Introduction
The eighteenth century was full of restrictions and limitations for American women. A highly religious colonial society viewed women primarily as a productive force, their fertility being their highest virtue (Klepp 4). A woman’s role was limited to being a mother, a wife, and a hearth keeper, and their protesting voices were rarely heard. Being highly dependent on the will of their fathers, husbands, and brothers, American women of that time were bound by the religious and societal norms in ways they could express themselves. The lack of possibilities for education and training outside of housewife duties only reinforced the women’s oppressed status. As Klepp argues, “Men were simply human; women were the Sex’” (4). This inequality of perception and possibilities led to the emergence of double standards regarding virtue for men and women. However, this situation began to change in the later part of the eighteenth century, especially after the Revolution that questioned many traditional practices and opened the way for changes (Klepp 6). Women became more and more vocal about their anxieties and desires, particularly advocating for smaller families. Even though, on a broad scale, the actual changes would not arrive until World War I, new voices began to emerge, particularly in early American literature, presenting a new perspective on feminity, gender relations, and women’s societal role. The paper focuses on two prominent early American novels, The Coquette by Hannah Webster Foster and Charlotte Temple by Susanna Rowson, both important examples of early Feminism. These novels present an alternative view on the idea of perfect womanhood, relying on the ideas of women’s right to self-determination, independence, and equal rights in a men-dominated religious society.
Discussion
Hannah Webster Foster begins her novel with the heroine, Eliza Wharton, expressing her wish “for no other connection than that of friendship” (Foster 6) after her fiancé’s death. This desire alone is a notable deviation from the accepted norms of the time when marriage was an essential part of a woman in society. By deciding to remain single, at least for the time being, Eliza deliberately marks herself as anomalous and going against traditional cultural values, jeopardizing her social reputation and financial security (Davis 385). More importantly, Eliza’s decision portrays her as independent and self-reliant, being a potent female empowerment symbol and associating her with the whole American nation that had recently gained independence (Davis 385).
The Coquette elaborations on gender expectations in the eighteenth century, however, determine the heroine’s fate. The main characters, Major Sanford and Eliza Wharton are examples of how deeply gender norms can be rooted in society. As Boyer mentions in the book: “a cheerful friend, much more a cheerful wife, is peculiarly necessary to a person of a studious and sedentary life” (Foster 12). Foster shows the different expectations for women and men regarding social roles, with the former expected to be homemakers or maids and the latter having freedom of choice and multiple options. Eliza attempts to meet the standards by remaining faithful to one man, while the same is not expected of men. When Eliza has an affair with Sanford, a married man, and realizes that she is pregnant, she immediately recognizes the perspective of her family’s and friends’ disappointment (Foster 163). When Julia and Lucy discover that Eliza is pregnant without marriage, they judge her as she fails to meet the societal standards for females to be passive and excellent (Foster 262). These instances are clear examples of how significant the gender roles are even for the heroine. At the same time, Sanford, engaging in extramarital sexual activities, is not seen to fear societal condemnation. Eliza’s failure and death in the finale indicate no space for an independent woman in eighteenth-century American culture. Foster’s attempted association of an American woman with the young nation is only possible when the material conditions of women’s lives have changed.
In Susanna Rowson’s Charlotte Temple, the woman’s voice is obscured and muted by a male-controlled society. Rowson tries to share details about the pressure that females experience in the male-domineering society and demands to be heard by the reader. The author takes on the role of a spiritual guide for oppressed women to show them that they can have equal rights and perform similar tasks to men. In the rigid society of eighteenth-century America, these ideas were controversial, which made Rowson’s work especially impactful. Analyzing the author’s choice for the novel’s setting and conditions is crucial for understanding the more profound criticism of the established social norms that generally ignored women’s right to self-governance.
The heroines of late eighteenth-century British and American seduction stories were often between the ages of fifteen and seventeen, attractive and naive. Fifteen-year-old Charlotte acknowledges the likelihood of her subsequent social fall on the eve of her departure with Montraville Attention to Charlotte’s age references the 1753 Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage that regulated the marital procedure for minors in England and the state of New York (Hodgson 170). For a woman of that society entering a marriage meant simply passing the control over their life from one male to another. Charlotte’s unclear legal status at age sixteen, having the right to consent yet not being permitted to marry without her father’s approval, causes her sexual agency to emerge among competing patriarchal interests (Hodgson 170). This way the novel dramatizes Charlotte’s failed passage from daughter to wife, being entangled in the conflict of her father’s will, her partner’s sexual predation, and the inadequacy of laws regarding marriage and sexual violence. In practice, the girl’s legal and social rights were decided by men, either a father or a husband, with no place left for the female agency (Hodgson 171). The lack of critics’ attention to the legal aspects of Charlotte’s misfortunes has facilitated the public perception of her as an indecisive girl guilty of her subsequent demise.
Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography gives a good illustration of the public perception of female sexuality at the time. Women in the book are mainly used to illustrate lessons for men. Illicit sexual activity for a man has no significant consequences, being discarded as just another mistake (Rust 106). For a woman, however, being unwillingly impregnated means facing psychological and physical pain and possible social stigmatization through birth, miscarriage, or abortion. The ideology of redemption and self-correction applicable to men in the new moral system is thus unavailable for women like Charlotte (Rust 106). With their mistakes not so easily forgotten and forgiven, women faced disproportionally more societal pressure.
The novels make it clear that not only the perfect lives deserve commemoration and representation. Both tragic heroines have a friend: Mrs. Beauchamp in Charlotte Temple and Lucy Freeman in The Coquette. The virtuous friends exist to highlight the actions and motives of the tragic heroine. In this way, the novels challenge the traditional sermon’s emphasis on strict compliance with the ideals of womanhood (Henderson 497). These early American novels sever this link between mourning and compliance. Scholars disagree about whether Charlotte Temple serves the same ultimate purpose as The Coquette of encouraging changes in the societal structure rather than simply expressing the inevitability of the established order. In The Coquette, Foster concludes: “From the melancholy story of Eliza Wharton, let the American fair learn to reject with disdain every insinuation derogatory to their true dignity and honor” (262). Charlotte, meanwhile, is a complete product of her culture, devoid of any real agency and independence, which poses a problem of creating an integrated model of new feminity using the available cultural lexicon. However, the moral of the stories is in the reader’s shared state of sinfulness with the heroines creating a connection between them. Due to the heroine’s imperfections, they can be and should be mourned (Henderson 499). The result is a revolutionary and profound challenge not only to the religious authority but to the very image of a perfect female in society, with its ultimate rejection.
Conclusion
The paper analyzes two early American novels exposing and discussing gender inequality in the eighteenth century. When scholars discuss what these novels are about, they often talk about how the novels represent gender-based inequality in eighteenth-century society and the author’s perspective on the issue. Foster uses TheCoquette to illustrate how societal expectations and requirements differed for men and women through the affair between a young girl and a married man. The author emphasizes the double standards in societal judgment and concludes that only profound cultural and religious changes can satisfy women’s desire for equal rights. Similar expectations are seen in Charlotte Temple, where the traditional views on female sexuality are challenged. The inadequacy of the legal system surrounding the institute of marriage, where women have no right to decide on their fate, is criticized. Scholars often agree that both novels present a view of imperfect women as victims of the heavily gender-biased society deserving of compassion, commemoration, and representation beyond the strict cultural and religious paradigm of perfect womanhood.
Works Cited
Davis, Lauren E. “Entangling Alliances: The Coquette and Allegories of Independence in Transatlantic Context.” Early American Literature, vol. 50, no. 2, 2015, pp. 385–414, Web.
Davis discussed the allegory of American seduction novels like The Coquette. Eliza fails and dies because there is no place in eighteenth-century American culture for an independent woman. This article would help connect The Coquette to the historical background of the 18th century.
Foster, Hannah Webster. The Coquette. Boston, 1833.
In this novel, the author has written about different expectations that existed of men and women in the eighteenth century. It is done to illustrate the discrimination and gender inequality in society at the time.
Henderson, Desirée. “The Imperfect Dead: Mourning Women in Eighteenth-Century Oratory and Fiction.” Early American Literature, vol. 39, no. 3, 2004, pp. 487–509, Web.
Henderson discusses the evolution of the early American funeral sermon over the eighteenth century, focusing on how it contributed to constructing an image of virtuous womanhood that condemned defective women and left them unfit for mourning. This insight can be used in this research paper because Henderson stated that the absence of sorrow is especially noticeable in women. In contrast, men with personal flaws may be lauded for their political achievements or social standing.
Hodgson, Lucia. (2019). “Age and Consent in Charlotte Temple.” Studies in American Fiction, vol. 46, no. 2, 2019, pp. 169–194, Web.
This article is focused on the cultural, political, and historical context of the novel Charlotte Temple. Notably, the author analyzes how the heroine’s sexuality is developed and handled in the novel, revealing the religious and cultural barriers that eighteenth-century women had to face in society. For that, it uses several analytic works and cultural studies on the matter.
Klepp, Susan E. Revolutionary Conceptions: Women, Fertility, and Family Limitation in America, 1760-1820. UNC Press Books, 2017.
The book focuses on drastic changes in eighteenth-century women’s perception of their role in society and culture, questioning the ideas and principles surrounding such themes as family, sexuality, and personal freedom.
Rowson, Susanna. Charlotte Temple. Brattleborough, 1813.
In this novel, the author expresses how double standards in society resulted in the downfall of a young woman named Charlotte Temple.
Rust, Marion. “What is Wrong with ‘Charlotte Temple?‘” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 60, no. 1, 2003, pp. 99–118, Web.
Marion Rust discusses how women’s experiments were incredibly terrifying because they did not have the corollary privilege of having their mistakes erased from history by the fatal consequences of illicit sexuality through Charlotte Temple, who provides an example of virtue fallen through seduction and sexuality.