Ib"d,

p.

48.

Ibid,

p.

45 ,

15W.1 l ;;on.

16

17
18

p.

46.

C usader

Ibid ,

p.

49,

l bid,

p.

71 -72.

dams and

p.

30 .

63 .

aster,

p.

93;

Wi

son 1 Crusader,

7-,
19

Wi l on. Crusader. p. 57. 73 :
Wi if red Wise, Ha riet
Beeche
~towe:
A Woma
wi th a Cause C ew Y rk:
G . P. Putnam's
Sons. 1965), p. 49;
Cha !es H. Fas e
The Rungless Ladder:
_H_a_r_r_·_e_t_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _E_n_g....._I_a_n_d__P_u_r_i_t_a_n_i_s_m
. C. :
p.
96;
Adams and Foster.
Heroines.
20W.1 l son,

21

]

]

C usader.

p.

75.

I
Fas

er.

_h_e_R_u_n~g. . . l_e_s_s_ _ _ _r_.

p.

4.

22

Ibid . p .
97;
Harriet Beeche
owe f inds some
inspiration for
his
new faith " i n Common
ense App!ied to
Rel ·gion; or The Bible and the Peop e by her older sis e .
Catharine Beecher.
23W.1 l sont

24

bid

Crusader,
88 ,

95 ,

p.

6.

111 ,

112 ,

113 .

114,

17

122 .
25
26

Ibid,

p.

119 ,

I bid,

p.

77 .

20

140,

128-1 9 .
50-151 ,

160- _61.

71-172

27

l
l
J

Barba ra Leslie Eps e·n , The Politics of Domesticity:
Women Evange ism and Temperance in Ninet
-Century Americ~.
( 1iddle own
Conn . :
es eyan University Press
981) , p.
75:
Kelley
Private Woma
p.
312.
Po
ics, p.
63, 74, 78;
Ann
oug as . The
Feminizatio
mer·can Cu
or :
A red K. Kno
97 )
p.
49;
ancy Cott
The Bods
f Woman ood:
" W man ' s
Sphere " in
ew England, · 80-1835 ale University
Press, 1977), p.
80·
Kelley, Private Woman, p .
11
Rich rd
H. Brod ead, "Vei led Ladies·
Toward
His or
of An ebel lu
Enter ainment. '
merican Lite
istory
(2)
(Summer 1989):
275.
29

o
, Womanhood , p .
64, 67:
Brodhead, 'Veiled Ladie
p.
2 4:
Kimba 1 Gospel of Womanhood
Gail
p.
69 ·
Parker,
he Oven Birds:
American Women on Womanhood. 1820-

82

ft

1920 (Garden City,
Y:
Doubleday & Company, Inc .,
972) ,
14 ·
Wi 11 iam O ei 11
Eve yone Was Brave :
The Rise and Fal 1 of
Feminism in America (Chicago :
Quadr ncle Boo ks, 1969), p.
7 ;
Kei ~h E.
elder, Begin
he A er i can Woman's
Rights
ovement, 1800Schocken Books
1977)
p.
7.
30

elder ,

Sis . . erhood,

2.

p.

31
· 01

eill , Everyone Was Brave
p.
7 ·
Epstein, Politics .
n the
· xties,
Amy Louis
Reed.
Female Delicacy
(De ober 19 5) :
858, 860 .

p.
86 ;
Cen ury

32

Parker, The O en Birds . p .
15
190 :
the essays may be
found in the collection en itled The Writ·ngs of H rriet Beeche
towe .
33

34

Ibid,

191.

Ibid,

p.

· 92 .

,_....,Ibid ,

p.

197 .

3 r=,

36w.1 son

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

37lb'd
"
l
'

39

p.

Kel
220-221 .
40

I

Crusader
p.

176

p.

201.

p.

191 ,

174 .
198 .

ey

Private Woman .

p.

Kelley

Pri a·e Woman,

p

208

217

225 .

243 .

on ,

Crusader,

280-2 1 ;

281 ;

Wil

p.

204 .
41E ps

e in,

Pol .

cs .

7

'

2,

83;

Wilson ,

Crusader .

p.

