American Literature: Life Struggles as Portrayed in 'Charlotte Temple' and 'Maggie: A Girl of the Streets'

Throughout the history of literature, authors have explored the multiple struggles of life that people face everyday. Struggles may be presented in a variety of situations depending on one's own station in life. Conflicts can lie in gender issues, economic stability, abusive relationships, or even race. Through the use of imagery, dialogue, scenarios, and past relationships, multiple authors have been able to provide their own views on how to change the conflicts that lie in society in order to make the world around a better place to live in. However, it is in the fate of two young girls that a valuable lesson can be learned about how an abusive relationship can be prevented through the influence of one's family in order to prevent the ultimate loss of one's life.

In the novellas Charlotte Temple, by Susanna Rowson, and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, by Stephen Crane, the title characters share multiple similarities and differences that deal with the struggles presented to them in life and the way that the two girls react to the conflicting situation. The similarities between Charlotte and Maggie range from their naivety about the world around them to their sexual encounters with the opposite sex. Maggie and Charlotte are too trusting with the world around them and it is through this trust that they will become corrupted and similarly falls into relationships of neglect.

Charlotte and Maggie both fall for men who will harm them because of one reason: they are both young and naïve in their experiences with men and the ways of the world. Fran, though, is a little older when she meets her husband Bobby, but no less naïve in the trust that she places in him. The three, young, impressionable girls all make the mistake of trusting a man before actually knowing him, and then sticking with him when the situation turns to the point of poverty and neglect.

Charlotte is a young girl, approximately fifteen, who is completely naïve on the topic of love. All Charlotte knows is what she would have read in a romance novel or stories from her friends. Steven Epley argues that it appears that Rowson is showing what can happen when Charlotte does not use her head when in reality it would have saved her and brought her a much happier life(211): " 'Indeed I do repent,' replied Charlotte, 'from my soul: but while discretion points out the impropriety of my conduct, inclination urges me to ruin' " (44). Charlotte longs for love. Charlotte clearly knows what is better and safer for her to do but she just simply can not stop the fluttering of her heart.

Charlotte, however, is torn between the love of her family and the addiction to the young soldier. The love that Charlotte receives from her family can be taken for granted when one is constantly surrounded by it: " 'those dear parents who make my happiness the whole study of their lives' " (46). Charlottes recognizes her parents undying love for her but it is this unique love and sexual desire that drives her to Montraville because it is something different and new. Montraville's promise of love and undying union completely entraps Charlotte to all of his fickle promises, eventually separating Charlotte from the only ones who love her: " 'if you disappoint my ardent hopes, by all that is sacred, this hand shall put a period to my existence. I cannot - will not live without you' " (48). Montraville essentially promises that Charlotte is all the he needs to live and cannot go on without her. This makes Charlotte feel like she is the most important person in Montraville's life and that surely she should be able to put her unyielding trust in this man she only met a couple of days ago. Rowson once again seems to be warning that once again Charlotte's naivety to follow her head instead of her heart is what leads Charlotte into a downward spiral and eventually to a premature death.

Charlotte will find herself neglected, alone, and in poverty after being in American for only a short amount of time. Montraville loses interest very fast in Charlotte when another woman catches his "passionate" heart: " 'Alas! poor, forsaken Charlotte, thy doom is now but too apparent' " (75). Charlotte senses that she is being passed over and that Montraville has lost all interest in her. Not only does Montraville neglect Charlotte, he also leaves her with his child and no one to care for it but Charlotte. This is truly the sign of an abusive man. Not only did he get Charlotte pregnant, he took her from her home and the people who loved her, perhaps the only people who could save Charlotte from corruption: " ' no beloved mother, no woman of character will appear in my company, and low as your Charlotte has fallen, she cannot associate with infamy' " (67). Charlotte recognizes that she has lost all love in her life and has nowhere to turn to even find companionship. Charlotte's life falls farther into poverty when the neglect turns worse and Montraville cuts Charlotte out of his life completely: " ' Charlotte, from this instant our connexion is at an end...I have done with you forever' " (89). Montraville leads a pregnant Charlotte to whatever fate may await her and leaves her completely neglected in a foreign land with no one to love and care for her.

Charlotte falls and falls again until she is in utter poverty and kicked out of her home with nowhere to go. Keith Fudge states that it is only after she turns to her former teacher that she is shown some kindness, but not by the teacher (48). What Charlotte does not realize is how easily her family would take her back in an instant because their love for Charlotte is pure and everlasting. It is only at Charlotte's deathbed that she will realize this: "she regarded her father as he pressed the infant to his breast with a steadfast look; a sudden beam of joy passed across her languid features, she raised her eyes to heaven - and then closed them for ever" (127). Susan Greenfield argues that the only joy that Charlotte has had in America is that when she is on her deathbed and that is because she understands that her family still loves her without prejudice, unlike Montraville, and that her child will be provided for unlike that of herself from Montraville (220). The love of her family is so strong that they are able to overlook her mistakes and discount the poverty her life has become and attempt to right the neglect that was driven so deeply into Charlotte's heart. Maggie, however, does not even have the love of a family and it is this cruelty that will eventually lead to Maggie's death.

Charlotte was raised by a caring, loving, middle class family who saw fit to make her future secure by sending their daughter to school in hope that she can create a positive future for herself. The love is evident in Charlotte's family while it is never seen in Maggie's: "As his sister continued her lamentations, he suddenly struck her. The little girl reeled and, recovering herself, burst into tears and quaveringly cursed him" (6). This scene illustrated the type of family life that Maggie is raised in. Maggie's family life is violent, abusive, and completely loveless. It is perhaps this reason that Maggie falls in love so quickly because she is experiencing something she has never felt before in her life: to be wanted. Maggie begins to blossom as the novella progresses into a beautiful woman: "The girl, Maggie, blossomed in a mud puddle. She grew to be a most rare and wonderful production of a tenement district, a pretty girl" (20). Maggie has overcome the odds of becoming an unattractive, impoverished urchin that is so common amongst her class.

