The scene is laid in central Italy during the time of the infamous Pope Alexander VI. (from 1492 to 1503). Agnes is the daughter of a Roman prince who secretly marries, and then deserts, a girl of humble parentage. The young mother dies of grief, and Elsie, the grandmother, takes Agnes to Sorrento, where she lives by selling oranges in the streets. Her beauty and her purity attract to her many lovers, worthy and unworthy, and involve her in many romantic and dramatic incidents.
1811-1896
Harriet Beecher Stowe was an American abolitionist and author. Harriet was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, as the daughter of an outspoken religious leader Lyman Beecher. She was the sister of the educator and author, Catherine Beecher, clergymen Henry Ward Beecher and Charles Beecher.
Her father was a preacher who was greatly effected by the pro-slavery riots that took place in Cincinnati in 1834.
Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852) depicted life for African-Americans under slavery; it reached millions as a novel and play, and became influential in the U.S. and Britain and made the political issues of the 1850s regarding slavery tangible to millions, energizing anti-slavery forces in the American North, while provoking widespread anger in the South. Upon meeting Stowe, Abraham Lincoln allegedly remarked, "So this is the little old lady who started this new great war!"
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