Caroline Lee Hentz - Career

Career

Although she was primarily a teacher from the beginning, Hentz still managed to write and produce several small pieces and distribute them to local publications. In 1831, Hentz wrote De Lara; or, The Moorish Bride for Boston actor William Pelby. The tragedy won Hentz recognition in 1842 when it was performed at the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia and the Tremont in Boston (Perry and Weaks 83). Hentz's career advanced greatly between the years 1832 and 1856. In March of 1832, she published her first work, a short story, "The Sacrifice" in Godey's Lady's Book. While living in Covington, Kentucky, Caroline also wrote Constance of Werdenberg, a play performed at the Park Theatre in New York in 1832 (Perry and Weaks 83). That same year, another one of her plays,Lamorah; or, the Western Wild, played in Cincinnati in 1832 and in New Orleans at Calwell’s on January 1, 1833 (Perry and Weaks 83). In 1850, Hentz published her most profitable novel, Linda (Knight 193). One of her most famous novels, The Planter’s Northern Bride, was published in 1854 in response to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Knight 194). Her earlier works spoke to young men and women, mimicking religious parables and instructing them in moral goodness. Hentz was known for "engaging in some of the most prominent public debates on the ethics and social relations of the slave system" (Stanesa 130). After retiring from her career as an educator, she began to write vigorously and her literary career blossomed as a result. From 1850 to 1856, "Hentz produced several collections of stories as well as seven more novels" (Stanesa 132). Her last novel, Ernest Linwood, was published on February 11, 1856 (Perry and Weaks 84). She is "frequently remembered as the author of "The Planter's Northern Bride," her polemical and distinctively Southern response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin" (Stanesa 130).