21 LL.

42

Barbara Welte r,
The Feminization of Ameri an Relig · n :
1800-1860, " in Mary S. Hartman and Lois Banne , eds ., Clio s
Consciousness Raised :
New Perspec ives on the
istorv of
omen
( ew York :
De agon Books
19 6)
137;
Rich rd D.
hiels , "The Feminiza ion of Amer i can Congrega ionalism .
730835
American Quarterly 33 (Spring 1981):
46 .
43

Shie s . "Feminization of Congregationa ism , ' p . 47. 4950, 52;
Welter, "Feminization of Religion ." p.
138 ;
The
feminization of the
hurch was extended to t he clergy
wh o often
found their roles reduced in importance .
he cler y's fa ll
coincided with that of
e church , and as Ann
ouglas disct s es
in The Feminization of American Cult re , the c ergyman also los
his masculinity (19) .
44
Epstein,

Shie l. " Feminization of Congregationa ism "
Politics
p.
51

83

p.

62:

r_

1

]

I
I
]

45

Doug as , The F em·niza~ion of Arner · can Cult re , p .
48 ;
Barton Levi S:
Armand
Emily Dickinso n and Her Culture :
The
_ ________
Y (Cambridge :
Cambr i dge Un i ve sity Pr e s s,
98.ll.), p.
46

Kimbal 1

I
I
I
I

I
I
I
I
I

I

p.

68;

St .

Armand

47

Wel er, " Feminiza · on of Religion ,
'Feminization of Congre~ationalisrn ," p.
62·
Dickinson, p.
91.

4

Wel

Oven Birds ,

II

Gospel ,

49

er ,

p

he Oven B i rds .

p.

20 ,

p.

14

·

89 .

p.

p.
141 :
Sh i el
St . Armand .

Feminization of Re igion.
24 .

Parker ,

Dickinson

,

Pake

14.

5

°Kimball , Gospel . p .
3:
May Kell e y, n A
Wa
with
He self·
Harriet Beecher Stowe as Woman i n Conflict w · th · n
Home " American Stud " es
9 CF 11 19 8):
25.

e

51

and
99.

Ed ad Wagenknec t
the Unkno n C ew York: Oxford Un i ve si

y

52

Le s l i e A. F iedle . Love and ~eath in the Ameri an ~ave
(New York :
Stein a d Day
1966 (r v. ed . )
p.
83;
El· zabe h K .
Helsinge • Robin Laute b a ch Sh ee sand Will · am Veeder. The Woman
Question:
L · terary Issues . 1837 - 1883. vol . 3 ( New York:
Garla 1 d
ubl ishing, Inc ., 1 8
p.
4, 4 7·
Emory El i ot, ed . , Co umbia
Lite ary History of the United St tes ( ew York:
Columb i
Universi y Press, 1988) , p .
305;
The f mous quotat i on about t he
"d-d mob of scribbl in
women,' was provided by th
author,
athaniel Haw~horne, in expressing his distas e for the " i e ary
domestics."
53
54

Ke

ley

Private Woman,

Woman. p.
251
Cul ~re
p. 4 ,

58

59
60
61

253

Ibid.

55H e l singer
.

.5

p.

Parker,

252
77 .

The Woman Question, p.
9;
Kelley, Private
269;
Dou~las , Feminiza ion of Americ n

p.

12

he Woman Ques

on,

The Oven Birds

Wagenknecht,

252.
p.

9.

Known and Unknown,

16 1.

Ibid .
Ibid.
i e

rill

D.

Pete son,

The G eat Trium
84

e :

Webste

r
Calhoun, and C 1 ay (New York: Oxford University Press
987)
p.
457-458~
Alice C. Crozier, The
ovels of Harriet Beecher Sto e
( ew York:
Oxford un·versi y Press
1969), p.
12·
Annie
Fie ds, Life and
et ers of Harrie
Beecher Sta e (Bos on:
Houghton
Mifflin and Company, 1897) , p .
131.

63
(Boston :

Charles Edward S owe
Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Houghton
Mifflin and Compary
1889), p .
145 .

63

I

bid .

