A Literary Criticism of Charlotte Temple Charlotte Temple is a novel written by Susanne Rowson in the late eighteenth century. The novel was first published in England, but was soon published in America having many different editions throughout the years. Charlotte Temple is considered the second American book and was extremely popular during its time of publishing due to its somewhat short length and topic. Charlotte Temple is a story of an innocent and ignorant young girl who is seduced by a man, which ultimately leads to her death. The novella was considered to be somewhat taboo during its time period because of its nature dealing with lust and young love, a prevalent theme noticeable throughout the entire story. The story begins with the introduction of the English soldier Montraville whose attention has been caught by the young woman Charlotte Temple. Montraville describes her beauty to his friend Belcour, who seemed more interested in the idea of a looming war (The American Revolutionary War) than the woman that has caught the eye of his friend. For three days Montraville cannot get Charlotte out of his head and therefore decides to go to her home to see her. After deciding that he should leave and not think of or see her at all, he catches a glance of two women walking in a field. One of the women is Charlotte and the other is her French teacher Mademoiselle la Rue. Montraville later meets up with and bribes la Rue, so long as Charlotte will meet him the next night in the same field. Montraville also gives Charlotte a note. The novella then mentions how Charlotte’s parents met and how her father, Mr. Henry Temple, married her mother, Miss Elridge, despite the disapproval of Mr. Temple’s father, who ultimately cuts Henry off from his fortune. Mr. Temple pays off Mr. Elridge’s debt, buys a cottage, and moves into it with his bride Lucy Elridge and Mr. Elridge, where they have their only child Charlotte. The marriage of Mr. Temple and Mrs. Temple is depicted as one of true love and devotion. Charlotte meets with Montraville the night after receiving the letter, but she finds him forward and wishes she had not seen him. La Rue then convinces Charlotte that Montraville is madly in love with Charlotte. La Rue further states that Montraville will probably return to America to die without ever knowing Charlotte’s love if she does not accept him. Charlotte agrees to read Montraville’s letter and to see him once again. After Charlotte meets with Montraville several times, it is revealed to the reader that Montraville has no intention of marrying Charlotte because she cannot give him the wealth he desires. He then tricks Charlotte into believing that he does want to marry her and persuades her to leave with him to America despite her desire to not disappoint and hurt her beloved parents. Charlotte’s parents soon learn that their daughter has fled with Montraville to America with Mademoiselle la Rue and are disappointed and sad. While on the ship to America, Charlotte becomes seasick and is cared for by Montraville. Colonel Crayton is also on the ship and falls for Mademoiselle la Rue and asks her to marry him. Belcour, who is aware that Montraville has no intention of marrying Charlotte, decides to pursue Charlotte as well. Charlotte realizes that she has ruined her life and has lost the love of her parents along with her self-esteem. Montraville falls in love with Julia and realizes that he was merely infatuated with Charlotte. In the end, Montraville feels remorse and no longer visits her. Montraville then asks Belcour to take care of Charlotte. Mrs. Beauchamp, the daughter of Colonel Crayton, intends to help Charlotte because she feels sorry for her. Charlotte then writes to her parents, and her father comes to retrieve her from New York because she is pregnant. Montraville eventually marries Julia because he is certain that Charlotte has become unfaithful to him. Belcour stops paying for Charlotte’s expenses, which leads to the loss of her home. She begins wandering the streets and eventually runs in Mademoiselle la Rue. However, la Rue is now Mrs. Crayton and acts as if she does not know who Charlotte is. Mrs. Crayton’s servant takes in Charlotte who then goes into labor. While in labor, the doctor says Charlotte is quite sick. As Charlotte is on her deathbed, her father shows up and agrees to take the baby, who is named Lucy. After hearing of Charlotte’s death, Montraville kills Belcour in a fight due to anger and remorse. Montraville lives his life with the deep regret and guilt over what he had done to the innocent Charlotte. The novel ends with the death of Mrs. Crayton, who is found dead, divorced, and poor. The theme of lust and love is the most prevalent theme throughout the story. The novella first begins by showing Montraville’s lust towards Charlotte Temple. When