Summary
Summary of Charlotte Temple
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A warning begins with trust
Charlotte Temple follows a girl of fifteen whose loving family sends her to boarding school in Chichester. There, a young army officer and a scheming teacher begin to change the course of her life. Rowson presents the story as a warning about choices and the pressures surrounding them.
The danger involves more than Charlotte's own judgment. People who should protect her, and others who only pretend to care, help shape what happens. Rowson speaks directly to readers, asking them to consider those responsibilities.
Key idea 2
Charlotte comes from a loving home
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Key idea 3
Respectability does not guarantee protection
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Key idea 4
Charm gains help from bad advice
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Key idea 5
Urgency presses against Charlotte's conscience
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Key idea 6
Blame extends beyond the girl
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Key idea 7
The narrator teaches through feeling
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Key idea 8
Protection depends on honesty and care
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
For readers who love early novels, stories of manners and morals, and the history of American reading. It also suits anyone curious about how women's lives were written about in the 1700s.
What this book is
Charlotte Temple is a short novel by Susanna Rowson, an English-born writer, actress and teacher. It first appeared in England in 1791 under the longer title Charlotte, A Tale of Truth. It reached American readers in 1794 and was read and reprinted there for generations. Rowson presents it as a warning, and she says so plainly at the start.
The story follows Charlotte Temple, a girl of fifteen from a loving, respectable family, who is sent to a boarding school in Chichester. There she meets a young army officer and a scheming teacher, and her life changes course. You get a clear picture of a young girl's choices and the pressures around her. You also see how the people who ought to protect her, and those who pretend to, shape her fate. Rowson keeps stopping to speak to her readers, so you hear a storyteller who cares what you think. Let us begin where the story begins, with a family and a school.
In this summary
- 1A tale offered as a warningFree
- 2A schoolgirl in Chichester
- 3A soldier and a scheming teacher
- 4Love, duty and a hard choice
- 5What the story is really about
- 6How Rowson tells it
Key point 1 of 6
A tale offered as a warning
Rowson opens with a short preface. She says she writes for the young, and especially for girls, and she calls her story a tale of truth. Many readers have wondered how much of it is fact. Rowson hints that real people stand behind the characters, though no one has settled the question. What matters is the purpose: she wants to show how easily a young woman can be led astray.
The story opens with two officers who see Charlotte among the schoolgirls leaving church. After that, Rowson turns to her parents, Mr. Temple and his wife, and to the old family history that shapes them. Mr. Temple is a gentleman who earlier chose to marry for love rather than for money. That choice cost him his father's favor, and it makes him a gentle and generous man. His wife Lucy comes from a family that fell on hard times.
Rowson uses this background to show the kind of home Charlotte comes from. It is a home of affection, of good sense and of charity toward people in need. That detail matters, because the book will later ask what a loving home can and cannot do against a clever deceiver. A reader who sees how kind these parents are will feel the distance when Charlotte is far from them.
The author also sets the tone. She is not neutral. She tells you what to feel and when to feel it, and she trusts you to take her seriously. This was a normal approach for the sentimental novel of her day, and it gives the book a direct, personal warmth.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
How does La Rue help Montraville reach Charlotte?
Right. “She arranges a first meeting and encourages the acquaintance.”Not quite. “She arranges a first meeting and encourages the acquaintance.”
What increases the pressure on Charlotte to make a choice?
Right. “His regiment is ordered to sail for America, which adds a sense of hurry and gives him a reason to press his case.”Not quite. “His regiment is ordered to sail for America, which adds a sense of hurry and gives him a reason to press his case.”
What does Rowson argue girls need from their education?
Right. “The novel argues that girls need sound judgment and plain truth about the world, not only manners and accomplishments.”Not quite. “The novel argues that girls need sound judgment and plain truth about the world, not only manners and accomplishments.”
Who’s who
- Charlotte Temple
- Charlotte is a trusting fifteen-year-old schoolgirl whose love for her parents conflicts with her feelings for Montraville.
- Montraville
- Montraville is a vain, impulsive young army officer who pursues Charlotte and counts Belcour among his friends.
- Mademoiselle La Rue
- Mademoiselle La Rue is Charlotte's calculating French teacher, who encourages her acquaintance with Montraville rather than protecting her.
- Belcour
- Belcour is Montraville's friend and fellow officer, whose polished manners conceal a less trustworthy character.
- Mr. Temple
- Mr. Temple is Charlotte's generous, principled father, who values love over fortune and wants his daughter kept safe.
- Mrs. Temple
- Mrs. Temple is Charlotte's affectionate mother, who trusts her daughter's school and hopes for her happiness.
- Madame Du Pont
- Madame Du Pont runs Charlotte's school in Chichester, placing greater importance on its reputation than her pupils' protection.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 37,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 2 h 30 min
- Listening time4 h 5 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about Charlotte Temple
What is Charlotte Temple about?
It tells of Charlotte Temple, a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl in England who is drawn into a secret acquaintance with an army officer. Rowson uses her fate as a warning about deceit, careless guardians and the risks facing young women.
Is Charlotte Temple a true story?
Rowson called it a tale of truth and hinted that it rested on real events. No one has firmly proved who the real people might have been, so most readers treat it as fiction written to teach a lesson.
When was Charlotte Temple written and published?
Rowson wrote it in England, where it was published in 1791 under the title Charlotte, A Tale of Truth. An American edition followed in 1794, and it became very widely read in the United States.
Is Charlotte Temple hard to read?
Not very. The chapters are short and the plot is simple. The language is clear.
What is the main message of Charlotte Temple?
Rowson argues that young women need honest guidance and sound judgment, that careless or selfish adults share the blame when they are led astray, and that a fallen woman deserves pity, not scorn.
