Uncle Tom's Cabin: Personal Synthesis

Personal Synthesis: Domesticity in Uncle Tom’s Cabin

“The Cult of True Womanhood/Cult of Domesticity” seems to reappear in multiple places throughout Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The four different parts of it contain piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. When referring to those four terms they are usually meant to be traits that are desirable and necessary in women. Male and female slaves have these qualities as well as the few white female characters seen throughout the book. Three of the four terms are prominently found in most of the book: piety, submissiveness, and domesticity.

Piety is shown through women and their spiritual center of home; they are expected to be religious and teach their family about said religion. Most, if not all, the slaves had religion. They used it to tell themselves that suffering hell on earth would be worth a lifetime in paradise. On page fifteen, George is telling Eliza that he’s not a Christian like her and questions how someone (God) could let atrocities like slavery continue. She replies with, “O, George, we must have faith. Mistress says that when all things go wrong to us, we must believe that God is doing the very best” (Stowe). Mrs. Shelby has passed on her duties as a woman to spread the word of God to Eliza, who then spreads it to her family. Tom is also a strong character that is pious. His sermons make even the heaviest non-believer have faith, if only for a moment, and his songs bring joy to all.

Submissiveness was demonstrated by the passivity of women; they were told to stay out of the way and to respect men and God. One character who is the epitome of submissiveness is Tom. He seems to be oblivious to how terrible he’s being treated, whether it’s because his faith is so strong or because he’s a mellow kind of guy, he rarely gets fired up about anything. He’d sooner throw himself on the line to protect another slave or person with little regard to his own life. His loyalty not only to his slave brethren, but his white masters, is generally disturbing. After St. Claire gives Tom freedom, Tom says, “Not while Mas’r is in trouble. . . I’ll stay with Mas’r as long as he wants me, --so as I can be any use” (Stowe, 279).

After St. Clare dies and is sold to Legree, Tom’ doesn’t falter there, either. His loyalty to Legree is perplexing when Legree has treated him worse than any owner Tom’s been with. Yet, when Legree is ready to kill Tom, he’s only concerned for his masters soul. Tom says:

Mas’r, if you was sick, or in trouble, or dying, and I could save ye, I’d give ye my heart’s blood; and, if taking every drop of blood in this poor old body would save your precious soul, I’d give ‘em freely, as the Lord gave his for me. O, Mas’r, don’t bring this great sin on your soul! It will hurt you more that ‘t will me! Do the worst you can, my troubles’ll be over soon; but if ye don’t repent, yours won’t never end! (Stowe)

Legree has treated Tom as if he were less than human, yet Tom holds him to the same caliber he did with Shelby and LeClaire. He isn't pleading for his life, he's trying to save Legree's soul by telling him not to commit murder. Tom seems to care more about Legree's life rather than his own since Tom seems to know his "troubles'll be over soon". At this point, I recall Cantave's point of leaving out the horrors and reality of slavery. This scene was off to a "good" start when it came to Legree nearly beating Tom to death, but at this point I don't think any person could lie there and preach about their abuser's soul. As Northup described, being poked, prodded, inspected, separated from their family, doing laborious tasks, treated like animals rather than people, and being whipped and tortured would surely bring out the worst of even the best religious person.

Lastly, domesticity. Women were expected to keep their place inside the home by keeping up its maintenance and appearance. It’s in a different way that the women of Uncle Tom’s Cabin take control of their home. Mrs. Bird convinces her husband that it’s his moral obligation to put religion before law when it came to helping Eliza and her baby. St. Claire shares the affects his mother’s domesticity had on him by saying, "She was divine! ... She probably was of mortal birth; but as far as ever I could observe, there was no trace of any human weakness or error about her ...She was a direct embodiment of the New Testament" (Stowe, 205).

Women, and Tom, play an important role is this book. They are confined to their homes and students of religion, but they are not completely naive to their surroundings. There are female characters that show strength, courage, and intelligence when it comes to knowing what to do and exactly how to keep the men in line. Tom’s religious beliefs helped many slaves make it through the gruesome times They use what they know, specifically religion, as manipulation to achieve goals that are usually morally justifiable. Their submissiveness, piety, and domesticity contributed to how other characters formed; perhaps St. Claire would have been more like Legree had his mother not been so domestic.