Crane presents the appearance that Maggie will overcome her situation of poverty when she places her heart in Pete's hand. The reader is first introduced to Pete years earlier and readers can already decide what type of person he will become: " 'Smash 'im Jimmie, kick d' face off 'im!' yelled Pete, the lad with the chronic sneer, in tones of delight" (4). The readers understands the type of person Pete is; he is violent, hungry for violence, and cares little for the people around him as long as Pete can derive some type of pleasure from any given situation.

The side of Pete that Maggie sees is clouded by her hope of achieving a better life: "Maggie perceived that here was the ideal man. Her dim thoughts were often searching for far away lands where the little hills sing together in the morning" (23). Maggie is obsessed with the dream of Pete, not the reality in which he exists. Crane seems to be foreshadowing that only an abusive relationship will come from what Maggie hopes will be a relationship based on love and trust.

Little does Maggie understand that Pete wants her only in the most intimate fashion: " 'Say, Mag, I'm stuck on yer shape. It's outa sight' " (24). Pete remarks only on the physical attributes of Maggie because he wants nothing to do with the person who is behind the body. Pete is a character concerned only with outside appearances, which is one reason he is constantly building himself up to be such a strong fighter. Crane is showing that Maggie will go for any type of attention because she really has had no positive attention on herself in her life and the relationship must make her feel good. Maggie ends up falling completely in love with a young, older man who seems to be more than he really is. Maggie falls to Pete's charms and loses everything for the false love that is provided for her. Maggie views her relationship with Pete as romantic and more of a "courting" period than just simple flirtation, a love that is worthy for the theater: "Maggie always departed with raised spirits from these melodramas. She rejoiced at the way in which the poor and virtuous eventually overcame the wealthy and wicked" (36). It is this misconception that Maggie has about her lover that leads her to experience a sexual relationship, thus damning her in her family's eyes.

Maggie perceives Pete as a sophisticated gentleman when comparing him to her family: "Maggie perceived that Peter brought forth all his elegance and all his knowledge of high-class customs for her benefit. Her heart warmed as she reflected upon his condescension" (29). Katrina Irving explains that if only Maggie's family was a positive influence on Maggie then perhaps she could have been saved from leading a loveless life of poverty that Pete drives her into (35). Maggie finally explores the relationship sexually with Pete and once again her family does not do the proper thing and "force" a marriage, instead Maggie's mom will disown her and fail to see her own faults as a mother: " 'She's d' devil's own chil', Jimmie,' she whispered. 'Ah, who would t'ink such a bad girl could grow up in or family' " (43). This is all coming from a mother who abused her children relentlessly. It seems that Crane is questioning how could one even expect their children to make proper choices when the parent themselves has never made a right choice in raising them properly.

Maggie is soon abandoned by Pete once he has had his fun with her and more options become apparent to him. George Novotny states that Maggie, now abandoned by her family, has nowhere to turn. Maggie falls into the worst case scenario and turns to prostitution in order to make her was in the world (227): "A girl of the painted cohorts of the cit went along the street. She threw changing glances at men who passed her, giving smiling invitations to those of rural or untaught pattern and usually seeming sedately unconscious of the men with a metropolitan seal upon their faces" (73). Maggie has turned to prostitution as a last resort and it is Pete who drove her to this option. Crane wants his readers to recognize the dangers of relationships when parents don't intervene or if it rushed into a sexual relationship without promise of a future. It is assumed then, depending on what text one reads, that Maggie has either committed suicide or is murdered by a man who stalks her. This is the ultimate punishment that Crane can inflict on his character almost as a scare tactic in order to prevent this type of suffering from ever occurring again to a young, innocent, hopeful girl.

Abusive relationships occur every day in the world and it seems that authors are attempting to warn others of the potential dangers of a multitude of relationships. Though the two stories are written decades ago, both are relevant to today's society as well. The novellas can warn of the dangers of becoming involved to early in an intimate relationship and also could stress to parents the importance of becoming involved in their children's lives. It seems that both Maggie and Charlotte were more so used for their bodies by their lover as opposed for the cause of love. Both women give up their virginity to their men and see nothing wrong because both girls are expecting marriage and a future with their prospective husbands. What the girls don't see is that they are being used to fill an immediate need by the men where the girls are looking at a long-term secure relationship. It is here where Maggie and Charlotte's naivety is demonstrated because they believe in men who do not deserve their belief. By taking their time and learning more about a person's character, both Maggie and Charlotte could have been saved and lived a long, full life that is filled with happiness and contentment.

Works Cited

1. Epley, Steven. "Alienated, Betrayed, and Powerless" Papers on Language and Literature 38 (Spring 2002) 200 - 223.

2. Fudge, Keith. "Sisterhood Born from Seduction" Journal of American Culture 19 (Spring 1996) 43 - 51.

3. Greenfield, Susan C. "CharlotteTempleandCharlotte's Daughter: The Reproduction of Women's Word" Women's Studies 18 (1990) 200 - 223.

4. Irving, Katrina. "Gendered space, racialized space: Nativism, the immigrant woman and Stephen Crane's Maggie" College Literature 20 (October 1993) 30 - 44.

5. Novotny, George T. "Crane's Maggie, A Girl of the Streets" 50 (Summer 1992) 225 - 229.