Emmeline Character Analysis in Uncle Tom's Cabin

Sold to the Legree estate at the same time as Tom, Emmeline is an attractive teenager “kept” by Legree in his own home for his personal amusement. This position is similar to the one Cassy used to occupy on the Legree plantation. Emmeline and Cassy eventually trick Legree into believing they have escaped. They then hide in the attic, where he is afraid to search, and leave the plantation some time later.

Emmeline Character Timeline in Uncle Tom's Cabin

The timeline below shows where the character Emmeline appears in Uncle Tom's Cabin. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...the women’s side we are introduced to Susan, a “respectably-dressed mulatto woman,” and her daughter Emmeline, a pretty, fair-skinned slave of fifteen. Both have been taught to read and have been... (full context)

Susan and Emmeline hope to be sold together. Susan advices Emmeline to look “plain” so that families will... (full context)

...the Red River who does not believe that Tom managed the Shelby’s farm in Kentucky. Emmeline is also sold to Legree. Susan, her mother, is sold to another, more refined gentleman.... (full context)

Legree sizes up Emmeline, whom he finds attractive and warns to look happy, so that he will continue enjoying... (full context)

...slave-owners are the ones who perpetuate the system under a veneer of civility, he continues. Emmeline hears the sad story of another slave who has been separated from her husband, and... (full context)

...something else, and they begin a nonsense tune. Legree, who has been drinking, notices that Emmeline, seated beside him in the wagon, doesn’t wear earrings, and he promises to get her... (full context)

...spy on and compete with one another. Tom is led to the slave quarters, and Emmeline is asked to stay in the plantation house with Legree. (full context)

...hair recovered from Tom might be his mother’s hair, “back from the dead.” He hears Emmeline singing a hymn in another room and grows scared, asking Sambo and Quimbo to keep... (full context)

Cassy enters to find a scared Emmeline, who thought Cassy might have been Legree. Emmeline asks Cassy if she has ever thought... (full context)

...cannot fight wickedness with wickedness. Instead, they must “love their enemies.” Tom says that if Emmeline and Cassy can escape without harming Legree, they ought to try, but Tom will not... (full context)

...to go into the garret, where Cassy has stored a large portion of her and Emmeline’s belongings. (full context)

...a trip with Legree to another town near the Red River, memorizing routes she and Emmeline might travel. One night, she and Emmeline make it seem like they have escaped into... (full context)

Legree is incensed at Emmeline and Cassy’s disappearance, and he takes his anger out on Tom, who is overjoyed at... (full context)

Legree tells Quimbo to beat Tom until he reveals any knowledge of Emmeline and Cassy’s escape. Tom knows where they are hiding but vows silently never to give... (full context)

...even more. His drinking increases until finally he is on his deathbed. Then Cassy and Emmeline escape, with Cassy pretending to be a Creole woman and Emmeline her servant. (full context)

...George asks that he might receive an education. They all move to France along with Emmeline, and George receives a degree from a French university. (full context)

...in Africa. Madame de Thoux also finds Cassy’s long-lost son, years later, who joins Cassy Emmeline, and the Harrises in Africa. (full context)