Differing Expectations Making Impactful Scenes

Bradley Seltzer

Throughout the 18th century, the roles and expectations of adolescence were vastly different than they are today. For one, a man’s expected role during this time was clearly more significant and noteworthy than a woman’s, as men were expected to be the breadwinners, whether that be from being a military officer or travelling the seas, and women were expected to be supportive and helpful while their spouse does this. It’s transparent that men held a large amount of power over women, largely because of the differing qualities of girlhood and boyhood. This idea is perfectly illustrated by the rapidly intense and interesting novel, Charlotte Temple. The boys and girls in this book were taught to act a certain way and achieve certain things in order to be an upstanding member of their society, but these teachings were extremely different for each sex. The great amount of power men held over women was primarily due to what they were taught during their boyhood and girlhood. It is this difference in the power that draws the reader so close into the storyline and makes each plot twist so impactful.

Men before and during the time of the Revolutionary War were simply taught to fight in the war and impregnate their wives. Montraville was a hugely important character in Charlotte Temple, as he was the man who fell in love with Charlotte Temple and eventually kidnapped her in order for her to elope with him to America. Montraville was pressured by what he was taught; every man needed a good housewife. Back in this day, it was simply known as the man’s job to do all the heavy-lifting and find a pretty girl to marry, and Montraville was trying to do just that. Montraville had learned from the environment he grew up in that he needed to be powerful and dominating, which is why he felt it was perfectly fine to aggressively force Charlotte into living a life with him in America (Rowson 39). As a man, he saw the need to find a supple wife and did so through encroachment and force. Montraville had learned from his boyhood, of which was vastly different than Charlotte had in her girlhood.

Women during the late 18th century didn’t have many rights, as they couldn’t vote or fight in the war. Because of this, they were left at home to maintain the house and the children, as this was the expectation. Women were expected to be motherly but at the same time, meek and subservient to the husband. This is the reason why Montraville was able to kidnap Charlotte without any legal retribution; as a man, he was expected to be powerful and aggressive, and this was no exception in regards to a pretty young girl who wasn’t ready for marriage.

Charlotte Temple was portrayed as a delicate and pretty young girl who attended school and lived quite the sheltered life. She was void of sexual interaction until Montraville showed interest in meeting with her. In her girlhood, Charlotte was taught to be prim and proper and not worry about boys while she received her education. She held no power in her environment, so she was taught to be polite and subservient to adults. This was why it was impactful when, after La Rue persuaded Charlotte to read Montraville’s letter, the letter had “awakened new emotions in her youthful bosom.” (Rowson 25). Charlotte was now motivated to seek the presence of handsome Montraville, and thus this primness that she had been taught throughout all of her short life was being torn down by a man seeking power and control over her. Her innocence and gullibility that was taught to her in girlhood is what made the text so scandalous and indulgent for readers of the 1800’s. It was a sad but scandalous story for the time; a young guileless girl is tricked into eloping with a powerful young man!

The varying amount of power held by Montraville and Charlotte is due to the differing expectations of them during their girlhood and boyhood, and caused Montravile to destroy the innocence of Charlotte. This difference was so ingrained into the minds of people in the 1800’s that the plot of Charlotte Temple enthralled readers and became an extraordinarily popular yet sordid novel.