52 pages • 1 hour read
Susanna RowsonCharlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1791A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 8-15Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 8 Summary: “Domestic Pleasures Planned”
Lucy plans to bring Charlotte home and throw her a birthday party in their garden. Mr. Temple thinks Lucy will spoil Charlotte, but he assents to the plan. They agree that Charlotte is a good daughter who, with the helpful example set by her mother, will obey her parents’ wishes.
The author addresses Lucy’s pride. She then questions if “daughters of folly” have ever achieved their goals (63), suggesting they all find disappointment: “I see it in the wan cheek, sunken eye, and air of chagrin, which ever mark the children of dissipation” (63). Young women, the author suggests, can find ease and contentment through virtuous behavior, including fulfilling filial duties and practicing religion. The author argues that true peace occurs when one wishes happiness for everyone. Lucy experiences this peace and virtuous contentment as she plan’s Charlotte’s birthday celebration.
Chapter 9 Summary: “We Know Not What a Day May Bring Forth”
Charlotte is ambivalent about her upcoming meeting with Montraville, oscillating between concern and excitement. She wants to go to Madame Du Pont, but if she does, she will have to incriminate Mademoiselle La Rue. Although she resolved to break off her connection with Montraville, she repeatedly reads the letter throughout the day and nervously keeps track of the time.
Charlotte and Mademoiselle La Rue meet Montraville and his friend Belcour, whom Montraville brought to occupy Mademoiselle La Rue. Belcour is extravagant and selfish, and Montraville is generous, agreeable, and impressionable. Had Montraville befriended someone who would have warned him against pursing Charlotte, he likely would have listened; however, Belcour encouraged Montraville.
Montraville wants to see Charlotte again and asks if she will remember him after he leaves. When Charlotte responds that they cannot meet again, Montraville urges her, saying that he might die at war. She feels conflicted but says she might meet him the next night.
Chapter 10 Summary: “When We Have Excited Curiosity, It Is but an Act of Good Nature to Gratify It”
Montraville, the youngest son in his family, is given a commission by his father but is to receive no more assistance and must make his own fortune. His father advises him to wait to marry until he has made enough to live on; however, he also tells Montraville to marry sooner if he falls in love with a wealthy woman. Montraville’s father also warns that he will abandon Montraville if Montraville drags a woman into a life of poverty. Montraville has Belcour ask Mademoiselle La Rue about Charlotte’s financial status. Mademoiselle La Rue says Charlotte might receive 1,000 pounds. Montraville concludes Charlotte is not wealthy enough for him to ever marry her.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Conflict of Love and Duty”
Charlotte meets with Montraville every night for a week. She does not like the idea of never seeing him again, but she knows her father will not support their marriage. Montraville declares that Charlotte loves her family more than she loves him, and when she agrees, he drops her hand and says that she deceived him and never loved him. She calls him back and tries to explain that she loves and would follow him but does not want to hurt her parents. Montraville tells her that her parents would get over the shock when they understood her happiness, and Belcour and Mademoiselle La Rue help him convince her to elope with him to the United States the next night.
Charlotte worries that Montraville will not keep his promise to marry her. After the men leave, Charlotte expresses her concerns to Mademoiselle La Rue, who accuses Charlotte of inconsistency: “Just now you declared Montraville’s happiness was what you prized most in the world; and now I suppose you repent having insured that happiness by agreeing to accompany him abroad” (85). Mademoiselle La Rue plans to elope with Belcour, but Charlotte argues that it is not the same because Mademoiselle La Rue is not leaving behind her family.
Chapter 12 Summary
That night, Charlotte does not sleep. Madame Du Pont is concerned about her charge but hands over a letter from Lucy that she hopes will revive Charlotte’s spirits. In the letter, Lucy explains that she has organized a birthday party and that Eldridge, Charlotte’s grandfather, will come pick her up the following day. Charlotte cries and feels guilty for plotting to elope. She goes to Mademoiselle La Rue and says the letter has saved her from making a terrible mistake. Mademoiselle La Rue, who still plans to elope, says Montraville might come to the school and ruin Charlotte’s reputation in retaliation. She threatens Charlotte, “You will bear the odium of having formed the resolution of eloping, and every girl of spirit will laugh at your want of fortitude to put it into execution, while prudes and fools will load you with reproach and contempt” (91). Further, Mademoiselle La Rue says, Charlotte’s parents will hear of the incident and lose respect for her.
Heeding Mademoiselle La Rue’s advice, Charlotte agrees to meet Montraville and explain that she will not elope with him. Before they meet Montraville and Belcour, Mademoiselle La Rue encourages Charlotte to pack her valuables, but Charlotte refuses as she is resolved against going. Charlotte tells Montraville she cannot go, but her confidence wanes as he argues with her. Confused, she asks what she should do, and Montraville puts her into the carriage. She faints as they drive away.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Cruel Disappointment”
Eldridge is excited to leave to get Charlotte, and he acknowledges the happiness in his life. He arrives at the school before Madame Du Pont leads the morning prayers, and she notices that Charlotte and Mademoiselle La Rue are missing. Assuming they are packing for Charlotte’s trip home, Madame Du Pont sends someone to fetch Charlotte, but no one answers the door.
Madame Du Pont forces open the door and finds the room undisturbed. Eldridge overhears them searching for Charlotte and asks what has happened. Madame Du Pont says Charlotte is not there but is likely running a short errand with Mademoiselle La Rue. Upset, Eldridge says he does not trust Mademoiselle La Rue and that she should not be around impressionable girls. Madame Du Pont counters that she has not let Charlotte go off with any of the assistants, and she sends out servants to search the town.
