Theater history, practice, and cultural significance

¶ … net to acquire background information on the infamous Astor Place Riots in the early 19th Century. B. Do the same with Harriet Beecher Stowe and Uncle Tom's Cabin. C. Read the play, Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Astor Place Riots: What happened? (Approximately one page) In what respects was the Astor Place Riots a continuation of the themes found in the play, The Contrast? (Approximately one page) Uncle Tom's Cabin: Discuss two themes in the play. Also, do you find the play still relevant? Did it move you? (Approximately two pages)

The Astor Place riots: What happened?

The Astor Place riots were a result of the professional rivalry between two great tragedians, that of the American actor Edwin Forrest vs. The Englishman William Charles Macready. The two actors had offered the theater-going public of New York their contrasting interpretations of Hamlet, and when both actors were scheduled to play Macbeth on the same night, rioting began on May 10, 1849 at the Astor Place Opera House. "It will be remembered that on Mr. Forrest's former visit to England, he was not only well received, but the press, with but one or two exceptions, was enthusiastic in his praise. All this to Macready was gall and wormwood; and in consultation with his friends -- and more particularly John Forster -- a plan was adopted to crush his successful rival" (Turney n.d).

The Astor Place riots were not simply about literature, but also highlighted the anxieties between Americans and their founding mother country in terms of claiming the right to interpret great works of art. This tension was already seen in an earlier work of American drama, entitled The Contrast, which used the stereotypes of English Restoration comedy in an American setting to support the values of the new, independent nation. The values of England were seen as corrupt, foolish, and foppish. The hero of the play, Colonel Manly likewise "praises the homespun, the prudent and modest, the person who steers his own independent way, quite indifferent to imported fashion and manners" (The Contrast, The Metropolitan Playhouse, 2011). The heroine Maria chooses Manly over Billy Dimple. Dimple has recently returned from Europe and has adopted Europe's foppish, aristocratic, and exclusive attitudes.

However, there is an irony -- much as Americans rioted in support of an American actor in the name of patriotism, they were doing so in a war over who had the right to interpret Shakespeare's words. And The Contrast borrowed heavily from the Anglo-Irish dramatist Robert Sheridan's social satire School for Scandal. America was striving to break away, culturally, in its drama, but was only partially succeeding in doing so, given that it still showed evident ties to its British literary origins. Success in Shakespeare was the standard by which all English-speaking actors were measured.

Uncle Tom's Cabin: Two themes in the play

The two, most striking themes in the play inspired by Harriet Beecher's famous novel Uncle Tom's Cabin are the evils of slavery and the ability of goodness to elevate even the most lowly creature to Christ. The novel depicts the escape to freedom by the novel's two romantic protagonists, the slaves George and Eliza, and the martyrdom of the slave Uncle Tom at the hands of the evil overseer Simon Legree. The novel begins showing slavery in its most supposedly 'benign' fashion in the stately home of Mr. Shelby. The tender-hearted Shelbys are supposed to represent the best of southern slave-owners, as depicted in the pro-slavery literature of the day. They are paternalistic and tender. Yet even they are no substitution for true freedom. The slaves of the Shelbys are at the mercy of the fortunes of the family, which means they must suffer, and suffer terribly when the Shelby's financial imprudence forces the family to sell all of its 'assets.' Eliza and George decide to run away rather than be separated or see their little boy Harry taken from them.

Slavery is thus shown to be an unnatural institution that destroys the most fundamental building block of human society: the family. Mrs. Shelby intuitively understands this, as she is much more upset that the pain that Eliza will suffer as a mother in seeing Henry taken away from her. Women's intuition and human compassion are far greater than the 'logic' of men who seek to defend the barbaric practice of slavery. This femininization of morality is also seen in the depiction of Uncle Tom, a wise, strong slave of great tenderness. Over the course of the novel, despite his goodness, Uncle Tom is sold several times, each time seeking deeper into the south and closer to his death. Tom dies a pure man, but the fact that slavery creates a lack of respect for such a true, Christian heart shows the evils of the institution.