Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin
Author(s): Elizabeth Ammons

Source: American Literature, Vol. 49, No. 2 (May, 1977), pp. 161-179
Published by: Duke University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2925420
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Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin
ELIZABETH AMMONS
Tufts University
LATE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY HarrietBeecherStowean-

nouncedthatGod wroteUncle Tom's Cabin (I852). The novel
by thenseemedtoo monumentaleven to its authorto have been
imaginedby one woman.1Earlierin herlife,in contrast, Stowehad
no doubtthatshewrotethesubversive book or thatshewas inspired
to writeit, despitemaritaland householdirritations,preciselybe-
causeshewas a woman.
In a letterto herhusbandten yearsbeforethe publicationof the
novel, and almost ninetyyears beforeVirginia Woolf's famous
declarationof independenceon behalfof all women writersin A
Room of One's Own (I929), HarrietBeecherStowe said: "There
is one thingI mustsuggest.If I am to write,I musthavea roomto
myself, whichshallbe myroom."3Withherroomcame themission
to writewhat became America'sbest-knownnovel,and the mis-
sionfellto her,she believed,becauseshe was a mother.She recalled
forone of her grownchildren,"I well rememberthe winteryou
werea babyand I was writing'Uncle Tom's Cabin.' My heartwas
burstingwiththe anguishexcitedby the crueltyand injusticeour
nationwas showingto the slave,and prayingGod to let me do a
littleand to cause my cryforthemto be heard.I remembermany
a nightweepingover you as you lay sleepingbeside me, and I
thoughtof the slave motherswhosebabiesweretornfromthem."'
One ofhersevenchildrendiedwhilestillan infant.She says:"It was
at his dyingbed and at his gravethatI learnedwhat a poor slave
mothermayfeelwhen herchildis tornaway fromher."5Authors'
1 See Annie Fields, Life and Letters of Harriet Beecher Stowe (Boston and New York,
I 898), p- 377-
2 Ellen Moers gives a telling glimpse of Stowe's domestic situation in Literary Women:
The Great Writers (New York, I976), pp. 3-4; for the view that Stowe's sympathy with
enslaved people might be traced to her own experience with servitude as a wife and mother,
see JohnR. Adams, Harriet Beecher Stowe (New York, I963).
3 Charles Edward Stowe, Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe Compiled from Her Letters and
lournals (Boston and New York, I889), p. I04.

4 Ibid., p. I 49.
5 Ibid., p. I98.
I62 American Literature
remarks on thegenesisof theirworksometimes provemisleading,

in
butnot thiscase.Stowe'sinsistence on maternal experience as the
generative principle ofUncleTom'sCabinidentifies theethicalcen-
terofthenovel,andhelpsexplaintheunusual, andoftenmisunder-
stood,characterization ofTom.
Stowe'sprotagonist isgentle, pious,chaste,domestic, long-suffering
and self-sacrificing. In a nineteenth-century heroine, thoseattributes
wouldnotseemstrange. Associate them,however, withtheheroof
an American novel,a genresifted foritsAdamicrebels, andreaders'
complacence can evaporate. Indeed,thefarther UncleTom'sCabin
has movedin timefromthehistorical realityofchattel slavery, the
moreobvious andthemorecriticized "effeminate" Tomhasbecome;
and whether it is statedin so manywordsor not,oftenwhatis
objected to is thefactthatStowemakeshima heroine insteadofa
hero.6Thatdeliberate feminization ofTom,andthewayStowelinks
himto Eva andthembothto a constellation ofmothers, blackand
white,arewhatI wishto discuss.
The importance ofwomenin Stowe'snovelhas attracted critical
notice.EdwardWagenknecht remarks that"thegreatevangelists in
her fictionare all female-some of them little girlslike . . . Eva
in UncleTom'sCabin,whosavesTopsybyembodying thepowerof
Jesus'slove."7Donald K. Pickens,who maintains thatTom is
"admirable in spiteof Mrs. Stowe'sracistinclinations," bluntly
states:"UncleTom'sCabinis subversive. It is a feminist tract.The
menarenotattractive. . . . Women, in counter distinction,areup-
rightandtruetotheirinnerselves."8 AliceC. Crozierexplainsthat
6 On Tom as an unmanned characterwho reflectshis author's racism, see James Baldwin,

"Everybody's Protest Novel," Partisan Review, XVI (June, I949), 58I. Less responsible is
the vehement and often ad feminam attack on Stowe and her novel in J. C. Furnas's
Goodbye to Uncle Tom (New York, I956). (For a sound discussion of Stowe's racial atti-
tudes in an historical context, which shows them liberal for her day, see Thomas Graham,
"Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Question of Race," New England Quarterly,XLVI [Dec.,
I973], 6I4-622.) The fact that much nineteenth-century fictionfavored domesticated heroes
is an historical commonplace (see, e.g., Fred Lewis Pattee, The Feminine Fifties [New York
and London, I940]), and the prevalence of effeminized heroes (by today's standards) in
popular fictionof Stowe's (lay does shed light on her depiction of Tom. Where Stowe departs
from her contemporaries, primarily, is in making Tom inherently feminine rather than
exteriorly domesticated-"tamed"-by women, and in providing her own theological and
political constructto support her unusual conception of Tom.
7Edward Wagenknecht, Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Known and the Unknown (New
York, I965), p. 99.
8 Donald K. Pickens, "Uncle Tom Becomes Nat Turner: A Commentary on Two Ameri-
can Heroes," Negro American Literature Forum, III (Spring, I969), 47, 46.
Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin I63
thenovelcharacterizes mothers as "therealsaviorsof society,"and

shepointsoutsomesimilarities between Stowe'smothers andUncle
Tom on theone handand littleEva on theother.9 Whatneeds
discussionis thenature ofStowe'sfeminism inthenovelandherodd
equationof mothers/Eva/Tom, an equationwhich,if followed
through to itslogicalconclusion, arguestheradicalsubstitution of
feminine andmaternal formasculine values.10
Stowe'streatment of maternal valuesmayat a glancelook un-
remarkable. Nearlyeverypage of UncleTom's Cabinhymnsthe
virtuesof Mother, therevered figure whosebenigninfluence over
domestic lifein thenineteenth century was conveniently supposed,
andpromoted, toredress theabusesagainst humanity engenderedin
the masculine, money-making realm.Stowe,however, refusesto
appointMother thehandmaiden ofMammon in UncleTom'sCabin.
Instead,sheenlists thecultofmotherhood in theunorthodox cause
ofchallenging, notaccommodating, thepatriarchal status
quo. Like
her sisterCatharineBeecher,HarrietBeecherStowedisplaysin
UncleTom's Cabina facility forconverting essentially
repressive
conceptsoffemininity intoa positive(andactivist)alternative
system
ofvaluesin whichwomanfigures notmerely as themoralsuperior
ofman,hisinspirer, butas themodelforhiminthenewmillennium
abouttodawn."
In thenovelStoweacceptsthedefinition of womanpopularat
The Novels of HarrietBeecherStowe (New York, I969), pp. 24, 33,

