Uncle Tom's Cabin

Characteristics of Melodrama in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Melodrama is a play form that does not observe the dramatic laws of cause and effect and that intensifies sentiment and exaggerates emotion (893).

Written by George L. Aiken, Uncle Tom's Cabin is an extremely good example

for melodrama that emerged towards the end of nineteenth century. By then, the demand for

more realistic works was on rise. With more realism in it, the work would appeal to any rank, any race, and any sex, mostly to middle and woking class. Melodrama not only aimed to entertain and to put money into the pockets of the manager but also to realize thoroughly the problems taking place in society.

In Uncle Tom's Cabin realism exposes itself with the issue of slavery in the South. The slaves, though not all of them (because it was up to their masters), were oppressed and treated in a cruel way, tortured for nothing. Considered as inferior, the black men were emasculated. We can witness it with the case of George, one of the slaves in the play, who could not even enjoy having a family, his son was to be sold, while the same thing could be with his wife, and he could do nothing about it. Geroge himself was forced to marry another woman, which would happen if only he did not escape. To sum up, he had no right to take his own decisions. This issue was very common in the real life. Aiken was so frank in his speech that the publication of this play was opposed

by some people.

The success of Uncle Tom's Cabin as a novel, has naturally suggested its success upon the

stage, but the fact has been overlooked, that any such representation must be an insult to the

South Ð'- an exaggerated mockery of Southern institutions Ð'- and calculated more than any

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other expedient of agitation, to poison the minds of our youth with the pestilent principles of

abolishionism. (299)

New York Herald tries to put a veil on the facts with these words, as if they did not happen. But as it is known Uncle Tom's Cabin is an illusion of reality.

In this play, the conflict resumes between good and evil. In this case, slaves are taken as the good and on the contrary the antagonist is the society which imprison and treat the slaves in an unhuman way. The play criticizes this Southern system. There are actually two kinds of struggles. One of them is seen with George, Eliza and Harry, the black family,and also other minor characters as slaves which rejected to be torn apart and to be distributed in different places. They did struggled in the real meaning, not accepting the system and taking the risk of running away to Canada. They are the rebels among the slaves. But there is also the inner struggle of Uncle Tom. He is also not fond of the situation of having no freedom but he does nothing to change it. He accepts everything as it is and does everything that is commended. The only thing he does regarding his freedom is to pray to God all the time not losing

his faith, and struggling only not to loose his hope, that one day there would be justice on earth, and they woud get what they deserved. He does not complain, only towards the end of the play he says "Oh heaven! Have you quite forgot about us poor critters?" upon hearing about the cruelties of his present master, from Cassy who has served that master for five years.

Melodrama deals with social problems, but its one of the most known characteristics is that this problems are not resolved at the end. It remains as it has been. As melodrama takes up realistic issues, the purpose of leaving the problem unressolved may be that it would stuck in the minds of the readers and they would thus concentrate on their own societies, now with a more objective eye, not wishing to leave the problem like it has been left in the play. There is a desire to change the problem in Uncle Tom's Cabin,though it does not become actul. It is not only wished

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by the slaves to end the slavery but also there is this character Eva, who is an extraordinary child regarding her thoughtful mind and pure, good-willing heart. She is ill and is at the edge of dying. The last thing she wishes from her father St. Clare, who is a slaveholder, is to give his slaves their freedom. St. Clare accepts this idea in a warm manner. The aim is not achieved due to an unluckiness that St. Clare dies before granting them with their freedom. But even if he had, the problem had been solved only partially. The roots of the problem would not have been removed. In the case of George and his family, and other runaway slaves like Cassy, they gain their freedom to an extent when they escape, but this is a temporary solution. One should have luck to manage running away not being caught, not every slave can do it. Besides, they can loose their freedom any time, they live a risky life. And it only affects themselves. There are still a lot of blacks under the roots of whites, the slavery continues when the play ends.

Considering the fact that the hero does nothing to oppose the principles of the society we can get the idea that unlike a tragic hero in a tragedy, the hero of melodrama do not have any flaw in his character and is not responsible for his end. The fault lies in the society.

Melodrama tries to infuse some moral and religious values to the audience. In Uncle Tom's Cabin the main characters, who have the role of infusing these values are Uncle Tom and little Eva. At the beginning of the play when Mr. Shelby, Uncle Tom's master, and Mr. Haley are talking about trading Mr.Shelby's slave, and when Shelby recommends Uncle Tom to his friend, we get to learn how Uncle Tom is a man