Literature Network » Harriet Beecher Stowe

A Kinetic but Creaky 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'

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From: The Washington Post
Date: 20020919
Author:William Triplett

Easily the most important mediocre novel in American history, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had much to lecture on the cruelty of slavery, and in 1852, when Harriet Beecher Stowe's magnum opus was published, many people apparently needed to hear it. Americans bought 300,000 copies that year alone in a population of 23 million. Before the year was out, George Aiken, a playwright remembered for nothing else, adapted the novel for the stage. It was a huge hit: Even 40 years later, upward of 400 "Tom" shows -- traveling troupes specializing in some part of the tale -- were playing to big audiences across ...

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