Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth

“We will purchase a little cottage, my Lucy […] thither with your reverend father, we will retire; we will forget that there are such things as splendor, profusion, and dissipation—we will have some cows, and you shall be queen of the dairy; in the morning, while I look after my garden, you shall take a basket on your arm, and sally forth to feed your poultry; and as they flutter round you in humble gratitude, your father shall smoke his pipe in a woodbine alcove, and viewing the serenity of your countenance, feel such real pleasure dilate his heart as shall make him regret that he has ever been unhappy.”

The romanticized description of the simple life Mr. Temple proposes is intended to evoke a sentimental response. The image of a humble domestic life would have resonated with the intended audience, who held traditional Christian values. Mr. Temple’s cottage life acts as a juxtaposition with Charlotte’s cottage in the United States, which reflects the moral choices of the characters. Mr. Temple and Lucy, who made virtuous choices, live an ideal domestic life, whereas Charlotte, duped into an unvirtuous decision, is miserable and isolated in her small home.

“The mind of youth easily catches at promised pleasure. Pure and innocent by nature, it thinks not of the dangers lurking beneath those pleasures until too late to avoid them.”

Rowson foreshadows Montraville’s betrayal of Charlotte by referring to the dangers hidden by the excitement of potential pleasure. Although Charlotte’s actions are considered immoral, Rowson does not blame Charlotte; she uses a sympathetic tone to suggest that Charlotte is naïve rather than corrupt. This supports the novel as a cautionary tale to prevent young women in the real world from following in Charlotte’s footsteps.

“Of all the pleasures of which the human mind is sensible, there is none equal to that which warms and expands the bosom when we are listening to commendation bestowed on us by a beloved object, and we are conscious of having deserved it.”

Rowson accentuates the prideful feeling that Lucy has when she is complimented as virtuous by Mr. Temple. The emphasis on this deserved sense of pride contrasts with the earlier mention of Montraville’s vanity, which is implicitly undeserved. Lucy’s pride is considered acceptable because the praise stems from her virtuous behavior, whereas Montraville’s pride is unacceptable because it is undeserved.

“Montraville, therefore, concluded it was impossible he should ever marry Charlotte Temple: and what end he proposed to himself by continuing the acquaintance he had commences with her, he did not at that moment give himself time to inquire.”

Montraville is portrayed as self-centered and short-sighted. He does not consider what impact his pursuits will have on Charlotte, and he cares only about satisfying his interests, despite having recently been warned by his father against such endeavors. Filial duties, or the obligations to one’s parents, are repeatedly mentioned as crucial to a virtuous life, so Montraville’s choice to not heed his father’s advice supports Montraville’s role as an antagonist.

“I thought that you would for my sake have braved the danger of the ocean—that you would, by your affection and smiles, have softened the hardships of war; and had it been my fate to fall, that your tenderness would cheer the hour of death, and smooth my passage into another world. But farewell, Charlotte! I see you never loved me. I shall now welcome the friendly ball that deprived me of the sense of my misery.”

Charlotte is sentimental, and Montraville has learned how to use Charlotte’s sensitivity to manipulate her. He uses accusations and his potential hardships and death to make Charlotte feel guilty about rejecting his elopement plan. Charlotte’s naivety demonstrates the importance of educating young women about social dangers.

“Cruel Charlotte! […] if you disappoint my ardent hopes, by all that is sacred! This had shall put a period to me existent. I cannot—will not—live without you.”

Montraville uses the threat of his death, both as a result of war or as a result of suicide, to manipulate Charlotte into eloping with him. Charlotte is portrayed as young and naïve, and she does not realize that Montraville is using these threats to manipulate her.

“A mother’s anguish, when disappointed in her tenderest hopes, none but a mother can conceive. Yet, my dear young readers, I would have you read this scene with attention, and reflect that you may yourselves one day be mothers.”

These intrusions emphasize that the text is written as a warning to young women, and they demonstrate that the author does not agree with nor idealize the plot events. Such authorial intrusions were common in Rowson’s day, as portraying immoral behavior in novels without direct condemnation of the behavior could lead to legal trouble or reputational damage for authors. These intrusions also allow Rowson to make the moral takeaways of her tale clear without a doubt.

“Alas! When once a woman has forgot the respect due to herself by yielding to the solicitations of illicit love, she loses all the consequence, even in the eyes of the man whose art has betrayed her, and for whose sake she has sacrificed every valuable consideration.”

This outdated representation of respect places the responsibility on the woman’s shoulders. She insinuates that women will be treated with respect if they respect themselves. Her remark develops The Consequences of Seduction and Betrayal, and it implicitly encourages the intended reader to remain skeptical of men’s advances.

“A full sense of her own situation rushed upon her mind. She burst into tears, and remained silent.”

Charlotte realizes that Montraville has never had any intention of marrying her. Given her sweet disposition, her circumstances, and the social atmosphere which is highly oppressive, she does not complain or yell at Montraville. Despite Montraville’s deceitfulness, Charlotte is wholly dependent on him and cannot risk losing his protection.

“She feels herself like a poor solitary being in the midst of surrounding multitudes; shame bows her to the earth, remorse tears her distracted mins, and guilt, poverty and disease close the dreadful scene; she sinks unnoticed to oblivion.”

This line uses emotional language to encourage the reader to empathize with Charlotte. It also foreshadows Charlotte’s fate.

“His visit was not long, but before he went, he fixed a scorpion in the heart of Charlotte, whose venom embittered every future hour of her life.”

Rowson uses a metaphor comparing the news that Montraville is pursuing Julia to a sting from a scorpion and the ensuring jealousy to the spreading poison. The purpose of the metaphor is to express the painful emotions Charlotte is experiencing in a creative and powerful way.

