Rejections of Patriarchal Authority and Expectations of Female Passivity in Susanna Rowson’s Charlotte Temple

By Emma Reilly ’23 Majors: English, History; Minors: Journalism, Editing, & Publishing, Gender Studies Brief Description: My paper examines agency and authority in America’s first bestselling novel. Close readings and analyses of relevant paratexts position the novel as distinctly anti-patriarchal. I argue that instances of narratorial and character authority encourage a proto-feminist reading of a…