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Chapter 3
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Charlotte Temple, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Temptation and Vice
Regret, Guilt, and Shame
Deceit and Manipulation
Kindness, Compassion, and Forgiveness
Honor, Reputation, and Social Status
Wealth, Poverty, and Happiness
Summary
Analysis
After both George and Eldridge’s wife died, Mr. Lewis seized the family’s house and furniture. But even these things weren’t enough to repay the debt, and nobody came forward to pay it on Eldridge’s behalf. As a result, he has been living in the debtor’s prison for a year and a half. Lucy makes some money by sewing, which she does while sitting next to Eldridge throughout the day. She leaves every evening and sleeps in a small room next to a nearby bridge. A kind woman offered to take Lucy into her own family, but Lucy wouldn’t abandon her father.
It’s evident that Lucy is devoted to her father and wants to do anything she can to alleviate his suffering. Given that Mr. Temple himself is kind and philanthropic, Lucy’s selfless affection for her father undoubtedly endears her to Mr. Temple all the more, perhaps giving him an extra motivation to help his new acquaintances.
Themes
Mr. Temple demands to know where Mr. Lewis is so that he can confront him, but Eldridge says Lewis has been abroad for a while now. He told his lawyers to collect Eldridge’s debt in full—a debt of 500 pounds. The amount is more than Mr. Temple had expected, but he still wants to help; he can’t bear to imagine a woman like Lucy wasting her life sitting in a depressing prison with her kind father. He thus tells Eldridge to stay positive and takes his leave, thinking to himself on his way home about how he can help the poor old man. He ultimately decides that although paying off Eldridge’s debt will significantly change his own lifestyle, he should do it. His money is “superfluous” compared to Eldridge’s great need.
When Mr. Temple thinks about his own wealth as “superfluous,” he reveals just how little he cares about leading the lifestyle of a rich man. Instead of basking in his finances, he would rather help Eldridge, since he recognizes that Eldridge needs the money much more than he does. By thinking this way, Temple avoids behaving with the kind of greed that led Mr. Lewis to treat the Eldridge family so poorly in the first place, demonstrating that he’s significantly more honorable and compassionate than Lewis.
Themes
Mr. Temple takes a mortgage out on his own fortune, making it possible for him to pay off Eldridge’s debt. Mr. Temple will now live off of 300 pounds per year instead of 500. Within three days, Eldridge is let out of prison, and Mr. Temple feels repaid simply by seeing the tears of gratitude in Lucy’s eyes. His father, however, is unmoved by Temple’s charity. He assumes his son only sacrificed his fortune because he wants to marry Lucy, whom he assumes is deceitful and manipulative. But his father wants him to marry Miss Weatherby, a very wealthy woman whose father recently expressed interest in matching with Temple.
Themes