64

el singer,

65w

66C'

.::J

67

68

The Woman Question,

genkn cht,
owe ,

J

71
72

73
74
75

Beeche

62 .

165 .

p.

Stowe,

Known and Unknown.

p.

p.

56.

181.

Ibid.

69H e 1 singer

70

Known and Unkn o wn,

ife of Harrie

Wagenknecht,

p.

The Woman Questio

Wagenknecht
Foster,
H
. e l s 1· ge

,

Known and Unknown ,

The Rungless Ladder,

Wagenknecht ,
rozier,
Wagenknec t

p.

184 .

27 .

p.

Unknown ,

Known an
ovels

p

p.

II
Th e Woman 1c,1Ues
t 1On
.

,

62 .

62 .

p.

166.

p.

184.

15,..,.

Known and Unknown .

76

Fred Lewis Patee , The
ties ( . ew y rk :
D.
--Co umbia
Appleton - entry
omany, 1940)
p.
Elliot
Litera y Histo Y, p.
305 ·
The page n 1mber ' provid
in
paren heses throughout the rest of the paper refer to the
location of those quot tions in t e pa
i cu ar nave
I am
discussi g .
7

78

Am mons ,

"Heroines

crozier,

The

in Uncle Tom ' s

o els

p.

1 4.

165 .

4.

79

andra M. Gi tert and
usan Gubar, The Madwoman in the
Attic:
The Woman Wri Jer and the Nineteenth-Century
i erary
Imagination (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1979), p. 533·
Ammons, "Heroine s in Uncle Tom's Cabin" p.
166.

aoc roz1er
.
81

bid,

p.

The

ovels

p.

24 .

85

24-25.

[_
82

Ammons

" Heroines in Un le Tom ' s

abin " p .

167 .

83

Fos er , The Rungless Ladder, p .
Madwoman in the A ic
p.
533- 3

Gubar,

8LL
85

I_

B odhead,

"Veiled

adies,•

rozie,

The Novels

p.

p.

87

Ammons,

89

'Heroines in Unc e Tom's

p.

90 ·

Novel,..,

p.

p.

bin,

p.

162 .

17 .

16-17.

n Heroines in Uncle Tom ' s

Ammons,

abin," p .

164 .

170.

92

Thomas J . Steele,
Christs '
egro American
Crozier . The Naves
p.

Mrs . Stow
s
WO
ying
arum 6 (Fall 1 76)•
85·

93 Johanna

ohnston R
______o_ H
_e_ a_v_e_n_ :__T
_ h_e_ S_ t _o_r~y__o_f_
~H~r~r;c._;;_i~e~t"--=
B~e~e~c~~h~e~-=S~t~o~w~
e (Garde
N.Y. ·
Doubleday & Company,
Inc.
1963), p.
26 ;
Crozier
Novels
p.
9.
94c roz1e
.

The
171

Tom's C bin, " p
95

Ammons

ovels

p.

Ammons~

10;

'H roines in Unc e

"Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin ,"

p.

96

Gilbert and ~ubar, Ma woman in
" Heroines in _U_n_c_l_e__o_m__s_C_a_b_1_·n_.

Ammons,

97c roz1er
.
,

98
99

p.

100c roz1e
.

,

lOllbid.

p.

102
103
H . roines,

ovels

p.

"om and Eva ." p.

.5 tee 1 e

Ibid,

10

L--

bid,

9.

5.

sec roz1er.
.
The

I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

275 .

p.

Gilbe t

9-30,

171 .

482:

32-33.

87.

88.

ovels . p .

30 .

19.

and Gubar ,

adwoman i

Foster , ~T~h~e~~'-'-'-'~..;;;....;c~_.;;;c.=..;~~-'
p.
67.
rozier,

165 ,

ovels.

p.

lOSibid.
86

the Attic
p.

18-19 .

105 ·

p.

482-483.

Adams and Foster,

106

Johnston, Runaway to Heaven
320-321;
Although Dr .
Hopkins is s veral years older
han Mary,
robably about midd eage, he is still a s itable match for he .
ary s mothe , Katy
Scudder . works hard to secure the union, and is disappointed when
i t fai s .

