‘Charlotte Temple’
Introduction
‘Charlotte Temple’ is novel written by Susan Rowson. The novel was first produced in 1971 under the title ‘Charlotte, a tale of truth’. The main character in the book is charlotte temple. Charlotte temple is the mother of Lucy temple. The author has analyzed various themes in book. For example, the author has analyzed the theme of betrayal and seduction.
This is evidenced by various characters like Belcour and Mademoiselle La Rue who betray the main character in the book. Sexism was very common during this time and most people in the society were worried of seduction and betrayal during this time. Most people argued that seduction and betray could after ones life badly. For example, seduction and betrayal affected the life of charlotte temple and other characters. This paper analyzes charlotte temple and the theme of seduction and betrayal.
Discussion
Women in the society were treated differently during this time. For example, most of the women wsere not accorded the right respect and were not allowed to make decisions regarding their life. This affected them negatively as they had to rely on men in the society for help. The novel, charlotte temple shows how women were portrayed in the society during this time. The author has written the book to dear girls so as to explain the experiences that young girls and women had to undergo during this time.
Sexism is a belief that one sex is superior than the other. It is also a belief that one sex is more competent and important than the other. In other cases, sexism includes discrimination in terms of gender. Sexism has led to prejudice towards another sex and stereotyping of one sex. Most of the societies refer to sexism as male chauvinism and female chauvinism. Sexism was common in the society during the 18th century as evidenced in the novel. Women were not allowed to exercise their rights as the female voice was muted by the patriarchal society.
The society during this time was dominated by men and men were the decision makers in the society. Men in the society oppressed women and this forced many women in the society to fight for their rights. For example, Susan decided to break the silence that had oppressed women in the society for long. Susan demanded to be heard in the society that had oppressed women and muted the female voice (Mrs.Rowson &Douglas 1974, p1-267)
Women in the society were disadvantaged socially, politically and spiritually, but the author encouraged the girl child and women in general to fight for their rights. The women in America during the 18th century were required to abide by the social protocols that had been established by the English men. The English men had settled in North America during the 17th century. Women in America were expected to behave like women in England and Europe. In addition, they were expected to carry out their duties like other women in different parts of the world. This made it hard for women in America and other parts of the world to have any political power, cultural power and economic power (BiblioBazaar &Brown Mrs 2010, p1-209).
Most of the women did not get an opportunity to express themselves anywhere else, but they relied on the novels to express their feelings. The novel granted women in the society the voice they required to defend themselves and express their credibility and show the need for equality in the society. Though, the society forced women to perform household chores, most of the women gained freedom after women were able to express themselves.
Charlotte and La Rue show how women in the society were mistreated by men. They did not have the right to make proper decision and live an independent life. Later, charlotte and La Rue became independent and were allowed to make their own decisions, but were later misused by men and abandoned. For example, charlotte was misused by Montraville and abandoned (BiblioBazaar &Brown Mrs 2010, p1-209).
Further, the society did not allow women and men to make marriage decisions. They were supposed to follow the advice provided by their parents. Most of the characters in the book did not follow the social norms that had been established and made independent decision. For example, Mr. Temple did not follow his parents’ decisions and married Charlotte’s mother so as to gain wealth and prestige. The laws of marriage developed social norms that were supposed to be followed by all members in the society. Women were required to carry out household chores according to the social norms evidenced during the American Revolution. Men were not allowed to be involved in a relationship as they would leave their wife and children in poverty.
On the other hand, the wife was not allowed to leave her husband and take away the kids. If the women did that he was shunned by the society. Also, the social norms allowed women to provide for their children without getting assistance from the men and other people in the society. This has been evidenced by charlotte. Charlotte was abandoned by Montraville after getting pregnant. This is because they were not allowed to maintain ties and relations. Charlotte was supposed to provide for the child alone. Hence, sexism in the society affected the rights of women and their dignity during this time. Majority of the men in the society did not respect women and this led to mistreatment of women (Rowson &Rust 2009, p1-157).
In addition to sexism, seduction and betrayal were common during this time and affected the life of women and other people in the society negatively. This is evidenced by charlotte temple and Montraville and other characters. The author has explored the theme of seduction and betrayal through out the novel. Most of the men in the society seduce women and misuse them. For example, Montraville a British lieutenant seduces Charlotte who is aged 15 years. Montraville does not respect charlotte despite being a child, but he seeks help from his friends to win her.
Montraville is helped by Belcour who is his libertine friend and Mademoiselle La Rue a teacher at the school charlotte attends. After being helped by his friends, Montraville wins charlotte, but he does not manage to stay with her. Montraville looses interest in charlotte and abandons her. Also, Montraville leaves Charlotte after cheating him with Belcour. Hence, Montraville trusts Belcour to take care of Charlotte and the child. Montraville takes advantage of charlotte being young and uneducated and misuses her. Charlotte is considered a weak character that is developed by external factors.
For example, her education, school and parents influence her a lot. Charlotte’s parents do not provide her with proper care. This is because the parents do not teach her how to handle various situations in life and this makes her more vulnerable to men in a society that is patriarchal. For example, her weak character and lack of proper education makes her prone to Montraville and this ruins her life. This is because charlotte gets pregnant after being seduced by Montraville and he is left lonely (Rowson &Rust 2009, p1-157).
