Previous
Chapter 8
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
As her meeting with Montraville approaches, Charlotte has second thoughts. She feels guilty about the plan and wants to come clean to Madame Du Pont. And yet, she feels as if she can’t, since doing so would mean revealing Mademoiselle La Rue’s misbehavior, which would surely drive Madame Du Pont to kick La Rue onto the streets. As an aside, the author notes that there are always many things stopping people from doing what’s right, especially when they’ve already made a mistake. In the end, Charlotte decides to go through with the original plan, intending to tell Montraville that she can’t see him or correspond with him anymore.
Even as Charlotte advances down a path of vice, she tries to stop herself from fully succumbing to temptation. In other words, she knows she shouldn’t indulge Montraville’s interest in her, even though she finds it hard to resist. In fact, she even yearns to do the right thing (or what the novel implies is the right thing) by telling Madame Du Pont about having snuck out, but she can’t bring herself to betray La Rue’s trust. It becomes clear, then, that La Rue has quite a bit of power over Charlotte, who might avoid trouble if left to her own devices. To that end, La Rue makes it very hard for Charlotte to shirk temptation, which is already so difficult to resist, since succumbing to vice is a slippery slope.
Themes
Montraville brings Belcour to the meeting with Charlotte, knowing that Belcour will distract Mademoiselle La Rue. Belcour is a very selfish man who thinks only about whatever will bring him the most pleasure, no matter how it will affect other people. Montraville is similar, but not necessarily because he’s unkind. Rather, Montraville simply gets swept up in his own desires and fails to think things through. He’s selfish, but not in the same malicious way as Belcour. He knows he can’t marry Charlotte, but he doesn’t think about that.
It’s noteworthy that the novel doesn’t frame Montraville as purposefully malicious. He isn’t trying to lead Charlotte astray for the sake of ruining her life or reputation—his motivations are much less sinister than that. Rather, he simply wants to be with her, even if he has no intention of marrying her. Still, though, being romantically involved out of wedlock was very taboo in the 18th century, but Montraville doesn’t care—perhaps because he’s a man. Indeed, there was a double standard at play in society at that time, since a man’s reputation was rarely ruined by having extramarital affairs, whereas women often lost everything for doing the exact same thing.
Themes
If Montraville did consider how his interest in Charlotte could negatively impact her life, he might not pursue her. Unfortunately, though, he would need a good friend to point this out to him, and Belcour is certainly not the kind of person to do such a thing. Instead, Belcour takes an interest in Mademoiselle La Rue and does whatever he can to convince her to come to America with him and Montraville. In doing so, he makes it that much harder for Charlotte to resist the idea herself. Montraville begs to see her one last time before he goes abroad, but she refuses. And yet, he asks again, saying that he might die on the battlefield soon and would love to spend just one more evening with her. She tries to resist but eventually relents before hurrying away.
Themes
