The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

by Avi, Edward Irving Wortis

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Student Question

Why were the crew's quarters off-limits to Charlotte Doyle?

Quick answer:

There are essentially two reasons why the crew's quarters are off-limits to Charlotte Doyle. First and foremost, she's a girl, the crew are men, and it would not have been thought appropriate at that time for a girl or lady to be hanging out in male quarters. Secondly, Charlotte is a passenger aboard ship and not a member of the crew, so naturally, the crew's quarters are out of bounds to her.

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At the time when The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle is set, in the early part of the nineteenth century, every member of a ship's crew would've been a man or a boy. In fact, women as a whole were generally not welcome onboard ships as, according to the prevailing nautical superstition, it was considered that they brought bad luck.

Even so, Charlotte Doyle has managed to secure her passage to the United States aboard the Seahawk, an American brig with a bad reputation. A respectable young lady, Charlotte is like a fish out of water surrounded by all these rough-hewn sailors. To make her feel even more out of place, there are parts of the ship that are strictly off-limits to her, such as the hold.

Another part out of bounds is the crew's quarters. Charlotte understands that these are completely off-limits to her, although she doesn't care to elaborate as to why this is.

One must assume that there are two reasons for this. First of all, it wouldn't have been considered appropriate for a respectable young lady such as Charlotte to hang out in quarters occupied solely by men. In the early nineteenth century, relations between the sexes were governed by very strict social rules, and in this case those rules prohibit Charlotte from mixing with men in such close quarters.

The second reason is that Charlotte is not actually a member of the crew. She's a passenger, not a sailor, and so the crew's quarters would automatically be out of bounds to her.

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