The social ideas in the novels of William Godwin (1756-1836)

PDF

Download

Open document

Flip pages

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content THE SOCIAL IDEAS IN THE NOVELS OF WILLIAM GODWIN
. (1756-1836)
by
Ernest Sanro Ono
A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(English)
January: 1957
UM! Number: EP44349
All rights reserved
INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted.
In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript
and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed,
a note will indicate the deletion.
UMI EP44349
Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author.
Dissertation Publishing
Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC.
All rights reserved. This work is protected against
unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code
ProQuest LLC.
789 East Eisenhower Parkway
P.O. Box 1346
Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 -1 3 4 6
U N IV E R S IT Y O F S O U T H E R N C A L IF O R N IA .
GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES 7
This thesis, w ritte n by
.Ern.es.t..SJ anr.Q...QnD.
under the guidance of h.Xs.JFaculty Comm ittee,
and approved by a ll its members, has been p re
sented to and accepted by the F a cu lty o f the
Graduate School, in p a rtia l fu lfillm e n t of the
requirements fo r the degree of
.JQHN.D.COQKE
Acting Dean Dean
Date. .J.annary.,. . . . 1 . 9 5 7 -
Facuity Committee
Chairman
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. BACKGROUND MATERIAL
7
Godwin and His Age
Godwin as a Novelist
III. A DISCUSSION OP GODWIN’S NOVELS
19
The Adventures of Caleb Williams
St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century
Pleetwood
Mandeville: A Tale of the Seventeenth
Century in England
Cloudesley: A Tale
Deloraine
Man in Society
Man the Destroyer of Man
Property, Wealth, and Poverty
The Judicial System and Punishment
Universal Benevolence
V. CONCLUSION.................................. 119
LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED............................ 123
IV. MAJOR SOCIAL IDEAS 45
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The tides of literary fortune are often such that a
writer may achieve a certain amount of fame during his own
generation only to be assigned a different status in another
as the ebb and flow diminishes or enhances literary reputa
tion. Such was the case with William Godwin (1756-1836),
pamphleteer, moralist, political revolutionist, social phi
losopher, and novelist. He achieved a considerable degree
of fame during his life, but today that fame has diminished
appreciably.
Godwin is best remembered today by An Enquiry Concern
ing Political Justice and Its Influence on General Virtue
and Happiness (1793) and by his first novel, The Adventures
of Caleb Williams (1794). If he is not remembered for the
Lbove works, he is certainly remembered for his associations
and contacts with people of renown. Perhaps it is not to
Godwin's credit that he is remembered by some literary his
torians and critics simply as the husband of Mary Wollstone-
craft and the father-in-law of Shelley. Van Wyck Brooks
sums up Godwin's reputation most succinctly.
The author of Caleb Williams was one of those men,
z
remarkable in themselves, who are yet remembered more be
cause of the circle about them than for anything they do
or say themselves. He was Mary Wollstonecraft's husband,
he was Shelley's father-in-law, and between-, these two
flames his own candle has grown dim indeed.
Fame came to Godwin in 1793 with the publication of Fo-
*
Litical Justice, which elevated him into a position of one
of the leading writers of his time. Hazlitt, commenting on
Godwin's contemporary reputation, proclaimed,
. . . no one was more talked of, more looked up to, more
sought after, and wherever liberty, truth, justice was the
theme, his name was not far off.2
Goleridge lauded Godwin in 1795 with a rather extravagant
but poor sonnet entitled "To William Godwin." Wordsworth is
reputed to have urged a young student, "Burn your books of
chemistry and read Godwin on necessity."
Biographer Charles Kegan Paul, writing forty years
after Godwin's death, presents a clue to Godwin's contempo
rary fame.
To those conversant with literary history of the close
of the last, and the first quarter of the present century,
few names are more familiar than that of William Godwin.
. . . But though the present generation has read his works
but little, this age owes more to him than it recognizes;
many opinions now clothed in household words were first
formulated by him, and the publication of his "Political
Justice," in 1793, marked a distinct epoch in the growth
of liberal thought. During a large part of his life
■^-William Godwin, The Adventures of Caleb Williams (New
York, 1926), p. v.
2William Hazlitt, The Spirit of the Age or Contemporary
Portraits (London, 190^-), p. 17*
3
younger men looked on him as a kind of prophet-sage, and
he exercised a remarkable influence over all with whom he
came in contact.3
f t modern critic, A. E. Rodway, is equally generous and
places Godwin "among the smaller giants: those rather of an
age than for all time."^ Regardless of what position liter
ary historians may finally attribute to him and despite his
Liminished reputation today, Godwin and his writings are,
nevertheless, a fit subject for study and reflection.
The purpose of this study is to disclose the didactic
nature and social commentary of Godwin's novels and to pro
vide a critical evaluation of the major social ideas on
which the novels are based. The major emphasis will be
placed on the content and ideas reflected in the novels
themselves. Naturally, a study of this kind entails certain
limitations. First of all, only selected samplings of major
social ideas are treated. Next, other works of Godwin are
sonsidered only as they are reflected in the novels. Final
ly, biographical material will be limited to that which di
rectly concerns the circumstances surrounding his novels.
Numerous biographies and critical studies of Godwin are
available, but very little has been written concerning the
3william Godwin: His Friends and Contemporaries (London,
1876}, I, 1.
^Godwin and the Age of Transition (London, 1952), p. 7*
---------------------------------------------------------4 '
relationship of his social theories to his novels. Charles
ISegan Paul's biography is comprised largely of original doc
uments, collections of letters, and excerpts from his jour
nals, which afford intimate glimpses into Godwin's personal
Life but which contribute little in the way of critical com
mentary on his works. Ford K. Brown's The Life of William
lodwin presents comprehensive biographical material but
adopts a rather patronizing attitude toward Godwin. The
book contains a discussion of Caleb Williams, with lesser
treatments given to St. Leon, Fleetwood, and Mandeville, and
just a slight mention of Cloudesley and Deloraine. However,
the novels are treated biographically, relating the circum
stances under which they were produced and the contemporary
reception accorded them. Very little critical evaluation is
included. George Woodcock's more recent biography is a
sound, interpretive study. Its main emphasis is the evalua
tion of the principles of Political Justice, with a lengthy
discussion of Caleb Williams, including a plot summary and a
critical commentary. St. Leon receives some attention while
the remaining novels are treated in minor fashion. The
latest biography is William Godwin and His World by Rosalie
G. Grylls, a book which emphasizes the revolutionary move
ment in England and Godwin's relationship to it. Some eval
uation of Political Justice is included and a short commen-
tary on Caleb Williams is presented, but the other novels
' ” 5
are barely mentioned.
Among the critical studies, David Fleisher's book,
William Godwin; A Study in Liberalism, is a creditable eval
uation of the fundamental and supplementary principles of
Political Justice. All the novels receive slight attention
■with Godwin's first two novels receiving the widest treat
ment. H. N. Brailsford's Shelley. Godwin, and Their Circle
Is a short but sound study of Godwin's ideas. In addition
bo a chapter each on the revolution and on Godwin's relation
ship to Shelley, two chapters are devoted to Political Jus
tice . Caleb Williams is treated at length, St. Leon is
given fleeting mention, and the remaining four novels are
dismissed with just a sentence. D. H. Monro's book, Godwin's
Moral Philosophy: An Interpretation of William Godwin, gives
a sympathetic portrayal of Godwin and is a defense against
some of the traditional attacks made on him. The book dis
cusses, to some extent, the social implications of Caleb
Williams. St. Leon and Fleetwood, but the other novels are
given very little attention.
In the field of literary history, Ernest A. Baker de
votes four pages to the novels with short summaries of plots
and brief critical notes. Walter Raleigh discusses Caleb
Williams but gives only passing reference to St. Leon and
Fleetwood, with no discussion of the other novels. Wilbur
L. Cross, in a chapter on "Novels of Purpose." discusses
briefly both Caleb Williams and St. Leon but goes no further
Allene Gregory In The French Revolution and the English
; Sfovel presents a summary of each of the novels with a short
jritical appraisal. The periodical reviews which appeared
luring Godwin's lifetime and William Hazlitt's article in
Spirit of The Age give a good contemporary view of Godwin's
works and their reception.
This discussion of the available scholarship shows that
little attention has been given to the social implications
of Godwin's novels. Thus, the present study will be devoted
Largely to an inspection of primary source material in order
to indicate how the novels reflect Godwin's social ideology.
CHAPTER II
w
BACKGROUND MATERIAL
Godwin and His Age
A brief review of the age in which Godwin lived and the
conditions under which he formulated his social concepts
will pave the way for a later discussion of his social phi
losophy. Politically, the early and middle eighteenth cen
tury was characterized by royal and parliamentary corruption
which consisted of the plunder of public funds, the unregu
lated disposal of appointments, sinecures and pensions, in
adequate and unfair representation, and irregular election
methods and procedures. One of Godwin's biographers, in -de
scribing the political scene, writes:
Political corruption was unparalleled, and so open that
few troubled to deny it, or even to charge it. Office was
sought for the most part, it was cynically remarked, only
by poor men, who too often relinquished their positions
only when they had amply provided for themselves and their
most distant connections.!
This period was characterized by antiquated laws and a
system of harsh punishment and imprisonment. More than a
hundred and sixty offenses were punishable by death "without
^Ford K. Brown, The Life of William Godwin (London,
1926), P. 20.______________________________________________
. 8 -
benefit of Clergy." Among these were such violations as
cutting down fruit trees in a garden, picking a pocket of
more than twelve-pence, breaking down the mount of a fish
pond so that the fish could escape. (Brown, p. 19)*
Foreign affairs influenced England greatly during this
period. The impact of the French Revolution caused far-
reaching cjhanges and results. At the outset of the struggle,
freedom-loving Englishmen championed the determination of
the French to secure concessions from the nobility. However,
later excesses and extremes of the radicals caused a change
in sympathy and support. The liberal and radical tendencies
fostered by the French Revolution were counteracted by the
conservative tendencies to defend existing social and politi
cal institutions. As the war in France became more violent
and destructive, a reaction set in among the political lead
ers in England, and during this period the English govern
ment became an agency of oppression. Laws were passed
against individual liberties, and repression became the key
note of the rulers. Out of these circumstances Godwin
emerged to earn his title of "liberal" and "revolutionary"
as he joined with a remnant of the Whigs to uphold the idea
of reform and to champion the ideals of free speech and in
dividual rights.
Economically, at this time, England was on the thresh
old of modern capitalism. The year of Godwin’s birth was a
year that might well be taken to represent the beginning of
9
bhe change
from the mercantile and aristocratic society of the seven
teenth century to the industrial, plutocratic and imperial
ist society of the nineteenth century.2
After the middle of the century, the rural village was
10 longer the center of English life. Scientific farming
was introduced with its emphasis on proper sowing, crop ro
tation, improved cultivation, and better breeding. The open
field system of the medieval manor gave way to agricultural
enclosures with the squires and larger freeholders benefit
ing and the lesser tenants being forced to sell out. Sur
plus agricultural workers migrated to the towns. Out of
these changes emerged a new social class— wealthy, middle-
class owners of factories, merchants and businessmen. As
the social structure underwent these changes, the landed
aristocracy struggled to maintain its political prestige and
came to grips with the middle class in the city in a fight
for power. -The urbanization of life created such problems
as poor sanitation and overcrowded dwellings. Furthermore,
these changes were responsible for the formation of a dis
gruntled, frustrated working class.
It was out of a political, social and economic climate
such as this that William Godwin emerged. It is, therefore,
^George Woodcock, William Godwin: A Biographical Study
(London, 1946), p. 1.
10
not difficult to understand why so much of his writing was
concerned with social abuses, political injustices, institu
tional and governmental evils, and individual privations.
Van Wyck Brooks' summary of Godwin's philosophy is appropri
ate here.
He dreamed of the birth of a new social order, to be
introduced by discussion, in which life would be ruled by
principle instead of custom, a kingless,,priestless world
where no man would have control of another, where punish
ment was abolished, where property was owned in common,
where marriage and family ties no longer restricted the
freedom of the individual.3
Yloreover, Godwin believed that reform and improvement could
be brought about by reason and understanding.
The age wanted a formula and Godwin sought to give it
one: "To a rational being there can be but one rule of
conduct--justice: and one mode of ascertaining that rule--
the exercise of the understanding." Prom this he derived
the humanism that made him believe in perfectibility . . .
and the humanitarianism which protested against inequita
ble social conditions and the "coercion and punishment"
exercised by authority.'4'
This then was the age in which Godwin lived, the age
which made its influence felt upon him and which in turn
felt Godwin's influence. Perhaps because the times warrantee
it and perhaps because the conditions demanded it, Godwin's
writings were reserved especially for his own age. This ac-
lounts for his fleeting fame and diminished reputation and
^Caleb Williams (New York, 1926), p. v.
^Rosalie G. Grylls, William Godwin and His World (Lon-
don ,_1953.) 36..____________________________________________
gives credence to A. E. Rodway's contention that Godwin was
one of "the smaller giants: those rather of an age than for
all time."
Godwin as a Novelist
Although Godwin studied for a career in the church and
served for five years as a dissenting minister, he turned to
writing because he felt it was a better medium for serving
mankind than the ministry. He began his literary career in
London in 1783 by an anonymous publication, The History of
bhe Life of William Pitt. Earl of Chatham* . This effort was
Followed by hack-work of all sorts: fiction, politics, his
tory, and translation. Historical articles published in the
ourrent political periodicals won for him a reputation as a
talented liberal writer. Although he spurned offers to edit
and publish political periodicals, he remained interested in
liberal movements and associated freely with the leading po
litical and social reformers of his time.
The turning point in his literary career was the French
Revolution. Oddly enough, Political Justice was the child
of the liberal fervor of the revolutionary activities in
France, yet the book took a strong stand against revolution.
Godwin began to write Political Justice when the revolution
was just two years old. In his journal he clarifies his po
sition regarding violence.
' 12
I never for a moment ceased to disapprove of mob govern
ment and violence, and the Impulses which men collected
together in multitudes produce on each other. I desired
such political changes only as should flow purely from the
clear light of the understanding, and the erect and gener
ous feelings of the heart.5
The publication of Political Justice brought immediate
fame. Two other successes followed quickly in 179^ > one in
the field of liberal politics, a pamphlet entitled Cursory
Strictures, and one in the field of fiction, Caleb Williams,
j/ith the wide acceptance of his first novel, Godwin was
launched on his career as a novelist. Pour other novels were
written by him during the next forty years, but none ap
proached the excellence or enjoyed the success of his first
effort.
Although he attempted to vary his situation, characters.,
and ideas, his novels reveal a certain similarity of impres
sion. His type-hero is usually a man of considerable tal
ents, who possesses all the advantages of birth and breeding,
and who is characterized by a philanthropic urge to serve
mankind. He is dependent to a great extent upon the appro
bation of the world--a dependency which displays itself in a
craving for general public admiration and in a desire for a
very special and exacting type of personal love or friend
ship.
^Charles Kegan Paul, I, 6l.
