Uncle Tom’s Cabin · Chapter
XV: Of Tom’s New Master, and Various Other Matters explained
This chapter introduces Augustine St.
What happens
This chapter introduces Augustine St. Clare, his past romantic disappointment, his marriage to the selfish and hypochondriac Marie, and his deep devotion to his daughter Eva. It also introduces Miss Ophelia St. Clare, a precise and orderly New England woman who has been persuaded to return with them to the South to help care for Eva.
Themes in this chapter
Class and Power
Augustine's marriage to Marie is described as a transaction involving 'a fine figure, a pair of bright dark eyes, and a hundred thousand dollars,' illustrating the intersection of wealth, social status, and personal relationships.
Hypocrisy of American Society
The minister's abolitionist leanings are tempered by practical concerns about encouraging slavery, and Miss Ophelia's community debates the morality of visiting the South while still participating in a system that supports it.
Family and Separation
Augustine's broken engagement and subsequent loveless marriage create emotional distance within his family, and his devotion to Eva is a response to this loss.
Characters to notice
- Augustine St. Clare
Introduced as Tom's new master; a sensitive, idealistic man whose romantic hopes were crushed by a fraudulent separation from his first love, leading him into a loveless marriage.
- Marie St. Clare
Augustine's wife, a beautiful but intensely selfish and hypochondriac woman who resents her husband's attention to their daughter Eva.
- Eva St. Clare
The delicate young daughter of Augustine and Marie, named after Augustine's mother, and the object of her father's deep affection.
- Miss Ophelia St. Clare
Augustine's cousin from Vermont, a methodical and morally upright New England woman who has been persuaded to return with him to help care for Eva.
Key passages
“Since the thread of our humble hero’s life has now become interwoven with that of higher ones, it is necessary to give some brief introduction to them.”
Because Tom's story is now connected with more important people, we need to introduce them.
The narrator signals a shift in focus from Tom to the St. Clare family.
“There is not on earth a more merciless exactor of love from others than a thoroughly selfish woman; and the more unlovely she grows, the more jealously and scrupulously she exacts love, to the uttermost farthing.”
A completely selfish woman demands love from others more harshly than anyone, and the less lovable she becomes, the more she insists on being loved.
The narrator critiques Marie's selfishness and its destructive effect on her marriage.