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 30-35Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 30 Summary
Charlotte decides to walk to New York City and find Mademoiselle La Rue, now Mrs. Crayton. She writes a note explaining her situation and asking for help, packs a small bundle of items, and walks out into the thick snow. Charlotte has no valuable items of her own that she could sell to pay her rent, and Montraville has given her only a locket with a lock of her mother’s hair, which she is unwilling to part with. Charlotte, not equipped with appropriate winter gear, is quickly chilled and soaked.
In town, she finds a soldier to lead her to the Craytons’ home, but he warns her that Mrs. Crayton will likely not help her and offers to take her to Julia’s father instead. He also confirms that Montraville and Julia are married and have left. They arrive at the Craytons’ home and Charlotte knocks on the door.
Chapter 31 Summary: “Subject Continued”
A servant, John, answers the door and takes the letter from Charlotte to Mrs. Crayton; however, Mrs. Crayton feigns ignorance of Charlotte and tells John to get rid of her. Charlotte asks him to try one more time, and she follows John in to see Mrs. Crayton; however, Mrs. Crayton refuses to acknowledge she knows her. Charlotte recounts their history, but Mrs. Crayton says she will not have an unvirtuous woman in her home. Charlotte asks to die in the house then faints, and Mrs. Crayton orders the servant to take Charlotte away.
Sympathetic, John takes Charlotte to his home and hires a doctor, who bleeds her. That night, Charlotte gives birth to a girl.
Chapter 32 Summary: “Reasons Why and Wherefore”
Mrs. Crayton knows that she played a large role in Charlotte’s downfall, and she does not want Colonel Crayton to find out. If Colonel Crayton had returned home while Charlotte was there, he would have offered his help, and Charlotte might have told him the truth. Upset at Mrs. Crayton’s treatment of Charlotte, the servants tell Colonel Crayton what happened; Corydon also feels Mrs. Crayton acted wrongly, but he does not say anything.
Charlotte is delirious for three days and does not know that the crying infant in the house is her child. The doctor attending her is called to care for Mrs. Beauchamp’s child, and he asks Mrs. Beauchamp to assist an ill new mother. Mrs. Beauchamp, not yet knowing the woman is Charlotte, agrees and immediately follows the doctor to John’s house.
Chapter 33 Summary: “Which People Void of Feeling Need Not Read”
Charlotte is so altered that Mrs. Beauchamp does not recognize her at first. Charlotte responds to the sound of Mrs. Beauchamp’s voice but cannot remember her name. Realizing the woman is Charlotte, Mrs. Beauchamp sits next to the bed and cries, and Charlotte speaks of the letter she wrote to her family and asks if she can go home.
As Charlotte is too sick to move, Mrs. Beauchamp hires a nurse and makes Charlotte as comfortable as possible. John tells her what happened at Mrs. Crayton’s home, and she gives John money for taking care of Charlotte. When Mrs. Beauchamp returns the next day, Charlotte is lucid. Her improved state gives Mrs. Beauchamp hope, but the doctor tells her that the improvement is temporary and that Charlotte will likely die within a few hours. Charlotte says that she is feeling better and does not think she will suffer for long; she also expresses concern for her daughter’s future. As she talks, her voice fades, and she becomes weaker.
Mrs. Beauchamp sends for a clergyman, and shortly after the clergyman’s ceremony, Mr. Temple arrives asking for Mrs. Beauchamp. He asks if Charlotte is still alive, and Charlotte overhears and calls out to him. He goes to her, and they faint in each other’s arms. They both come to, and Charlotte hands her daughter, Lucy, to Mr. Temple and asks him to protect her, then lies back and dies.
Chapter 34 Summary: “Retribution”
Montraville returns to New York and seeks out Belcour, who tells him Charlotte left him. Montraville is skeptical and warns Belcour that if he harmed Charlotte, he will seek revenge. After visiting the cottage and finding out that Charlotte walked into the city, Montraville returns to New York, where he hears bells tolling and sees a funeral procession. He asks a nearby soldier who died, and the soldier explains it was a young woman who was abandoned while pregnant. The soldier tells Montraville about Charlotte’s encounter with Mrs. Crayton.
Hitting himself in the head, Montraville calls himself a murderer and rushes ahead to ask to Mr. Temple if the grave is for Charlotte. Mr. Temple scolds Montraville for interrupting the procession, and Montraville admits he is to blame for Charlotte’s death. He asks Mr. Temple to kill him, but Mr. Temple tells Montraville he must live with what he has done. Montraville leaves, finds a drunken Belcour, and kills him. Wounded in the process, Montraville develops an infection from which he recovers; however, he spends the rest of his life experiencing “fits of melancholy” and visiting Charlotte’s grave (255).