f' Alice C. Crozier,
I9. Crozier offersvaluable analysis of the role of mothers and the importance of the family
in Uncle Tom's Cabin, but her discussion does not study the symbolic implications and con-
nections Stowe builds into the charactersof Eva and Tom which, in my opinion, distinguish
the novel from conventional nineteenth-century American novels in praise of mother-loveand
domesticity.
10John William Ward, though he finally rejects Stowe's view as inadequate and criti-
cizes her characterization of Tom, provides a concise summary of her feminine bias in the
Afterwordto Uncle Tom's Cabin (New York, I966), pp. 490-492. Also, although he does
not have space to explore the fact, Kenneth S. Lynn notes that Stowe's Christian vision is
emphatically feminine yet: "Oddly enough, she made her main character a man. Uncle Tom
has all the feminine virtues, however, that Mrs. Stowe wished to celebrate-gentleness,
patience, understanding, devotion to his family, and a taste for religious reading that is
'confined entirelyto the New Testament'" ("Introduction," Uncle Tom's Cabin [Cambridge,
Mass., I962], xxiv). Part of my purpose will be to explain how Tom, who is odd, emerges
as an importantheroine in Uncle Tom's Cabin.
11 For an excellent analysis of how Catharine Beecher uses to woman's advantage popu-
lar nineteenth-centuryideology about domesticity and femininity,see Kathryn Kish Sklar,
CatharineBeecher:A Studyin AmericanDomesticity(New Haven, Conn., and London,
I 973).
i64 AmericanLiterature
themidcentury.12 She recognizesthattwo"spheres"exist,one mascu-

line and commercial, the otherfeminineand domestic,and has no
quarrelwiththe set of qualitiescommonlypartitioned to the left-
hand "sphere."For her,femininity-true womanliness-meansun-
shakableallegianceto the Christianvirtuesof faith,hope, charity,
mercy,and self-sacrifice; purityin body and mind; ethicaldepen-
dence more on emotionthan on reason; submissionto mundane
authority exceptwhenit violateshigherlaws; and protection of the
home as a sacredand inviolableinstitution. Moreover, these stereo-
typically feminineattributes are in Stowe'sopiniontheonlyworth-
while humanones becausetheyplace the welfareof the group,of
thewholehumanfamily, beforethatof self.Her ideal person,there-
fore,is a heroine,and a completelyconventional one: pious,pure,
noncompetitive, unselfish,emotional,domestic,and outwardlysub-
missive.Yet Stoweusestheconventional in unconventional waysin
Uncle Tom's Cabin.Her novelproposesas thefoundation fora new
democratic era,in place of masculineauthority, femininenurture:a
typeofloveepitomizedin theChristlike Eva, whosename
girl-child,
calls to mindtheEdenicmotherof therace.Figuringas Eva's adult
counterparts are severalmothersand one man: sweet-tempered black
Tom, meeklike Christyetfiercely loyalto a domesticsetof values.
The author'sobviouscontradiction of genderin theEva/Christand
Tom/heroine associations,bothofwhichserveas savioranaloguesin
thenovel,animatesherconviction, as she laterstatedit plainly,that
"therewas in Jesusmoreof thepurefeminineelementthanin any
otherman."13The feminineChristis no figureof speechforStowe.
12 See Barbara Welter, "The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860," American Quar-
terly, XVIII (Summer, I966), I5I-I74; Welter, "Anti-Intellectualism and the American
Woman: i8oo-i86o," Mid-America, XLVIII (I966), 258-270; Carroll Smith-Rosenberg,
"The Hysterical Woman: Sex Roles and Role Conflict in Igth-Century America," Social
Research, XXXIX (Winter, I972), 655-656; Page Smith, Daughters of the Promised Land:
Women in American History (Boston and Toronto, I970), p. 2I0; Aileen S. Kraditor, Up
from the Pedestal: Selected Writingsin the History of American Feminism (Chicago, I968),
pp. II-I3.
Beecher Stowe, Religious Studies (I877)
13 Harriet in The Writings of Harriet Beecher
Stowe (Boston and New York, I896), XV, 36. In context Stowe analyzes the relationship
between Mary and Jesus to support and explain Christ's feminine nature: "He was bone of
her bone and flesh of her flesh-his life grew out of her immortal nature. We are led to
see in our Lord a peculiarity as to the manner of his birth which made him more purely
sympatheticwith his mother than any other son of woman. He had no mortal father. All
that was human in him was her nature; it was the union of the divine nature with the
nature of pure woman. Hence there was in Jesus more of the pure feminine element than
in any other man. It was the feminine element exalted and taken in union with divinity"
(ibid.).
Itis a concept thatguidescharacterization andinspires thematernal-

