Blog # 3 - Charlotte Temple

Charlotte Temple by Susanna Rowson, an interesting bestselling novel, tells the story of the seduction of a British girl named Charlotte. She was a very innocent child and became corrupted by her peers. Although overall I enjoyed the novel, I found some of the vocabulary quite confusing (due to the fact that it was first published in the late 1700’s). At points especially in the beginning, I had a hard time keeping the characters and their motives together. Even though parts of the book were confusing to me, it was easy to see the different pressures that were placed on charlotte. These pressures eventually led to her demise. Even though La Rue was Charlotte’s teacher, she pressured Charlotte to do things that she did not want to do. She pressured Charlotte to sneak out late at night. Other peers also pressured Charlotte. Montraville pressured Charlotte to come to America. They moved to a little cabin, where Charlotte ended up spending a lot of time. Montraville ended up cheating on her, which in turn led to her demise and eventually her death. Charlotte really believed that he loved her; however he ended up leaving her with nothing. After reading the whole book it was obvious that things like this still happen to girls today (even though this story takes place many years earlier). Many teens believe and are trusting, while being pressured by peers. Girls can either learn from the situations like Charlotte’s, or in some cases, (like Charlotte’s) it can lead to their demise.