Chapter 35 Summary: “Conclusion”
Mr. Temple takes the infant Lucy back to England, and Mrs. Temple finds happiness in raising Charlotte’s daughter. Ten years later, after Eldridge has died, the Temples take Lucy to London. They see a severely ill woman sitting on a doorstep, and Mr. Temple stops to offer help. The woman recognizes Mrs. Temple and identifies herself as Mademoiselle La Rue, admitting her role in Charlotte’s elopement and death.
The Temples soothe Mademoiselle La Rue and offer her wine, and she relates that Colonel Crayton left her seven years prior; she lived a riotous life until she was overcome by ill health and poverty and was imprisoned because of her debt. Someone paid off her debt and freed her, but she is unable to provide for herself and has not eaten in two days. Mr. Temple shelters Mademoiselle La Rue that night then places her in a hospital, where she dies.
Chapters 30-35 Analysis
The last six chapters constitute the climax and the falling action or resolution, and this section serves to complete the character arcs and provide closure on the novel’s themes. Mrs. Crayton’s reaction, the birth of Lucy, and the decline in Charlotte’s physical health represent the climax, or highest point of tension, in the text. Charlotte’s bout of lucidness and her conversation with Mrs. Beauchamp gives her the sense that she has made up for her lapse in judgment when she eloped with Montraville. She tells Mrs. Beauchamp, “I have an humble confidence in the mercy of Him who died to save the world, and trust that my sufferings in this state or mortality, joined to my unfeigned repentance, through His mercy, have blotted my offences from the sight of my offended Maker” (245). Her last remaining concern is for her newborn child, which speaks to the theme of Women’s Virtue and Morality, as prioritizing maternal duties is a significant social value. Charlotte secures safety for Lucy when she passes her child to her father. The brief encounter Charlotte has with Mr. Temple also implies that Charlotte found forgiveness. Although she is the protagonist, Charlotte does not experience personal growth, as is often expected of a protagonist’s character arc. Her lack of growth reflects the novel’s purpose, which is to educate young women. Charlotte’s passivity imparts the message that girls are incapable of making good life decisions and that they need the protection and guidance of older, more knowledgeable individuals—namely, their fathers.
The conclusions for Charlotte, Montraville, Belcour, and Mademoiselle La Rue demonstrate The Consequences of Seduction and Betrayal. For Charlotte, Belcour, and Mademoiselle La Rue, the ultimate consequence of seduction and betrayal is death. Charlotte’s death is depicted compassionately, while Mademoiselle La Rue’s and Belcour’s deaths are retributive. Montraville does not die, but he does experience guilt and unhappiness for the rest of his life. Montraville’s ending implies that he has been given the chance to repent for his transgressions against Charlotte. He did not intend to harm Charlotte; on the contrary, he planned to support both Charlotte and their child. His intentions were benevolent, albeit misguided, and his final mistake was in trusting Belcour. As such, Montraville is not an irredeemable villain.
Mr. Temple personifies Charity, Mercy, and Forgiveness in the novel’s closing section. Upon receiving Charlotte’s letter and learning the circumstances of her disappearance, he forgives his daughter. The extent of his forgiveness is demonstrated through his decision to sail to the United States to fetch Charlotte and escort her home. Mr. Temple also exhibits mercy by refusing to kill Montraville, even though, given the historical context, he has the right to duel with and kill the man who wronged his daughter. However, he does not forgive Montraville; rather, he does not want to tarnish his own virtue by killing someone, and he wants Montraville to live with the consequences of his actions: “Look on that little heap of earth; there hast thou buried the only joy of a fond father. Look at it often; and may they heart feel such sorrow as shall merit the mercy of Heaven” (253-54). Similarly, Mr. Temple extends both mercy and charity to Mademoiselle La Rue after the fatally ill woman confesses her role in Charlotte’s demise. Not only does his charitable behavior support his characterization as generous, but it also suggests that mercy and forgiveness can be found through genuine repentance.
The final chapter of Charlotte Temple, in which Lucy Temple—Charlotte’s daughter—is older and residing with Mr. and Mrs. Temple, provides an open ending for the story. Lucy Temple, the sequel to Charlotte Temple, follows Charlotte’s daughter, who similarly faces moral dilemmas centering on controversial romance (Rowson, Susanna. Lucy Temple. Philadelphia Lippencott, n.d.). The ending of Charlotte Temple thus provides the underlying context for the sequel.