“Would I? […] would not the poor sailor tossed on a tempestuous ocean, threatened every moment with death, gladly return to the shore he left to trust to its deceitful calmness?”

When Mrs. Beauchamp asks Charlotte if she would return home if her family would allow her, Charlotte responds with a metaphorical rhetorical question comparing her situation to a sailor alone on the dangerous sea. The rhetorical question creates an immersive reading experience, and the metaphor serves to create relatable imagery that enhances the literary creativity of the text.

“Belcour cast upon Montraville a smile of contempt. It irritated him almost to madness.”

Belcour’s facial expressions allude to his manipulation of Charlotte and Montraville. Montraville believes Belcour over Charlotte and does not realize that his friend has become an antagonistic force.

“I am a seducer—a mean, ungenerous seducer of unsuspecting innocence. I dare not hope that purity like hers would stoop to unite itself with black, premeditated guilt.”

Although Montraville is an antagonist, he has redeeming qualities. He experiences remorse for his actions against Charlotte and had no intentions of hurting her but rather was shortsighted and did not consider the consequences. He assumes responsibility for Charlotte and her unborn child, and he does not want to harm Julia’s social status by actively pursuing her.

“In vain the cheerful fire blazed on the hearth; in vain was he surrounded by all the comforts of life; the parent was still alive in his heart; and when he thought that perhaps his once darling child was ere this exposed to all the miseries of want in a distant land, without a friend to soothe and comfort her, without the benignant look of compassion to cheer, or the angelic voice of pity to pour the balm of consolation on her wounded heart; when he thought of this, his whole soul dissolved into tenderness, and while he wiped the tear of anguish from the eye of his patient, uncomplaining Lucy, he struggled to suppress the sympathizing drop that started in his own.”

Rowson uses emotional language and rich literary devices, such as juxtaposition and imagery, to convey the pain Mr. Temple feels and to characterize him as a sensitive and caring father and husband. The warm fire and comfortable home are juxtaposed with his emotional pain, and the imagery and sensory language describing Lucy’s crying and his attempt to hold back his tears assists in developing the setting and tone of the scene.

“He was bent upon the complete ruin of the unhappy girl, and supposed, by reducing her to an entire dependence upon him, to bring her by degrees to consent to gratify his ungenerous passion.”

Belcour hopes that by making Charlotte think Montraville completely had abandoned her, he can convince her to sleep with him. He differs from Montraville in that he is intentionally harming Charlotte. His lack of redeeming qualities suggests that he is undeserving of mercy, which is later reflected in his death.

“Real anguish of heart had in a great measure faded her charms; her cheeks were pale from want of rest, and her eyes, by frequent, indeed, almost continued weeping, were sunken and heavy.”

The detailed description of Charlotte’s changing appearance is intended to help readers form a mental image of Charlotte. Rowson uses a compassionate tone, which enhances the sentimental value of the novel and inspires sympathy for Charlotte. The alterations illustrate the physical tolls of long-lasting stress—a concept that is now supported by scientific evidence.

“‘Bless my heart!’ cried my young, volatile reader, ‘I shall never have patience to get through this volume, there are so many ahs and ohs! So much fainting, tears and distress. I am sick to death of the subject.”

Rowson, in another authorial intrusion, assumes her readers may feel overwhelmed by the emotionally charged book. By addressing her readers in this way, she draws readers into the book and forms a connection between herself and the reader; this, in turn, encourages the reader to continue reading.

“Alas! Poor Charlotte; how confined was her knowledge of human nature, or she would have been convinced that the only way to endure the friendship and assistance of your surrounding acquaintance, is to convince them that you do not require, for when once the petrifying aspect of distress and penury appear, whose qualities, like Medusa’s head, can change to stone all that look upon it; when once the Gorgon claims acquaintance with us, the phantom of friendship, that before courted our notice, will vanish into unsubstantial air, and the whole world before us appear a barren waste.”

This line uses multiple literary devices, including allusions to Greek mythology and metaphor, and it is an authorial intrusion. It also contains a satirical message, as Rowson implies that people are ungenerous toward others who are in desperate need. She suggests that Charlotte would have had more success in getting help if she had pretended her circumstances were not so dire.

“I can at least die here […] I feel I cannot long survive this dreadful conflict. Father of mercy! Here let me finish my existence.”

Charlotte’s dramatic plea for help from Mrs. Crayton is the climax of the novel. She is heavily pregnant, sick, cold, and soaked, and Mrs. Crayton is the only other person in New York that she knows and can ask for help. This is the highest point of tension in the novel, and it is intended to leave the reader in suspense of what will happen to Charlotte.

“Heaven forbid that I should be deaf to the calls of humanity.”

Mrs. Beauchamp is portrayed as generous and compassionate. She does not yet know that the woman is need is Charlotte, and despite her own child’s sickness, Mrs. Beauchamp leaves with the doctor immediately to offer her help.

“I have an humble confidence in the mercy of Him who died to save the world, and trust that my sufferings in this state of mortality, joined to my unfeigned repentance, through His mercy, have blotted my offences from the sight of my offended Maker.”

Charlotte is deeply religious, and she is comforted by the idea that she has suffered enough to make up for her sinful behaviors. Her remark supports her characterization as virtuous, and it contributes to the primary themes, as it is emotional, it demonstrates Charlotte’s sense of morality, and it represents the ultimate cost of betrayal—death.

“I wrest not the power from the hand of Omnipotence. Look on that little heap of earth; there hast thou buried the only joy of a fond father. Look at it often; and may thy hear feel such sorrow as shall merit the mercy of Heaven.”

The conclusions for Montraville and Belcour differ according to their character traits and represent the author’s Christian values. Montraville is self-centered and shortsighted but has redeeming qualities, including compassion and responsibility; thus, he lives and is given the chance to repent.