Uncle Tom’s Cabin · Chapter
Tom's Mistress and Her Opinions explained
Miss Ophelia arrives at the St.
What happens
Miss Ophelia arrives at the St. Clare household and observes the dynamics between Marie, St. Clare, and Eva. Marie complains about her slaves, particularly Mammy, revealing her selfishness and lack of empathy. St. Clare engages in a philosophical discussion with Miss Ophelia about slavery, religion, and morality, criticizing hypocritical justifications of slavery. Eva shows her affectionate nature by spending time with Tom, who is well-treated and serves as her attendant. The chapter explores themes of hypocrisy, motherhood, and the contrast between genuine Christian love and societal norms.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy of American Society
St. Clare criticizes the hypocrisy of using religion to justify slavery, contrasting genuine morality with societal convenience.
Motherhood and Sacrifice
Marie's selfishness contrasts with Mammy's forced separation from her husband and children, highlighting the lack of maternal sacrifice in the slaveholding class.
Characters to notice
- Marie St. Clare
Marie complains about her slaves, especially Mammy, and expresses selfishness and lack of empathy. She defends slavery as necessary for her comfort.
- Augustine St. Clare
St. Clare engages in a philosophical debate about slavery and religion, criticizing hypocritical justifications and showing a complex, skeptical view of society.
- Miss Ophelia St. Clare
Miss Ophelia arrives and observes the household, questioning St. Clare about slavery and morality with a shrewd, practical New England perspective.
- Eva St. Clare
Eva shows her loving and innocent nature, spending time with Tom and expressing that having many servants means more people to love.
- Uncle Tom
Tom is well-dressed and serves as Eva's attendant, enjoying the beauty of the St. Clare estate and singing hymns about the New Jerusalem.
Key passages
“I think she'll find one thing, if she does, and that is, that it's we mistresses that are the slaves, down here.”
Marie claims that slave mistresses are the real slaves, a self-pitying view that ignores the actual suffering of enslaved people.
Marie's statement reveals her self-centered perspective and lack of awareness of the true nature of slavery.
“I believe that more of my ill health is caused by them than by any one thing; and ours, I know, are the very worst that ever anybody was plagued with.”
Marie blames her slaves for her health problems, portraying them as a plague rather than acknowledging their humanity.
This quote illustrates Marie's selfishness and dehumanization of the enslaved people in her household.
“Nothing is easier than talking. I believe Shakespeare makes somebody say, 'I could sooner show twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow my own showing.'”
St. Clare admits that he is good at talking about morality but not at practicing it, highlighting his own hypocrisy.
St. Clare's self-awareness contrasts with Marie's obliviousness, yet he remains passive in addressing the evils of slavery.