How were sex and sexual values used to oppress women in Charlotte’s day? Do women play a role in creating and/or sustaining these values? If so, why? Is it possible that sex was a source of power for women, not just a source of oppression?
Charlotte Temple is a novel of seduction, and its didactic message is certainly complicated by Rowson's romantic depiction of Montraville. Even after he has abandoned Charlotte, he remains tormented and even Byronic, maintaining his allure for both Charlotte and the readers. Nevertheless, despite any titillation that modern or eighteenth-century readers might have found in the novel's colorful plot, Rowson endorses sexual abstinence until marriage for both men and women. She argues that sex has negative consequences--social, emotional, and physical--for both genders, and it is not worth the momentary pleasure.
