Similarities Between Charlotte Temple And Incidents In The Life Of A Slave Girl

Bentley/Vora 1
Lara Bentley and Khushboo Vora
ENG 241
M. Ramos
December 16, 2013
Women: Weak vs. Strong
Women are different from each other and possess strong characteristics, weak characteristics or both. A woman being strong is not always about having physical strength.
Being strong of character means you possess traits that can be considered virtues, such as, loyalty, honor, and modesty. Having said this we will look at female characters throughout both
Susanna Rowson’s Charlotte Temple and Harriet Jacobs “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” and break down their characters and what strong or weak traits they possess. While Jacobs chooses to make her own path and have a benefactor to try and get herself out of having to survive an awful

Also Julia Franklin, This eighteen-year-old heiress is "the universal toast" of
New York society for her beauty, wealth, and kindness. Montraville marries her after Belcour tells him Charlotte has been unfaithful. The novel offers contradictory views on romantic love. In some cases, following one's heart can lead to happiness and even be morally superior to marrying for money, as in the case of Charlotte's parents. However, when Charlotte behaves similarly, it leads to ruin.
Charlotte being a weak character in the story could be due to the fact that she was easily influenced and manipulated. For instance, she ran away to America after eloping with
Montraville, though she knew that is not a right thing to do. While on the other hand,
Mademoiselle La Rue portrayed the traits of strong woman when she was daring enough to run away with Belcour while influencing Charlotte to do the same. Including Julia, who was not only

Bentley/Vora 3 rich and beautiful, but also generous when she decided to support Montraville knowing the fact that he did wrong deeds knowingly or unknowingly.
In Harriet Jacobs’s “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” there are some interesting

She struggles with her choice to engage in premarital sex with Mr. Sands, but tells her readers they have no right to judge her and that free women and slave women should be judged differently. She emphasizes her selfless identity as a mother as well as her position as a voice for the slaves still in bondage. While the wife of Mr.
Bruce, she hires Jacobs as a live-in nurse for her baby. She is English and seems to possess no prejudice or racism, always treating Jacobs with respect and kindness. When Jacobs finally confesses that she is a runaway, Mrs. Bruce listens sympathetically and helps her escape to
Boston. Also the wife of Dr. Flint, Mrs. Flint is a jealous, suspicious, and harsh woman prone to bouts of rage and depression as well as intense racial prejudice. She hates Jacobs because her husband lusts after her, and refuses to help her. She works with her husband to find Jacobs after she escapes, and gloats at any trouble that befalls Jacobs or her children.
Jacobs can be considered a strong willed woman, who suffered and endured the slave world but was also strong enough to propose her incidents to the world by publishing into