13
In each novel, although Godwin presents critical judg
ments on existing society, the type-hero performs acts or
Lisplays attitudes that contribute to his inability to find
lappiness and for which he moralizes in an agonizing and
morbid manner. Falkland is obsessed with maintaining his
lonor and pride. Caleb Williams' downfall is his overwhelm
ing curiosity. St. Leon craves wealth and regal splendor
and displays a weakness in accepting the secret of unlimited
wealth. Fleetwood’s unreasonable jealousy and domineering
hold over his wife contribute to his unhappiness. Mande-
/ille is a slave to a consuming hatred for Clifford; Richard
Is driven by an unwholesome ambition for the family title;
and Deloraine is spurred on by an unsatisfied craving for
Vlargaret's love. In each instance Godwin shows that these
people were victims of dispositions fostered by environmental,
circumstances as well as victims of social injustices and
Inequalities.
Godwin's novels are further characterized by a somber
and morose quality. The main characters are often driven to
the depths of despondency and to the heights of maniacal in
tensity in their unsatisfied and unsuccessful quests. Some
times this tone reinforces the impact of his theme and plot,
•but often it becomes wearisome and dull as too much space is
devoted to introspective reflections of moroseness and de
spair.. A-^contemporary__re-View_of^Jviandev-ille„clbes_this_^verv__
r r
fault and condemns the author for taking "so much delight In
depicting the vain dreams of fantastic or phrenzied imagina
tions. The same review in discussing the main characters
of Caleb Williams and Mandeville claims that their concep
tions are in many respects similar and suggests that they
might have supplied a happier note or a more cheerful atmos
phere to their stories.
Gloominess and desolation, and Satanic sarcasm, are the
ground-work of their fiction; but both . . . have shewn,
by many tender episodes of love and pity, that they might
have given to their tales, had they so willed it, a very
different complexion.
f t critic for the Quarterly Review comments on Godwin's
gloomy style as being the one in which Godwin seems to feel
most truly in his element. Obliged to term his works intol
erably tedious and disgusting, the writer does admit that
Godwin proves himself skilled in the "perversity of the hu-
nan mind, and in all the blackest and most horrible passions
cf the human heart.
Godwin's ability for delineating character is also
criticized. Very rarely does Godwin allow a character to
grow and unfold in the course of his story or by interming
ling with other characters. He must at all times inform the
^"Remarks on Godwin's New Novel, Mandeville," Black
wood 's Edinburgh Magazine, 2:268-79> December 1817.
7"Mandeville: a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in
England." Quarterly Review, 18:176-77» October 1817. _________
15
reader as to the present state of health, happiness, or wel
fare of his characters.
His personages are described, not represented; we are in
formed of all they think and suffer, by their own free and
voluntary confession to us, not by being admitted to draw
our own conclusion from their words and behaviour, when
they come in actual contact with other characters in the
fable.°
Godwin's male characters are often distorted and carried to
extremes. Most of his characters are patterns of vice or
virtue, but too often they present an inconsistent mixture
of evil and weak propensities combined with all the grace,
wit, talent, and accomplishments known to mankind. Thus,
some of the evil or perverted deeds of his characters are
Irreconcilable with the virtue and goodness which are origin
ally attributed to them. Ernest A. Baker's criticism of the
characterization in Mandeville is noteworthy.
Godwin's characters seem to be born old men: they talk
like disillusioned philosophers. The story is told with
endless moralistic expatiation; it is often grandiloquent
and bombastic, yet not lacking in a certain appealing no
bility of thought. Even the schoolboys at Winchester are
continually discussing, meditating, and criticizing the
social order and themselves. It is Godwin's regular
foible: too much abstraction, an almost incredible igno
rance of reality.9
However, in one aspect, Godwin's characterization is
^"Remarks on Godwin's New Novel, Mandeville," Black
wood 's Edinburgh Magazine, 2:268-79, December 1817.
9"The Novel of Doctrine," The History of the English
Novel, V (New York, 1929), 248-49.
16
good. His female personages are generally regarded as being
skillfully and wisely handled. Emily In Caleb Williams,
Marguerite in St. Leon. Mary in Fleetwood. Henrietta in
Mandeville. and Emilia in Deloraine are pleasantly natural
ind substantially consistent characterizations. So well re
ceived were his female characters that a contemporary review
cf one of his novels heaps this praise upon him:
We know indeed of no living author whose delineation of
female characters are fsicl more delightful and more
masterly than those of Godwin.10
Each of Godwin's main characters tells his own story.
This first-person narrative technique may have certain ad
vantages but often results in a lack of dramatic intensity
and emotional vigor. Important scenes are reviewed in ret
rospect, and suspense and action are sacrificed for philo
sophical and intellectual musings. Furthermore, the first-
person approach leaves the reader ill at ease when contem
plating the strangeness of a situation in which the hero con
fesses his faults and minutely outlines the weaknesses in
Pis own character which led to his downfall. By the same
token, the reader loses a sense of naturalness when the hero
engages in an overabundance of self-glorification and self-
^applause.
10"Mandeville: a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in
England," Quarterly Review. 18:176-77, October 1817.
- 17
Of the six novels, Caleb Williams is the best known.
, 3t. Leon, his second novel, is treated by some critics even
today, and the remaining four are either treated perfunctori
ly, discussed casually, or not mentioned at all. This treat
ment by his critics would tend to substantiate the generally
2onsidered opinion that Godwin’s powers as a novelist deteri
orated rather than improved as he grew older. A further
fact may be deduced from this treatment--the fact that God
win was not primarily a first-rate novelist. Indeed, the
time may come when in a discussion of novels of the late
sighteenth and nineteenth centuries, out of Godwin's offer
ings, only Caleb Williams will be mentioned.
Perhaps Godwin deserves such a fate, because, at heart,
be was more a philosopher than a novelist. In fact, Baker
expresses surprise that Godwin was able to write a credita
ble novel at all.
He was the last man in the world to be a good novelist;
but by dint of a strange cold imaginative energy he pro
duced a story which in its bizarre way is a masterpiece.
Of human life and of human beings except himself he never
knew much. His mind was fed almost exclusively on books;
he was a tremendous reader, in theology, philosophy, and
kindred subjects, and even as a youth had the distinction
of being rejected by one college for heresy.11
■' ' ' i
Godwin tends to incorporate into his novels and into the
speeches and conversations of his characters those social
11Baker, p. 244.
concepts that formed the basis of his political and social
treatises. Many critics have deplored his philosophical di
gressions. One critic admits that he was a fluent and rhe
torical writer, but that he was "an enthusiastic hunter of
wild geese" and "could never resist darting down side lanes
In pursuit of these philosophical game."-1 -^ Another writer
presents this appraisal of Godwin as a novelist: "He con
descends to become a novelist in the interests of his doc
trine, but cannot stoop so far as quite to throw away his
stilts.Thus, we see the philosopher, the moralist, the
Locial critic constantly intruding and casting aside the
novelist.
Despite the lack of vigorous action, clear-cut charac
terization, and smooth-flowing narrative, Godwin deserves,
in one particular aspect, to be remembered as a novelist.
He should be remembered for his novel of social purpose.
Wilbur L. Cross in discussing this type of novel says,
. . . the work of Godwin and his friends is historically
important. They took the novel as it came to them--the
sentimental romance, the story of adventure, the Gothic ro
mance— and incorporated into it the social treatise.14
l^D. H. Monro, Godwin’s Moral Philosophy: An Interpre
tation of William Godwin (London, 1953). p. 172.
13Leslie Stephen, Studies of a Biographer, III (London,
1902), 149.
^ The Development of the English Novel (New York, 1923) :
-P-.-93-.----------------------------- ----------- -----------------
CHAPTER III
A DISCUSSION OP GODWIN'S NOVELS
i
Because of the suspicion cast by the French Revolution
on all types of liberal political writing and because of re
actionary and conservative tendencies adopted by the English
government at this time, Godwin became aware that any direct
statement on political principles would fail to reach a ma
jority of the reading public. Furthermore, he realized that
any writing openly attacking political practices might re
sult in public censure or imprisonment. Thus, he hoped to
reveal his ideas through the medium of fiction. The result
was the publication in 179^ of Caleb Williams, which was
greeted with instantaneous acclaim.
The Adventures of Caleb Williams
The purpose of his first novel is clearly indicated in
fche original title, Things as They Are: Or. The Adventures
of Caleb Williams. Although the order of the title later
became reversed and the work is now referred to by the lat
ter element only, Godwin's purpose was to show "things as
they are," and it is for this purpose that he "descended
from the philosopher's rostrum and took the humbler pen of
:he novelist."'*' In his preface to the 1838 edition of the
novel, Godwin explained his purpose.
What is now presented to the public is no refined and ab
stract speculation; it is a study and delineation of things
passing in the moral world. It is but of late that the
inestimable importance of political principles has been
adequately apprehended. It is now known to philosophers
that the spirit and character of government intrudes itself
into every rank of society. But this is a truth highly
worthy to be communicated to persons whom books of philos
ophy and science are never likely to reach. Accordingly
it was proposed in the invention of the following work, to
comprehend, as far as the progressive nature of a single
story would allow, a general review of the modes of domes
tic and unrecorded despotism, by which man becomes the de
stroyer of man.
The principal theme of Caleb Williams, a theme which
was repeated in all of Godwin's later novels, is that of an
Individual crushed by the forces of organized society.
Throughout the book Godwin carefully divulges the imperfec
tions of social institutions and attempts to expose the in
justices practiced by the rich and powerful against the poor
and socially inferior classes. However, as explained in the
previous section, the theme is extended to show that the in
dividual's actions are often responsible in creating the
circumstances of his own misfortune.
Caleb Williams was well received and enjoyed a high
level of popularity during the author's lifetime. One biog
rapher refers to it as Godwin's "second masterpiece" and one
•^Woodcock, p. 116.
2X1
of the "best novels of the age" (Woodcock, p. 116). Two
years after its publication the novel was dramatized by
I
George Colman the Younger in a play entitled The Iron Chest.
It was also translated into German and French and was ac
claimed on the continent. Another biographer characterized
bhe novel as
the one great work of fiction in our language which owes
its existence to the fruitful union of the revolutionary
and the romantic movements. It spoke to its own day as
Hugo's Les Miserables and Tolstoy's Resurrection spoke to
later generations.2
Hazlitt maintained a deep admiration for the book and sever
al years later praised it as a novel that one could not pos
sibly forget. He further commented, "It leaves one with the
impression that the events and characters had been personal
to himself" (p. 29). Thomas Noon Talfourd, a nineteenth cen
tury critic, also gave it glowing praise:
There is no work of fiction which more rivets the atten
tion— no tragedy which exhibits a struggle more sublime,
or sufferings more intense.3
The story concerns Caleb Williams, a young man of hum
ble birth, who has been brought into the employ of Fernando
Falkland, a country squire and a recluse of gentle manners.
Caleb notices the gloomy disposition and tormented mind of
N. Brailsford, Shelley. Godwin, and Their Circle
(New York, 1913), p. 143.
^Critical and Miscellaneous Writings of T. Noon Tal-
fonr_d_(-Bos.ton . 18.57J . p. l6 .
'd
22~
his employer but does not suspect the source of his trouble
until Collins, a steward, reveals earlier events in Falk
land's life.
Caleb learns that there had been a feud between Falk
land, a man of honor, chivalry, and fine culture, and his
counterpart, Tyrrel, a coarse, boorish type of country gen
tleman. Falkland incurred his rival's jealousy and hatred
by his gentle manners and enviable talents. He triumphed
over his neighbor on a number of social occasions and
angered Tyrrel by rescuing people who had been mistreated by
him. Emily Melville, Tyrrel's cousin, was one who praised
Falkland as her benefactor and savior. Finally, the feud
broke into open violence, and after having inflicted public
insult upon Falkland, Tyrrel was found murdered. Two yeomen,
Hawkins and his son, were apprehended and later hanged for
the crime despite their protestations of innocence. Falk
land was questioned during the trial concerning his relation
ship with his rival. Although no suspicion was cast on him,
he retired after the trial supposedly suffering from wounded
vanity and injured pride.
With this background information, Caleb becomes suspi
cious of his employer and eventually finds that the tor
mented mind is the result of a guilty conscience. He in
vestigates further and finds much incriminating evidence.
When confronted with Caleb's suspicions. Falkland admits hisl
-------------------------------------23'
guilt. By discovering this secret, Caleb now becomes the
object of harassment by his employer. Falkland threatens
aim in order to preserve his sepret. Caleb attempts to
Leave the service of his employer but is arrested and
charged with stealing jewelry which had been planted in his
belongings.
After suffering the privations of prison, Caleb escapes.
While seeking refuge, he is accosted and beaten by a scoun
drel named Gines, a member of a gang of thieves. Caleb is
rescued by Raymond, the leader of the gang, and is accepted
into its society. Gines, who is later expelled from the
group, hates Caleb and determines to seek vengeance by turn
ing him over to the authorities. Caleb manages to flee to
bondon, but is pursued by Gines and finally apprehended and
brought to trial. Falkland, fearful of exposure, does not
appear to press charges, and Caleb is set free. However,
Falkland, now desperately trying to live up to his own ideals
of pride and honor, visits Caleb and promises to leave him
alone if he will sign a paper denying his original accusa
tion. When Caleb refuses, Falkland employs Gines to follow
and hound his unfortunate secretary and to play upon the
prejudices of the people with whom Caleb lives so that he
eventually becomes an outcast from society.
Finally, after a series of other persecutions, Caleb,
driven to the limit of his endurance, confronts his_______
| ' 2#"
persecutor in a court of law and pleads his case in a very
iramatic and stirring scene. Falkland, now a dying man, con
fesses his crime and praises his accuser, but Williams can
not rid himself of a feeling of remorse because the tragedy
is the result of his own insatiable curiosity.
St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century
St. Leon, like Caleb Williams, is first of all con
cerned with Godwin's theme of the conflict between society
and the individual. In the novel the main character, who
jcomes into possession of enormous wealth, is forced to be
come an outcast from society and must forego the normal ac
tivities and pleasures of life, domesticity, and friendship.
Reviewers of St. Leon do not agree on the theme of the
story. Charles Kegan Paul suggests that
the aim of the tale is to show that boundless wealth, free--
dom from disease, weakness and death, are nothing in the
scale against domestic affection and "the charities of
private life."^
A periodical review insists that the theme Godwin is sug
gesting here is that
the possession of unlimited wealth, and the gift of immor
tality, were inconsistent with the present condition of
the human race, and ineffectual for individual happiness.5
^William. Godwin: His Friends and Contemporaries (London,
1876), I, 330-31.
5"William Godwin's Novels," Fraser's Magazine, 2:381-96.
November 1830._________________________________________________
........ “............................25-
Woodcock gives a more allegorical interpretation of the
3tory. He suggests that because Godwin later wrote The
Lives of the Necromancers, he must have been aware of the
cccult significance of gold as standing for wisdom. Thus,
be proposes that the moral in St. Leon is to teach that
a man who attains wisdom and wishes to use it for the gen
eral good, must expect and be willing to forego the ordi
nary comforts of life, and the benefits of domestic affec
tion and even friendship in the course of his efforts, (p.
