The Life of Marguerite Charlotte Charpentier: Disorderly Outsider?

Summary of the Talk:

Deirdre Shepherd's talk re-evaluates the life of Marguerite Charlotte Charpentier—better known as Lady Scott, wife of Sir Walter Scott. Traditionally dismissed or maligned by male biographers, Charlotte is here reconsidered as a significant, if misunderstood, figure. Shepherd aims to recover Charlotte's voice, personality, and significance within the broader social and historical context of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Key Points of the Talk

1. A Misunderstood Woman

• Charlotte has been viewed as a “disorderly outsider,” often criticised for her background, habits, and personality.
• Shepherd reclaims the term “disorderly,” arguing Charlotte simply didn’t conform to early 19th-century Scottish expectations of femininity.
• Her cosmopolitan background in Georgian London and her French heritage made her visibly different—and potentially threatening—to conservative eyes.

2. Origins and Legitimacy

• Charlotte was born in Lyon, France in 1770 to Jean-François Charpentier and Elie Volaire. Rumours of her illegitimacy (linking her to Lord Downshire) are effectively disproved with strong documentary evidence.
• She was well-born and respectably baptised, with godparents including her grandfather, Pierre Charpentier.
• Charlotte’s early life was cultured and urbane—surrounded by music, education, and elite society.

3. Move to London and the Dumergue Household

• After her mother’s death in 1788, Charlotte lived with the wealthy Dumergue family in London. Dumergue was a royal dentist with deep ties to the aristocracy.
• This environment was full of intellectual and artistic activity, and Charlotte was close to Sophia Dumergue.
• Her letters show her as warm, intelligent, lively, and deeply attached to family, especially her brother Charles (Jean-David), who became successful in the East India Company.

4. Marriage to Walter Scott

• Charlotte and Scott met and married in 1797. Their relationship, though often belittled in biographies, seems to have been affectionate and stable.
• Her French manners, public presence, and refusal to conform to “invisible domestic womanhood” were seen as alien in Scottish society and often unfairly judged.

5. Health, Laudanum, and Misogyny

• Accusations of laudanum addiction have shadowed Charlotte’s legacy. While she likely took opiates, Shepherd contextualises this within standard medical practice of the time.
• Misogynistic readings interpret her use of medicine, interest in fashion, and assertiveness as flaws. Yet these may simply reflect gender bias and poor biographical practice.

6. Financial Responsibility

• Charlotte has been labelled a spendthrift, but research shows her expenses were modest relative to Scott’s extravagance.
• She ran multiple households efficiently and contributed significantly to the family’s financial stability with her own allowance from her brother.

7. The Gendered Nature of Biography

• The lecture critiques male-dominated biographical traditions that have caricatured Charlotte while mythologising Scott.
• Shepherd aligns with scholars like Carolyn Heilbrun and Hermione Lee in arguing for more balanced and contextually rich biographies of women.

Noteworthy/Interesting Points

• Charlotte’s voice survives in letters—notably those to her brother—which show her as warm, witty, and grounded. Her letter from 1817 paints a charming picture of family life at Abbotsford and her children’s growth.
• She rejected domestic invisibility, choosing instead to inhabit both private and public spheres, much as she had in London society.
• Her mother Elie was a cultured woman, likely involved in the educational side of the family’s riding academy—possibly passing musical and intellectual talents on to Charlotte.
• Charlotte’s painting (1810) offers a rare glimpse of her strength and intelligence beneath a formal, even guarded, exterior.
• Scott himself acknowledged the authenticity and warmth of their relationship, contradicting the biographers’ mythologised “first love” narrative with Williamina Belsches.
• Biographers’ misogyny: Shepherd suggests that Scott’s male biographers were unsettled by Charlotte’s “too French,” “too fashionable,” or “too assertive” ways—often reducing her to stereotypes or scandal.

Conclusion

Shepherd’s lecture is a compelling feminist re-evaluation of Charlotte Charpentier Scott, rejecting caricature and restoring dignity and complexity to a woman long marginalised by male biographers. Rather than a “disorderly outsider,” Charlotte emerges as a resilient, intelligent, and loving woman navigating personal, cultural, and historical upheaval.