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Early American Feminism: Hannah Webster Foster And Susanna Rowson

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Early American Feminism
In my essay I will be discussing the early American novels written by Hannah Webster Foster and Susanna Rowson. I will prove that Susanna Rowson’s Charlotte Temple fails to promote feminism while Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette promotes feminism. Charlotte Temple is a novel that portrays the main character, Charlotte, as a young and naïve girl who has gotten herself into a whirl of trouble because of her own foolishness. Hannah Webster Foster’s novel is about the young Eliza Wharton who yearns for her freedom in society and also finds herself in trouble. Both Foster and Rowson’s novels end tragically due to these young girls mistakes, but Foster’s novel allows the reader to feel more hope for the protagonist in The Coquette. In The Coquette the reader sees actions of feminism promoted very early on. Examples of feminism found in The Coquette are Eliza Wharton’s strong need for freedom throughout the text. In a letter Eliza writes to her friend Lucy, she recalls a conversation with Mrs. Richman takes place, “Your heart, I presume, is now free?” and Eliza responds with “Yes, and I hope it will long remain so.” (Foster 832). Eliza, who just got out of a previous engagement, is hoping to be able to enjoy the …show more content…
Both of these novels have many similarities, but when it comes to the bottom line there is one major difference. This difference is that Hannah Webster Foster allows there to be hope for feminism while Susana Rowson does not. The Coquette promotes feminism in a better light because we have more hope for Eliza Wharton reading the novel while Susana Rowson fails to promote feminism by providing little hope for Charlotte Temple. Rowson’s novel is more of a scare tactic than a warning and motivator of women’s choices. When looking into the feminism category, Charlotte Temple is a bigger failure than The

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