Classic Literature: Women Who Fall in Love with the Wrong Men

In the novellas Charlotte Temple, by Susanna Rowson, and Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, by Stephen Crane, the title characters both share multiple similarities and differences. The similarities between Charlotte and Maggie range from their naivety to their sexual experiences. Though the girls are similar in many ways, Maggie and Charlotte still have many differences that can be found in their family lifestyle and upbringing to their difference in education background.

Charlotte and Maggie are both similar in a obvious way: they are both young and naïve in their experiences with men and the ways of the world. Charlotte is a young girl, approximately thirteen, who is completely naïve on the topic of love. This same trait is apparent in Maggie. Both girls fall completely in love with a young, older man who seems to be more than he really is. Maggie and Charlotte fall to their charms completely and end up losing everything for the false love that is provided for them. The girls see this love as romantic and more of a "courting" period than just simple flirtation. It is this misconception that both Maggie and Charlotte have about their respective lovers that leads them to experience a sexual relationship.

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 were 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. It is here where both girls then lose their family's influence and it leads to their downfalls.

The differences in the two girls start with their upbringing and family life. Maggie is from a harsh, poor, violent, and uneducated family that treats each other poorly and seems to only stay together for the sake of survival, not for love. 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. 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. This man wants her in the most intimate fashion and it is obvious that Maggie will go for that type of attention because she really has no other reason not to. If only her man would have been a faithful provider then Maggie would not have ended up deceased. Charlotte, however, is torn between the love of her family and the addiction to the young soldier. The love that Charlotte receives can be taken for granted when one is constantly surrounded by it. It is this unique, sexual desire that drives her to the soldier because it is something different and new. It is only when she is left alone in America that Charlotte is able to see what she has given up and now can only dream about.