Augustine St. Clare

E50565

Augustine St. Clare is a wealthy, conflicted New Orleans slave owner in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," whose moral ambivalence and eventual change of heart highlight the cruelties of slavery.

Aliases (1)

Statements (43)
Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional character
literary character
adaptedIn film adaptations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
stage adaptations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
appearsAs master of the St. Clare household
appearsIn Uncle Tom’s Cabin
associatedWith New Orleans plantation household
characterRole major character
slaveholder
characterTrait conflicted
indolent
kind-hearted
morally ambivalent
wealthy
child Eva St. Clare
createdBy Harriet Beecher Stowe
deathCause stab wound from a street fight accident
diesBefore signing manumission papers
familyName St. Clare
firstPublicationContext Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)
gender male
givenName Augustine
hasSlave Topsy
household servants
literaryPeriod 19th-century American literature
maritalStatus married
moralViewOnSlavery critical but complicit
narrativeFunction to expose contradictions of benevolent slaveholding
nationality American
occupation slave owner
plansTo free his slaves
purchases Uncle Tom
relationshipWith Uncle Tom
religiousInfluenceOn influenced by Eva St. Clare’s piety
residence New Orleans
setting pre–Civil War American South
spouse Marie St. Clare
symbolizes the conflicted Southern slaveholder
themeAssociation Christian morality
moral ambivalence
slavery
treats slaves relatively humanely
undergoes moral transformation


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