Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain: A Literature & Language Movie Review

 

Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain are two of the most influential figures in American literature, and their works have shaped the nation's understanding of race, identity, and social justice. While Stowe is best known for her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), which exposed the horrors of slavery, Twain is most famous for his novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), which explore themes of race, morality, and societal norms in post-Civil War America. Both authors used literature as a tool for social commentary, but their approaches and the legacies of their works have been subjects of intense debate, especially concerning issues of race and how their writings reflect the attitudes of their time.

This review will explore the depiction of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain in film adaptations and analyze their contributions to American literature, particularly in terms of how their works have been portrayed in cinema and how they address themes of race, social justice, and morality.

Harriet Beecher Stowe in Film: The Legacy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Uncle Tom’s Cabin is perhaps the most iconic work associated with Harriet Beecher Stowe, and its impact on American literature and politics cannot be overstated. Stowe wrote the novel to shed light on the cruelty of slavery and the dehumanization of Black people in the antebellum South. The novel, which became one of the best-selling books of the 19th century, played a significant role in galvanizing the abolitionist movement and reshaping public opinion about slavery.

In film adaptations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the character of Uncle Tom, a Black man who is portrayed as a martyr-like figure, has been depicted in various ways over the years. In earlier adaptations, particularly those from the early 20th century, Tom was often portrayed as a submissive, saintly figure, reinforcing the “noble slave” stereotype. While these portrayals reflect the cultural climate of their times, they also highlight the problematic aspects of Stowe’s novel and the way it portrayed African Americans. Critics argue that Stowe’s idealization of Uncle Tom and his sacrificial nature unintentionally reinforced white perceptions of Black passivity and subjugation, despite her abolitionist intentions.

For viewers interested in films that depict the history of slavery or movies about the complexities of racial representation in early 20th-century cinema, the numerous film adaptations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin offer a lens through which to examine how Stowe’s work has been received and interpreted over time. These films highlight the delicate balance between Stowe's moral stance against slavery and her limited understanding of Black agency, which affected how African American characters were portrayed in subsequent media.