159)
As in Caleb Williams. Godwin's preoccupation with the
analyses of the thoughts and feelings of his characters is
strongly evident. Action lags noticeably in spots with fre
quent philosophic and moralistic digressions. In spite of
its weaknesses, one reviewer presents this favorable apprais
al :
. . . it is better than most novels of its period or than
anything Godwin wrote afterwards, and still maintains a
certain fascination for whoever is patient enough to read
through the tedious introductory chapters. (Woodcock, p.
i6°) .
/
St. Leon, a descendant of an ancient and honorable fami
ly of Prance, begins'life with every advantage and with fine
prospects for the future. However, his activities at the
gaming tables, coupled with excessive dissipation, cause him
to drain his financial resources. He reforms temporarily to
marry Marguerite de Damville. The next few years are filled
with domestic bliss and harmony. A son and three daughters
are added to the family and the Count is enjoying a full and
. 2'g'
rich life.
When his son is nine years of age, the Count accompanies
aim to Paris to place him in school. St. Leon falls prey to
nis old vices and begins gambling again with the result that
ne loses his fortune. He becomes mentally deranged and the
family leaves for Solelure in Switzerland, hoping that the
solitude of the rustic life will bring him back to normalcy.
During his recuperation he is victimized by an unscrupulous
leighbor and loses his home.
After this misfortune the family moves to a new site.
Just when prospects for re-establishing himself appear
bright, a mysterious stranger invades his life and bequeaths
to St. Leon, on a vow of secrecy, the means to unlimited
wealth and immortality in the form of the philosopher's
stone and the "elixir of life." Being sworn to secrecy, St.
Leon refuses to divulge the source of his new-found wealth
and is suspected of all sorts of crimes. Even though he is
able to recapture some of his former glory and pomp, he is
far from happy. Later, he is brought to trial and im
prisoned on suspicion of murdering the stranger, who has
since died and whose burial place St. Leon has sworn not to
disclose. Calamity follows calamity. Rumors begin to cir
culate concerning St. Leon's magical powers. His son leaves
him, his wife dies, his daughters are left in the care of a
£riend,,—and-.he—wanders^frQm^plac.e-_tQ„plaQ.e_as^_a^lo.nely ____
-------- — . — _ _ _ _ _ --- 27"
outcast.
While traveling in Spain, he becomes a victim of the
superstitious fears of the community and is imprisoned by
she leaders of the Inquisition. After twelve years of im
prisonment, during which time no decision is reached as to
his guilt or innocence, St. Leon escapes. He travels to
France to see his daughters, who have no idea as to the true
identity of their visitor.
Finally, he settles in a small town in Hungary. His
attempts to pour wealth into the impoverished country upset
she economic stability of the land and he is condemned for
interfering and is ostracized. St. Leon then meets Bethlem
Gabor, a member of the Hungarian nobility who is a solitary
outcast by choice, having turned against mankind when his
wife and child were murdered. Gabor's hatred for mankind
sven affects his attitude toward the Count, whom he im
prisons and subjects to torture. Gabor learns of St. Leon's
secret and tries to force it from him. However, St. Leon is
finally rescued by his son who does not recognize his father
because of his altered appearance. After an episode in
which the father unwittingly jeopardizes the romance of his
son, a reconciliation is effected by St. Leon. The story
closes with the Count's exultation over the reunion of his
Lon and the young lady with whom he is in love.
St. Leon is the teller of his own woes and misfortunes.
- 38“
A gloomy and despondent atmosphere pervades the narrative as
ie roams the earth as a solitary wanderer in search of
friendship and communion with his fellow men. Here is man
divorced from society. He points out that there can be no
communion between an individual possessed of immortality and
Doundless wealth and the ordinary mortals who inhabit the
earth. At one point in the narrative, St. Leon exclaims:
I found myself alone in the world. Must I forever live
without a companion, a friend, any one with whom I can as
sociate upon equal terms, with whom I can have a community
of sensations, and feelings, and hopes, and desires, and
fears?o
Fleetwood
Godwin's third novel, Fleetwood, was published in 1805
with the added subtitle, "The New Man of Feeling." Once
again the centrals character represents the man estranged
from the human community. However, this time the estrange
ment does not originate from supernatural gifts as in St.
Leon or in a misguided sense of honor or an uncontrollable
curiosity as in Caleb Williams. but from Fl^^wopdi.S-.J!morbid
and fastic^pu_s___sensi.bility. "7 In his preface to the first
edition, Godwin claimed that the story is developed from
*
^William Godwin, St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Cen
tury (London, 1831), p. l64.
7David Fleisher, William Godwin: A Study in Liberalism
(London, 1951), p. 48-
29
'common and ordinary adventures” to form for the reader "an
idea of what is passing in the world."
Fleetwood represents a decline in Godwin’s powers as a
novelist and met with less success than his two previous of
ferings . Few of his friends showed any enthusiasm for it
and later reviewers were highly critical of it. One modern
day author comments:
Fleetwood is a poor novel. It has long arid stretches.
It is painfully wordy. As an indication of Godwin's nar
rative technique, it may be remarked that he gives us the
history of two of Fleetwood's intimate love affairs without
employing a single word of dialogue.“
The main character, an only child, loses his mother
while very young and is brought up by his father at an es
tate in the mountain country of Wales. Fleetwood has few
companions and avoids contact with the world. Although he
is of a serious temperament, he indulges in daydreaming and
wanders idly through the scenic beauties of the surrounding
countryside. After private tutoring, he enters Oxford and
engages in a life of dissipation and licentiousness.
Upon finishing his education, Fleetwood tours the conti
nent and is later introduced into Paris society by Sir
Oharles Gleed, a former classmate. After engaging in sever
al amorous affairs with gay mistresses, he finally journeys
bo Switzerland to seek a friend of his father, M. Ruffigny.
^Fleisher, p. 47.
... 3‘ 0"
During his stay in Switzerland, word is received that Fleet-
\
wood’s father has died. Ruffigny accompanies the grieving
young man to England.
During the trip, Ruffigny discloses his relationship
with Fleetwood's father. He relates how he was cheated out
of his inheritance by an uncle and how he suffered many in
justices as a young boy. Fleetwood's grandfather, Ambrose
Fleetwood, befriended Ruffigny, sent him to school, treated
lim as a son, and later set him up in business. After he
was awarded his rightful estate, Ruffigny repaid this kind
ness by helping Fleetwood's father when the latter suffered
a . financial setback.
Returning to England, Fleetwood rejoins the active
social life and is entangled in another romantic venture.
Warnings by his advisor are of no avail, and after a quarrel
Ruffigny leaves. Fleetwood repents and seeks the solitude
of his childhood home in Wales. He later emerges to join
London society and finally is elected to Parliament. He is,
however, disillusioned by the activities of government and
by his inability to unite sympathetically with his fellow
men, and he finally retreats from active social life to be
come a wandering outcast.
After twenty years of solitude he comes in contact with
the Macneil family. Of the three daughters in the family,
Fleetwood favors Mary, the youngest, but is refused_____ _____
permission to marry her because of his misanthropic tenden
cies. When the Macnell family is shipwrecked at sea and
Lost, Mary, who did not accompany her family, is befriended
and protected by Fleetwood. They eventually marry and set-
ble down in Wales. However, married life is not happy be
cause of Fleetwood's selfishness and demands for his wife's
exclusive attention. He is fitfully jealous and will not
allow her to have company or to engage in the social life of
the community. When Mary's health declines as a result of
bhis treatment, Fleetwood moves the family to Bath.
At this point Gifford and Kenrick, Fleetwood's cousins,
snter the story. Gifford is a schemer and Kenrick is inno
cent and naive. Gifford designs a plot to ingratiate him
self with Fleetwood and at the same time to implicate his
calf brother, Kenrick, whom he despises. He suggests that
Kenrick pay attention to Mary and plants the seed of suspi
cion in Fleetwood's mind. With artful lies and clever de
ception, he builds a strong case implicating Kenrick and
yiary. Suspicion grows in Fleetwood's mind, finally explod
ing in a jealous rage in which he confronts the two suspects
and accuses them openly of unfaithfulness.
Carrying his plot further, Gifford accompanies Fleet
wood to the continent. He intercepts messages from Mary and
destroys all chances for reconciliation. On a pretense of
representing Fleetwood in court, Gifford returns to England
------------------------------------------- 32“
and sends back misinformation concerning divorce proceedings
against Mary, and a court judgment against Kenrick. When
Fleetwood, now in failing health, wills his fortune to Gif
ford, plans are made by the schemer to murder his benefactor.
4
However, the attempted assassination is foiled by Kenrick
and Fleetwood is saved. The lies and deception of Gifford
are exposed and the suspicious actions of Kenrick and Mary
are satisfactorily explained. Gifford is imprisoned and
later executed. Mary, now cleared of all suspicion, is re
united with her husband.
Mandeville:
A Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England
Godwin's next novel, Mandeville» was, as suggested by
one writer, "a study in abnormal p s y c h o l o g y ."9 it attempts
"to show how the concurrence of a variety of causes operates
to form a character." Godwin wanted "to exhibit the over-
' powering passion of hatred, particularly in a highly suscep
tible mind."10 It is certainly the most somber of all of
his novels. This, plus its involved psychological develop
ment, prevented wide public acceptance.
Mandeville1s abnormal childhood, unfortunate
^Allene Gregory, The French Revolution and the English
Hovel (New York, 1915)* P* 108.
10"Remarks on Mandeville," Blackwood's Edinburgh Maga-
: sine, 2:402~08, January l8l8.__________________________________
------- ' ”33
disposition, and early experiences provide him with a mania
cal hatred of society and his fellow men. Although the tone
of> Mandeville is strikingly similar to that of Godwin's
first two novels, the springs of action are quite different.
In forming this comparison, one reviewer suggests:
The raving of Caleb is produced by external tyrannies,
that of St. Leon by super-human gifts; the misery of Mande
ville is the growth of the fertile but unassisted soil of
his own gloomy thoughts.11
In the preface to his novel, Godwin gives the sources
of his latest work.
The impression, that first led me to look with an eye
of favour upon the subject here treated, was derived from
a story-book, called Wieland, written by a person, certain
ly of distinguished genius, who I believe was born and
died in the province of Pennsylvania . . . and who calls
himself C. B. Brown. This impression was further improved
from hints in DeMontfort, a tragedy, by Joanna Baillie.12
[further sources may be the historical backgrounds of the
Irish insurrection and also Cromwell's political activities
during the seventeenth century though the treatment is super
ficial and the bearing on the story slight.
The story opens in Ireland. Charles Mandeville's
father, an English officer under Lord Caulfield, is garri
soned in Ireland and opposes the treacherous rebel, Sir
^"Remarks on Godwin's New Novel, Mandeville," Black
wood 's Edinburgh Magazine. 2:268-79* December 1817.
1 P
William Godwin, Mandeville: A Tale of the Seventeenth
Century in England (Edinburgh, 1817), P* x.
Phelim O'Neile. During the insurrection, Charles’ father
and mother are massacred along with other English families.'
Charles, who is three years old, is saved by a Catholic serv
ant who poses as his mother. The Reverend Hilkiah Bradford,
a chaplain at the garrison, then takes Charles to England to
bhe residence of his uncle, Audley Mandeville. His uncle,
who has been ill treated by his father and who has been
thwarted in his romance as a youth, lives in utter solitude
in a huge castle by the sea. Hilkiah and Charles take up
residence in an uninhabited part of the gloomy castle. The
braining of the boy is delegated to Hilkiah, who capitalizes
on every opportunity to remind Charles of his parents1 death
at the hands of the Catholics. His arbitrary, unjust, and
severe manner incurs Mandeville’s hatred and fosters a rebel
lious spirit in the pupil.
Mandeville’s existence is brightened by a visit from
his sister, Henrietta, who has been brought up by another
family in good and favorable circumstances. When twelve
ars of age, Mandeville is entered in Winchester School.
ring his stay there, he becomes involved in an anti-royal
ist plot, and certain incriminating pictures are found in
nis room. Waller, the guilty party, pleads with Charles not
bo expose him, and Charles decides to take the blame. He is
found guilty. His sensibilities are aroused; his pride is
lurt; he becomes sick and fastens his resentment upon Lionel
| ------------- 35"
Clifford, the boy who presided at the trial. Hereafter,
Clifford becomes the object of all his pent-up hatred for
mankind.
Charles next enrolls at Oxford. While at the universi
ty, he is recommended by Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper as a sec
retary to Sir Joseph Wagstaff, commander of the king's forces,
in the west, who was then planning an insurrection. Upon
seeking the position, Charles is notified that the vacancy
has already been filled by his rival, Clifford. This inci
dent further nurtures his hatred and he returns to Oxford
only to be treated with scorn because of his seeming deser
tion of the insurgent cause. He is accused of spying and is
ostracized by the university. This treatment causes him
much anguish. He becomes temporarily deranged and is con
fined to a madhouse at Cowley.
Through his sister's comfort and care, Mandeville is re
stored to health and returns with Henrietta to her residence
in Hampshire. Meanwhile, Clifford has become Henrietta's
Lover. She pleads with Mandeville in an attempt to decrease
the intensity of his hatred for Clifford. Finally, a recon
ciliation is attempted at the home of Lord Montagu. The
situation seems quite hopeful until someone prevails upon
Clifford to recite the heroic deeds of his rescue of Sir Wag-
I
staff during the insurrection. This incident causes Mande-
ville's hatred to flare up again. ___________ ________
J6-
Meanwhile, Charles' uncle is declining in health and be
comes the target for an unscrupulous opportunist, Holloway,
who is aided by his nephew Mallison, one of Mandeville's for
mer college mates. Holloway succeeds in working his way into
Mandeville's confidence and at the uncle's death is named
executor of the will and guardian and trustee for Charles anci
Henrietta. After abortive attempts to gain the Mandeville
estate and fortune and to marry Henrietta to Mallison, Hollo
way's dominance is broken. Clifford and Henrietta are mar
ried, but Charles, unaware of the event, attacks Clifford
and is wounded. His face is disfigured with a long slash
and his left eye is blinded. Now his hatred borders on mad
ness. Mandeville, who takes pride in his appearance, must
i o w bear forever on his face the wound inflicted by his de
spised enemy.
Although Mandeville's early childhood and upbringing
nade him susceptible to a revolt against society, Godwin
3till includes the possibility that Mandeville was unjustly
ostracized for actions in which he had no responsibility.
First of all, he is condemned for his benevolent action in
standing nobly in place of the culprit Waller during the
trial at Winchester. Second, he is ostracized by the uni
versity when imperfect and incomplete evidence points a sus
picious finger at his activities during the insurrection.
|ln both instances, Mandeville's motives were genuine and
~..... 37’
sincere, and in both instances, he was misunderstood and
abused. Godwin represents Mandeville*s hatred as directed
first against Clifford, and then extended to all mankind.
The result is that in this novel, as in the others before,
he portrays "the tragic isolation of the individual deprived
of communion with his f e l l o w s .
Cloudesley: A Tale
In 1830 another novel, Cloudesley. was published, fash
ioned in somewhat the same mold as Caleb Williams. Cloudes
ley is, like Caleb Williams, a person of low origin who re
bels against his master and employer. Danvers is akin to
Falkland, brooding over his guilt and remorse in solitude,
however, the story does not reach the fever pitch of passion
and terror attained in Godwin's first novel.