Moreover, the author has used the characters to show betrayal in the society. Most of the characters in the novel betray each other. In this case, betray refers to violation of trust and confidence. Betrayal leads to moral conflict and psychological conflict in a relationship. Betray refers to the act of violating the norms set. First, Belcour betrays Montraville in the novel. At first, Belcour agrees to help Montraville to win Charlotte and he does so. However, Belcour starts having an affair with Charlotte and these forces Montraville to leave charlotte. Belcour violates the trust Montraville has in him. He also violates the confidence Montraville and Belcour have in each other by being involved in an affair with Charlotte (Rowson &Rust 2009, p1-157).
In addition, Belcour betrays Charlotte and Montraville as he does not take care of charlotte as requested by Montraville. Before leaving charlotte, Montraville asked Belcour to take care of charlotte and her unborn child, but he does not. Belcour does not provide financial support to charlotte. After being advised by her friend and neighbor Mrs. Beauchamp, Charlotte decides to inform her mother. Charlotte’s parents receive her in New York. Since Charlotte does not get any help from Belcour, she decides to walk to New York. Charlotte walks to New York on a snowy day. Belcour betrays charlotte and this causes suffering to Charlotte and her unborn child. This is because Charlotte has to walk to New York as she cannot afford to pay her fare (Rowson &Rust 2009, p1-157).
Further, mademoiselle La Rue betrays Charlotte, Charlotte is a student at the boarding school where Mademoiselle teaches, but she does not protect her from Montraville. Mademoiselle being a teacher should have protected charlotte from men who wanted to misuse her. Instead, Mademoiselle and Belcour work together to help Montraville seduce Charlotte. This in turn ruins Charlotte’s life. For example, it affects Charlotte’s education as she is not able to attend school any more. It also affects her entire life as she gets pregnant and later dies. Charlotte dies after giving birth to a child.
Mademoiselle could have prevented Charlotte from suffering and empowered her to complete her studies by protecting her from Montraville and the male chauvinist society. Also, Mademoiselle La Rue now Mrs. Crayton betrayed Charlotte after she asked for help from her. Mrs. Crayton pretended that she did not know charlotte after charlotte asked for assistance. This is because she did not want her husband to realize the role she played in ruining Charlotte’s life. Mrs. Crayton knew Charlotte as she was her student and also helped Montraville seduce her. Hence, she could have helped her as she contributed to her down fall (Rowson 2006, p1-190).
Montraville betrays Charlotte as he leaves her after impregnating her. This affects charlottes life negatively as it ruins her education and personal life. It also leads to her death as she does not get the necessary care. After charlotte dies, Montraville goes to search for her and Belcour. Montraville learns about Charlottes death from a passing soldier and he is filled with regrets as he participated in harlots downfall. Montraville contributed a lot to the down fall of charlotte by seducing her when she knew she was under age and a student. She did not consider the impact his actions would have on charlottes life and his life.
For instance, he did not consider how charlotte could be affected he ended their relationship. He did not also consider whether Belcour could take care of Charlotte as he requested or not. Moreover, Montraville did not take into account that he affected Charlotte’s education by seducing her and impregnating her. This made it hard for Montraville and his friends to make the right decision. Montraville regretted for having left Charlotte while pregnant and ruining her precious life. This forced him to kill Belcour in a fight. After killing Belcour, Montraville suffered from melancholy through out his life. Montraville life was affected after betraying Charlotte as he lived in regret and suffered from melancholy (Rowson 2006, p1-190).
The betrayal also affected the life of other characters in the story that were involved in the seduction and betray of charlotte. For example, the betrayal affected Belcour life negatively. This is because it caused his death as he was killed at the end of the novel by Montraville. Belcour could have avoided the death if he could have prevented Montraville from seducing charlotte. He could also have prevented the death by not betraying Montraville and charlotte. Apart from Belcour, Mrs. Crayton was also affected by the betrayal and seduction of charlotte. Mrs. Crayton helped Montraville win charlotte and later betrayed Charlotte when she asked for assistance.
Later, Mrs. Crayton separated with her husband after her husband discovered the role she played in ruining charlottes life. Also, Mrs., Crayton life changed completely after her husband discovered her role in charlottes down fall. Though she was rich at first, she started living in poverty and repenting for being involved in Charlottes down fall. Mrs. Crayton is discovered by Mr. Temple in a doorway in London and takes her to hospital. Later, Mrs. Crayton dies in the hospital. She could have avoided her suffering and suffering of other characters and even death by being responsible (Rowson 2006, p1-190).
Conclusion
In conclusion, sexism, betrayal and seduction were common in the society during this time. The society during this time was dominated by men. The men in the society oppressed women and made it hard for women to express themselves. Women in the society were supposed to live according to the norms set by the society. They were supposed to carry out household activities like cooking and taking care of the children. Sexism in the society affected women life as they were not allowed to exercise their rights. Also, they did not have political, social and spiritual power.
Also, seduction and betray in the society affected the lives of different people in the society. It leads to death and suffering among different people in the society. For example, betrayal and seduction leads to death of charlotte, Belcour and Mrs. Crayton. It also leads to suffering like Mrs. Crayton, Montraville and charlotte suffer. It also affected Charlotte’s education and life as she was not able to continue with her education. Thus, sexism, seduction and betrayal have serious consequences on the lives of the characters.
Reference
BiblioBazaar.,&BrownMrs.CharlotteTemple : A Tale of Truth. BiblioBazaar, 2010, p1-209
Mrs.Rowson,.&Douglas,A.CharlotteTemple ; and, Lucy Temple. Penguin Books, 1794, p1-267
Rowson, S.CharlotteTemple: Easyread Comfort Edition. ReadHowYouWant.com, 2006,p 1-190
Rowson,S.,&Rust,M .Charlotte Temple. W.W. Norton & Co.,2009, p1-517
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