【文章內容簡介】 aimed to have been inspired by grief over her baby39。s death in 1849 and resistance to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. ? Uncle Tom‘ s Cabin has exerted an influence “ equaled by few other novels in history.” Upon publication, the book received praise from abolitionists. But the novel was viciously attacked by proslavery readers, even after Stowe defended the research on which she based the novel in A Key to Uncle Tom39。s Cabin (1853). II. Uncle Tom39。s Cabin。 or, Life Among the Lowly ? 3. Major themes ? 1) the evil and immorality of slavery ? Uncle Tom39。s Cabin is dominated by a single theme: the evil and immorality of slavery. Stowe pushed home her theme of the immorality of slavery on almost every page of the novel, sometimes even changing the story39。s voice so she could give a “ lesson on the destructive nature of slavery. II. Uncle Tom39。s Cabin。 or, Life Among the Lowly ? The most dreadful part of slavery, to my mind, is its outrages of feelings and affections— the separating of families, for example.” ? One way Stowe showed the evil of slavery was how this peculiar institution forcibly separated families from each other. II. Uncle Tom39。s Cabin。 or, Life Among the Lowly ? 2) the moral power and holiness of women ? Because Stowe believed that only women had the moral authority to save the United States from the demon of slavery, another major theme of Uncle Tom39。s Cabin is the moral power and sanctity of women. II. Uncle Tom39。s Cabin。 or, Life Among the Lowly ? Through characters like Eliza, who escapes from slavery to save her young son and eventually reunites her entire family, or Little Eva, who is seen as the ideal Christian, Stowe shows how she believed women could save those around them from even the worst injustices. While later critics have noted that Stowe39。s female characters are often domestic cliches instead of realistic women, Stowe39。s novel reaffirmed the importance of women39。s influence and helped pave the way for the women39。s rights movement in the following decades. II. Uncle Tom39。s Cabin。 or, Life Among the Lowly ? 3) the exploration of the nature of Christianity and its fundamental inpatibility with slavery ? Stowe39。s puritanical religious beliefs show up in the novel39。s final theme, which is the exploration of the nature of Christianity and how she feels Christian theology is fundamentally inpatible with slavery. Mark Twain （ 18351910） ? Pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens ? Literary Status ? leading figure of local colorism /language reformer of English novel ? Novelist, humorist, lecturer, journalist, literary and cultural critic ? monumental figure in the development of western novel ? Life and Career: ? Born in Florida and brought up in the small town of Hannibal, Missouri, on the Mississippi River (a slave state then) ? born two weeks after the closest approach to Earth of Halley39。s Comet in 1835. ? He was twelve when his father died and he had to leave school. ? With the publication of his frontier tale, “ The celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” , Twain became nationally famous. ? His first novel The Gilded Age (with Charles Dudley ) gave its name to the America of the realism period. ? Printer’ s apprentice selftaught Steamboat pilot – married Olivia Lanton Susy, Clara, Jean, his three daughters – received honorary doctorate degree from Oxford University in 1907 Twain outlived Jean and Olivia. Olivia39。s death in 1904 and Jean39。s death on December 24, 1909 deepened his gloom – died in 1910, one day after Halley’ s Comet’ s closest approach to Earth Main Works ? The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County 1865 ? The Innocents Abroad 1869,. ? Roughing It 1872, ? The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876, ? A Tramp Abroad 1880,. ? The Prince and Pauper 1881, ? Life on the Mississippi 1881, ? The Gilded Age ? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 1885, ? A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’ s Court 1889, ? Pudd’ s Head Wilson 1894,. ? Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc 1896, ? Following the Equator, 1897 ? The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg 1900 ? What is Man 1906 ? The Mysterious Stranger 1916 Style ? Broad, often irreverent humor or biting social satire, realism of place and language, memorable characters, hatred of hypocrisy and oppression. ? Simple and plain diction, precise, direct. ? His earlier works are light, humorous, optimistic. ? His later works bee darker and more obscure, showing his discontent and disappointment toward the social reality. His last works show his acute pessimism, despair, skepticism and determinism. Artistic Features ? First, he possessed utter clarity of style. He evolved a style so clear and economical that other contemporary styles seemed slightly archaic, rusty, and redundant. ? Second, he had a supreme mand of vernacular American English. American dialect had been used very well by some other writers, but in their hands it was surrounded and conditioned by a “ literary” language that wittingly or unwittingly patronized it. Mark Twain removed the surrounding frame. Artistic features ? Third, there was Mark Twain’ s humor, which resists explanation. In Twain’ s time, humor, though it was seen as greatly valuable, remained clearly subordinate in the value system of the 19th century. The function of humor was to entertain, but it was not expected to participate in the high seriousness that Matthew Arnold and his age asked of literature. But Twain liberated humor, raising it to high art—a liberation that parallels his creation of vernacular American English. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ? a story of his seeking for freedom, fame, fortune,