Character guide

Charlotte Temple

major

Also known as Charlotte, the hapless Charlotte, poor Charlotte, the unhappy Charlotte, Madame Charlotte, the lovely Charlotte Temple, Cruel Charlotte

Charlotte is a sheltered young woman sent to a boarding school where flattery and forbidden letters awaken desires her upbringing never prepared her to govern. Her fatal softness — a reluctance to wound anyone, even those deceiving her — collides with La Rue's scheming and Montraville's pursuit. Her choices in the novel's first half set in motion the seduction and elopement that the rest of the book mourns.

Montraville

major

Also known as Dear Montraville, the wretched Montraville

Montraville is a soldier of feeling rather than principle, capable of genuine remorse yet too weak to let it govern his conduct. He seduces Charlotte believing himself in love, then discovers his heart is more fickle than he imagined when Julia appears. His divided affections and evasions drive the middle of the novel, where Charlotte's security depends entirely on a man already drifting away.

Mademoiselle La Rue

supporting

Also known as La Rue, Mademoiselle

La Rue presents herself as a refined governess, but her past and her appetites make her a dangerous guardian for impressionable girls. She encourages Charlotte's correspondence with Montraville less from kindness than from a desire to serve her own romantic schemes. Her influence in the novel's early chapters turns a girlish crush into a ruinous elopement, making her the quiet architect of Charlotte's fall.

Mrs. Temple

supporting

Also known as Temple, poor Mrs. Temple

Mrs. Temple raises Charlotte with affection and careful instruction, only to watch her daughter slip beyond the reach of both. Her sorrow runs through the book as a counterweight to Charlotte's ruin, and her later care for her granddaughter Lucy keeps the family's tenderness alive. She embodies the domestic virtue the novel holds up against the world of seduction and vanity.

Mr. Temple

supporting

Also known as Temple, II Domestic Concerns Mr. Temple

Mr. Temple is defined by an impulsive, noble-hearted charity — he shelters a stranger on his doorstep without pausing to weigh the cost. That same warmth makes his grief over Charlotte's fate almost unbearable, and his forgiveness of those who wronged her becomes a moral test of the novel's values. His presence anchors the story's argument that sensibility, rightly used, is virtue rather than weakness.

Belcour

supporting

Also known as Mr. Belcour

Belcour is the novel's coldest voice, mocking Montraville's conscience and dismissing Charlotte's virtue as a triviality. He pursues his own designs on her while pretending friendship, and his willingness to stage a compromising scene reveals how little he regards the ruin of a young woman. His treachery in the middle chapters turns Montraville's wavering affection into abandonment, sealing Charlotte's downward course.

Mrs. Beauchamp

supporting

Also known as Beauchamp, the benevolent Mrs. Beauchamp

Mrs. Beauchamp is Colonel Crayton's amiable daughter, married to Major Beauchamp and living quietly outside New York when Charlotte's melancholy figure in the neighboring garden moves her to pity. Though she fears the ridicule that follows any woman who pities a 'wandering sister,' she resolves to brave the world's contempt rather than withhold consolation. Her willingness to enter Charlotte's wretched apartment makes her the novel's living counter-argument to Mrs. Crayton's cold respectability.

Mrs. Crayton

supporting

Also known as Crayton, the fortunate Mrs. Crayton, the unfeeling Mrs. Crayton

Having schemed her way from French teacher to Colonel Crayton's bride, Mrs. Crayton enjoys wealth and position while her husband's affection blinds him to her temper and artifice. She embodies the novel's warning that vice can prosper—at least for a season—and her refusal to shelter Charlotte is the cruelty that sets the heroine adrift. Her presence sharpens the contrast between polished reputation and genuine virtue that runs through the whole book.

Julia Franklin

supporting

Also known as Julia, the amiable Julia, Miss Julia

Julia Franklin belongs to the respectable circle around the Temples in New York, and her tender attentions help pull a dangerously ill man back from delirium and grief. Where Charlotte is impulsive and unprotected, Julia is composed, dutiful, and safe—the kind of woman the era rewards. Her quiet constancy matters because it shows what Charlotte's story might have been, and gives the novel a living image of the virtue it mourns.

Mr. Eldridge

supporting

Also known as Eldridge

Mr. Eldridge is the father of Lucy Temple (née Eldridge), and his long separation from her—through poverty, disgrace, and distance—gives the Temple family's story its emotional undertow. When father and daughter finally meet again, the scene's wordless grief and joy stand as the novel's picture of what Charlotte's own father will never get to feel. His frailty and endurance make him a quiet emblem of the domestic love the book keeps insisting is worth more than fortune.

Lucy Eldridge

supporting

Also known as Lucy, Eldridge, the little Lucy

Lucy Eldridge is the daughter of the ruined Mr. Eldridge, and her marriage to the worthy Mr. Temple is the novel's model of love rewarded by constancy rather than fortune. As Charlotte's mother, she stands at the head of the family whose peace Charlotte's elopement will shatter, and her later devotion to her granddaughter shows grief transformed into care. Her virtue is the standard against which Charlotte's fall is measured, and the tenderness she represents is what the story keeps trying to recover.

Colonel Crayton

supporting

Also known as Crayton, the colonel, the infatuated colonel

Colonel Crayton is beloved for his benevolence and unsuspicious temper, qualities that make him an easy mark for La Rue's calculated charm during the Atlantic crossing. Within months of their marriage he sees her conduct is imprudent and her temper violent, yet his sincere affection leaves him powerless to check her. His infatuation matters because it explains how a man of real goodness can shelter the very woman who will help destroy Charlotte, and it gives Mrs. Beauchamp a father to pity as well as a rival to fear.

Madame Du Pont

minor

A French woman who runs the boarding school Charlotte attends.

Henry Temple

minor

Also known as Henry, Temple

Charlotte's younger brother.

George

minor

Also known as poor George

A servant or young man who assists the Temple family.

Miss Weatherby

minor

A minor acquaintance at the boarding school.

Colonel Blakeney

minor

Also known as Blakeney, Lieutenant Colonel Grice Blakeney

A historical military figure mentioned in the narrative.

John

minor

Also known as honest John, Colonel John Montrésor

A servant or minor character assisting the officers.

Lucy Temple

minor

Also known as Lucy

Charlotte's daughter, born after her abandonment.

Charlotte Stanley

minor

Also known as The Charlotte Stanley, Charlotte

A minor character with a similar name to the protagonist.

Miss Eldridge

minor

Also known as Eldridge

A relative of Mr. Eldridge, possibly his daughter.

Miss Franklin

minor

Also known as Franklin, one Miss Franklin

A relative of Julia Franklin.

Mr. Lewis

minor

Also known as a Mr. Lewis, Lewis

A gentleman who interacts with the characters briefly.

Colonel Montrésor

minor

Also known as James, Colonel James G. Montrésor, Montrésor

A British officer and acquaintance of Montraville.

Mrs. Rowson

minor

The author of the book, occasionally referenced in the narrative.

Mr. Franklin

minor

A minor character, possibly Julia Franklin's father.

Captain Beauchamp

minor

Husband of Mrs. Beauchamp, a kind military officer.

Dr. Francis

minor

Also known as Dr. John W. Francis

A historical figure mentioned in the endnotes.

Miss Temple

minor

A minor character, possibly a relative of the Temple family.

Colonel Franklin

minor

A minor military figure related to Julia Franklin.