Similarities between George Sand and Harriet Beecher Stowe
In the history of mankind, George Sand and Harriet Beecher Stowe were two well-known and important female authors, who expressed their views on the difficulties facing women and the controversy over women’s role in the nineteenth-century. Their words changed the world significantly and also did great impact to their respective society.
Both of them have similar beliefs which were reflected in their literature. They believed that virtues taught at home, or called ‘Woman’s Sphere’, were the foundation of civilization. Both experienced difficulties in their life which contributed to their passionate novels. Sand encountered a failure in marriage with Baron Casimir Dudevant while Stowe had a vision of a dying slave during a communion service in the college. Each of them advocated the value of a woman’s way of looking at things, as well as substantial control over their personal lives and property. They hoped that women’s work would be recognized as equally important as men, without changing the fundamental patriarchal structure of society.
However, they had different perspectives addressing controversial social issues. Sand emphasized on the injustices of women and also the lower classes in France, while Stowe focused on the plight of slaves in the South America. Sand identified the problems facing women while Stowe suggested solutions to the problems. For example, in Sand’s novel ‘Indiana’, the legal rights and passion of women were not being taken seriously and respected by the society. Unjust and uncivilized French laws treated women with few rights, especially governed woman’s existence in marriage, in family and in society. While in Stowe’s famous novel ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’, she illustrated the destructive impact of slavery on families and more importantly, she promoted African colonization to deal with the evils of slavery.
In conclusion, both female authors are important in shaping history in the way of world-wide advocacy of women’s liberation and equality.
Both of them have similar beliefs which were reflected in their literature. They believed that virtues taught at home, or called ‘Woman’s Sphere’, were the foundation of civilization. Both experienced difficulties in their life which contributed to their passionate novels. Sand encountered a failure in marriage with Baron Casimir Dudevant while Stowe had a vision of a dying slave during a communion service in the college. Each of them advocated the value of a woman’s way of looking at things, as well as substantial control over their personal lives and property. They hoped that women’s work would be recognized as equally important as men, without changing the fundamental patriarchal structure of society.
However, they had different perspectives addressing controversial social issues. Sand emphasized on the injustices of women and also the lower classes in France, while Stowe focused on the plight of slaves in the South America. Sand identified the problems facing women while Stowe suggested solutions to the problems. For example, in Sand’s novel ‘Indiana’, the legal rights and passion of women were not being taken seriously and respected by the society. Unjust and uncivilized French laws treated women with few rights, especially governed woman’s existence in marriage, in family and in society. While in Stowe’s famous novel ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’, she illustrated the destructive impact of slavery on families and more importantly, she promoted African colonization to deal with the evils of slavery.
In conclusion, both female authors are important in shaping history in the way of world-wide advocacy of women’s liberation and equality.