Varied criticisms have been advanced on the novel. In
reviewing the work in the Edinburgh Review, one critic
praised its style but had to condemn its content.
The expression is everywhere terse, vigorous, elegant;— a
polished mirror without a wrinkle. But the spirit of the
execution is lost in the inertness of the subject matter.
There is a dearth of invention, a want of character and
group. There are clouds of reflections without any new
occasion to call them forth;— an expanded flow of words
without a single pointed remark.14
■^Beverly Sprague Allen, "William Godwin and the Stage,"
PMLA. 35:358-74, June 1920.
^"Cloudesley: a Tale." Edinburgh Review. 51:144-59*____
331
Later reviewers were not as gracious in their estimate of
bhis novel. One critic called it a "dull, sentimental story1 '
and said that the writing is "rhetorical and verbose" (Wood
cock, p. 230). Another writer proclaimed it Godwin’s worst
novel and enumerated these faults: "irrelevant episodes,
improbable action, unreal character, and trite description"
Meadows, born of humble parents, is educated in classi
cal studies. He becomes a sailor after the death of his
father, and is abandoned in Russia after contracting an ill
ness . He works as a tutor and later is employed as a govern
ment clerk on the minister’s staff. However, an unsanctioned
romance, frowned upon by his employer, causes him to flee
the country and return to England.
Seeking employment in England, Meadows is interviewed
by Lord Richard Danvers, who in engaging his services, re
lates the following tale. Richard had a brother, Arthur,
Arho, being the oldest son, was given preferential treatment
in upbringing and education. Arthur became a lieutenant in
the army and during one of his military engagements saved a
Greek girl, Irene, from the Turks. He later married her,
but shortly after the union, Arthur was slain in a duel,
protecting the name of Irene's father, who had been
(Fleisher, p. 56).
April 1830.
3 - 9 -
victimized by an -unsuccessful and embittered suitor for
Irene's affection.
After having given birth to a son, Irene died. Richard
viewed the newborn son as a threat to his plans to inherit
;he family title. He found in Cloudesley, Arthur's servant,
just the person needed to carry out his nefarious designs.
Cloudesley was bitter and resentful toward mankind because
of a particular injustice to which he had been subjected.
He had consented to act as security for a large loan made by
liis friend, Norton. When Norton absconded with the money,
Cloudesley was charged with the liability and was sentenced
;o jail. He was later rescued by Arthur, who took him into
his employ.
Danvers and Cloudesley conspired to substitute a still
born child for Irene's new offspring. The rightful heir,
Julian, was sent away with Cloudesley. Richard claimed the
family title and fortune and later returned to England to
marry Selina Fortescue.
Meanwhile, Cloudesley had taken Julian to an Austrian
;own. Although he had planned to dispose of the child, he
later determined to raise it as his own. The family then
moved to Italy, where the boy was given a fine education.
Finally, the devotion of Julian caused Cloudesley to repent
and he appealed to Danvers to give the boy his rightful
olace.
zrt
Cloudesley next came to England to plead for Julian,
leaving«his foster son in the care of Borromeo, a friend.
Lhile Cloudesley was in England, Julian formed a friendship
with Francesco and through him he was unwittingly introduced
bo Federigo, Count of Camaldoli, who was in reality St. Elmo;
a notorious robber chief. Through further involvements,
Julian joined the bandit gang in their mountain retreat in
the Apennines. Upon returning to Italy, Cloudesley, notified
of the situation, hastened to the mountains in search of
Julian. He was wounded by the bandits and later died.
Julian was grief-stricken and later disappeared, but was pre
sumed to have rejoined his friends in the bandit gang.
After supplying this background information, Danvers
3ommissions Meadows to hurry to Italy and find Julian.
After arriving in Italy, Meadows learns that Julian was cap
tured along with the bandits, and was imprisoned while St.
Elmo and the others were executed. Attempts to intercede
for Julian prove fruitless. Finally, Danvers arrives in
Italy. With his influence, he manages to free Julian, and
an his death bed makes his confession with the result that
Julian is restored to his rightful inheritance.
Deloraine
Godwin's last novel, published in 1833* shows a strik
ing resemblance to elements in Caleb Williams. The pursuit
--------------------------------------------------------- . -------------------- 4T
of the murderer in the final volume of Deloraine is reminis
cent of the hounding of Caleb Williams by Gines. As in the
first novel, Deloraine must throw himself on the mercy of
strangers and sympathetic bystanders during the pursuit.
Sometimes they are sincere in rendering aid; sometimes they
are willing to betray for personal gain. As is the case in
so many of Godwin's novels, the misanthropic individual is
Lgain introduced, this time in the form of Mr. Travers, who_
plays a role similar to that portrayed by Gines in the
earlier work. In the denouement, Catherine makes a passion
ate plea to the pursuer on behalf of her father and begs for
justice and mercy in much the same vein as Caleb pleads with
iis tormentor, Falkland.
Deloraine, an only son, is brought up with care in a
peaceful, sheltered, and secure home of a nobleman. At the
age of twenty-two, he enters Parliament and the fashionable
life. He marries Emilia Fitzcharles and lives an ideal mar-
. . > 1
ried life. A- daughter Catherine is born of the union, and
when Catherine is a year old, Emilia is stricken with ill
ness during an excursion, has a miscarriage, and dies.
Deloraine leaves his daughter with family friends and
travels abroad. Upon his return, he settles in Harrowgate,
Yorkshire. Here he meets Margaret Borradale, a young, deli
cate, and very beautiful woman who is beset by melancholy
and remorse. To explain her melancholy, Margaret's past is
........ — --- 42"
revealed. She fell in love with a young villager, William,
who had been responsible for saving her life when she had
fallen off a cliff. Margaret's father, however, discouraged
bhe romance because he felt that his family was above the
ordinary villagers. He attempted instead to marry Margaret
to a son of his kinsman, Lord Borradale. Although she loved
only William, Margaret yielded to her father's wish. How
ever, before the wedding could take place, her health de
clined to such an alarming state that her father canceled
the wedding plans. A reunion with William was proposed and
a message was delivered to him. He had left on an overseas
expedition but agreed to hasten home. Margaret journeyed to
Plymouth to greet him on his return. As the ship was enter
ing the harbor a storm arose and William was believed to
nave perished in the sea after falling off one of the life
boats .
Three years after this event, still brooding about the
fate of her lover, Margaret meets Deloraine. He is at
tracted by her resignation and sorrow, courts her, and final-
Ly wins her. However, Deloraine feels that the marriage is
not complete and that Margaret is holding something back
from him. She is unable to give herself fully to her hus
band because of her original and still abiding love for
William.
Six months after the marriage, Deloraine accidentally__
^3T
comes in possession of a letter from William explaining that
he is alive and outlining the various circumstances which
prevented him from communicating with Margaret. Deloraine is;
dismayed, but keeps the secret from his wife. William re
turns to his former village and learns of Margaret’s marriage
from her parents. He establishes residence near Deloraine's
home, and one day, accidentally and coincidentally, he en
counters Margaret out for a walk. She faints at the sight of
the lover she believed lost. William picks her up and car
ries her to a shaded area. When she is revived, they relive
the happy moments of the past. At this moment, Deloraine ap
pears, misconstrues the scene, leaps from his carriage, and
in a fit of anger shoots William. Margaret falls upon the
corpse of her lover and dies a short while later.
Deloraine flees the scene. He is reunited with his
laughter, who insists on accompanying him when she learns of
lis plight. Meanwhile, they receive word that a Mr. Travers,
William's friend, has arrived to view the corpse. Travers,
who had accompanied William to England, is a misanthropic in
dividual. He had been disappointed in love and was skeptical
cf humanity because of the injustices heaped upon his father,
a member of the council of Jamaica. When he views William's
body, he vows to seek revenge. An investigation and trial
return a verdict of wilful murder and a warrant for Delo-
raine's apprehension is issued. _________________________
W
The final volume recounts the story of the pursuit. The
chase covers a goodly portion of the continental territory
and the usual suspense is maintained by a series of narrow
escapes and near apprehensions. Finally, Deloraine effects
a disguise and returns to England with the help of Thornton,
ji young man whose father was Deloraine's friend. After tir
ing of the disguise.and finally realizing that there is no
escape, Deloraine decides to surrender. His daughter pre
vails upon him to wait, and she visits Travers and makes an
eloquent plea for her father's life. She convinces the pur
suer with the justice of her cause, and he permits her
Father to return to the continent.
Catherine and Thornton eventually marry, but Deloraine,
although free from confinement, becomes the slave of his
conscience. His punishment will be the agonies of a mind
contemplating the implications of his deed.
CHAPTER IV
MAJOR SOCIAL IDEAS
Although some of Godwin's novels are more explicit than
others in expounding his social philosophy, all of them, at
one point or another, reveal certain reflections of his so
cial and political thinking. The Adventures of Caleb Wil
liams . published one year after An Enquiry Concerning Politi-
Lai Justice, contains the clearest reflection of his social
bheories. Godwin admits in his diary that Caleb Williams
was 1 1 the offspring of that temper of mind in which the compo
sition of Political Justice left me."1 However, in spite of
bhis statement, Godwin’s first novel does not fully reveal
nis social philosophy. Because of the limitations of the
medium in which he was writing, he merely presented glimpses
and reflections of his social ideas. This contention applies
squally well to his later novels which were written after
the impact of Political Justice had faded and the reaction
ary movement against radicalism and dissent had become prev
alent in England. In discussing Godwin's novels, Allene
^Gregory insists that with the exception of Caleb Williams .
1Charles Kegan Paul, I, 78.
46“
In which Godwin specifically explains his thesis, the social
ideas reflected in the remaining novels occur incidentally.2
ihus, no orderly presentation of his social philosophy will
he seen in the novels, but rather sketchy and shadowy
glimpses as opportunities within the framework of the narra
tive provide possibilities for moral and philosophical in
terpolations .
In discussing Godwin’s major social ideas as reflected
;Ln his novels, the following pattern will be used. Each ma
jor idea will be presented in the light of Godwin’s main
work, Political Justice, and will be reinforced by examples
from the novels which will reveal the manner and extent of
the treatment of each idea. The five sub-topics for this
section are necessarily inter-related, and in many cases the
treatment may overlap from one area to another. This sectior
will be devoted to the following topics: Man in Society;
Wan the Destroyer of Man; Property, Wealth, and Poverty; The
Judicial System and Punishment; Universal Benevolence.
Man in Society
A view of Godwin's theory regarding the nature of man
will be necessary before any comments are made relative to
nan's position in human society. Godwin insists that the
2Gregory, pp. 115-16.
........... 2PT
character of man originates in his external circumstances.
Ie virtually rules out innate principles, instincts, original
iifferences of structure, and pre-natal impressions by in
sisting that
the actions and dispositions of mankind are the offspring
of circumstances and events, not of any original determina
tion that they bring into the world.3
:[/Ois Whitney sums up his arguments in these words:
We bring into the world with us no innate principles:
consequently we are neither virtuous nor vicious as we
first come into existence. The moral qualities of men,
therefore, are the product of the impressions made on them.
Our virtues and vices may be traced to the incidents which
make the history of our lives, and if these incidents
could be divested of every improper tendency, vice would
be extirpated from the world.^
Moving from this theory, Godwin proceeds to proclaim
shat the voluntary actions of man essentially depend, not
upon the direct and immediate impulses of the sense, but up-
sn the understanding.
Voluntary action is occasioned by the idea of consequences
to result. . . . If every voluntary action be performed
for the sake of its consequences, then in every voluntary
action there is comparison and judgment. Every such ac
tion proceeds upon the apprehended truth of some proposi
tion. . . . The actions of men, it will readily be admit
ted, originate in the state of their minds immediately
^William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Jus
tice and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness, ed. F. E. L.
Priestley, 3^d ed. (Toronto, 19^6), I, 26. Hereafter cited
as Political Justice; all references are to this edition.
^Primitivism and The Idea of Progress in English Popu-
Lar Literature of the Eighteenth Century (Baltimore. 1934).
pp. 208-09. __________
w
previous to those actions. Actions therefore which are
preceded by a judgment "this is good," or "this is desira
ble," originate in the state of judgment or opinion upon
that subject.5 0
From this point, Godwin reasons that "the happiness men
are able to attain, is apportioned to the justness of the
opinions they take as guides in the pursuit."^ This theme,
as will be exemplified later, is treated in all of^ GodwinLs_
novels. Many of the central characters in the novels are
filled with remorse and misgivings because of their inability
to attain a desired goal or a state of happiness, and Godwin
Is implying that these people reap their tragic consequences
because of their unjust opinions and unenlightened under
standings. He is saying that they have not reached a point
of mature judgment which is capable of throwing off the fet-
bers of prejudice and selfishness and which enables men to
see the truth--to see "things as they are," which incidental
ly is part of the original title of Caleb Williams.
Godwin is not content -to leave the matter with just
bhis indictment of man’s weakness. He proceeds to show that
bhese opinions held by men, for the most part, are under the
absolute control of human institutions, especially govern
ment. In Political Justice he outlines the origin of
^Political Justice. I, 57"58.
6I, 26.
: w
government in this manner:
Man associated at first for the sake of mutual assistance.
They did not forsee that any restraint would be necessary,
to regulate the conduct of individual members of the socie
ty, towards each other, or towards the whole. The necessi
ty of restraint grew out' of the errors and perverseness of
a few. (I, 124)
Since government is forced upon mankind by men’s vices,
30 it is the creature of their ignorances and mistakes. God
win condemns government for its failure to fulfill its in
tended function of suppressing injustice. On the contrary,
ne maintains, it offers new occasions and temptations for
the commission of injustice, and its effect has been to em
body and perpetuate injustice (I, xxiv).
May it not happen, that the grand moral evils that exist
in the world, the calamities by which we are so grievously
oppressed, are to be traced to political institutions as
their source, and that their removal is only to be expected
from its correction? (I, 5)
This theme of the destructive power of political insti
tutions is evident in all of Godwin's novels. Specifically,
ie contends that the spirit of political institutions
Posters two great vices in society--robbery and fraud. These
two vices originate, he insists, in extreme poverty, in the
Dstentation of the rich, in the tyranny of the wealthy and
powerful, in legislation, and in the unequal distribution of
property (Political Justice. I, 14). These items will be
discussed at length in later sections of this chapter.
How then is man to live and to conduct himself in a
501
state of society? Not by the dictates of a corrupt political
institution, Godwin maintains, but by the cultivation of the
understanding and the exercise of private judgment as to
what is good and just for the general welfare.
All the important occasions of our lives, are capable
of being subjected at pleasure to a decision, as nearly as
possible, perfectly voluntary. Still it remains true that,
when the understanding clearly perceives rectitude, propri
ety and eligibility to belong to a certain conduct, and so
long as it has that perception, that conduct will infalli
bly be adopted. A perception of truth will inevitably be
produced by a clear evidence brought home to the under
standing, and the constancy of the perception will be pro
portioned to the apprehended value of the thing perceived.