feminist casttohervisionofethical revolutionin UncleTom'sCabin.
The Redeemer fromthesinsofthefathers in thenovelis not,as tra-
ditional theologyputsit,a secondAdam(an emblem utterlyfamiliar
ofcourseto anyonewhowasthedaughter, sister,andwifeofmin-
isters), butas Stowewouldputit,a secondEve.
The openingepisodeof UncleTom's Cabinintroduces Stowe's
argument by portraying mothers, blackand white,as activeop-
ponents ofslavery.The system itself,thisfirstscenemakesclear,is
basically masculine:whitemenbuyandsellblackpeoplewhilethe
whitewomanstandsbypowerless tointervene. Thismaynotbe the
pattern in everycasebut,in Stowe'sopinion, it is themodel,as her
primeand detailedtreatment ofit suggests.Whentheslave-holder,
Mr.Shelby, getshimself intodebtanddecidesthathe mustsellsome
property, hesettleson Eliza'sson,Harry, andUncleTom.Shelby, it
is true,doesnotwantto sellthepretty childor thekindmanwho
raisedhimfroma boy;butsellhedoes,andtoa trader heknowsto
be so callous,so "'aliveto nothing buttradeand profit. . . [that]
he'd sell his own motherat a good per centage.'"'i Figuratively
Shelbywoulddo thesame,as hissellingofTom demonstrates, and
Stoweemphasizes howfinethelineis thatseparates the"benevolent"
planter Shelbyand thecoarsetrader Haley,whosefavorite topicof
conversation (to Shelby'sdiscomfort) alwayshas to do withslave
mothers' aggravating attachment to theirchildren, whomHaleyis
inthebusiness ofsellingawayfromthem.Shelby isin thesamebusi-
ness,one stepremoved, butwouldrathernot admitit. His wife
confronts him.Although helplessto overrule himlegally, shecries
out againsthis refined brutality,
callingslavery"'a bitter, bitter,
mostaccursed thing!-acursetothemaster anda cursetotheslave!
I wasa fooltothink I couldmakeanything goodoutofsucha deadly
evil.. . . I neverthought thatslavery was right-never feltwilling
toownslaves'"(I, 58). Whenhermatesuggests theysneakoffon a
tripto avoidwitnessing theblackfamilies' griefat separation, her
resistance crystallizes.
"'No, no,'saidMrs.Shelby;'I'll beinno sense
accomplice or helpin thiscruelbusiness'"(I, 59). LikewiseTom's
wife, AuntChloe,reacts rebelliously,supporting Elizainherdecision
14 HarrietBeecherStowe,UncleTom's Cabin; or,Life AmongtheLowly (Boston,I852),
I, 59. Citationsin mytextare to thepagesof thiseditionand are precededby thenumeralI
or II to indicatevolumeI or II.
i66 AmericanLiterature
to runaway withherchildand urgingTom to go withher.These

two maternalantagonistsof slaverysecureEliza's flight.Because
Mrs. Shelby surreptitiously encouragesthe slaves to sabotagethe
searchforEliza, and becauseAunt Chloe stallsthe pursuitby pro-
ducingculinarydisasterswhichkeep the searchpartyat dinnerfor
hours,Eliza is able to makeherbreakforfreedomacrossthefrozen
Ohio,babyin arms.
Due to the conspiracyof the two mothers, one whiteand one
black,followedbytheequallycrucialassistance ofstalwart Mrs.Bird,
wifeofa wrong-headed Ohio Senatorand herselfa recently bereaved
mother, Eliza and childarrivesafelyat a Quakerstationon theroute
to Canada. The community servesas a hintof the ideal in Uncle
Tom's Cabin. It is family-centered, nonviolent,egalitarian;and
especiallyimpressiveamong its membersare two heartymatrons,
significantlynamedRuthand Rachel.Stoweremarks:"So muchhas
been said and sung of beautifulyounggirls,why don't somebody
wake up to thebeautyof old women?" (I, I96). For StoweRachel
Halliday'sbeautyissuesfromherperfection as a motherand fromthe
way sheusesherpowerin whatis in practicea matriarchal (because
completelyhome-centered) community. Stowe playswith the idea
of Rachel as a mother-goddess, cailing her a figuremuch more
worthyofa "cestus"thantheoverrated Venuswhom"bards"liketo
singabout,and thenimmediately followsthatremarkwitha glimpse
of Rachel'shusbandhappily"engagedin theanti-patriarchal opera-
tionof shaving"(I, 204-205). Of course,Stoweis beingwhimsical
here,but onlyin the sensethatshe is too confidenta Christianto
need to appeal seriouslyto pagan conceptsto expressthe principle
incarnatein Rachel,whoseearthymaternalloveStowewill bringto
transfigured lifein thetwounlikelybutmotherly Eva
Christ-figures,
and Tom. As a matterof fact the Quaker communityis "anti-
patriarchal"in its pacifismand its matrifocal and
social structure,
thatis its beautyforStowe."Rachel neverlooked so trulyand be-
nignlyhappyas at thehead ofhertable.Therewas so muchmother-
linessand full-heartedness evenin thewayshepasseda plateofcakes
or poureda cup of coffee, thatit seemedto puta spiritintothefood
and drinkshe offered" (I, 205). RachelHalliday,sittingat thehead
of herfamily'stablein a scenethatbringsto mindChrist'sministry
at theLast Supper,illustrates how humaneand spiritually nourishing
mother-rule mightbe.
Eliza and her familyescapetheirwhitemasters.Most slavesdid

not,and HarrietBeecherStowe places particularemphasison the
horrorssuffered by the system'smaternalvictims.The firstslave
auctionin the book focuseson an aged motherand teen-agedson
who are sold apartoverthe old woman'spleas and sobs.A young
black woman whosebabyis stolenand sold drownsherselfin the
Mississippi,heronlyobituary an entryin a slavetrader'sledgerunder
"losses."A middle-agedslave,her twelvechildrenauctionedaway,
drinksto silencememoryof herthirteenth babywho was starvedto
death; drunkonce too often,thewoman is lockedin a cellaruntil
thesmellof hercorpsesatisfies herowners'wrath.The degradation
of Cassy,Simon Legree's chattelconcubine,began with a white
lover'sclandestinesale of her two small children.Cassysparedher
nextbaby;in herown words,"'I tookthelittlefellowin myarms,
whenhe was twoweeksold,and kissedhim,and criedoverhim; and
thenI gave him laudanum,and held him closeto mybosom,while
he sleptto death. . . . I am notsorry,to thisday; he,at least,is out
of pain'" (II, 2IO). These cruellyseveredtiesbetweenmothersand
childrenrecurthroughout Stowe'sexposeof slaveryforseveralrea-
sons: to stirAbolitionist passionwithinparentsin Stowe'saudience,
to assertthehumanityof theblack race in theface of racistmyths
thatblacksdo notsharetheemotionsofwhites,to showthatwomen
sufferhorribletortures in the midstof a societyboastfulabout its
chivalrytowardthe "gentlesex,"and-most important-todrama-
tize therootevilof slavery:thedisplacement maternal
of life-giving
valuesbya profit-hungry masculineethicthatregardshumanbeings
as marketable commodities. Planters,
traders,drivers,bountyhunters,
judges,voters-allarewhite,all are men,all areresponsible; and the
mothersand motherless childrenin Uncle Tom's Cabin show the
humancostofthesystem.
No characterillustrates Stowe'schargemorestarklythanTopsy.
Motherlessall her younglife and systematically kept ignorantby
whites,whatcan thechildbelieveexceptthatshe "justgrowed"?It
is a miraclethatshe has managedthat.For yearsher ownershave
routinelybeatenher withchainsand fireplacepokers,starvedher,
and lockedherin closetsuntilshe can respondto nothingbut pain
and violentabuse.The childhas beencrippledpsychologically byan
entiresocialstructure purposely designedto stripher (and herblack
brothers)of all senseof humanselfhood.StowedefendsTopsyas a
i68 American Literature
crediblecharacterin A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (I853): "Does

