AMERICAN THEATER HISTORY - Essay Example

This version was brought to audience not long after the novel first got published. It in particular became distinguished among other play versions because it was the first Broadway show which did not rely on other entertainments. In contrast, entire focus was laid on characters and their expressions to reach out to audiences. Aiken used this show to convince a large number of people to stand against the institution of slavery. Using slavery as one of the most important themes, he tried to illustrate to masses of public what a wretched social evil it actually happens to be.

This 19th century stage production is the reason why “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” continues to be played in theaters in America even in the present times because the Aiken script is used to form the bedrock of all theatrical productions. In Scene III, Eliza’s unmitigated desperation is apparent when she explains to Tom and Chloe that her master has sold her only son. Here, another theme besides slavery is illustrated because this scene demonstrates that women had enough agencies to save the country from the social evil of slavery and stand against it instead of silently complying with their masters’ orders.

The play is considered a textbook example of melodrama. One of the characteristics of melodrama is it contains two dimensional characters that essentially do not change or grow. Discuss 2 characters, one that seems to conform to this characteristic and one that does not. One of the chief characteristics of melodrama is that the characters are always two-dimensional who till the end of the story remain essentially the same as when presented in the beginning. Stowe’s novel is fraught with such two-dimensional characters.

For example, Uncle Tom himself is a two-dimensional character like most other characters which are simple and not complex at all. These characters seem to fit into the two-dimensional formula because of their