Reason therefore and conviction still appear to be the
proper instrument, and the sufficient Instrument for regu
lating the actions of mankind.(Political Justice, I, 70)*
This reliance on reason is at the heart of Godwin’s phi
losophy. Even though he later modified his views to take
into account the motivating powers of certain emotions, he
never relinquished his belief in the power of man to use >
reason to guide his own actions. Beverly Sprague Allen pro
vides this comment on Godwin's philosophy:
Godwin's confidence that the individual might, without
danger to either himself or society, dispense with the re
straint of law or government was grounded in the convic
tion that man was fundamentally a rational being, and that
in every situation in life he might rely upon his private
judgment to supply the place of general principles in the
determination of what is just.7
The central characters in Godwin's novels, in varying
f"The Reaction Against William Godwin," Modern Philolo
gy, l6:225-43, September 1918.
-------- 51-
degrees, display this lack of sound reasoning. Although hu
man institutions and a corrupt society hinder the progress
of their intellectual advancement, this personal inability
to perceive clearly is still the heart of Godwin’s indict-'
ment. This theme is most clearly reflected in Caleb Wil
liams . St. Leon, and Mandeville. Lesser reflections are
seen in Fleetwood, Cloudesley, and Deloraine.
As already stated, Godwin’s intention in Caleb Williams
:Ls to show that the spirit and character of government in
trudes itself into every rank of society. In this novel, as
well as in the later ones, the author suggests that the citi
zens of a monarchy, like Britain, will quite unconsciously
imbibe the characteristic attitudes and ideals that consti
tute the "spirit" of a monarchy.^ Godwin reveals that Falk
land is able to persecute Williams because of his position
in society and by taking advantage of the common social atti
tudes. In the eighteenth century, a rich landowner, like
Falkland, exercised great power over a penniless dependent
without family, such as Caleb Williams.
However, beyond this theme, Godwin also reveals that
Falkland is himself a victim of society quite as much as his
persecuted secretary. He is a kind of incarnation of the
)
whole ideal of "honor." He is the spirit of "monarchy" made
^D. H. Monro, p. 88.
I 52
visible. Godwin blames the artificial, aristocratic society
In which Falkland lives as being responsible for the squire's
false sense of honor. This false ideal is not only the moti
vation for the murder of Tyrrel, but also the reason for
Falkland's tyranny over Caleb. When publicly assaulted, he
Ls humiliated and disgraced, and his injured honor seeks
vengeance in his adversary's death. The murder once commit
ted, a false sense of honor prompts Falkland to hide his
crime and protect his reputation. Thus, D. H. Monro sug
gests, the ideal of honor is a double failure:
It does not succeed in creating harmonious social relations
so as to make a just and stable society, and it did not
make for the inner harmony of those who were permeated by
the ideal, (p. 88).
The theme of honor is stressed throughout the book. Mr.
Collins, the steward, in relating Falkland's history to Wil
liams, prefaces his story with these remarks:
His mind was fraught with all the rhapsodies of a vision
ary honour; and, in his sense, nothing but the grosser
part, the mere shell of Falkland, was capable of surviving
the wound his pride has sustained.(p. 8)
From early childhood Falkland is inculcated with this ideal.
In referring to his early training, Godwin writes:
Among the favourite authors of his early years were the
heroic poets of Italy. From them he imbibed the love of
chivalry and romance. He had too much good sense to re
gret the time of Charlemagne and Arthur. . . . He con
ceived that there was in the manners depicted by these
celebrated poets something to imitate, as well as some
thing to avoid. He believed that nothing was so well cal
culated to make men delicate, gallant, and humane, as a
temper perpetually alive to the sentiments of birth and
53'
honour. (p. 10)
When Tyrrel assaults Falkland and knocks him to the
floor, the impact of this scene on the victim is described
i
in these words:
It is difficult to conceive any event more terrible to the
individual upon whom it fell than the treatment which Mr.
Falkland in this instance experienced. Every passion of
his life was calculated to make him feel it more acutely.
. . . To Mr. Falkland disgrace was worse than death. The
slightest breath of dishonour would have stung him to the
very soul. What must it have been with this complication
of ignominy, base, humiliating, and public? (p. 120),
The motivating nature of this ideal of honor is clearly
depicted in the scene of the inquest. No one in the communi
ty suspects Falkland. However, since he had argued with the
murdered man and had been assaulted by him, he is detained
for questioning. This action on the part of the authorities
further injures his pride and honor. Although he is not sus
pected of any implication in the crime, the very act of ap
pearing before the magistrates to testify is too much for
him to bear. During the proceedings, he cries out:
Reputation has been the idol, the jewel of my life. I
could never have borne to think that a human creature, in
the remotest part of the globe, should believe that I was
a criminal. Alas! what a duty it is that I have chosen
for my worship! I have entailed upon myself everlasting
agony and despair! (p. 127)<
Falkland is contrasted with a neighboring squire, Barna-
Das Tyrrel. D. H. Monro suggests, "If Falkland represents
the spirit of Monarchy, Tyrrel is the spirit of Despotism"
(p. 90). The latter is a typical hunting, shooting, drinking
' - ......: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 4 -
squire, hardly capable of any pleasure beyond that of the
palate. Tyrrel1s early life and education are condemned in
much the same way that Godwin criticizes the raising of the
children of nobility in Political Justice (Book V, Chapters
II-IIl). His upbringing at the hands of an indulgent mother
and his early associations with people of low taste account
In part for Tyrrel's temperament. On the first point, God
win writes:
He was early left under the tuition of his mother, a woman
of narrow capacity, and who had no other child. . . . Mrs.
Tyrrel appeared to think that there was nothing in the
world so precious as her hopeful Barnabas. Everything
must give way to his accommodation and advantage; every
one must yield the most servile obedience to his commands.
He must not be teased or restricted by any form of instruc
tion; and of consequence his proficiency in the arts of
writing and reading, was extremely slender, (pp. 18-19)
Dn the latter influence, the following passage concerning
iis acquaintance with the groom and the gamekeeper is appro
priate :
Under their instruction he proved as ready a scholar, as
he had been indocile and restive to the pedant who held
the office of his tutor. . . . He discovered no contempti
ble sagacity and quick-wittedness in the science of horse
flesh, and was eminently expert in the arts of shooting,
fishing, and hunting, (p. 19)
Tyrrel is anxious to be popular and becomes a village
despot, granting favors and meting out punishment to his sub
jects. He is arrogant, tyrannical to his neighbors, and in
solent to his equals. His temper is capricious.
When his subjects, encouraged by his familiarity, had dis-
carded their precaution, the wayward fit would seize him,
a sudden cloud overspread his brow, his voice transform
from the pleasant to the terrible, and a quarrel of a
straw immediately ensue with the first man whose face he
did not like! (p. 20)
When Falkland arrives in the neighborhood, Tyrrel begins
;o lose his following and his popularity diminishes. Im
plicit in this new situation is Godwin's suggestion that the
neighborhood is changing from an absolute to a constitutional
monarchy.
The advantages Mr. Falkland possessed in this comparison
are palpable; and had it been otherwise, the subjects of
his rural neighbour were sufficiently disposed to revolt
against his merciless dominion. They had hitherto submit
ted from fear, not from love; and, if they had not rebel
led, it was only for want of a leader, (p. 22).
Although Godwin shows the aristocratic type, portrayed
by Falkland, in a most favorable form, it still falls short
of the desired goals as does the despotic type, played by
Tyrrel. The whole system of class distinction, to Godwin, i£
one great obstacle to seeing men and society as they really
are. Both Tyrrel and Falkland are, in their respective ways,
:?uined by this system.
A further parallel to be drawn between these two men is
that Falkland represents the "man of taste" and his opponent
pymbolizes the "man of wealth." In Political Justice (I,
444-48) Godwin presents a scale of happiness in which he de-
cbLbes four classes of men. The first is the peasant and
artisan who exist on a purely simple, physical level. The
second is the "man of wealth" who enjoys all the luxuries of
5 6 -
fine food, clothing, and public entertainment, but is insen
sible to the sublime virtues of oontemplation, study, and
intellectual attainment. The third is the "man of taste"
who in addition to physical luxuries cultivates an apprecia
tion of the beauties of nature, and of art, and of the pleas
ures of study. The fourth is the "man of benevolence" who
rises above personal and selfish consideration to an altruis
tic concern for the welfare of others.
Thus, in the successive scale of happiness, Falkland is
happier than Tyrrel. He has all the charm, the wit, the
scholarship, the delicacy of perception that Tyrrel lacks.
On the other hand, Tyrrel, sensitive to his lack of refine
ment, fails to achieve his aim of popularity and respect.
Falkland succeeds better than his adversary in this respect.
He is characterized as a man with all the fine attributes:
culture, talent, hnd nobility of his station. He displays
the graces and manners of a gentleman, he possesses fine lit-
arary talents and intellectual capabilities, and he maintains
a . sympathetic attitude toward people in need. Nevertheless,
Falkland fails to achieve true happiness because he is moti
vated by self-interest. He falls short of true benevolence,
bhe highest level in Godwin’s scale of happiness. As it is
for Tyrrel, the controlling sentiment for Falkland is still
pmbition, the desire for respect and honor. He is truly the
['fool of honor" as he refers to himself on a number of_______
57
Dccasions in the story. D. H. Monro summarizes this point
(quite clearly:
Honour demands that he shall be considerate and sympathet
ic, especially to his social inferiors; but his benevo
lence is more a kind of good taste than a genuine passion
for the happiness of humanity; and it is subordinate: in
the last analysis, to the desire for prestige, (p. 96)
Falkland’s failure to see "things as they are," eom-
oined with the corrupting influences of the society of which
he is a part, brings about the tragic consequences of the
novel. At the conclusion, Caleb, after hearing his employ-
sr's dying confession, addresses his tormentor:
Thy intellectual powers were truly sublime, and thy bosom
burned with a godlike ambition. But of what use are tal
ents and sentiments in the corrupt wilderness of human so
ciety? It is a rank and rotten soil, from which every
finer shrub draws poison as it grows. All that, in a hap
pier field and a purer air, would expand into virtue and
germinate into usefulness is thus converted into henbane
and deadly nightshade. {p. 411),
In St. Leon, the central character Is another "man of
lonor." Reginald St. Leon is descended from one of the most
ancient and honorable families in France. Having lost his
father early in life, he is brought up with great indulgence
and in luxury by his mother. In acknowledging his parental
Influence, St. Leon exclaims:
My mother was a woman of rather a masculine understanding,
and full of the prejudices of nobility and magnificence.
... My mother's mind was inflamed with the greatness of
my ancestors, and she indefatigably sought to kindle in my
bosom a similar flame, (p. 3)-
,ater experiences also cause him to develop an unhealthy
5S
longing for pomp and magnificence. As a youth he is a spec
tator at the celebrated meeting between Francis the First of
France and Henry the Eighth of England in a field between
Ardres and Guines (p. 4). These scenes of glory and honor
leave a profound impression on the sensitive youth. Again,
at the age of eighteen, his high station and noble ancestry
are reinforced in his mind. His mother, on her deathbed, re
minds him of his obligations:
You must now, my son, stand by yourself, and be the arbi
trator of your own actions. . . . You have been taught to
know your rank in society, and to respect yourself. You
have been instructed in every thing that might most effect
ually forward you in the career of glory. There is not a
young cavalier among all the nobility of France more ac
complished, or that promises to do greater honour to his
name and his country, (pp. 8-9)«
The false code and artificial standards of aristocratic
i30ciety lead St. Leon into a life of dissipation and exces
sive gambling. The Marquis de Damville, who later becomes
lis father-in-law, notices St. Leon's dangerous habits and
warns him:
Your present habits are of the most dangerous sort; they
appear to you perfectly conformable to principles of the
strictest honour; nay, they come recommended to you by a
certain eclat and dignity with which they seem to be sur
rounded. . . . Be not misled by delusive appearances. Con
sider the present state of your fortune, and the state in
which your mother left it. . . . Have your revenues been
expended in the service of your country? Have you pur
chased any thing by them that will confer on you lasting
renown? (p. 35) < •
3t. Leon is misled by delusive appearances. The ideal of
lonor eventually defeats Itself. The search for prestige
59
and acclaim, Godwin implies, is self-stultifying. Although
he reforms temporarily and is married to Marguerite, this
driving passion is too great to withstand. Soon he finds his
fortune depleted and his future prospects ruined. Even dur
ing his period of reform and during the early years of his
marriage, he cannot rid himself of this consuming desire.
In his story, he confesses his weakness as he compares him
self with his wife.
She had all the simplicity of genuine taste. The more she
delivered herself up to nature, the greater was her con
tent. All superfluous appendages and show appeared to her
as so many obstacles to enjoyment. She derived her happi
ness from the tone of her own mind, and stood in no need
of the gaping admiration and stupid wonders of others to
make her feel herself happy. But I retained the original
vice of my mind. The gesture of worship and the voice of
applause were necessary to me. I did not suffice to my
self. (p. 42) .
This love of ostentation often carries St. Leon to friv
olous and needless expense, as this passage exemplifies:
I maintained a considerable train of servants: my apart
ments were magnificent, and my furniture splendid. When
we travelled, it was with an attendance little short of
princely. . . . When we were at home, every accidental
guest was received and entertained with extraordinary pomp,
a pomp not directed to add to his accommodation, but that
was designed to leave him impressed with astonishment and
admiration at the spirit of his host. (pp. 42-43)
Finally, driven to the depths of poverty by this uncon
trollable passion, St. Leon moves to Switzerland. During
his §tay there, he is visited by the mysterious stranger who
tempts him with the secret to limitless wealth. The Count
at first refuses to accept the philosopher^ stone because
'60
tie does not want to have a secret from his wife. When the
jstranger meets this resistance, he presents an argument that
attacks St. Leon at his most vulnerable spot, his sense of
lonor.
Years have passed over my head in vain, and I have not
learnt to distinguish a man of honour from a slave. . . .
You think my secrets beneath your curiosity, and my bene
fits not worth your acceptance. Know that my benefits are
such as kings would barter their thrones to purchase, and
that my wealth exceeds the wealth of empires. You are de
graded from the rank you once held among mankind; your
children are destined to live in the inglorious condition
of peasants, (p. 127).
St. Leon's misfortunes stem from his ideal of honor.
He is deluded into thinking that wealth and rank will com
mand prestige and admiration of one's fellows, but in reali
ty this story reveals that it only serves to cut one off
from those less privileged. The Count's predicament is more
lomplete because, in the final analysis, he is cut off from
all human beings. This idea is revealed very clearly by
Marguerite, who says:
A genuine spirit, Reginald, delights to live upon equal
terms with his associates and fellows. He would disdain,
when offered to him, excessive and clandestine advantages.
Equality is the soul of all real and cordial society. A
man of rank indeed does not live upon equal terms with the
whole of his species; but his heart also can exult; for he
has his equals. How unhappy the wretch, the monster
rather let me say, that is without an equal; that looks
through the world, and in the world cannot find a brother;
who is endowed with attributes which no living being par
ticipates with him; and who is therefore cut off for ever
from all cordiality and confidence, can never unbend him
self, but lives the solitary, joyless tenant of a prison,
the materials of which are emeralds and rubies I How un-
happy this wretchi How weak and ignoble the man that_____
' “ 6T
voluntarily accepts these laws of existence! (pp. 210-11).