he first catches a glimpse of Charlotte, a girl he remembers from a few years ago, he is pleased with how she has grown up physically. He then states that, “I never think of the future . . . but am determined to make the most of the present, and would willingly compound with any kind Familiar who would inform me who the girl is, and how I might be likely to obtain an interview” (Rowson, 4). This statement from Montraville shows how he does not think about the results of his actions, but instead enjoys what pleasures his actions bring him initially. This can clearly be shown through the grief and sorrow he puts Charlotte through later in the story. Montraville’s lust can also be seen through his thoughts that he has when showing up to where Charlotte lives. Rowson writes, “Tis a romantic attempt, and should I even succeed in seeing and conversing with her, it can be productive of no good . . . why then should I endeavor to engage the affections of this lovely girl, only to leave her a prey of a thousand inquietudes, of which at present she has no idea?” (5). Montraville’s thoughts show that Rowson intends for the reader to know that Montraville has no intention of loving Charlotte properly, and in fact even tries to stop himself from wanting to see her. Instead, Montraville falls prey to his fleshly desire and lust, and eventually convinces Charlotte to follow him. Rowson is clear in showing how lust can lead to dangerous and negative outcomes, and that one must love innocently and cautiously. Rowson cautions this fact when she writes, “In affairs of love, a young heart is never in more danger than when attacked by a handsome young solider” (26). This leads the reader to think that Rowson believes Charlotte is just a victim to the dark and lustful Montraville. In fact, Rowson even breaks from writing the story to give her honest opinions on her feelings of lust and young love. In chapter eight, Rowson begins to explain how a young virgin (a faithful and pure wife) can aid and support you in any predicament in life, whether it is poverty, mediocrity, or affluence. Rowson writes, “Content my dear friends, will blunt even the arrows of adversity” (35), which means that having contentment in life can keep you out of harms way, especially when in harm of lustful temptation. Rowson then exclaims in her writing, “Merciful heaven! Who would exchange the rapture of such a reflection for all the gaudy tinsel which the world calls pleasure!” (36). This exclamation compares to the actions of Charlotte. Charlotte has given up her goodness and virtue for the pleasure of a man. Rowson urges the readers to not fall into the actions that Charlotte has, but to instead keep their virtue not only for earthly sake but also for heavenly sake. The theme of lust can also be visible through another minor character such as Madame la Rue. Madame la Rue only marries Colonel Crayton out of passion and ambition, and not because of love. This is obvious when she is divorced from Crayton towards the end of the novel, and dies alone and poor. Her lustful ambition only attained results in passing and not lasting results in a loving relationship. Despite the copious examples of lust throughout the novel, Rowson compares the relationship of Charlotte’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Temple, to the lustful relations going on with the other characters. Mr. and Mrs. Temple serve as an example of true love in the novel. Mr. Henry Temple marries Mrs. Temple and pays her father’s large debt to gain the love and satisfaction from Mrs. Temple, despite the disapproval of Mr. Temple’s father. Not only do Mr. and Mrs. Temple have a healthy and loving marriage, but they also exude great amounts of love and adoration to their daughter Charlotte. Despite Charlotte abandoning her family when she flees with Montraville, her parents still welcome her with love and help when she writes them to come retrieve her from New York. Even after Charlotte dies, Mr. Temple take Charlotte’s daughter Lucy home to raise and love her. Rowson uses this loving and kind relationship to contrast with the dark, lustful actions of the other characters in the novel, and finally to show how relationships should be. The themes of the novel Charlotte Temple have been under literary critique since the book was first published. The idea that a novel during the eighteenth century is centered on lustful actions and a woman that has fallen victim to men is considered to be unmentionable. This is because sex and lust was neither a common topic of writing nor a common theme of a novel. Patricia Parker, author of the article "Charlotte Temple: America's First Best Seller”, expresses that, “Rowson’s main consideration in writing the novel—aside from the desire to make money—was to instruct young ladies in the virtues of responsible marriage