Charlotte Temple
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This paper is a summary of Susanna Haswell Rowson's novel, Charlotte Temple. The book was first published in Great Britain in 1791. It became extremely popular with American readers for reasons that scholars are still debating. Its simple story tells of an innocent girl who is led astray by a handsome stranger. He promises marriage. Instead, he lures her to America and then abandons her. When her father finally finds her, she has just give birth to an illegitimate daughter. She dies in his arms, disgraced and miserable, all because she abandoned her parents and gave herself to her lover. The story became wildly popular, especially with American audiences. They were touched by its tragic story of how a sweet young girl could be led astray so easily. It showed how dependent women in that society were on the kindness and good intentions of men. Charlotte Temple offers an interesting glimpse into the kind of fiction that was popular in the decades following the American Revolution. This novel, still readable today, laid the groundwork for popular fiction that was to come. Rowson prefaces her story by insisting that it is true; the original title of the book was Charlotte. A Tale of Truth. She attests that a real Charlotte existed and that her story was "related to me some little time since by an old lady who had personally know Charlotte" (5). Rowson believed that her readers would find the novel more compelling if they thought it was a true story. Throughout t
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te's parents, Rowson makes them fully-realized characters in the story. They are both shown as tender-hearted people who value love and affection over material things. Rowson suggests that their daughter is like them. Knowing something about them also helps the reader understand their pain when Charlotte disappears.
Mademoiselle La Rue convinces Charlotte that meeting Montraville and Belcour the next evening will be fun. They sneak out of the school to meet the officers, and Charlotte is smitten with the fine figure of a man in uniform paying full attention to her every word. Rowson makes Charlotte's temptation understandable, trying to show the reader the importance of praying "for fortitude to resist the impulse of inclination when it runs counter to the precepts of religion and virtue" (29). Charlotte gives in to temptation; Rowson hopes that her story will prevent other young girls from making the same mistake.
Charlotte eventually gives in to Montraville's pleas to run away with him. Mademoiselle La Rue encourages her to stifle "the sense of shame in her own bosom" (32) and joins her in the elopement. While Charlotte's parents are innocently planning a birthday party for their daughter, she is agreeing to a course
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1632
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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