The story of Mandeville follows the same general theme.
In it, Godwin says,
It is the express purpose of the narrative in which I am
engaged, to show how the concurrence of a variety of
causes operates to form a character. (I, 280)
The main character again is beset by prejudices which are
supported and fostered by a corrupt society, and he is un
able to identify his true role in his relationship to his
fellow man. Like Falkland, Charles Mandeville is inculcated
with a deep sense of pride and honor because of his station
and rank. While yet a child, he loses both parents during
jbhe massacre of the Irish insurrection in l64l. His uncle,
Audley Mandeville, becomes his guardian, but Mandeville*s
education and training are left to Hilkiah Bradford. His
tutor, a bigoted Presbyterian minister, never loses an oppor
tunity to remind Charles that his parents were murdered by
the Catholics and continually gives vent to his anti-papist
isentiments. Although Charles is fond of his tutor, he can
not tolerate his arbitrary and domineering ways. This treat
ment fosters a spirit of rebellion in the young boy and col
ors his later reflections regarding mankind. In retelling
his experiences, he sums up his dislike for his tutor's
oyranny.
Man by degrees has bowed the neck to the hard yoke of ne
cessity, has looked through human life and the condition
of existence, and has reasoned himself into submission, to
‘ 62
those distasteful, but inevitable evils which are insepa
rably interwoven in the web of mortal life. Not so the
boy: he has seen nothing of this; nor have any considera
tions occurred to his mind, leading him to choose subjec
tion, and voluntarily and resolutely to resign the sweets
of liberty. (I, 161-62),
When Charles enrolls at Winchester School, he covets
the recognition and acclaim of his fellow students. He
feels entitled to such treatment because of his confidence
in his talents and abilities. He sums up his own attributes
in the following phrases:
I was proud because I felt my value. I was conscious that
my intellectual powers far exceeded the common rate; I was
not unaware of the quickness of my apprehension, and the
clearness and subtlety with which I distinguished the dif
ferences of things; I felt ambition, and the secret antici
pation of a high destiny, which subsequent calamities have
at length succeeded to extinguish within me; I felt the
ardour and generosity of my spirit, which, as I believed,
made me capable of great things; I felt an inborn pride of
soul, which, like an insurmountable barrier, seemed to cut
me off for ever from every thing mean, despicable and lit
tle. (I, 148-49)
When not readily accepted by the students, he displays a
haughty attitude toward them and a disdain for their compan
ionship. He is constantly overshadowed by Clifford, a boy
of fine capabilities and outstanding popularity, and this
adds to his resentment. Because his rival is poor and Mande
ville is an heir to a large estate, he feels that he should
merit honor and distinction. Because he cannot enter into
bhe levity and fun of college life as his rival is able to
io, Mandeville berates Clifford by saying:
I considered Clifford as a kind of mountebank, debauching
--- 5T
the character of his equals, and destroying that sobriety
and concentration of soul, without which there can be no
considerable virtue. I looked into myself, and was con
ceited enough to imagine, that I was a better sample of
our general nature than he. I felt therefore, that much
false judgment was made, and much injustice committed. I
sat silent and obscure in my nook, and was silly enough to
be angry, that the common route of my school-fellows
crowded round Clifford, and neglected me. (I, 23^)
An incident at Winchester is the start of Mandeville’s
series of misfortune. When he is accused of secretly owning
a book of prints filled with anti-royalist propaganda, his
sense of honor is deeply injured. He proclaims his inno
cence, but is distressed to find that his schoolmates prefer
so believe his accuser. His injured vanity and wounded repu
tation are evident in the following passage:
With all this pride, I could not endure the thought of a
slur or an inglorious imputation, and as is said of the
ermine, I could die for every spite and shame at the bare
idea, that any thing sordid and vile should pollute the
whiteness of my name. (I, 288)
After confronting his accuser in private, the guilty party
confesses but pleads not to be exposed. Mandeville, secure
In the knowledge of his innocence, agrees to assume the
blame. He nobly stands in his friend’s place, but the no
bility of his action is lost in the scorn and abuse that are
heaped upon him. Again his pride and honor are violated,
and he seethes with hatred and revenge.
That I, descended from one of the first families, and in
immediate succession to one of the largest estates in Eng
land, should have been addressed with this indignity, was
a thought that could never be blotted out from the record
of my brain.(I. 299),________________________________________
....... 6T
Godwin attempts to show that Mandeville could not have
received a just verdict because of the prejudices and errors
by which society is governed. No judge, much less a group
of school boys, can ever know the full facts of the case or
;he intentions of the defendant. Thus, imperfect institu
tions and a corrupt society, together with man's inability
to see "things as they are," plot a man's downfall. The
same principle is applied to the episode in which Mandeville
is accused of spying against the insurgent forces. Though
innocent of the accusation, Mandeville is adjudged guilty by
iiis associates because of the fortuitous circumstances of
bhe event which reinforce the original allegation.
When his opponent is chosen for the position of Wag-
staff's secretary, Charles immediately construes the selec
tion as a blow to his vanity. When Clifford offers a sin-
sere apology to Charles for the situation, Mandeville's in
flamed jealousy misconstrues the action and he mistakenly
assumes that his rival is gloating over him.
Was not this infernal malice? I know not. To me it
appeared so. He triumphed over me every way. Oh, Clif
ford, wear your honours modestly! What needed all this
strut and ostentation; this "pomp, pride, and circumstance’
of boastful success? (II, 5^) .
On -the subject of Catholicism, Mandeville is similarly
beset by prejudices which reinforce his hatred for Clifford.
When Clifford renounces Protestantism and embraces the Cath-
olic faith, Mandeville's hatred, based on early anti-papist
--------------------------------------------------------------65-
teachings, directs itself toward his adversary. He considers
his rival an apostate, a renegade, a "Judas Iscariot," and
m opportunist because "the head of his family, the man from
whom he expected the succession of an ample estate, was a
Papist." Feeling that Clifford has disgraced himself, Mande
ville rationalizes his own hatred:
"Thank God," I said to myself, "all that is at an endl
I may now hate him as much as I please with a safe con
science. He now looks 'lovely dreadful' in my eyes, even
as he would look, if he were going, smeared with the blood
of both his parents, which he had Just shed, hardened and
blasted with impenitence, to be broken on the wheel.
Thank God, he has thrown off the mask, and shown himself
for what he is!" (Ill, 51)-
The fact that Clifford is not subsequently ostracized by
high English society but is received with dignity and kind
ness further infuriates Mandeville and complicates his situ
ation.
Thus, in Mandeville, as in the other novels, the main
character reaps tragic consequences because of the prejudices
with which he has been educated and the pressures that an
artificial and corrupt society have forced upon him. Mande
ville 's desire for acceptance and acclaim and his unreasona-
Dle hatred of Clifford distort his view of his proper rela
tionship to human society.
The remaining three novels all carry this theme of prej
udiced thinking. Since the theme has been fully treated in
the other novels, a short discussion here will suffice to
— — — 66'
show its application to these stories.
^ In Fleetwood the main character is pictured as a man
estranged from society by virtue of his early training and
^disposition. At an early age, he loses his mother. He en
joys very little companionship with his father or with any
children of his own age. His education is left to a tutor
of mediocre talents, and his greatest delight is in his soli
dary wanderings through the mountains and valleys surround
ing his estate. Fleetwood recognizes very early in life
this estrangement from society. In relating the experiences
of his childhood, he states: f
I shrunk from the society of man in general; and foresaw,
in the intercourse of my species, something for ever pre
pared to thwart my sensibility, and to jar against the un
real world in which I lived.°
C Fleetwood's extreme sensibility and indulgent nature
prove obstacles to a proper adjustment to college life.
Fleetwood encounters difficulty in engaging in college ac
tivities because the present impression is modified by pre-
1 conceived ideas, the effect of past impressions. This idea
:Ls demonstrated when the hero describes his disgust for the
scenery around Oxford as compared to the scenery of his own
estate in Wales.
Nature spoils us for relishing the beauties of nature.
Formed as my mind had been, almost from infancy, to delight:
^Fleetwood (London. 1832), p. 8.
67
itself with the grand, the romantic, the pregnant, the sur
prising, and the stupendous, as they display themselves in
North Wales, it is inconceivable with what contempt, what
sensation of loathing, I looked upon the face of nature as
it shows itself in Oxfordshire. All here was flat, and
tame, and tedious. Wales was nature in the vigour and ani
mation of youth: she displayed a master-hand; every
stroke of her majestic pencil was clear, and bold, and
free. But, in the country to which I had now removed, na
ture to my eyes seemed to be in her dotage; if she at
tempted any thing, it was the attempt of a driveller; she
appeared like a toothless and a palsied beldame, who calls
upon her visiters fsic 1 to attend, who mumbles slowly a
set of inarticulate and unintelligible sounds, and to whom
it exceeds the force of human resolution to keep up the
form of civility. Why does the world we live in thus
teach us to despise the world? (p. 19).
This passage gives a clue to Fleetwood’s character and
explains some of his later actions. He is essentially a ro
mantic who is unable to come to terms with the world in
which he finds himself. To show this characteristic more
strongly, Godwin introduces a contrasting character in the
person of Sir Charles Gleed, a classmate of Fleetwood, who
bhough a dull fellow, is a realist. In contrasting the two
characters, Godwin emphasizes the influence of prejudices on
human society. Gleed sees only those things in character
and action which form the substance of what is viewed by
avery beholder. He is led astray by no prepossessions or
romanticizing partialities. On the other hand, Fleetwood
bends to romanticize everything he sees. During his associ
ation with Gleed, the hero admits:
. . . scarcely any character of the smallest importance
came before me, in whom by retrospect or anticipation, by
association of pride, or Instruction, or of honour. I did
— ; 58“
not make to myself a lively interest, and whom I did not
involuntarily surround with an atmosphere of my own creat
ing, which refracted the rays of light, and changed the
appearance of the scene, (p. 56)
Godwin does not mean to imply that Gleed, being a real
ist, sees "things as they are." On the contrary, he is con
demned because his view is marred by his own prejudices and
he wields an evil influence on Fleetwood. The hero is also
weighed down with prejudices. He is condemned for his "as
sociation of pride, of instruction, or of honour." Godwin is
objecting to his uncritical extension of feeling from an ob
ject to cover all objects or persons associated in any way
with the principal object. It is this kind of reflection
that false ideals of honor, ambition, and prestige foster in
society, and it is this error that prevents Fleetwood from
correctly perceiving his situation.
This same weakness causes Fleetwood to romanticize his
marriage and serves to create the extreme jealousy and un
grounded suspicions which pave the way for the destruction of
his marital happiness. His prejudices make him an easy prey
for Gifford's flattery and duplicity, and he fails to recog
nize Kenrick's rectitude and Mary's innocence.
Cloudeslev. an ambitious uncle and an unscrupulous
servant, one motivated by desire for wealth and station and
the other prompted by vengeance upon society, conspire to de
prive a young boy of his rightful inheritance. Richard
69"
Danvers is another example of the "man of honor" driven by
false ideas of pride and prestige. Although born into no
bility and given every advantage, he is not satisfied be
cause, as the second son, he cannot inherit the family title.
He comments on his situation with these words:
He [the elder brother] was born to an ample patrimony; I
could expect nothing, but the slender pittance of a younger
brother's fortune. . . . Twelve months my elder! Oh, what
virtue is there in twelve months! Arthur is destined for
the whole term of his life to splendour; I to obscurity.
It seemed as if we were born of different castes.-*^
Cloudesley, on the other hand, has been victimized by a
friend who absconds with a sum of money for which Cloudesley
Is held liable. Unable to discharge his liability in the
=yes of the courts, he is sent to prison. He construes this
misfortune as an injustice and becomes bitter and resentful
boward the society which he feels is responsible for his
misery.
He saw all men armed against all men, restrained by no prin
ciples of justice, or feelings of humanity, but merely by
the law of the land, and a fear of the ill construction
that might be put upon their actions. . . . He and his fel
low creatures, as he judged, were in a state of war; and
the laws of war, not the laws of peace and benevolence,
were to be henceforth the regulators of his conduct. (I, 210),
Cloudesley later repents his actions when the fetters
of prejudice fall away from his mind and he appeals to Dan
gers to restore the rightful inheritance. In spite of
10Cloudeslev: A Tale (London, 1830), I, 121.
w
misfortune to his family, the threat of exposure, and a
guilty conscience, the love of honor and rank is too per
suasive, and Danvers continues in his usurpation until near
tragedy strikes Julian. When in failing health, and after
much suffering by Julian, Danvers finally repents. Once
again, the ideal of honor upheld by a corrupt social and po
litical system fails to produce the greatest happiness.
In Godwin’s last novel, Deloraine. the central charac
ter is again of high birth, born to luxuries and brought up
in indulgence. Regarding his background, Deloraine states:
My father was an English gentleman with an estate of
3000 pounds a year. I was his only son. I was brought up
with every imaginable indulgence. My wishes were antici
pated. Every gratification was procured for me, that by
any chance might make my days pass in cheerfulness and
joy.11
His first marriage is very happy but short-lived. His
wife, Emilia, dies after contracting an illness. This mis
fortune causes Deloraine to become despondent, and he with
draws from active participation in society. His indulgent
upbringing, coupled with his withdrawal ‘from society, makes
cim an unfit partner for a very unsuitable marriage to Marga
ret Borradale. Margaret cannot contribute much to the mar
riage because of the prejudices in society which have com
bined to visit a great misfortune on her. She is the object
■^Deloraine (London, 1833), I, 1.
71"
of her father’s tyranny. He refuses her choice of a suitor
and Instead Insists that she marry above her station. The
father's arbitrary plans are relinquished, however, when Mar
garet’s health declines and her life Is endangered. A pro
posed reunion with William, her previously unsuccessful suit
or, turns into tragedy when he is believed lost at sea. Al
though Deloraine and Margaret marry, their married life is
not happy. Margaret is despondent over the loss of her lov
er, and Deloraine is resentful at being a husband in name on
ly. Commenting on his marriage, he states:
All that Margaret did, was in the spirit of discharging a
duty. Her hand was stretched out to me; she was ever
ready, at the slightest intimation, to call up all her pow
ers to perform my bidding, but her heart did not beat to
wards me. (II, 15)*
Thus, the combination of circumstances and the propensities
j>f the individuals involved bring on the climactic episode
of the lover's return and his murder by Deloraine, who now
becomes further estranged from human society as a hunted
criminal. Deloraine sums up the theme of this section most
appropriately.