and in being content with one’s lot in life, and to warn against those men and women who irresponsible seduce ‘the young and the thoughtless of the fair sex’ away from society’s well-paved paths” (519). Parker’s opinion is accurate because it is most evident in chapter eight of the novel. Chapter eight is where Rowson steps back from the novel to express her disapproval of Charlotte and how to be content with one’s life. Parker also believes that the theme of lust and love is also there to instruct women on how to live purely. This is also evident through Charlotte’s outcome in life. Charlotte ends up dying from giving birth to a bastard child of a man who she ran away with. If she had not given in to her lustful desires, her outcome in life could have been completely different. Jill Anderson, author of the article “Tomes Of Travel And Travesty: The Didactic Of Captivity In Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple And Mary Rowlandson's The Sovereignty And Goodness Of God”, expresses the theme of the novel in a bit of a different way. Anderson views Charlotte as a woman who has been taken captive by a lustful man instead of Charlotte simply falling into lust herself. She explains that Montraville is a villain that intends to slander Charlotte’s virtues. Anderson even considers Montraville as a “captor” that lures Charlotte away from her life into “licentious passion” (436). While Montraville did fall into lust himself, Charlotte became lustful for Montraville as well. Charlotte had many opportunities to not leave or meet with Montraville in the beginning but was moved by his licentious words in his letter. She became so involved with her lust that she lost sight of her morality and contentment, something that Rowson urges her audience of young girls to not do. Susan Greenfield, author of the article “Charlotte Temple and Charlotte’s Daughter: The Reproduction of Women’s Word”, also believes in the importance of Montraville’s beginning letter to Charlotte, and how it contributed to and defined the lustful theme of the novel. Greenfield writes that Montraville was a seducer and dominator of Charlotte not only physically and emotionally, but also linguistically. Montraville not only takes her virginity and purity, but also controls her with his seductive words (269). Greenfield finds that the importance of silencing Charlotte’s ability to read and write as a contributor to how she fell into such a lustful relationship. Montraville did not allow Charlotte to communicate with her loving parents (the main example of the theme of love throughout the novel) and Charlotte was continually hushed with her thoughts and words. When beginning to seduce Charlotte with selfish desires, Montraville writes Charlotte a letter. Greenfield explains that mademoiselle la Rue “pushes Charlotte to abandon herself to Montraville’s letter and does so by focusing on the erotic connection between his body and his words” (270). The importance of the connection between Montraville’s letter and his lustful lure is that it is what catches Charlotte into Montraville’s web. Montraville acts on his desire and lust for Charlotte by taking her to America, impregnating her, and then once he is done with her he moves onto greener pastures. Greenfield’s idea that the importance of Montraville’s words and how they silence Charlotte’s words is necessary when describing the theme of the novel because it is the starting point of Charlotte’s demise. The authors of each article all have similar ideas about how Charlotte was seduced to become Montraville’s lover. The idea of seduction illuminates the theme of lust and love in the novella because it was the lust that led to the downfall of Charlotte Temple’s life. Charlotte Temple has been an American classic that has persisted in popularity throughout history. While the theme of lust and love in the novella may have been a bit risqué at the time period, it is a topic that is still relevant in today’s society. The theme of lust and love not only shows how powerful the passionate feelings may become, but the theme also shows the tragic events that can happen when giving into such desires, which happened to the innocent Charlotte Temple.

Works Cited
Anderson, Jill E. "Tomes Of Travel And Travesty: The Didactic Of Captivity In Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple And Mary Rowlandson's The Sovereignty And Goodness Of God." Women's Studies 38.4 (2009): 429 – 488. Web. 16 July 2012.
Greenfield, Susan C. "Charlotte Temple And Charlotte's Daughter: The Reproduction Of Women's Word." Women's Studies 18.2/3 (1990): 269. Web. 14 July 2012.
Parker, Patricia L. "Charlotte Temple: America's First Best Seller." Studies In Short Fiction 13.4 (1976): 518. Web. 14 July 2012.
Rowson, Susanna. Charlotte Temple. S. Andrus: 1825. Google Play. Web. 15 July 2012.