Susanna Haswell Rowson
Rowson, Susanna Haswell (rou'sən), 1762-1824, American author and actress, b. England. She was brought to America as a young child, but after the Revolution, the family returned to England. Her first novel, Victoria, appeared in 1786, the same year she married William Rowson. Having acted for a short time in England, the Rowsons emigrated to the United States in 1793, joining a theatrical company in Philadelphia. Retiring from the stage in 1796, Mrs. Rowson opened a school for girls in Boston, one of the best of its day, which she directed for 25 years. She wrote novels, poetry, and plays, but is remembered for one novel, Charlotte: a Tale of Truth (1791), called in later editions Charlotte Temple, a sentimental and didactic story, which went through more than 150 editions.
Houghton Mifflin Chronology of US Literature:
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Works by Susanna Haswell Rowson
(c. 1762-1824)
| 1786 | Victoria. Rowson's first novel is published by subscription. It is a sentimental tale of seduction, in which the title character is tricked into a sham marriage, becomes pregnant, is abandoned, and goes insane before dying. |
| 1788 | "A Trip to Parnassus." Rowson criticizes in verse the contemporary stage. She also publishes Poems on Various Subjects and The Inquisitor. In a loosely related collection of scenes from domestic life modeled on Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey, Rowson expresses her opposition to the excessively contrived, idealized fiction of the day. |
| 1789 | Mary; or, The Test of Honour. Rowson's novel depicts a spirited heroine who demonstrates that her moral sense is superior to that of the wealthy aristocrat who refuses to let his son marry her. |
| 1791 | Mentoria; or, The Young Lady's Friend. A collection of letters, stories, and an essay; their topics range from charity and the pratfalls of social ambition to obedience and moral conduct. Helena Askam is mentor to four sisters, and each of her letters instructs the girls toward the best decisions. The work would be popular into the next century. |
| 1794 | Slaves in Algiers; or, A Struggle for Freedom. The first play by a woman successfully produced in America and Rowson's only drama surviving in complete form utilizes the Barbary pirates' raids on American ships to demonstrate tyranny. The author would perform in this play and her subsequent dramas, including The Female Patriot (1795), The Volunteers (1795), and Americans in England (1797). |
| 1794 | Charlotte Temple: A Tale of Truth. One of the first American bestsellers, this novel tells the story of an English girl seduced by a British officer, Montraville. Charlotte follows Montraville to New York, where he abandons her and she dies in childbirth. The supposedly true story exemplifies Rowson's argument for the importance of the education of young women. It had been first published in England in 1791. A sequel, Charlotte's Daughter, would be published in 1828. |
| 1795 | The Volunteers. A "musical entertainment" concerning the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. The score, with Rowson's lyrics set to music by Alexander Reinagle (1756-1809), is all that now survives of the play. |
| 1795 | Trials of the Human Heart. A novel describing sixteen years of suffering by Meriel Howard. Rowson's first novel written in America wins an impressive list of subscribers, including Martha Washington, members of prominent Philadelphia families, and members of the New Theatre Company, but critics consider it among her least successful works. |
| 1796 | Americans in England. One of the first works exploring the "international theme," Rowson's social comedy would be revised by the author as The Columbian Daughter in 1800. |
| 1798 | Reuben and Rachel; or, Tales of Old Times. A romantic novel that surveys the history of Western civilization and attempts to inspire young women toward an interest in history. It is Rowson's transitional work from fiction to pedagogy. |
| 1804 | Miscellaneous Poems. Her second and last collection of poetry, ranging from short occasional poems to songs set to music and lengthy patriotic works, would remain popular in her time though never win critical acclaim. Evert and George Duyckinck, who anthologized the poems forty years later, described them as "expressive of [a] generous women's heart." |
| 1813 | Sarah; or, The Exemplary Wife. A domestic novel about a wife who remains dutiful to her husband even though he is unfaithful and cruel. Unlike the experience of heroines in other novels of the time, Sarah's virtue is not rewarded. The last novel published during Rowson's lifetime, it is somewhat autobiographical, and the message in the prologue, "Do not marry a fool," is based on her own experience. |
| 1828 | Charlotte's Daughter; or, The Three Orphans. Commonly known as Lucy Temple, this is a sequel to Charlotte: A Tale of Truth (1791). Set eighteen years after the first novel, it deals with the coming of age of Charlotte's daughter, Lucy, and two other orphans, who are all in the care of the kindhearted Reverend Matthews. Lucy narrowly avoids marrying her half-brother, the son of Charlotte's seducer, and chooses never to marry. |
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