Katelyn Crow

Professor Gaul
Studies in Early American Literature: Oceans and Waterways
6 October 2014
Charlotte Temple and Unca Eliza Winkfield
Unca Eliza Winkfield and Charlotte Temple have almost completely opposite
personalities. While Charlotte represents an idealized English woman, Unca embodies almost
masculine characteristics. A possible explanation for the differences between these women is the
places in which they grew up. Unca was born in America and had freedom to be independent
when she was young, while Charlotte was born in England and was completely reliant on her
parents. While both characters experienced downfalls, their contrasting reactions to those
downfalls yield very different results. However, their similarities go beyond simply having a
downfall at some point in the text. The key aspect that links Charlotte and Unca is their shared
womanhood, which leads to limitations in their autonomy when compared to men. While Unca
and Charlotte have polarizing personalities, they are both forced to deal with a loss of autonomy
as soon as they make a commitment to a man.
At the start of Charlotte Temple, Charlotte seems to have a pretty decent life. She has a
mother and father who love her as well as a notable social standing which allows her to have
very few worries. Charlotte Temple, in many ways, represents the ideal English woman at this
time. Early on in the novel, Charlotte is depicted as the sweetest girl in the world (40) who is
young and has never had anything bad happen to her. Due to the innocence Charlotte possesses,
it is very difficult for her to see the evil in others. For this reason, it is not very difficult for
Montraville to come into her life and convince her to continue seeing him even though it would

be against her parents wishes. When Montraville encourages Charlotte to run away with him,
her lack of ability to make a big decision becomes very apparent and she faints into the arms of
her betrayer (69). After she awakes from her swoon, Charlotte does nothing to prevent herself
from being shipped off with Montraville (a stark contrast to the decision Unca made after her
own swoon). Once Charlotte downfall had begun, her circumstances only continued to get worse.
Unlike Unca, Charlotte never made the decision to actively attempt to mend her situation and as
a result, by the end of the novel she essentially dies in misery.
In The Female American, Uncas first few years of life are a little different than
Charlottes. She very quickly loses her mother and makes her first transatlantic journey very
early in life, forcing her to adjust to a totally new setting at a very young age. Despite this
difficult beginning, however, Unca still enjoys quite a bit of autonomy while she is growing up.
Due to this autonomy she was able to experience, Unca grows into a strong and determined
female character as the novel continues. These masculine characteristics that Unca exhibits
polarize Charlottes ideally feminine characteristics. Uncas confidence in herself was most
likely fueled by the treatment she received in England. Her uncommon complexion, singular
dress, and the grand manner in which I [Unca] appeared (49) caused the people to treat her as if
she were an Indian princess (which she technically was). Even when she does not have the
security of land, Unca asserts her independence on the sea by refusing to marry her cousin unless
he could wield a bow and arrow as well as she could (51), thus showing her initial refusal to
become an economic object. The first time Unca begins to lose some of her power over her own
life is when she finds herself dumped on the island. Upon realizing her horrid situation, Unca,
much like Charlotte, swoons. However, it is what happens after the swoon that makes Unca
different than Charlotte. Unca refuses to accept that she could be facing death, and instead makes

the decision to live. Furthermore, Unca goes so far as to attempt to get some of her power back
by asserting authority over the Indians. By taking an active role in her fate, Unca is able to earn
the trust of the Indians and gain back a respectable title in a society. When the novel ends, Unca
is living a very decent life and seems comfortable, a very strong contrast to Charlottes abysmal
death.
While Charlotte loses her agency much earlier in the text than Unca, both of these women
experience a similar phenomenon once they commit themselves to men. In Charlottes case, her
commitment to Montraville begins as soon as she boards the ship to America. From that moment
on, Charlotte loses what little autonomy she had and becomes completely dependent on him. Her
situation becomes even worse when Belcour decides he wants to have power over Charlotte, and
therefore, resolves to separate Montraville and Charlotte. Belcour forces this separation by
saying to Montraville, do you [Montraville] imagine that no body has the right to provide for
the brat but yourself (97), thus successfully planting a seed of doubt and tricking Montraville
into believing that Charlotte has been unfaithful and giving him an excuse to leave her. It is
significant that Belcour refers to Charlotte as a brat because the word implies a person that is
very young, immature, and cannot take care of themselves; thus showing that Belcour is very
aware of Charlottes vulnerability to be taken control of. After this point in the text, Charlottes
dependence (and willingness) to be dependent on men becomes a focus of the text. While
Montraville attempts some sympathy, Belcour is determined to have full power over Charlotte,
and therefore, resolved to prevent any letters from reaching (99) Charlotte or Montraville. In
doing so, Belcour takes away any potential agency Charlotte could have asserted (while she was
still in good favor with Montraville Charlotte could have potentially asked for money and a way
home and Montraville might have obliged due to his new found commitment to Julia) and she is

now completely dependent on him for everything. Because of this strong dependency, when
Belcour leaves Charlotte, her situation becomes even worse as she is now the victim of an
unsympathetic society. Before Charlotte committed to Montraville, she was innocent and it
was I [Montraville] who seduced her (100). It was then that Charlotte lost any say in what her
future would hold and everything that happens to her is the result of the decisions of others, and
not of her own free will.
While Uncas commitment to marry her cousin does not lead to her total ruin the way it
does for Charlotte, it does have a similar effect on her life. Before Winkfield came to the island
to live amongst the Indians, Unca was responsible for all of the religious practices and teachings
for the Indians. However, as soon as Winkfield became a permanent resident of the island,
Uncas role quickly begins to diminish. Winkfield began to perform religious services in English
while Unca interpreted until he learned the Indian language, at which time he preached in the
Indian tongue (140). In other words, in a very short amount of time, Unca went from the sole
provider of religious services, to a simple interpreter, to practically of no importance at all in the
community. Not only does Unca lose her agency in the Indian community, she also loses her
presence in the text itself. Unca marries Winkfield at the top of page 141, and by the time the
reader has reached the bottom of that page, her voice is gone almost entirely from the text and it
never returns. The story shifts from Unca and her masculine qualities making her strong and
independent to the stories of men (specifically Winkfield and Captain Shore) who really were not
even present in the novel until the very end. As a result, Unca has become like Charlotte in that
she has lost all the power in her life. By the end of their novels, both Charlotte and Uncas
presence in their texts have vanished and other characters have moved to the forefront.

The fact that two such different women could still be considered similar as a result of
their gender is extremely significant. Charlottes story shows that a society that does not equip
women with the ability to make decisions for themselves, can yield disastrous results when they
are finally faced with a life altering decision. Furthermore, it critiques the society that gives
women no ability to make decisions, and then punishes them for making the wrong ones. In this
same society, the men who make poor decisions still manage to have agency as well as much
fewer repercussions for their actions. Just as shocking is that Uncas story shows that even when
a woman is confident in her perceived autonomy and is masculine-like, at the end of the day,
the fact that she remains a woman makes her as vulnerable as Charlotte. Even when Unca thinks
she has autonomy, she is still always under the protection of a man. When she finally submits to
committing to a man, all of her past independence goes away and she becomes nothing more
than a wife. When compared and contrasted, one of the key messages of these two characters is
that no matter how different two women are, as soon as they commit to a man all of their agency
is lost.