# Colonel Crayton — Charlotte Temple character guide

> Colonel Crayton in Charlotte Temple by Susanna Haswell Rowson.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Crayton, the colonel, the infatuated colonel

**First appearance:** 0019-volume-i-xvii-a-wedding

## Snapshot

A humane but easily duped officer who marries the scheming La Rue and discovers, too late, that affection can be a kind of blindness.

## Who they are

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.

## Relationships

### [Charlotte Temple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/charlotte_temple_se/characters/charlotte_temple)

_professional_

Colonel Crayton is a military superior and authority figure who provides lodging but ultimately fails to protect Charlotte.

### [Charlotte Temple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/charlotte_temple_se/characters/charlotte_temple)

_professional_

Colonel Crayton is a military superior and authority figure who provides lodging but ultimately fails to protect Charlotte.

## In the story

### [XVI: Necessary Digression](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/charlotte_temple_se/chapters/volume-i-xvi-necessary-digression)

A wealthy, unsuspecting officer with a partiality for French women; duped by La Rue's feigned distress, he gives her a written promise of marriage.

### [XXVIII: A Trifling Retrospect](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/charlotte_temple_se/chapters/volume-ii-xxviii-a-trifling-retrospect)

Described as a domestic man who, after ineffectual remonstrance, gives up trying to control his wife's behavior.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/charlotte_temple_se/characters/colonel_crayton
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/charlotte_temple_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/charlotte_temple_se/characters