What Are Gender Roles In Uncle Tom's Cabin

Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, portrays females as strong lead characters throughout the story, but what is this purpose? Stowe was able to depict the horrors of slavery and create a vast impact on the views of the controversial subject. The women within the novel have social roles and gain importance through their interaction and impact on the male characters in their lives. Stowe created a direct contrast in the ways that the women acted in comparison the men, as well as showed the influence that the some of the women had on their male relationships. These relationships were present throughout the entire novel which not only told a story, but also showed the power of women. The first presence of the contrast between men
and women was offered to the audience by Eliza and George. This couple is first presented as George was visiting his wife and they argue over fleeing for Canada. He exclaims, “I won’t be taken, Eliza; I’ll die first! I’ll be free, or I’ll die” (Stowe 24). Eliza reacts negatively because of the fact that the reasons he presents are very selfish, thus he is portrayed as a man that cares only about his own happiness. He does not say anything in relation to his family until the end of the argument, but only after he obtains his own personal freedom will he work to gain something for his young son and wife. Eliza on the other hand, knows the repercussions that escaping will have on those around her. She only considers and follows through with her own fugitive actions when her son is put in danger. As she embarked upon her seemingly endless journey it was described that, “She wondered within herself at the strength that seemed to be come upon her; for she felt the weight of her boy as if it had been a feather…” (Stowe 65). Eliza’s reasons for fleeing were unselfishly based upon the fact that she was going to save her son from the slave trade. She, unlike her husband, put her family first rather than George and his feelings of personal repression. Eliza is therefore portrayed as a picturesque mother and a caring individual in contrast to her self-centered husband. The result of Eliza’s escape created the conflict between Mr.
and Mrs. Shelby. Mr. Shelby had made a decision to sell Tom and Harry as a result of outstanding debt. When he discovered that Eliza fled with her son, he exclaimed, “…he’ll [Haley] think I connived at it, to get him out of the way. It touches my honour!” (Stowe 53). Mr. Shelby cared more about his deal and the thoughts of the slave trader than he did about his slaves. He supported the idea of her capture because it would save his reputation, even though it would result in a life of slavery for young Harry and punishment for Eliza. This occurrence of events results in a very negative image of Mr. Shelby, but his wife had a much different view and opinion of the entire situation. Mrs. Shelby treated their slaves as though they were nearly equal and wanted the best possible life for them. She wanted to help the girl and her son get away to allow them to have the best life possible and avoid one of violence. While telling one of the other slaves, Sam, to fetch the horses to go after Eliza, she whispers, “Be careful of the horses, Sam; you know Jerry was a little lame last week; don’t ride them too fast” (Stowe 58). Mrs. Shelby delivers a subliminal message that she wants the men to distract Haley from succeeding in the recapturing of Eliza. She takes into consideration how the lives of others will be impacted by her husband’s brash decision to try to earn back respect to his name. They are contrasted by the thoughtfulness that Mrs. Shelby exhibits, thus the audience views her as a compassionate character in comparison to her careless
husband. One of the final contradictions of measurable importance is shown between the younger generations of males and females through the interactions of Eva and her cousin Henrique. Eva is presented as a gentle, sweet girl, where Henrique is portrayed as harsh and devilish. When discussing the way that Henrique treats his young slave, she says, “…you have taken Dodo away from all the friends he ever had, and now he has not a creature to love him…” and he responds that he “can’t help it” (Stowe 343). Eva is empathetic towards Dodo and understands that he is experiencing troubled feelings about the way he is treated by his adolescent owner and the lack of friends and family to support him during this time. Henrique does not understand the consequences that his actions create within the life of his slave and feels that he is treating him as he should. Eva views Dodo as another human being and is compassionate towards him, where Henrique treats the boy in a harsh, nearly violent manner. Eva and the other women of the novel show kindheartedness and thoughtfulness in all of their actions. The men’s actions along with Henrique, contrast those of their female counterparts because they are full of negativity and inconsideration for others. The ability of women to influence men is also heavily portrayed within this novel. Senator Bird and his wife are brought into the novel and possess differing beliefs on the law that was passed that was detrimental to escaped slaves. While the couple was arguing, Mrs. Bird exclaimed, “It’s a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I’ll break it…the first time I get a chance” (Stowe 102). It turned out ironically that Eliza showed up shortly after at their doorstep, which furthered this heated debate. Mrs. Bird refused to put someone who had lived a troubled life and was currently homeless in a state of danger, where Senator Bird continued to explain over and over that it was a “duty” that he must follow (Stowe 103). She eventually persuades him that it is the honorably right decision to help Eliza, and Senator Bird gives in eventually without any closing remarks on the situation. Mrs. Bird gave the idea that she had logic and moral values compared to her husband’s following of politics. She is portrayed as the hero in this chapter because it was her influential behavior that saved Eliza and young Harry’s lives. The mother figure plays a very important role in Stowe’s novel, as these women have direct influence to the type of man that their sons become. St. Clare is the kindest and most respected slave owner within the novel, in which this attribution is entirely owed to the way that he was raised. Upon reflection of his mother, St. Clare said, “I remember just how she used to look…serious eyes, her white dress…I used to think of her whenever I read in Revelations about the saints that were arrayed in fine linen…” (Stowe 285). He is comparing his mother to a saint in this description because he is thankful for the way that he was raised by her. His brother was brought up by his father in contradictable ways, which led to his brother’s inclination towards harsh slave treatment. Even though she is dead, the manners and beliefs that she instilled within St. Clare indirectly influenced the decisions that he made throughout his life. The role of a strong female character in his life left a lasting impact on St. Clare and thus led to his strong sense of humanity and his sympathy towards the individuals he considered his slaves. Legree, the plantation owner who is presented at the end of the novel, ties together all of the concepts presented above. This concept stems for the fact that he does not have the presence of any women in his life, with the exception of forced sex slaves. He does not have a wife, cousin, or any other strong female figure in his life, which results in him being the most disgusting man in the story. He is by far the worst plantation and slave owner, and exhibits malicious, filthy, inhumane treatment towards all he encounters. He separated from his mother at a young because “he despised all her counsel” and refused to listen to anything she tried to say to give him guidance (Stowe 470). Legree destroyed his relationship with his mother because he was such a heartless individual and he died before he could reconcile with her, even though she wrote a letter forgiving him on her death bed. When he sees the lock of hair that belongs to Tom, he has a flashback to his mother and panicked because he knows deep down that she would be disappointed in the man that he became. Legree is ashamed of his actions and refuses to think of his mother because he feels as though he is a disgrace to her memory. His character presents the end result of a lack of women influence in a man’s life, in which he lives life with a cold heart and no morals. Harriet Beecher Stowe was able to attract her desired audience of women, through the vast amount of lead women characters within Uncle Tom’s Cabin. She presented contrasts between male and female characters to show that the women lived with moral actions, where the men did rarely. The women in the story show that their wisdom had the ability to create social change and even though they did not have power in society, they could express their opinions in influential manners. The female audience that Stowe strived to attract would consist of mothers, wives, daughters, or cousins that would be attracted to the emotional value of the novel and relate to the strong women characters in the story of Uncle Tom. Stowe was able to portray her own beliefs of the role of women within characters’ actions and inspire the minds of her audience.