anyone wishto knowwhatis inscribedon theseal whichkeepsthe
greatstoneoverthe sepulchreof Africanmind? It is this,-which
wassotruly
saidbypoorTopsy,-'NOTHING BUT A NIGGER! Itisthis,
burntinto the soul by the branding-iron of cruel and unchristian
scorn,thatis a sorerand deeperwoundthanall thephysicalevilsof
slaverytogether. Thereneverwas a slavewho did notfeelit."15
It is significant thatonlyEvangelineSt. Clare can dressTopsy's
"wound"and awakenin themotherless blackgirlfeelingsof tender-
ness,trust, and self-respect.To understand theetherealblondechild's
life-renewing influence,one musttakeseriously theunearthly quali-
tiesStoweattachesto Eva. She is not a realisticcharacterany more
thanHawthorne'spreternatural Pearl in The ScarletLetter(I850)
orMelville'sPip in MobyDick (I85I). Stowe,too,relieson Romantic
convention in UncleTom's Cabin,first publishedseriallyin I85I-52.
She consistently describesEva as dreamy,buoyant,inspired,cloud-
like,spotless;and flatlystatesthatthischild has an "aerial grace,
suchas one mightdreamof forsomemythicand allegoricalbeing"
(I, 2II). Stowe is clear thather mythicand allegoricalcharacter
resemblesJesus.Tom, who "almostworshippedher as something
heavenlyand divine,"oftengazes on Eva "as theItaliansailorgazes
on his image of the child Jesus,-witha mixtureof reverenceand
tenderness" (II, 6i). Eva's Mammyconsidersher a "blessedlamb"
not destinedto live long (II, 85). Stowe calls her a "dove" and
associatesherwiththe morningstar(II, 47, io6, II4). Ophelia de-
scribesheras "Christ-like" and hopesthatshehas learned"something
of theloveof Christfromher" (II, 95, II7). Tom, beforeherdeath,
visualizesEva's faceamongtheangels;and aftersheis gone he has
a dream-vision of the saintlychild readingChrist'swordsto him,
wordsofcomfort whichendwith" 'I am theLord thyGod,theHoly
One of Israel,thySaviour'" (II, I87). Even while alive Eva's self-
lessnessseemssupranatural. Sightsand storiesof slavery'satrocity
make "her large,mysticeyesdilatewithhorror"(IT, 6) and move
herto layherhandson herbreastand sighprofoundly. She explains,
" 'thesethingssinkintomyheart"' (II, 28). The childidentifies with
theslaves'misery, tellingTom finally:" 'I can understand whyJesus
wantedto die forus. . . . I would die forthem,Tom, if I could"'
15 Harriet Beecher Stowe, A Key to UncleTom's Cabin (Boston, I853), p. 5I.
(II, 84). On thefigurative

level-the onlylevelon whichEva makes
sense-she getsherwish.Stowecontrives her deathto demonstrate
thatthereis no lifefora pure,Christlike spiritin thecorruptplanta-
tioneconomythebookattacks.
None of thismeansthatEva "is" Christ.But I thinkit does mean
thatshe reflects by way of her name a typeof Christ,and Stowe's
unusualtypologyvivifiesthe moral centerof Uncle Tom's Cabin.
As Ursula Brummexplainsof typologyin generalin American
Thoughtand ReligiousTypology:"Typologyis a patternforcon-
struingtheworld'seventsas leadingtowardredemption. . . . The
typeis not a symbolof Christ.It is a definitehistoricalpersonor
eventof theOld Testamentthatprefigures Christ,yetexistswithits
own independentmeaningand justification."16 The mostcommon
typehas alwaysbeen Adam-Christ;just as the race was born in
Adam, so it is rebornin Christ,the new Adam. Stowe suggestsa
different type: Eve-Christ.(It is worthnotingthat Marie, Eva's
mother,in name-though in nothingelse-helps strengthen the
Christportionof theemblem.)Eva is no ordinary personificationof
Christianlove,evenin nineteenth-century whichis fullof
literature
saintlytubercularchildrenand incrediblyvirtuousheroinesim-
pedestaledas thespiritualbetters of theirlessperfectmen.One critic
laughsat Stowefortheignorantblunderofmakingthechild"a sort
of paper-dollChristof thewrongsex."17Paper-dollshe mightseem;
mythicand allegoricalbeingsare noteasyto bringto life.But there
is no mistakein gender.Stowecreatesa girland namesherforEve as
a prefigure ofChristbecauseshebelieves,as is everywhere obviousin
UncleTom's Cabin,thattheSavior'sloveis thatofwoman,especially
mothers.Stowesaid of thenovela coupleof yearsafteritspublica-
tion,"This storyis to show how JesusChrist,who livethand was
dead,and now is aliveand forevermore, has stilla mother'slovefor
the poor and lowly."18To personify Christ'smaternallove in the
novelStowealludesto thebiblicalmotherof all people,Eve, whom
she implicitly frominfamyin the personof an innocent
resurrects
Ursula Brumm, AmericanThoughtand Religiotus