The essence of the nature of man lies in the spontane
ous obedience of his limbs and his organs to the genuine
impulse of his mind. We move as free as air. Our thoughts
wander to the farthest corners of the earth; and our lan
guage, and our gestures, and the expression of our fea
tures, hold an exact correspondence with the march of our
thoughts. But to act a part of the most in opposition to
the true vein of our souls, and for that part never to
have an end, is intolerable beyond the power of words to
express. To have a watch upon all our emotions and upon
every expression, and to conform them to an artificial____
: _ _ _ _ _ . ?2
rule, Is the worst of slaveries. (Ill, 268)
Deloraine's failure to understand Margaret and his in
ability to analyze correctly the meeting between her and Wil-
jLiam drive him to the impulsive act of murder. Godwin's in
sistence on sound reason and enlightenment to abolish preju
dices is clearly reflected in Deloraine's last speech. His
offense, even though visited with aggravation, is the offense
of a single moment. His life before the murder is guiltless.
Of such a situation, Godwin writes:
What a momentous deposit therefore, and committed to how
frail a custody, is human life! There is scarcely an in
stant passes over our heads, that may not have its freight
of infamy. How ought we to watch over our thoughts, that
we may not so much as imagine any enormity! How exactly
regulated and nicely balanced ought to be our meditations,
that no provocations may take from us the mastery of our
selves, and hurry us headlong ten thousand fathoms beyond
the level of sound discretion! (Ill, 315)-
Man the Destroyer of Man
In Godwin's social philosophy, the term "justice" is of
paramount importance. In his "Summary of Principles," he
proclaims that "the true standard of the conduct of one man
towards another is justice" (Political Justice. I, xxv).
Godwin assumes this term as a general appellation for all
moral duty. It is
that impartial treatment of every man in matters that re
late to his happiness, which is measured solely by a con
sideration of the properties of the receiver, and the ca
pacity of him that bestows. (Political Justice, I, 126) .
En other words, the rendering of justice depends on the moral.
" 73-
worth of the person receiving it and his relative importance
oo the general welfare, and on the ability of the bestower
to recognize that worth and, thus, contribute to the general
good. The moral duty of every man is to pursue that mode of
jjonduct which may best contribute to the general welfare of
mankind.
| The task of rendering justice is made difficult; Godwin
complains, because of the interference of political institu
tions, which, as has been mentioned previously, encourages
and perpetrates injustice rather than suppresses it. In cit
ing the evil effects of political institutions, he claims,
'The history of political society sufficiently shows that mar
is of all other beings the most formidable enemy of man" (Po
litical Justice. I, 7). In Thoughts on Man, the same idea is.
presented in different words:
He [man] is always to a certain degree under the control of’
the political society of which he is a member. He is also
exposed to the chance of personal insult and injury from
those who are stronger than he, or who may render their
strength more considerable by combination and numbers.
. . . Civil policy . . . subjects him to a variety of
evils, which wealth and corruption are accustomed to in
flict under the forms of justice, (pp. 20-21)
Godwin's novels are filled with episodes depicting the
person who Is victimized by a corrupt society or who is sub
ject to tyranny by someone who unscrupulously uses the force
of human institutions to gain his own selfish ends. Caleb
Williams, St. Leon, and Cloudesley best exemplify this social
7 r
idea of "man the destroyer of mswxJ'
In the opening chapter of Caleb Williams, the unfortu
nate narrator cries out, "I have been a mark for the vigi
lance of tyranny, and I could not escape" (p. 1). Through
out the novel, Caleb is the target for Falkland's tyranny.
When he discovers his employer's secret, he virtually be
comes a prisoner in Falkland's household. In describing his
plight, Caleb complains:
I was his prisoner; and what a prisoner! All my actions
observed; all my gestures marked. I could move neither to
the right nor the left, but the eye of my keeper was upon
me. He watched me, and his vigilance was a sickness to my
heart. For me there was no more freedom, no more of hi
larity, of thoughtfulness, or of youth, (p. 179)
When he attempts to escape, his employer invokes the
power of the courts to imprison Caleb on a false accusation
of robbery. Even Caleb's attempts to disclose Falkland's
guilt are thwarted because no court of law and no court of
"public opinion" will believe a person of such low station
when opposed by an influential and respected squire. When
Caleb escapes from prison, Falkland uses his influence and
financial resources to hound and to keep him in subjection.
So naive is Caleb about his own rectitude that only after he
has suffered great torment does he arrive at this conclusion:
I was ignorant of the power which the institutions of so
ciety gave to one man over others; I had fallen unwarily
into the hands of a person who held it as his fondest wish
to oppress and destroy me. (p. 321)
Godwin's main concern for the man victimized by________
--------------------------------------------- 75
political institutions and the cruelty of other human beings
is that such treatment cuts him off from participation in so
ciety. His concern for the social outcast is everywhere evi
dent in his novels. The hounding by Gines, under Falkland's
direction, causes Caleb to scurry from one section of the
country to another. Although not confined to prison, Wil
liams is virtually denied the opportunity to associate free
ly in human society.
Pursued by a train of ill fortune, I could no longer con
sider myself as a member of society. I was a solitary be
ing, cut off from the expectation of sympathy, kindness,
and the good-will of mankind, (p. 310),
Lesser episodes in Caleb Williams also depict this
bheme of "man the destroyer of man." Two notable ones are
Tyrrel's cruelty to Emily and his arbitrary treatment of
iawkins and his son. As Tyrrel's relative, Emily is re-
eived into the household as a member of the family, but
soon incurs the squire's wrath by showing partiality toward
Falkland. When Tyrrel learns that his cousin's admiration
Tor his rival is turning into a deeper affection of love, he
Decomes incensed. Knowing that the neighborhood is already
snamored with Falkland's charm and grace, Tyrrel cannot bear
to see his own kindred turn toward his adversary. His feel
ings are disclosed in the following passage:
Her partiality for the man who was the object of his un
bounded abhorrence appeared to him as the last persecution
of a malicious destiny. He figured himself as about to be
deserted by every creature in human form; all men, under
----- ------ --------- _____----------- — ----- . 7g-
the influence of a fatal enchantment, approving only what
was sophisticated and artificial, and holding the rude and
genuine offspring of nations in mortal antipathy, (p. 57)
When Emily refuses the attention of an uncouth and boor
ish^ suitor whom he has selected, Tyrrel is further angered.
He proceeds in spite of his cousin’s opposition and plans a
forced marriage. When Emily hears of the plan she attempts
;o flee the house, but the squire has her imprisoned on a
crumped up charge of debt. Even though a member of the fami
ly and supposedly living in Tyrrel's household by his hospi
tality, Emily is charged with debt for room and board. When
a servant questions the propriety of such a charge, Tyrrel
angrily replies:
I tell you she does owe me--owes me eleven hundred pounds.
--The law justifies it.— What do you think laws were made
for? I do nothing but right, and right I will have. (p. 102).
Finally, after Emily is subjected to her cousin's cruelty anc.
anger, she dies. When Tyrrel is accused of being the instru
ment of her death, he sneers:
Murderer?--Did I employ knives or pistols? Did I give
her poison? I did nothing but what the law allows. If she
be dead, nobody can say I am to blame, (p. 114)
In the case of Hawkins, the tyranny begins when he re
fuses to let his son enter Tyrrel's service. Hawkins wishes
;o keep his son at home to help with the work of his small
farm. Tyrrel, impatient with the yeomen and angered at being
denied his request, determines to crush his tenant. He con-
descendingly remarks:___________________________________________
-------------- IT
. . . is it come to this? Shall a rascal that farms his
forty acres pretend to beard the lord of the manor? I will
tread you into paste! Let me advise you, scoundrel, to
shut up your house and fly as if the devil was behind you!
You may think yourself happy, if I be not too quick for you
yet, if you escape in a whole skin! I would not suffer
such a villain to remain upon my land a day longer, if I
could gain the Indies by it! (p. 89)
Godwin then proceeds to show how a man can use human institu
tions to gain his desired goal. As an eighteenth-century
squire, Tyrrel wields considerable power over his domain. He:
deprives Hawkins of his appointment as bailiff, directs other1
tenants to do ill toward him, cuts open the dam to flood the
lower portion of Hawkins' farm, tears down fences to allow
roving cattle to destroy the crops, and poisons the live
stock. When Hawkins presses a lawsuit, Tyrrel uses his posi
tion and influence to postpone and otherwise delay the court
action. He causes a barricade to be erected which denies
Hawkins suitable access to the country roads. When the young;
son tears down the obstruction, Tyrrel has him imprisoned.
Hy using the legal and moral conventions of society, Tyrrel
manages to keep Hawkins and his son under subjection and fi
lially engineers their downfall.
Inspired by his distrust of established authority and
human institutions, Godwin devotes considerable space in his
novels to the outcast. In many cases, these social outcasts
are defended by Godwin as the victims of the maladministra
tion of justice and irrational penal codes. However, this
78
preoccupation with misanthropic individuals is not treated
in any way to idealize them or champion their position in
Life. Rather, Godwin professes a sympathy for them because
they have been cut off from the necessary association with
other men.
Godwin, however, did not take misanthropy as his theme be
cause he had lost faith in human nature. Par from it. To
cherish bitter feelings toward mankind, he believes, is no
assurance of superiority of souls, but a spiritual misfor
tune, cutting off the individual from all the ennobling ad
vantages of social intercourse. The hatred of mankind is
not sanctioned because evil may exist in human nature; in
truth, misanthropy betokens a lamentable blindness to the
excellence that is the possession of every man, woman, and
child.12
In Caleb Williams. Godwin's example of the social out-
past is Raymond, the robber captain who befriends Williams.
The captain defends his activities by claiming,
Our profession is the profession of justice. We, who are
thieves without a license, are at open war with another
set of men who are thieves according to law. (p. 270)
Raymond and his group of thieves, Godwin insists, are made
outcasts by circumstances beyond their control. Since he
conceives that the character of each individual is deter
mined by the forces that play upon him, he regards these out
casts as martyrs whom society has branded as criminal. How
ever, rather than glorify or idealize them, Godwin condemns
the society which is responsible for their waywardness.
-^Beverly Sprague Allen, "William Godwin as a Sentimen
talist." PMLA. 33:1-29, March 1918.___________________________
___ , — , — . — -------------T9-
Concerning the robber gang, Godwin writes:
Uninvolved in the deliberate routine of human affairs, they
frequently displayed an energy which, from every impartial
observer, would have extorted veneration. Energy is per
haps of all qualities the most valuable; and a just politi
cal system would possess the means of extracting from it,
thus circumstanced, its beneficial qualities, instead of
consigning it, as now, to indiscriminate destruction. We
act like the chemist, who should reject the finest ore,
and employ none but what was sufficiently debased to fit
it immediately for the vilest uses. But the energy of
these men, such as I beheld it, was in the highest degree
misapplied, unassisted by liberal and enlightened views,
and directed only to the most narrow and contemptible pur
poses. (p. 273)
Although Godwin portrays these outcasts sympathetically, he
does not advocate violence as the means to a better society,
le had no notion of changing society by isolated, individual ■ ,
rebellions such as these presented by Raymond, St. Elmo, and
Bethlem Gabor (Gregory, p. 97)* His way is the gradual proc--
sss of enlightening the human understanding and exercising
the right virtues and the proper mode of conduct.
St. Leon this theme is emphasized during the Count's
Impoverishment. Among St. Leon's experiences, Godwin pre
sents several scenes to show how institutions and people of
influence and wealth can play the tyrant over those less pow
erful and less opulent. During the family's stay at Sole-
lure, Switzerland, a storm devastates the land. St. Leon ap
plies to the government for aid, but is refused because he
is not a native. In addition to the rebuff, the Count and
his family are designated as interlopers and are ordered to
-------------------------------------------------So"
vacate their premises.
While we were deliberating what course to pursue in this
emergency, certain officers of government one morning en
tered our habitation, producing an order of the senate for
our immediate removal out of the territory. It is of the
essence of coercive regulations, to expel, to imprison,
and turn out of prison, the individuals it is thought prop
er to control, without any care as to the mischiefs they
may suffer, and whether they perish under or survive the
evil inflicted on them. (p. 97%
St. Leon borrows money from a neighbor and signs over his
property as security for the loan. The neighbor, however,
dies shortly after the transaction, and an unscrupulous neph
ew, Grimseld, attempts to gain -the property, and at the same
sime charges St. Leon with liability for the loan. Although
forbidden to return to Switzerland, St. Leon hazards the
;rip and confronts Grimseld with accusations of his villainy.
The nephew uses his influence to imprison the Count, who
criticizes the handling of the case:
Grimseld was a man of opulence and power; I was without
friends, or the means of procuring friends. The law ex
pressly condemned my return; and what had I not to fear
from the law, when abetted and inforced by the hand of
power? (p. 122)*
The scenes of the Inquisition in Spain in this novel
are further illustrations of the abuses of institutions. In
this instance, Godwin chooses the human institution of reli
gion for his criticism and denunciation. He exposes the ar
bitrary rule of the inquisitors, the strange mode of inter
rogation, and the terrors and punishment imposed upon the
prisoners. After receiving a long explanation on the_____
Bi
necessity, value and mercy of the Inquisition, St. Leon pro
tests the injustice of the proceeding against him.
Prom your bar no man can go forth acquitted. How is a
story to be refuted, when hardly and with difficulty you
suffer your prisoner to collect the slightest fragments of
it? . . . I am informed of nothing; yet I am bid, first to
be my own accuser, and then to answer the accusation of
others. . . . The defence of the purest innocence is often
difficult, sometimes impossible, against the artfulness of
a malicious tale, or the fortuitous concurrence of unfa
vorable appearances, (pp. 319~20),
In spite of St. Leon’s eloquence, he is obliged to spend
twelve years in prison during which time the officials of
bhe Inquisition cannot determine either his guilt or his in
nocence .
St. Leon provides another example of the misanthropic,
social outcast. Bethlem Gabor, once the lineal representa
tive of one of the most illustrious houses in Hungary, is em
bittered because his wife and children are murdered during a
military excursion, and he projects this personal tragedy in-
bo a mission of terrible revenge.
He disbanded the body of men he had formed, and wandered a
solitary outcast upon the face of his country. For some
time he seemed to have a savage complacence in conceiving
that the evil he had suffered was past all remedy, and in
spurning all those palliations and disguises with which
vulgar souls are accustomed to assuage their woe. Yet the
energy of his nature would not suffer him to rest: he
wandered an outcast; but every day engendered some new
thought or passion: and it appeared probable that he woulc
not yet quit the stage of existence till he had left be
hind him the remembrances of a terrible and desolating re
venge, (p. 396) t
In Cloudesley. Julian, a helpless child, is victimized
82“
by his uncle. The motivating factors for the uncle's actions
have already been treated in the previous section. Even
after Cloudesley repents his part in the plot, Richard Dan
vers continues to keep Julian in subjection and relegates
him to a life of poverty and obscurity. The power of wealth
and the partial administration of laws are able partners
with Danvers in usurping the family title and persevering in
;he deed in spite of obstacles put in the way by both the
reformed servant and the turn of circumstances.
Danvers' villainy is brought home to him in a special
plea enclosed in a letter written by Cloudesley, who warns
;hat a mind filled with guilt is too high a price to pay for
sitle and fortune.
