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• 1 2018-05-09T21:53:47-07:00 Denounced 13 Sarah Darwazeh plain 2018-05-21T18:11:01-07:00 Both Dana and Charlotte are victims of societal slavery because of the roles they are expected to fulfill. Dana is forced to wear the shoes of the slave because of her race in the century she is trapped in, while Charlotte is expected to be the "perfect pure girl." Yet both of them face dire consequences that were not what they expected. 
  
  In Charlotte's situation, when she defies the stereotypical roles of women and elopes with a man, she is denounced as a fallen woman. 
  
  
  
  No one in the novel discusses Montraville and how he 'eloped' with Charlotte or the fact that he seduced an innocent girl, yet Charlotte is the one to be blamed and shamed for doing exactly what Montraville did. Why is it that only one partner--the woman--is blamed?
  
  Because of her and Montraville's actions, Charlotte's reputation and status in society is destroyed. Just like Nathanial Hawthorne's character Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter, Charlotte is stigmatized by a giant 'A' in an intolerant society.
  
  On the other hand, and unlike Charlotte who drifts away from the expectations she was brought up with, Dana attempts to adapt to the racial expectations of slavery-era America. Dana figures out that where she is in 1815 is different than where she was in 1976, and that being black during slavery, whether a man or a woman, marks you as inferior to others and puts your life in danger.
  
  Eventually, Dana starts dressing and acting like the slaves, as well as remaining silent and not defending herself as she used to. But this shift, necessary to her physical survival, also has a serious psychological impact:

  Was I getting so used to being submissive? (Butler 220)

  
  Dana realizes that she is losing her identity and is changed by her surroundings and the society were she finds herself. In her present-day world, she has a strong sense of self-- she used to talk back and still had a sense of who she was and where she is from, yet by the end of the novel she starts blindly obeying commands, whether the commands were by Margaret telling her to get her things and sleep in her room, or by Rufus telling her to convince Alice to surrender herself, Dana becomes so submissive to the point where it worried her. The fact that Dana was concerned about how submissive she became sheds light on how being submissive is not necessarily by choice but it's a form of survival and adapting to society. Iin Dana's case, it is a way for her to escape the cruelty of the slaveowners if she did not obey their demands. 
  
  Yet despite her efforts, Dana is bombarded by various attacks on how 'white' she seems and how she should act more like 'slave.' She learns that  "it's [not] possible for a lone black woman—or even a black man—to be protected in that place" (Butler 219).
  
  
  
  

  Butler, Octavia E. Kindred. Beacon Press, 2009.

  Rowson. Susanna. Charlotte Temple. 1794. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011.