Hours later, Madame Du Pont receives a letter explaining that Charlotte is safe and that she and Mademoiselle La Rue have eloped and are in hiding. Reflecting on Charlotte’s virtuousness, Madame Du Pont blames Mademoiselle La Rue. Eldridge questions Madame Du Pont, and she gives him the letter. He leaves, and he wonders how he will be able to deliver the news to Charlotte’s parents.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Maternal Sorrow”
Lucy and Mr. Temple are concerned because Eldridge and Charlotte are late, and party guests have started to arrive. When Eldridge returns alone, he bursts out crying, and Lucy assumes that Charlotte has died. Eldridge takes Mr. Temple into a separate room and gives him the letter. He reads it, and after processing for a moment, he gets Lucy, who is screaming because she thinks Charlotte is dead. He tells Lucy to be calm and explains that Charlotte is not dead but that she has eloped. Lucy prays for Charlotte’s safety then collapses into Mr. Temple’s arms.
Speaking to the audience, the author tells young readers to pay attention to the scene and to imagine how they would feel in Lucy’s place. She encourages readers to listen to their mothers and to consider their mothers’ feelings.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Embarkation”
Montraville and Mademoiselle La Rue try to cheer up Charlotte on their way to the ship that will take them to the United States. They tell her to write a letter to her parents so they will know she is safe and happy. She gives the letter to Montraville to take to the post office, but once he is out of sight, he tears up the letter and throws it overboard. Charlotte hopes the ship will be delayed until she can hear from her parents, but it departs a few hours after they board.
Lucy and Mr. Temple keep searching for Charlotte. Mr. Temple wonders whether they should forgive her if they find her. Lucy says they should: “And though bowed even to the earth with shame and remorse, is it not our duty to raise the poor penitent and whisper peace and comfort to her desponding soul?” (113). As the days go by without word of Charlotte, the family grows increasingly despondent. Lucy resolves to focus on her roles as a wife and a daughter and to attempt to appear happier so she can help Mr. Temple and Eldridge feel better.
Chapters 8-15 Analysis
These chapters center on The Consequences of Seduction and Betrayal. While Montraville is the one who directly pursues Charlotte, Mademoiselle La Rue poses the greater threat to the protagonist. Her status as an authority figure and a seemingly virtuous woman means that she is well positioned to manipulate Charlotte, who views her as trustworthy and wise. A masterful manipulator, Mademoiselle La Rue employs multiple techniques to coerce Charlotte into doing what she wants. Earlier in the text, she lies and claims she is related to a man throwing a party so that Charlotte will go with her, and she uses reverse psychology—claiming that Montraville was not very attractive—to encourage Charlotte into defending him and reading his letter. When Charlotte expresses her discomfort or when she says she will not elope, Mademoiselle La Rue uses hostile manipulation methods, including accusing Charlotte of hurting her and suggesting that Montraville will ruin Charlotte’s reputation: “Indeed, I should not be astonished were he to come immediately here and reproach you for your instability in the hearing of the whole school; and what will be the consequence?” (91). This warning convinces Charlotte to tell Montraville about her change of heart, but at this point she is still secure in her decision to remain at her school. However, the combined coercion she faces from Montraville, Mademoiselle La Rue, and Belcour are too powerful for Charlotte, who has not been raised to make decisions for herself, and she walks into their trap.
These chapters begin to complicate the theme of Women’s Virtue and Morality. Not only is Charlotte manipulated by Mademoiselle La Rue, Montraville, and Belcour, who encourage her to act against her best interests, but also she is also incumbered by her lack of self-awareness: “[S]he knew not the deceitfulness of her own heart, or she would have avoided that trial of her stability” (73). Although Charlotte’s innocence is a key aspect of her feminine virtue, it also makes her particularly susceptible to unscrupulous people. Her kindness also makes her vulnerable. She doesn’t show Montraville’s letter to Madame Du Pont because “she must confess the means by which it came into her possession; and what would be the consequence? Mademoiselle [La Rue] would be turned out-of-doors” (69). Loath to get Mademoiselle La Rue in trouble, Charlotte suppresses the letter and thus seals her fate.
These chapters use the motif of letters to explore The Consequences of Seduction and Betrayal, one of which is social isolation. Charlotte’s isolation begins when she is dissuaded from taking Montraville’s letter to Madame Du Pont. Later, on the ship, Montraville encourages her to write to her parents, only to destroy the letter when she entrusts it to him. Montraville’s betrayal will have tragic ramifications for Charlotte, not only preventing her family from helping her, but also convincing her that they have disowned her.
The Sentimentalist genre of the text is enhanced by the characterization of Lucy and by the authorial intrusions. Lucy, portrayed as traditional, is subservient and prioritizes her roles as a daughter, wife, and mother. After the discussion on Charlotte’s birthday party, Lucy’s manner is described thus: “[T]he whole tenderness of a mother [added] animation to her fine countenance, but it was withal tempered so sweetly with the meek affection and kind compliance of a wife” (61). Lucy again prioritizes her father and husband after Charlotte elopes, pretending to be happy to comfort Eldridge and Mr. Temple: “I must not, by a selfish indulgence of my own grief, forget the interest those two dear objects take in my happiness or misery” (115). Given her subservient attitude, Lucy represents the ideal well-to-do, white British woman of the late 1700s. Rowson also promotes traditional values through her authorial intrusions. She digresses on the idea that virtue results in lifelong contentment and resilience, and she inspires young readers to consider Lucy’s point of view. Additionally, the intrusions support the novel as a cautionary tale.