16 Typology(New Brunswick, N. J.,
I970), p. 23. Although Brumm mentions Stowe (pp. 200-203), she does not discuss Uncle
Tom's Cabin or Stowe's use of typology; the book's analysis of midcenturyliteratureconcen-
trateson Emerson, Hawthorne, and Melville.
17 Furnas, p. i8.
18 Charles Edward Stowe, Life, p. I 54.
child.19Her unfallenEva yokesthetwoTestaments:sheis "'one of

therosesof Eden thattheLord has droppeddown expressly forthe
poor and lowly'" (I, 257-258), at the same timethatthe motherly
littlegirl is the livingimage of a dead Grandmother(also named
Evangeline)who was "'a directembodiment and personification of
theNew Testament'"(II, I3). The idea ofwomanas evangelist and
even as a new and betterEve workingwith the Redeemerto re-
claim the worldfromits moderncorruption was not unique with
Stowe.20But her suggestionof an Eve-Christtypologyis not com-
mon,and it is used to originalpurpose.StowemakesherChristlike
" 'evangel'" (I, 262) ofa new,democratic millennium an Eve/angel
-a femalespiritwho linksthegospelofJesuswiththemotherofthe
race-to offer an unmasculineidealforall humanbehavior.
Tom embodiesthatideal. As thetitleof thebook indicates, home
and familymattermostto him.He firstappears at his and Chloe's
cabin,surroundedby children,21 and the firstthingwe hear about
thismanwho has "a voiceas tenderas a woman's"(I, I5I) is thathe
is "'an uncommonfellow'" (I, I4). St. Clare pronounceshim a
"'moral miracle'" (I, 305), and Stowe tellsus that,in additionto
his"remarkably and quietcharacter"
inoffensive (I, 208), he is blessed
"to thefull [with] thegentle,domesticheart,which,woe forthem!
has been a peculiarcharacteristic of his unhappyrace" (I, I40).
Stowe offersthegeneralization admiringly. Sold, Tom hoversover
his sleepingchildrenforthe last timein a scenethe authormakes
memorable byrefusing topainta portraitofmasculinereserve. "Sobs,
heavy,hoarseand loud, shook the chair [Tom leaned over], and
greattearsfellthroughhis fingers on thefloor"(I, 64). Tom makes
no effort to hide his emotion,and he weeps moreforhis children
thanforhimself.That is characteristic. Tom alwaysplacesthewell-
beingof othersfirst.He goes peaceablywiththeslavetraderHaley
becausehe knowsthatif he runsawaya largenumberof slaveswill
be sold to matchthepriceShelbycan getforhim.He can evenfor-
give Shelbyand continueto love the cruelman he caredforfrom
infancy, much (Stowe implies)as Christforgavehis oppressors or a
19 On Stowe's divergence from "glacial" Calvinism and its doctrine of natural depravity,
see Crozier, pp. 85-I50.
20
See Welter, "Cult," p. I52.
21 For discussion of the house/cabin/family motif in Uncle Tomn's Cabin, see Egbert S.
Oliver, "The Little Cabin of Uncle Tom," CollegeEnglish,XXVI (Feb., I965), 355-36I.
Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin 171
mother cancontinue tolovethegrownchildwhobreaksherheart.

The reasonStowegivesforsuchamazingly generous behavioris
simple.Tom,likemostwomenbutfewmenin thenovel,reallytries
to liveaccording to theGospel'sinjunction to lovehisneighbor as
himself.
Structure in UncleTom'sCabinemphasizes thatHarrietBeecher
Stoweknowshowunusuala "hero"shedrawsin Tom. He is the
centralcharacter in thebook,yet,thoughmentioned and glimpsed
in theearlychapters, he doesnotentertheactionfullyuntilChapter
IO, thento disappear forone chapter and reappear in ChapterI2,
disappearing in ChapterI3 and finallyreentering theactionfor
sustained treatment in Chapter14. Two devicesare at workhere.
First,StowedelaysTom'sstory Eliza'sandGeorgeHarris's
untilafter
successfulescapes fromslavery havebeenassured. Theiractionshows
Stowe'sapprovalofcourageous rebellionagainstslavery and,in the
character of proudGeorgeHarris,herrespectforconventionally
manlydefiance of injusticeand enforced submission. Thus,bythe
timeUncleTom'sstory becomes it shouldbe clearthatthe
central,
authorfeminizes himnotbecausesheis unableto makehimasser-
tivelymasculine butbecauseshe doesnotwishto do so. Second,
Stowearranges Tom'ssustained entranceintotheaction, Chapter I4,
to associate
himwithmaternal RachelHallidayin Chapter
figures:
I3 followed by themotherly childEva St. Clarein ChapterI4.
Stowe'sstrategy is clearcut.She presents Rachelin all herwarm
maternal glory,switchesto Tom readinghis Bible forlornand
family-lesson a southbound steamboat,thenintroduces the"sun-
beam"Eva whoseimagerefreshes Tom andwhomStoweimmedi-
atelyidentifies as mythicand allegorical. This progression from
RacheltoTomandEvamarksa turning pointinthenovel.Itsetsthe
stageforTom's story, a courseof eventsinaugurated by his and
Eva'simmersion together in theMississippi (thefigurativebaptism
signifiestheironenessin Christ, whichwilleventuate in theirsimi-
larlyredemptive, deaths);and it servesas an interpretive
sacrificial
crux.The three juxtaposed characters-the earthy mother,thegentle
blackman,and the etherealgirl-child-embody in different yet
complementary waystheredemptive feminine-Christ principle that
informs UncleTom'sCabin.
Actionas wellas structure accentuatesTom'sfeminine character.
griefoverthetheft
a mother's
watches
He tearfully and saleofher
baby,and
to him,it lookedlikesomething unutterablyhorribleand cruel,because,
poor,ignorant blacksoul!he had notlearnedto generalize, and to take
enlargedviews.If he had onlybeeninstructed by certainministers of
hemighthavethought
Christianity, ofit,andseeninitan every-day
better
incidentofa lawfultrade;a tradewhichis thevitalsupport ofan institu-
tionwhichsomeAmericandivinestellus has no evilsbut suchas are
inseparablefromanyotherrelationsin socialanddomestic life.ButTom,
fellow,
as we see,beinga poor,ignorant whosereading hadbeenconfined
entirelytotheNew Testament, couldnotcomfort andsolacehimself with
viewslikethese.(I, I90-I9I)
The author's mockcontempt getsheavy-handed here,butherpoint
aboutTomisimportant. He reacts tothehorror ofslavery as Stowe's
heroines do: fromtheheart.Empathy, compassion, comfort, practi-
cal assistance,psychologicalsupport-these dispositions describe
Stowe'sUncleTom justas theydo mostofheradmirable women.
The passivity whichpopularculture choosestoremember is nothis
dominant whenever
attribute; possible(whichis infrequent, given
hisslavestatus)Tom doestakeaction.Buthe is alwaysnonviolent
and patient.At Legree'splantation, a microcosm ofthecommercial
whiteethicStoweindicts,Tom's"tenderness offeeling,a commisera-
tionforhisfellow-sufferers,
strange and newto them"(II, i88) so
infuriates masculine
grotesquely SimonLegreethathe becomesob-
sessedwiththechallenge ofmakingTom "hard"(II, I89)-brutal,
a fitcandidate
callous,authoritarian: foroverseer.Butno amountof
torturecanmakeTom agreetofloghisfellowslaves.Legreecannot
hardenhim.To theendTomremains soft, himself
sacrificing rather
thanbetray thehidingplaceoftwofugitive slavewomen.
Stowedisplays shrewdpoliticalstrategy inchoosing tocharacterize
herheroas a stereotypicalVictorian heroine:pious,domestic, self-
in
uninhibitedresponse
emotionally
sacrificing, to people and ethical
questions.Notonlydoesthecharacterization makeTomunthreaten-
inginanyliteral waythatwouldplayintothehandsofbelligerently
racistwhiteswhomaintained thatblackswerebrutes whomustbe
oppressed; insinuates
thecharacterization Tom intothenineteenth-
century idolatryoffeminine virtue, sentimentalized in younggirls
andsacrosanct inMother. Stowe'sgeniusas a propagandist is thatshe
exploitsboth conventions-the former in Eva and the latter in a
Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin 173
panoramaof mothersof bothraces (especiallyRachel Halliday)

