Product Description

William Godwin was one of the most popular novelists of the Romantic era; P.B. Shelley praised him, Byron drew heavily on his narrative style, and Mary Shelley, Godwin’s daughter, dedicated Frankenstein to him.

Caleb Williams is the riveting account of a young man whose curiosity leads him to pry into a murder from the past. The first novel of crime and detection in English literature, Caleb Williams is also a powerful exposé of the evils and inequities of the political and social system in 1790s Britain.

In addition to the text itself, the editors have included an extensive selection of primary source materials from the period, ranging from Godwin’s original manuscript ending and excerpts from his political writings to contemporary reviews, the political writings of Burke and Paine, and materials on criminals and the English prison system.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #415966 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 487 pages

About the Author
Gary Handwerk is a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Washington. A.A. Markley is an Assistant Professor of English at Penn State University, Delaware County. Both have written extensively on Romantic literature, and have edited the Broadview Literary Texts edition of Godwin’s Fleetwood.

Customer Reviews

Haunting Political Novel
Godwin creates a haunting epic of a doomed character, Caleb Williams, who fights against the aristocratic Falkland. Experiencing fears, imprisonment, and moral dilemma, he has to decide what is right and waht is wrong.
Written in 1793, reflecting Godwin's theoretical work Political Justice, this novel becomes a classic in critical / anarchist / open minded thought. Weaving philosophical critique and writing skills togetherm Godwin is able to catch any reader from the very (haunting) start...

Caleb Williams has something to offer most readers
This is a novel that will appeal to a variety of readers. Having aspects of the gothic, psychological novel, pursuit novel, adventure and the political polemic, Caleb Williams has something to offer everyone who enjoys classic fiction. The work is split roughly into thirds; the first telling the history of Falkland, the protagonist, the second focussing on Williams' imprisonment, and the final following Williams as he is pursued across the country. Each section has a different pace, and is concerned with revealing differing aspects of Williams' psychology in the face of adversity. Godwin wrote the novel shortly after finishing a political work, and Caleb Williams reveals the author's dissatisfaction with society. Having said this, the casual reader would by no means find these elements of the novel obtrusive. Mary Shelley dedicated Frankenstein to 'the author of Caleb Williams'(her father), and in many ways Godwin's novel can be viewed as an inspiration for Shelley's masterpiece. Although not perhaps a candidate for the canon of English literature, Caleb Williams is worthy of far more attention than it has received.

Man is the only common foe of man
This novel is a forceful combination of political / social / judicial criticism, thriller elements and a powerful investigation into the real nature of man.

Politically, the author castigates the chasm between what one ought to do and reality: `We that are rich must do every thing in our power to lighten the yoke of these unfortunate people. We must not use the advantage that accident has given us with an unmerciful hand.' Nevertheless, `wealth and despotism easily know how to engage those laws as the coadjutor of their oppression, which were perhaps at first intended for the safeguards of the poor.'
Justice is totally biased: `Mr. Falkland is a man of rank and fortune; he is your master. I am a poor country lad without a friend in the world. That is a ground of real difference ...but it is not a sufficient ground for the subversion of justice.'
But, `law has neither eyes, nor ears, nor bowels of humanity; and it turns into marble the hearts of all those that are nursed in its principle.'
Socially, the system is fundamentally corrupt, a synonym for `tyranny and perfidiousness exercised by the powerful members of the community against those who were less privileged than themselves.'

Godwin's vision of the world is pessimistic: `Accursed world! that hates without a cause' that overwhelms innocence with calamities which ought to be spared even to guilt! Accursed world! dead to every manly sympathy; with eyes of horn, and hearts of steel!'
His picture of fundamental human selfishness, of pure evil and of despotic and resentful emotions and actions is impressive. He is baffled by man's `hero'worship: `Man is surely a strange sort of creature, who never praise any one more heartily than him who has spread destruction and ruin over the face of nature.'
He sees however one bright spot: freedom of the mind: `The mind is master of itself; and is endowed with powers that might enable to laugh at the tyrant's vigilance.'

The novel has one minus point: its final with an ultimate reversal in the psychological warfare. It seems incredible and improbable (a destruction by suspicion).
However, it is a very compelling read, a real discovery.

Not to be missed.