One of the prominent theme in Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is oppression. Both slaves and women are oppressed throughout the novel.
Women and slaves share common characteristics in this novel. For example, both depend on religion to help them in their struggles. During this time period, one of the duties of women was to keep up with the religiousness of the household. We discussed in class the different spheres: public and private, in which religion fell into the private sphere. Both women and slaves could fall into this sphere as well. Women were not to be heard and neither were slaves. Both groups mended to the housework while the men made most of the decisions.
Slaves were oppressed just as much as women were and were given religion as like a toy. I think Stowe implies a parallel between the oppression of women and slaves, because one influences the other. For example, by using religion as a tool women could manipulate their husbands which impacted the slaves. On page 4, the trader Mr. Haley suggests that Mr. Shelby make a fortune on the woman slave. In which Mr. Shelby replies "Mr. Haley, she is not to be sold. My wife would not part with her for her weight in gold" (Stowe 4). As you can see, by using religion against her husband, Mrs. Shelby was able to influence the slave's life. However, it didn't work all of the time but most.
I just find it fascinating how much of a pull women have on men whether they're shushed or not. Even in the part between the couple arguing about the fugitive slaves. The woman (I can't remember the page # or couple's names) used religion against her husband to change his mind about turning fugitive slaves in. It worked for the most part, however she was shushed in the process.
So in a way, I guess oppression and religion go together. But like I mentioned before, the oppression of one influenced the other. Women and most of the pull on their husbands when it came to the slaves' lives and even though they couldn't stop slavery, they could at least make sure the slaves had a better life.
I wrote on a very similar note in my blog, and I also thought women were in a pretty similar boat as the slaves, but the big difference I saw was that women were actually considered people. As for influence, I think that varied greatly from case to case, I'm sure not every man throughout history has been sexist, though it was and is a common issue. The couple you mentioned was the senator and his wife, the Byrds. but i think it was more the situation rather than her influence.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's interesting to consider the ways in which women and slaves are all oppressed. Do you see any evidence that female slaves were more oppressed than their male counterparts?
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to look at all the different social issues Stowe brings up in this novel. On the surface it's merely a book about slavery. But as we found in class there are a lot of other factors and issues going on. Stowe presents us with several different women, all of which are very religious and assume that they can always persuade their husbands when it comes to slave business. However, most of the time the husbands in the family still made all the final decisions. It is interesting to wonder about how Stowe felt as a woman. She clearly got to make a difference in life but most have felt at least slightly oppressed to include that concept in the novel. Maybe it was to connect with more women readers who did feel oppressed, then they would sympathize with the book more and demand some changes to the social structure of the age.
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