and then,havingcapturedher audience'sallegiance,extendsthat
allegianceto Tom by making him, a black man, the supreme
heroineofthebook.Implicitly thenovelaskswho,withoutforsaking
reverenceforMotherand the sanctityof the Home, could fail to
championTom's rightto libertyforhimselfand his familyand, by
extension,thatsamerightforall slaves?
Stowe'sfeminization of Tom also is importantbecauseit argues
hercase fornonviolent resistance influence
to thecorrupting of slav-
ery as the only hope for the permanenteradicationof a system
based on violence.In Stowe'sview,ten yearsbeforethe Civil War,
the solutionto slaverydoes not lie in armed rebellion,meeting
violencewithviolence(thoughshe sympathizes withthatreaction
in the characterof GeorgeHarrisand returns the idea of black
to
counter-aggressionfouryearslaterin her antislavery novelinspired
by the Nat Turnerrebellion:Dred, A Tale of the Great Dismal
Swamp [I856]). In I852 Stowe,thoroughly Romanticin this,locates
the solutionto slaveryin a revolutionof whitevalues which will
honor emotionalveritiesabove rationalizedmaterialistschemes.
Nurturantvalues in her opinion have been, but should not be,
shuntedoffby men into the safekeepingof women; truthsof the
heartare consideredfeminineand therefore fitto governonly the
domestic"sphere"of life.In A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin Stowe
commentson theworldlydrive"to be above othersin power,rank
and station"and says:"If thereis anything whichdistinguishesman
fromothercreatures, it is thathe is par excellencean oppressive
animal.On thisprinciple. . . all empireshave been founded;and
theidea offoundinga kingdomin anyotherwayhad notevenbeen
thoughtof when Jesusof Nazarethappeared";she saysthat"Jesus
Christalone foundedhis empireupon LOVE."22 This oppositionbe-
tweenpowerand loveas possiblefoundations forsocialorganization
appearsin Uncle Tom's Cabin as the alternatives of aristocracyor
democracyand, in economicterms,capitalismor cooperativism.
Stowe so obviouslycriticizesthe firsthalf of each antithesis(she
uses thewomanishspokesmanAugustineSt. Clare,Eva's father,to
hercase) thatCharlesH. Fosterdoes notdistortthebook
articulate
22 Key,p. 229.
it in a Marxianlight.28
bydiscussing Fosteris mistaken,
however,
whenhe concludesthatStowe'sattackon laissez-faire
capitalism
provides"the masculineedge, the intellectualbite of Uncle Tom's
Cabin."24Quite the contrary.Stowe'scriticismof the profitmotive
revealsthedistinctly
feminine, specifically
maternal, heartof herar-
gumentagainstwhat she and othersreferred to as "the patriarchal
institution," She insiststhatlove is moreimportantthan
slavery.25
power; and Uncle Tom's Cabin endorsesa domesticideology,espe-
ciallyin thepersonof itsgentlemale protagonist, to makethepoint
thathomeand mothermustnotfigureas sanctuaries fromtheworld
butas imperativemodelsforitsreconstitution.The taskoffeminizing
or Christianizingdominanthumanvalueswill not be easy.White
menholdall worldlypower;and untiltheyundergoa radicalchange
believes,no fundamentalchange will
of heart,Stowe realistically
occur.Nevertheless she argues,or one mightmore accuratelysay
hopes,thatradicalyetpeacefulchangecan takeplace. In thenovel
Tom's unbelligerent characterprovokeshis murder,and thatcauses
GeorgeShelby,theson of Tom's originalowner,to freetheShelby
slaveswhen he returnsto the Kentuckyplantation.That is, Tom's
martyrdom at thehandsof brutalSimonLegreeinspireslimitedbut
concretesocial change,a change thatbeginsin one youngman's
heartand radiatesfromtheretobringone smallsegmentofthesocial
23 CharlesH. Foster,The RunglessLadder: HarrietBeecherStowe and New
England
Puritanism(Durham, N. C., 1954), pp. 49-55. Also Thomas P. Riggio points out that
"Mrs. Stowe's decision to make the novel's archvillain [Legree] a nightmare version of the
Yankee peddler . . . highlighted the capitalist basis of slavery," and implicated the North
along with the South ("Uncle Tom Reconstructed: A Neglected Chapter in the History of a
Book," American Quarterly,XXVIII [Spring, I976], 64).
24 Foster, p. 56.
25 Stowe used the term in correspondence about her
manuscript to the National Era, the
weekly that serialized Uncle Tom's Cabin beforeit appeared in book form; see ForrestWilson,
Crusaderin Crinoline:The Life of HarrietBeecherStowe (Philadelphia, 1941), p. 259. The
term "patriarchal institution" as a synonym for slavery was common, especially among
Southernerswho used it as a favorable label (see Severn Duvall, "Uncle Tom's Cabin: The
Sinister Side of the Patriarchy,"New England Quarterly,XXXVI [March, I963], 3-22, and
Barrie Hayne's bibliography for "Yankee in the Patriarchy: T. B. Thorpe's Reply to Uncle
Tom's Cabin," AmericanQuarterly, XX [Summer, I968], I80-I8I, n. I); so too much
should not be made of Stowe's repeating the phrase. Yet in the novel she does use the words
"patriarch" and "patriarchal" and, as I have already pointed out, "anti-patriarchal" in
provocative ways. She once refersto slavery as "the patriarchal institution" (I, 23) and her
purpose is to deflate prettymyths about benevolent slavery. Also, she uses the word "patri-
arch" several times but never to referto a white man. She attaches it instead to Uncle Tom
and to a pious old Negro on Shelby's plantation (I, 50, 52; II, 309); in each case Stowe uses
"patriarch" to referto a black man who is respectedin the black community for his religious
faithand wisdom, not for his worldly power (neither man has any).
He-oines in Uncle Tom's Cabin I75
orderin linewiththevaluesof Mrs.ratherthanMr. Shelby,the

