Topsy
E50566
Topsy is a young enslaved girl in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," known for her mischievous behavior and for symbolizing the corrupting effects of slavery and the possibility of moral transformation.
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
enslaved person in fiction
→
fictional character → literary character → |
| adoptedBy | Ophelia St. Clare → |
| age | child → |
| appearsIn |
Uncle Tom's Cabin
→
surface form:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
|
| appearsInMedium | novel → |
| associatedWith |
Christian moral reform
→
abolitionism → |
| characterTrait |
mischievous
→
playful → unruly → |
| creator | Harriet Beecher Stowe → |
| culturalImpact |
became a widely recognized figure in discussions of race and slavery
→
influenced later minstrel and stage stereotypes → |
| describedAs | ignorant of basic moral and religious teachings at first → |
| fictionalUniverse |
Uncle Tom's Cabin
→
surface form:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
|
| firstAppearance |
Uncle Tom's Cabin
→
surface form:
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
|
| gender | female → |
| hasNotableQuote | “I ’spect I grow’d. Don’t think nobody never made me.” → |
| hasTheme |
Christian redemption
→
moral education → nature versus nurture → |
| includedIn | American abolitionist literature → |
| influencedBy | Eva St. Clare → |
| influencedConcept | “topsy-turvy” associations in popular culture → |
| interactsWith | Eva St. Clare → |
| language | English → |
| laterDescribedAs | capable of love and moral feeling → |
| literaryRole |
foil to Eva St. Clare
→
vehicle for social criticism of slavery → |
| narrativeFunction | to show that enslaved children can be educated and morally uplifted → |
| nationality | American (fictional) → |
| occupation | enslaved girl → |
| portrayedIn |
film adaptations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin
→
stage adaptations of Uncle Tom’s Cabin → |
| race | Black (fictional) → |
| raisedBy | Ophelia St. Clare → |
| symbolizes |
corrupting effects of slavery
→
impact of environment on character → possibility of moral transformation → racist stereotypes in 19th-century American culture → |
| timePeriod |
American South (19th and early 20th centuries)
→
surface form:
Antebellum American South (fictional setting)
|
| undergoes | moral transformation → |
| workPublicationDate | 1852 → |
Referenced by (5)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.