The Key to Women’s Liberation in Uncle Tom’s Cabin

This paper examines the ways in which the feminist ideologies are reflected in the novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The novel was written in the era when antislavery and feminist movements began to be more active. Through the characterization of the novel, Harriet Beecher Stowe attempts to underscore the roles that women should take in overcoming socially perceived gender differences and reforming the world for social justice. She tries to awaken the women at her times to realize their social position through depicting the relationship of the women and the men and construct their voices for social wrongs through the characters of Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird. Also, by revealing their limitations placed in the society, Stowe highlights logic and reason through another female character, Ophelia who is portrayed as the woman with these qualities. Additionally, the active attitude and the practicing ability were described as the slave women in the novel, Cassy and Rachel. In doing so, Stowe also lays emphasis on the roles of mother and educator as the women of the time can take in order to influence the society.(Hankuk University of Foreign Studies)