mother rather thanthefather.
FinallyTom's character is important becauseit demonstrates
Stowe'sbeliefthata man can liveadmirably in accordwithher
nineteenth-century maternal ideal.Tom'ssensitivity and gentleness
do notin heropinionmakehim a weak character. Instead,they
combine withhistraditionally attractive
malestrength andcourage
to createa morally superior and morelovingthanaveragemanin
theAmericashe fictionalizes. (Stowedoesat timescondescend to
lowly,ignorant, blackTom. The otherside of thatcontroversy,
however, is thefactthatshemakestheworthiest manin thenovel
black,andhercommitment isgenuine.)
One couldarguethatthepurposeof UncleTom'sCabin,a book
confident aboutwhatcomprises truewomanliness, is to definetrue
manliness. Stowegivesherverdict on crudemasculinity in thechar-
actersofHaley,Marks,Loker,Skeggs,and SimonLegree,whoare
all antisocial,misogynist, and dealersin death.Legree,withhis
bulletheadandironknuckles, anda veryserious
is a caricature, one,
of supermasculinity, whichStoweassociates withthedevil,Christ's
antagonist. Legree'splantation is thehell of UncleTom's Cabin
becauseit is builton antifeminine, antimaternal,antifamily princi-
ples,as Stoweemphasizes bymakingLegree'soneterror hishorror
ofthefeminine. He is defenseless againstthecoilofEva'shairthat
reminds himof his mother, and thesoftness of Tom's character
maddens him.At theotherendofthespectrum arewhitemenlike
Senator BirdorMr.Symmes andMr.Wilsonwhosesusceptibility to
feminine influenceor impulsesmakesthempotentially admirable,
butonlypotentially, becausetheydefythemasculine, commercial
ethicsecretly andwitha senseofguiltrather thandoingso publicly
and conscientiously like the maternally guidedQuakermen.In
between thepolesstandMr.Shelby, whois forall hisrefinement a
mancloserto Legreethantohiswife,andAugustine St.Clare,the
mosttortured whitemanin thebook.In hishearthe subscribes to
feminine, Christianvalues,as his verbalopposition to slavery and
hisdyingword"Mother!" testify; buthiswillis impotent. In some
waysSt. Clareis a moreterrifying exampleof masculine privilege
andpowerthanLegree:heknowswhatis right, hehasthepowerto
acton thatknowledge at leastwithrespect to his own slaves,but
an
he invokes arrogant to
paternalism justify his refusalto act.If
I76 AmericanLiterature
Legreerepresents one faceof the problem,brutemasculineoppres-

sion,St.Clarerepresents another:patheticmasculinesophistry.
Stowe'sindictment of masculineethicsdoes not mean thatall of
thewomenin UncleTom's Cabindeserveadmiration. Opheliaearns
our regardonlyaftershe has confronted herown racism,and Eva's
motherremainsviciouslyself-centered to the end. (Stowe does ex-
tenuatehercruelty byincludingitspathology, butthewomanis still
a destructive person.)Nor are all whitemen villains-thoughmost
of themare.Yet thisis notmisandry. Stowedoesnotcondemnwhite
men forthemselves butfortheexploitiveand inhumanevaluesthey
live by and enforceas the rulingclass in America.A disenchanted
planterstatesStowe'scriticism directlyin Dred, the novel thatfol-
lowed Uncle Tom's Cabin: "'As mattersare going on now in our
country, I musteitherlowermy standardof rightand honor,and
searmysoulin all itsnoblersensibilities, or I mustbe whattheworld
calls an unsuccessful man. There is no pathin life,thatI know of,
where. . . a man can makethepurityof his moralnaturethefirst
object.'"26 This man'ssister,in contrast,denouncesslavery"withthat
straight-out and generousindignation whichbelongstowomen,who,
generallyspeaking,are readyto followtheirprinciplesto anyresult
withmoreinconsiderate fearlessnessthanmen."27 Women,excluded
fromthewhitemasculine"success"ethic,had littleor no powerto
beginwithand couldtherefore in Stowe'sviewplaceprinciplebeforet
prestigeor profitwhen confronted withthe immorality of slavery.
Consequently theydo notfigureas conservers ofthestatusquo in her
antislavery fiction.Most of themstandas modelsof an alternative,
humaneethicwhich Stowe envisionsas the foundationforan en-
lightened and equitablenewera.
The architecture of theconcludingchaptersof UncleTom's Cabin
underscoresStowe's vision,her wish that masculinity be defined
along morefemininelinesforthereformation of society.The final
chaptersprovidethreepositivemale modelsand, finally, one female
model. Foremostis Tom, an ideal. Stowe presentshis death as a
Christlikevictoryof the feminineprincipleover satanic:Simon
Legree.Then she presentsGeorge Harris.She makeshim an elo-
quentspokesmanfortheproud,free,blackman,whoseunderstand-
26 HarrietBeecherStowe,Dred, A Tale of the GreatDismal Swamp (Bostonand New
York, 1856), p. I8.
27 Ibid.,p. 563.
ablebitterness is tempered byhisdevotiontohealingfeminine values,