101c roz1er,
.
lOelbid

109

The

ovels ,

1 9.

p

119 .

p.

124 - 1 - 5 .

123 .

id

110

Johnston, Ru n away to Heaven . p .
32 ·
Douglas .
Femin i za · on of Amer i can Cult r e , p .
246 ·
Forrest M Dona d, The
residency o f Thomas J ef f erso n (n . p .:
Un i ve s i ty Pre s s of
Kansas
1976) , p .
85 , 111
123 . 134 ( these paaes dea 1 wi th the
duel and the schemes in the Wes ) :
Cr zier . The
ovels . p .
1 3.

111

Ke

Pr · a

ley .

lL.. .:;
. os t er.

113

Ibid,

e Woman

p.

307 .

he Rungless Ladder

p.

127 .

104-1 5.

114

D.

ca herine Gilber son Harr i et Beeche
Appleton-Gen ury Company , 1937)
p
243 .
115

Ibid ,

_44

p

116c roz 1. er,
117 bid
18

-

p.

138

p.

137 .

ovels ,

Runa av to Heaven ,

The Femin i zation of Ame

120c roz1er
.
,

The

ovels,

123Kel

p.
ey ,

40 .

p.

205 .
Private Woman,

Crozier .

323 .

p.

i can Culture,

1bid .

122 I i

C ew Yo k :

137

p.

119D oug as .

121
n..

~bid

The

Johnston .

Stowe

p.

309 .

The Novels ~ p .

87

140 .

p.

1 rig .

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Elmer C .
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Cot

•womans Sphere" in ew
Nancy .
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Yale University Pres3
E~n~g,.._.:;_la~n~d~,,_~1~7~8~O-=--~1~8~3=-~5.
ew Haven:
1977.

towe.
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Crozier, Alice C .
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Oxford Un · ve s i ty Press, 1969 .
/
New Yor k :
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Ann.
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Columbia University Press
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Women,
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ineteenth-Century Ame r ica.
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Fiedler, Leslie A.
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l .

New

Fields
Annie, e d .
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Houghton, Miff in and Company
1897 .
Foster, Charles H.
T..;....;;.h~e;;._=R~u~n~g~l~e~s;;._;;;;s_;;L~a;;;.;...;;;d~d~e~r~:_ _:_H~a=r~~i~e;;____c__;;B~e;,;:_: :e~c~h~e~r-'S~t ~o~w~e~
and
ew England P ritanism.
Durham, NC:
Duke Univers i ty
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Sandra
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Susan.
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The Women Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Lite r ary
Imagination.
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Yale University Press. 1979.
Gilbertson Ca herine .
Harriet Beecher Stowe .
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New York:

D.

and Veeder
Helsinger, Eliz abeth K.;
Sheets, Robin Lauterbach·
\Jilliam .
The Woman Question:
Literary Issues , 1837-1883 .
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vol . I I.
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Garland Publishing
Inc.
Johnston, Johanna.
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Beecher St we .
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The Story of Harriet
Doubleday & Company , Inc.
88

r_
·--

1963 .

Kelley, Ma r y .
Private Woman 2 Public Stage :
Literary Domesticity
in Nineteenth - Century America .
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Ox f o r d Unive rsi ty
Press , 1984.
Ki mba 1, Gay l e .
he Religious Ideas of Ha rriet Beecher S o we:
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T he Edwin Mell e n P re s s
Her Gospel of Womanhood .
1982 .
Me d 1 e r
Ke i h E .
B
=--=e'-'g:1.=..·.n::. . . n.;. .:. .1·=--.nc.
:. . g.c>..s:::;._-=o-=f'--=-=i:...:s=--t-=--=e-=r'-'h~o-=o.:.d.: :. . ;:. ._ _T=-.:.:h-=e~ A
:..:.:.:;m:...:e::. .;r=--=-i-=c=-=a:..:..n
:. . :.,_. . :.W.;_:o::.. :m
. :.:-=a~n-=--'.=s:__
R i ghts Movement, 1800-1850 .
New York : Schocken Books, 19 7 7 .
cDonald , Forest .
The Presidency of Thomas J e f fe rson
University Press of Kansas, 1976 .

