Synthesis on the Role of Women in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

The issue I have chosen to cover for my personal synthesis is the role of women in the novel and of the time period. I think it is interesting how Stowe effortlessly weaves themes of the “cult of domesticity”, the role of strong women, and stereotypical gender roles into her novel. She was a woman herself, and a strong one at that, and this aspect is clearly shown in the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Similarly, both the cult of domesticity and gender roles are both tackled in this novel to some extent as well, and I believe that Stow challenges the predominating view of the day with her strong, assertive, and memorable female characters.

There are numerous examples where the cult of domesticity can be seen. This includes the mother like tendencies of Mrs. Shelby to her slaves, the politeness shown to her by Mr. Haley, (who is in reality a despicable man), the character of Rachel Halliday, as well as the slave women. I think it is interesting how the typical gender roles of women were passed down from master to slave, especially in the cases with Aunt Chloe and Dinah, who both work in the kitchen and do things around the house. In regards to Aunt Chloe, Stowe writes, “A cook she certainly was, to the very bone and centre of her soul.” Page 18. This shows that although there are strong female characters that exist in the novel, the idea of the “cult of domesticity” is still prevalent.

As much as the “cult of domesticity” is present, I feel that the idea of strong women is even more prevalent in the novel. Most of the main female characters who are not only mentioned in passing are strong willed and take action. Eliza is certainly a strong character, as well as Mrs. Shelby, Mrs. Bird, Mrs. St. Clare, Cassy, certainly Ms. Ophelia, and one could also argue that Eva, although she is still young, is in her own way a strong female character. Eliza is strong in that she escapes with her child and sets off to Canada, both Mrs. Bird and Shelby challenge their husbands and influence their decisions to some degree, or at least try too. Mrs. St. Clare makes up for Mr. St. Clare's lack of assertiveness and authority, as does Ms. Ophelia. And Eva is a strong female character in that she shows love and kindness to the slaves, when some around her are treating them with contempt or apprehension.

This reminds me of our discussion of Eva as a Christ figure in class, and to take on this role one must certainly be strong. She seems to take on the sufferings of the slaves and feels their pain, and in my view she is one of, if not the strongest female presence in the book. The fact that she challenges authority, especially her mother, also shows her innocence, and yet her bravery.  She faces death not with sadness or a sense of being cheated or anything similar to that, but with a confidence and courage, and even up until her last breath, shows her love and compassion for others. This attitude is displayed perfectly on pages 267 to 278 when Stowe writes, “The child felt no pain…  she was so beautiful, so loving, so trustful, so happy, that one could not resist the soothing influence of that air of importance and peace which seemed to breathe around her.”

Another major issue that I feel is dealt with in the novel is the bucking of the trend of gender roles. Like I mentioned earlier, I feel that the strong female characters are obviously a part of this, but I feel that a more specific example would help to get my point across. The attitudes and demeanors of both St. Clare and his cousin, Ms. Ophelia perfectly exemplify this. Ms. Ophelia is assertive, bold, orderly, and much more regimented and “by the books” type of person. Whereas St. Clare is frivolous, lazy, inattentive, unassertive, and does not care about everyday affairs around the house. This is a great example of both men and women switching characteristics, and it is a refreshing take on the typical gender roles. St. Clair is indecisive while Ms. Ophelia wants things done immediately and knows exactly how best to do them. This is evident by how quickly she whips the house into shape, much to the surprise and dismay of the slaves of the St. Clare estate. She also wanted to be assertive about setting Tom free, as was Eva’s wish, but St. Clare was not, and his indecisiveness cost Tom much pain and suffering. This is evident when they are discussing the future of St. Clare’s slaves, as written on page 283, “St. Clare had often thought the same thing himself, but answered; negligently, ‘Well I mean to make a provision, by and by.’ ‘When?’ said Miss Ophelia. ‘O, one of these days.’ ‘What if you should die first?’”. I feel that this brief snippet clearly displays Ms. Ophelia’s sense of urgency and get-to-it attitude, compared with St. Clare’s laid back, casual, and more loose attitude.

Overall, I feel that women are portrayed in a positive light in the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” because of all the positive and strong female characters. I feel there is a good contrast between the more usual, gender- defined female characters and the stronger, more assertive ones. I enjoy reading about strong female characters, as it breaks up the monotony of an all male cast and makes the novel or story more realistic. The flip-flop of gender values and ways of doing things between St. Clare and Ms. Ophelia was refreshing and reflects that not all women and men are “normal” or typical compared to how they are supposed to act given their gender.