The Bestselling Novel: Currents in American History and Culture Main Menu Introduction Intersectionality and Power Relations in Bestsellerism An intersectional analysis of the concepts of gender, race and power relationships, highlighting how the overlap between these concepts fueled the novels’ rise as bestsellers. Slavery Beyond Chains The Variation of the Forms of Slavery Inflicted on Charlotte in Susanna Rowson's _Charlotte Temple_ and Dana in Octavia Butler's _Kindred_. Perception of Women in Society Inspecting the ways in which the woman’s default “doomed” status can be blamed on the society's narrow perception of women in Susanna Rowson's Charlotte Temple and Edith Wharton's House of Mirth. Gendered Violence and Racism: The Short End of the Stick The Struggle of the Black Woman Across the Centuries Brief summaries of course texts

Charlotte of Montraville

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The fact that women are expected to follow a certain set of rules in order to save themselves from the ‘doomed’ fate that awaits them is rooted in the role that society and its perspective serves in the lives of these women. In the novel, Charlotte Temple, the protagonist, Charlotte, is introduced as a, “a tall, elegant girl [who] looked at Montraville and blushed” (p. 7), giving high importance to the fact that her appearance is what appeals to Montraville the most.

The story highlights Charlotte’s harsh reality as she falls victim to the norms of society by being ruined by a man who abandons her. In the narrow eyes of society, Charlotte alone is to blame for her carelessness and loss of honor in eloping with Montraville.

This is related to the novel, Tess of the D’Ubervilles, by Thomas Hardy, a massive nineteenth-century British novel.

In the novel, the protagonist, Tess, fights against societal norms to give birth to an illegitimate baby, a result of seduction and coercion by an upper-class man. Yet she is defeated by the power of society. This indicates an element of victimization, as the female protagonist is viewed to be helpless and incapable of taking matters into her hands. Tess and Charlotte face similar issues as a consequence of defying the female norms that society entailed for them.

Coincidentally, both Charlotte and Tess are bound by the terms and conditions that society imposes on them. Their disregard for (or inadvertent violation of) these norms results in shame and humiliation in the harsh eyes of society. Both Charlotte and Tess experience the same consequences from society, which leads to their eventual deaths, though in different terms. Both the texts focus on the beauty of the women being the reason for them being seduced and eventually doomed, raising the issue of how society emphasizes on the beauty of women rather than their critical thinking of worldly situations.  

Charlotte's situation can be matched with the movie, An Education (2009), in which the protagonist, Jenny, is preyed upon by a much older man named David. On David's proposal of marriage, Jenny drops out of school and does not apply to her dream university. She accepts the proposal, only to later discover David's deception--he is a married man. From this, it can be derived that the 'doomed' fate of women is a consequence of the deception of charming, seemingly trustworthy men and implies that women who lose control of their lives face the worst kind of doom. In contrast to Charlotte's ending, Jenny rejects this "doomed" narrative and does not let her loss with David affect her negatively. Instead, she picks herself up and attends her dream university.

Both stories are lessons for young girls - Charlotte's story is to teach girls what not to do, and Jenny's story is to teach girls what is to be done even if the worst of events occur in their lives. Both Charlotte and Jenny challenge societal norms and do just as they are told not to do. Both the men in their lives betray them; Charlotte, however, is a victim of these events because society moves from insulting her to pitying her. Whereas Jenny does not let the betrayal kill her, even though society sympathizes with her and looks at her as the 'doomed' girl. Instead, David's betrayal empowers her and teaches her to take control of her life.
 

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  1. Perception of Women in Society Students in ENG 410: American Novel, an upper-level undergraduate seminar

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