]

]

J

n. p. :

O, Neil 1, William .
Everyone Was Brave:
The Rise and Fall of
Feminism in America.
Chicago :
Quadrang l e Boo k s
1 969.
Pa r k e r , Ga i 1.
T.. ; . . ;. .h.:.e.::;._-=O'-'v-'e=--..:...n__;;B~i ~ d;.;. ;s;:;. . .;. :--'A
'--'-"-'m-=-=e:. .:r: . . . .: :.i-=c:...:a=--n:. . :.,_...;.W
. :. o.=m-=e. :.n.-=---=o. .n:...;._...;.
W-=o:. .m
;.:.:. ;a=-=..;n:. .h..:...o
;. =--=-o-=d;;..J, ~
1820-1920 .
Garden City, NY :
D ubleday & Company
In c . ,
1972.
Patee
Fred Lewis .
The Feminine F i fties .
Appleton-Century Company, 19 4 0 .

ew Y

k:

D.

Pe erson, Merrill D.
T
~~h~--=~~;.;..;;.__T
~ r-=i:...:u=m;.;v. ;....;i=--=--r=a..:.t=-. e;:;. . .;. :__W
--=e-=b:...:s=---=t-=e:...:r;.....z...,__;;C:...:a~ l~h.:.o.=--u-=-'n~.'and Clay .
Ne w York :
Oxford Unive r sity P r e ss
1 987 .
St.

S

Armand
Barto n Le v i .
Emily Dickinson a nd Her Cu ture :
T he
Sou l ' s Societ y .
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Cambridge Un i ers i t y
r e ss
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owe

Charles Edward.L
__i-=f~e~ -=o~f"--..:. .H~a--"-~~--"--=:...:e~ e-=c:...:h~e~r_ S~ t -=o_w-'e-"- .
Houghton Mifflin and Company
1889 .

Stowe, Harriet
e cher .
Library o f America,

The Minister ' s
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he Pearl of Orr ' s Island .
Stowe-Day Foundation, 1987.

ooing .

n .p .

Boston :
Th e

art f ord , Connecti c ut : The

Uncle Toms Cabin ;
or Life Among the Lo wl y.
The Library of America., 1982 .

n

p.

Harriet Beecher Stowe :
The Kno wn and the
Wagenknecht, Edward .
New
York:
Oxfor
d
Univers
i
ty
P
r
ess, 19 6 5 .
Unknown .
Welter, Barbara .
" The Fem i niz a t i on of American R lig i on:
1800 1860 . " in Hartman, Mary S . and Banner, Lois
eds .
C io ' s
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Octagon Books
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Wilson

Forrest.

Crusader in Crinoline :

89

The L if e of Harr · e

r_

1 --

r:

Beecher Stowe.
Wise,

l.
f

I
I ~

Philadelphia :

. B.

Li

Winifred E.
Harriet Beecher Stowe:
New York:
G.P . Putnam ' s Sons
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pincott,

1941.

Woman with a Cause.

PERIODICALS

Ammons
Elizabeth .
Literature 49

"Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin."
(1974):
161-17~.

Ame ican

)_

Brodhead, Richard H.
"Veiled Ladies:
Toward a History of
Antebel um Entertainment. u
American Literary History 1(2)
(Summer 1989) ·
273-294 .

I-

Kelley
Mary.
" At War with Herself:
Har iet Beeche
Stowe as
Woman in Conflict with i n the Home.'
American Studies 19
23-40.

I
J-

]

Reed ,

Amy Lou i s e .
" em a l e De 1 i ca c y
(October 1 15):
863.

i'Tl

t he

ixties . '

Century 68

Shies, Richard D .
'The Feminization of American
Congregationalism, 1730 - 1835. "
American Quarterly 33
(Spring 1981
46-62.

a.

tTom and Eva:
Mrs. Stowe ' s Two Dy ' ng
Steele
Thomas J.
egro American Literature Forum 6 Christs.
85-90.

]_

1:

]-

]-

JJJ-

1-

1-

90

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