suchas Eliza's. His whitecounterpart, namedGeorgeas
significantly
well,is thefreedplanter,youngShelby;he renounceshisfatheras a
modelby emancipating thefamily'sslaves,an actionhis motherhas
always favored.These threemen-Tom, George Harris,George
Shelby-illustrate Stowe'sbeliefthatthemaleofthespeciescan be as
beautiful morally as thefemalebutonlyifold modelsof masculinity
areradicallyrevised.
To describehow thatchangeofmasculineheartmightcomeabout,
Stowe reservesthe last chapterof Uncle Tom's Cabin for herself.
She presents thelastmodelin thebook and offers thelasttestimony,
and it is as a womanthatshetestifies. She admitsthatshewas afraid
of her subject.Slaverywas too huge,too horriblefora woman to
writeabout.But,then,if a woman,a mother,would not speakout,
would anyone?She makesan impassionedappeal to whiteAmeri-
cans,devotinga few linesto sailors,ship-owners, and
and farmers,
thenaddresses hervanguard:
Mothers
ofAmerica,-you, bythecradlesofyourown
whohavelearned,
children,to love and feelforall mankind,-bythe sacredlove you bear
spotlessinfancy;by themotherly
yourchild; by yourjoy in his beautiful,
pity and tendernesswith which you guide his growingyears; by the
anxietiesof his education; by the prayersyou breathefor his soul's
eternalgood; -I beseechyou,pitythemotherwho has all youraffections,
and not one legal rightto protect,guide, or educate,the child of her
bosom! By the sick hour of yourchild; by thosedyingeyes,whichyou
can neverforget;by thoselast cries,that wrung your heartwhen you
could neitherhelp nor save; by the desolationof thatemptycradle,that
silent nursery,-I beseech you, pity those motherswho are constantly
made childlessbytheAmericanslave-trade! And say,mothersof America,
is thisa thingto be defended,sympathizedwith,passedover in silence?
(II, 3I6)
She asks,"What can anyindividualdo?" and concludes:"Thereis
one thingthateveryindividualcan do,-theycan see to it thatthey
feelright.. .. The man or woman who feelsstrongly,healthilyand
justly,on the great interestsof humanity,is a constantbenefactorto
the human race. See, then, to your sympathiesin this matter! Are
theyin harmonywith the sympathiesof Christ? or are theyswayed
and pervertedby the sophistriesof worldlypolicy?" (II, 3I7) . Stowe's
appeal is unabashedly emotional, and her vision of reformcan be
as nothing
criticized morethanan adjustment ofpersonal sentiment.
Butprecisely thatadmission ofemotion-being unafraid tofeeland
professone'sfeelings-is forherthefirst steptoAbolition and thus
themotivating ofUncleTom'sCabin.Oneheroine
aesthetic protests
whenhercerebral husbandsays"'You allow yourself to feeltoo
much'" ontheissueofslavery: " 'Feeltoomuch!AmnotI a woman,
-a mother?'"(I, i io). Stowewrites tomakeallAmericans "feeltoo
much"withherwhitewomen,herblackslaves,andherchildren-
legallynonexistent,"feminine" peoplewhoarestillaliveto natural
feelingsbecausetheyare untrained in themasculine discipline of
automatically subordinating emotionto reason,the discipline re-
sponsible in Stowe'sopinionforlegalizedslavery. Like her older
sister
Catharine Beecher,Stoweturns a handicap intoan asset.Lowly
feminine feelingcanrevolutionize man'sworld.
HarrietBeecherStowestoppedshortof theradicalfeminism of
heryounger IsabellaBeecherHooker,who becamean avid
sister,
follower of VictoriaWoodhull.At leastpublicly, Harrietdid not
declarewithIsabellathebeliefthat"theMillennium was closeat
hand[when]thewholeworldwouldsoonbecomea singlematri-
archy-a'maternal government,' as Isabellacalledit."28Nordo I find
HarrietBeecher Stowecommenting anywhere on hersister's convic-
tionthatshe,Isabella,was destinedto rulein theMatriarchy as
Christ's HarrietBeecher
vice-regent. Stowewasmoremoderate. For
instance,shesupported butdid notactively campaign forwoman's
suffrage,letaloneagreewithVictoria Woodhullon thesubjectof
freelove.Nevertheless UncleTom'sCabinshowstheBeecherhalf-
sisters
closerideologicallythanbiographers, convinced thatIsabella
was mad, like to imply.29 Both womenassociatedChristwith
woman,definedthecomingMillennium in matrifocal terms,and
lookedto feminine valuesas thefoundation forethicalrevolution
in America. Clearlyimpatient byI870, HarrietBeecher Stowehada
sympathetic character pronounce on theissueof women'srights:
"The womanquestionofourday,as I understand it is this-Shall
MOTHERHOOD everbe feltin thepublicadministration oftheaffairs
28 Wilson, p. 57I.
29 Wilson, pp. 571, 599; Wagenknecht, p. 34; Johanna Johnston,Runaway to Heaven:
The Storyof Harriet Beecher Stowe (New York, I963), p. 437.
Her-oinesin Uncle Tom's Cabin I79
of state?""0Stowe had reasonto sound impatient.She had asked

Americathatsame questiontwentyyearsearlierin Uncle Tom's
Cabin withits purposefully characters,
odd, maternal-yet-Christlike
as
UncleTom and Eva, well as a of
variety literal blackand
mothers,
white.
30 Harriet Beecher Stowe, MIy Wile and I; or, Henry Henderson's History (New York,
I87I), p. 37.

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Heroines in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Author(s): Elizabeth Ammons

LATE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY HarrietBeecherStowean-

lournals (Boston and New York, I889), p. I04.

remarks on thegenesisof theirworksometimes provemisleading,

6 On Tom as an unmanned characterwho reflectshis author's racism, see James Baldwin,

thenovelcharacterizes mothers as "therealsaviorsof society,"and

The Novels of HarrietBeecherStowe (New York, I969), pp. 24, 33,

themidcentury.12 She recognizesthattwo"spheres"exist,one mascu-

Itis a concept thatguidescharacterization andinspires thematernal-

to runaway withherchildand urgingTom to go withher.These

Eliza and her familyescapetheirwhitemasters.Most slavesdid

crediblecharacterin A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (I853): "Does

(II, 84). On thefigurative

Ursula Brumm, AmericanThoughtand Religiotus

child.19Her unfallenEva yokesthetwoTestaments:sheis "'one of

mother cancontinue tolovethegrownchildwhobreaksherheart.

panoramaof mothersof bothraces (especiallyRachel Halliday)

orderin linewiththevaluesof Mrs.ratherthanMr. Shelby,the

Legreerepresents one faceof the problem,brutemasculineoppres-

ablebitterness is tempered byhisdevotiontohealingfeminine values,

of state?""0Stowe had reasonto sound impatient.She had asked

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