But what are wealth and luxury in comparison of an honest
mind! How happy is the man, confined to the barest neces
saries, whose heart brings against him no accusation! Give
to this child his proper title, and his true name. Clear
to him the space assigned, that he may run the career of
honour. (II, 127)
Minor episodes in Cloudesley further demonstrate this
vheme of "man the destroyer of man." While working in the
government office as a clerk, Matthews meets Alexis Scherba-
P « . . . . . .
j;he real power behind the Russian throne. Alexis' mother
has married against the family's wishes and Biren directs
his animosity toward all members of that branch of the fami
ly. His despotic treatment ,of Alexis is recounted by
83"
Vlatthews.
In Russia every one was servile to the prosperous and the
great, and dared not thwart or dispute with their decrees.
There at the desk, Biren had placed his nephew; and, with
out an intimation from him, no one would venture to appear
in an attempt to change his fate, (I, 46)
Matthews develops a fondness for Alexis1 sister, Isabella,
and in so doing, incurs Biren’s wrath. In warning Matthews
concerning his relations with the Scherbatoff family, the
ruler exclaims:
Madame Scherbatoff gave herself away contrary to my liking,
in defiance of my prohibition. The young Scherbatoffs are
the offspring of that accursed union. They are the born,
the predestined, objects of my hate. (I, 66),
When Matthews chooses to ignore Biren1s command not to see
Isabella again, he jeopardizes his life. Biren seeks to im
prison him, but the young Englishman flees the country, leav
ing his loved one behind. In relating his woes, he charac
terizes the despotism of Biren with this comparison:
An ill man in prosperity, is like the adder restored to
life by the bright and cheering beams of the sun. Till the
sun came, he lay in a torpid state; it was difficult to say
that he lived. By and by he opens his eyes, and his scales
are by degrees set in motion. Anon he rears his head, and
shoots out his forked tongue, and sends forth terrific his
ses, and shines in his tremendous brilliancy of colours,
and flies this way and that, and seems to be every where in
a moment. No one is any longer safe from his venom. Even
so it was with Biren.(I, 78_79)*
Another episode which displays man's inhumanity to man
Ls the story of Irene and her father, Colocotroni, a wealthy
Jreek who co-operates with the Venetians to put his province
under Venetian rule to avoid the harsh yoke of Turkish
------ ■ - -------- sr
subjection. Bozzari, a young man in love with Irene, is dis
couraged by Colocotroni in his suit because of poor moral
qualities. Bozzari conspires with the Turks to invade the
province, and when Turkish rule is resumed, Irene's father is
jailed on the young man's accusation of having corresponded
with the court of Vienna in an attempt to urge them to throw
;heir military strength against the Turks. The charges are
later proved false, and Colocotroni is permitted to sell his
property and leave the country. Meanwhile, Bozzari, who can
not forget his rebuff, becomes an officer in the Turkish cav
alry. On a military expedition, he locates Irene and her
father, and with cold-blooded malice kills Colocotroni and
attempts to kidnap Irene but is thwarted by Arthur Danvers.
As in Caleb Williams and St. Leon, the social outcast is
again introduced in the person of St. Elmo, the robber chief.
I
hat inferences have been drawn from the discussion of Ray-
ond and Bethlem Gabor are applicable here. As Count Carnal-
doli, St. Elmo engages in political intrigue in Corsica and
is imprisoned for fostering rebellious activities. In de
scribing the Count, Godwin writes:
He had been bred in the highest cast of society, and he
had nourished his youthful mind in dreams of liberty and
patriotism. He had associated in the morning of his days
with young men of his own age, and whose passions were like
his, either from a similarity of nature, or being inspired
with the same views by frequent communication, by the fire
of his mind, and the fervour of his speech. Together they
had ventured their all in what appeared to them the noblest.
of causes; together they had miscarried; and together
„ 85
retired to caves and dens of the earth, where, if they had
lost every thing else, they believed that they should pre
serve their independence. (Ill, 106),
St. Elmo and his companions form a band of thieves and prey
on rich travelers using the mountain roadways. They "glossed
Dver their actions, and endeavoured to turn what was arbi
trary and lawless, into justice and merit" (III, 107). St.
Elmo’s state of mind is best described in this passage:
Henceforth he swore upon the altars of immutable justice
an everlasting war against all governments, and an open de
fiance to all law. He regarded what is called civilised
society as a conspiracy against the inherent rights of man^
and determined to pay no attention to its regulations. (HI;
111),
Isolated examples depicting the theme of this section
occur throughout the remaining novels. In Fleetwood, the
story of Kuffigny is especially appropriate. Godwin recounts
the experiences in which a little boy is denied his rightful
Inheritance by a cruel and selfish uncle. Ruffigny's uncle,
who adopts the name Mouchard, usurps the family fortune and
sends Ruffigny to Lyons, a manufacturing town, where he is
apprenticed to a silk manufacturer. The scenes at the silk
factory afford Godwin an opportunity to expose the sordid
practices of child labor. His descriptions of the workers
and the conditions under which they labored are effective de
nunciations of this social abuse. In describing the chil
dren, he writes:
Not one of the persons before me exhibited any signs of
vigour and robust health. They were all sallow; their____
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 36-
muscles flaccid, and their form emaciated. Several of the
children appeared to me, judging from their size, to be
under four years of age--I never saw such children, (pp. 96-
97)
After enduring the hardships of this confinement for several
jnonths, Ruffigny escapes. In his attempt to obtain redress
and expose the villainy of his uncle, he is misunderstood,
inistreated, and even jailed. On one occasion he reports a
robbery to an innkeeper. Instead of receiving aid, the ac
cusation is reversed and he is implicated as being in league
with the robbers. With all society seemingly conspiring
against him, Ruffigny proclaims:
But what chance had I, an unprotected child, without a
friend, and without a name, to be able to make good my own
cause, and defeat the malicious accusation which was
threatened against mel (p. 124)
The story of Ruffigny poignantly stresses the plight of
a little child struggling desperately against human indiffer
ence and the cruel oppression and injustice of the legal ma
chinery and established authority of human institutions. It
is only after Ambrose Fleetwood recognizes the justice of the;
boy's cause that help is forthcoming and redress is obtained.
In Deloraine. the story of Margaret best illustrates
chis idea. Margaret's unhappiness and tragedy really begin
with her father's tyranny. He discourages her love for Wil
liam because he desires to contract a more favorable union
that will sustain him in his old age.
He intreated, he adjured her to have compassion upon
. 87
him. All his early days had been spent in misery, the
fault of a precocious error. The heyday of his life was
passed. The evening of his existence was coming on, and
demanded its indulgences. (I, 162):
When he imposes upon Margaret a union with Lord Borradale's
son, she complies only through a sense of filial duty. But
when her health fails, her mother berates him with this ex
postulation:
I know that you are a slave to the pride of birth, and
the trappings of nobility. The longer you have been con
demned to be without them, you love them the more. Old
man, old man, what will you do without your daughter? You
have been accustomed to see her everyday: when you do not
see her, you think of her. What will you do with your no
bility, if you have none to inherit it after you? Will
you give your daughter in exchange for it? (I, 215-16)
By the time Margaret’s father repents, it is too late. Wil
liam has left the country, and the attempts to reunite the
Lovers start a series of tragic events which end with the
ieath of both.
ln Mandeville. the stories of Audley and Holloway again
Illustrate man's cruelty to man. In introducing Audley
Mandeville, Godwin states that he had "from the hour of his
airth been the object of his father’s persecution" (I, p.
52). Audley draws his father’s resentment because he is a
sickly lad and the father, a man of the sea, glories in ro
bust and athletic accomplishments. When Audley announces
lis desire to marry Amelia Montfort, a distant relative from
an estranged branch of the family, his father.is incensed.
He cries out: _______________________________________________
88"
Do not you know, that the marriage, of the heir is the most
considerable that can happen in a family like ours? . . .
Do you think, because I take but little notice of you, and
judge it a misfortune to my race that I should have such a
son, that I will allow you to run your own course, and be
the ruin of our house to the last posterity? (I, 65-66).
,\melia is given in marriage to Thomson, a crippled seaman,
and later dies in childbirth. Audley, embittered by his
father's tyrannical methods, cries out against his caprice,
his lack of love, and his failure to fulfill his parental
obligations. He concludes his tirade by saying,
I have been a prisoner under the paternal roof, and have
more dreaded to approach you, than the vilest slave to the
most cruel eastern tyrant. (I, 69)-
The activities of Holloway, an unscrupulous lawyer, alsc
exemplify this cruelty and tyranny. However, rather than re
ly on violence and restraint, he uses the subtler form of
flattery and hypocrisy. In his attempt to gain the Mande-
ville estate, he wins Audley's confidence by posing as a
benefactor. He saves Audley's coastal lands from invasion by
a fishing venture which Holloway has himself instigated. The
gratitude of Audley soon matures into affection, and the
scheming lawyer manages to set up residence in the Mandeville
household. He is declared the executor of the estate upon
the death of Charles' uncle, and is named guardian to Charles
and Henrietta. In dealing with both Charles and his uncle,
Holloway and Mallison, his nephew, take full advantage of the
force of flattery. In describing the use of flattery, Godwin
89
writes:
It is no longer necessary for him who wishes to possess
himself of the good things of the world, to the disposal
of which he is not born, to sally forth with guns, and
swords, and the various instruments of offence. There is
one little instrument with which he opens the purse of his
neighbour with much less miscarriage, than with staves, anc.
cutlasses, and bludgeons,--a smile. . . . Flattery is the
art, that makes him who is accomplished in it, the master
of the masters of the earth. Tickle the palm of the rich
man, and the gold falls from his grip, and is all your own.
(Ill, 77)*
[During Charles' recuperation from a riding accident, the law
yer continues his dominance over his victim. Holloway and
[fellison hound Charles day and night until he is driven into
r
a virtual state of helplessness. Fortunately, their long-
range plans of gaining the estate finally fail, but by their
domineering hold on Charles and his thoughts, they precipi
tate the clash between Mandeville and Clifford.
This section dramatically reveals how Godwin interweaves
Lnto his novels striking examples of man's cruelty to man.
This, coupled with the forces of organized institutions and
established authority, can make life intolerable, unless, as
Godwin suggests, the rule of justice is employed in all human
relationships. Further examples of this injustice will be
seen in the following sections.
Property. Wealth, and Poverty
In Political Justice. Godwin expounds his theory of an
equal distribution of property by maintaining that
------------- ga
ther e is nothing that more powerfully tends to distort our
.judgment and opinions, than erroneous notions concerning
the goods of fortune. (II, 421),
Justice again is the yardstick to be used in the appropria
tion of material possessions.
Every man has a right to that, the exclusive possessions of
which being awarded to him, a greater sum of benefit or
pleasure will result, than could have arisen from its be
ing otherwise appropriated. (II, 423)
Based on the principles of equal and impartial justice, the
(
good things of the world are a common stock upon which one
man has as valid a title as another to draw for what he
wants. Godwin divides the good things of the world into four
classes:
subsistence; the means of intellectual and moral improve
ment; unexpensive gratifications; and such gratifications,
as are by no means essential to healthful and vigorous ex
istence, and cannot be purchased but with considerable la
bor and industry. (II, 424)
The last class, Godwin contends, poses the greatest obstacle
Ln the way of equal distribution, and yet he insists that it
Is inferior to the other three classes. He abhors the prac
tice of accumulating luxuries, not for themselves, but for
the love of distinction.
At present, there is no more certain road to the general
deference of mankind, than the exhibition of wealth. . . .
The man who possesses and disburses money in profusion, can
scarcely fail to procure the attendance of the obsequious
man and the flatterer.(II, 427)
Political Justice presents a hypothetical situation in
which wealth and ostentation are greeted with disapprobation
and the man of generous and expansive sentiments is treated
with lavish attention. This situation will show the true
worth of luxuries and superfluities and will actually prevail
when good sense and clear and correct perception gain the
ascendancy in the world.
If, in any society, wealth be estimated at its true value,
and accumulation and monopoly be regarded as the seals of
mischief, injustice and dishonour, instead of being treated,
as titles to attention and deference, in that society the
accommodation of human life will tend to their level, and
the inequality of conditions will be destroyed. (II, 441)s
Continuing his discussion, Godwin argues that the pres
ent system of property creates a sense of dependence on the
part of the servile and lowly classes, exhibits a perpetual
spectacle of injustice that leads men astray in their de
sires, discourages the desire for intellectual attainments,
and multiplies vice by generating the crimes of the poor and
the passion and oppression of the rich (Book VIII, Chap. III).
The discouragement of intellectual attainments is designated
as a particular mischief of this system of property. Since
man's ability to improve and reform society rests on intel
lectual advancement, Godwin conceives this discouragement to
be a particular abomination by insisting,
Accumulated property treads the power of thought in the
dust, extinguishes the sparks of genius, and reduces the
great mass of mankind to sordid cares. (II, 460)»
The last argument dealing with the multiplication of vice is
ilso strongly emphasized by Godwin. By showing the disparity
... 92“
of accumulated property, he argues that the poor man is al
ways at the mercy of the rich.
. . . justice is frequently a matter of expensive purchasej
and the man with the longest purse is proverbially victori
ous. A consciousness of these facts must be expected to
render the rich little cautious of offence in his dealings
with the poor, and to inspire him with a temper overbear
ing, dictatorial and tyrannical. (I, 18-19)>
The true worth of luxury and wealth, the effects of an
unequal distribution of property, and the oppression of the
poor by the rich are the main themes treated in Godwin’s nov
els.^ However, these reflections are rather spotty and iso
lated. Two reasons may be advanced for this statement.
:?irst of all, Godwin is not an economist. He is not inter
ested in economic problems as such, but with the moral as
pects of these problems. He is more concerned with questions
of justice, duty, and morality in regard to accumulated prop
erty than he is with the practical application of these prin
ciples to concrete situations. In the second place, Godwin
is handicapped by the medium of his writing. Since he is
writing about people as they are, not as they should be, he
encounters some difficulty in introducing such utopian ideas
into the framework of his stories.
Caleb Williams, St. Leon, and Mandeville reflect these
;hemes more clearly than the other novels. The topic of
wealth has been touched upon to some degree in the discussior.
of the ideal of honor and prestige and also in the display of
man's inhumanity to man, and a repetition of those ideas will
not be included here.
In Caleb Williams, in addition to showing the hollowness
of wealth when linked with wrong motives and unjust desires,
Godwin attempts to demonstrate that wealth creates great in
equalities and places the poor man at the mercy of the rich.
Falkland, in reproaching Tyrrel, reminds him of his obliga
tion as a man of wealth.
It makes one's heart ache to think, that one man is born tc
the inheritance of every superfluity, while the whole share
of another, without any demerit of his, is drudgery and
starving; and that all this is indispensable. We that are
rich, Mr. Tyrrel, must do everything in our power to en
lighten the yoke of these unfortunate people. We must not
use the advantage that accident has given us with an un
merciful hand.(p. 96)
The stories of Emily and Hawkins emphasize this theme
clearly. When Emily refuses to marry Grimes, Tyrrel, using
his wealth, hires servants to imprison her and later attempts
;o marry her forcibly to her unwanted suitor. A girl of Emi
ly's financial standing, cut off from all family ties and
family income, becomes an easy target for the whims of a ca
pricious master like Tyrrel. Hawkins also finds himself a
poor match for Tyrrel's wealth. The fact that right is on
his side is of little significance in the battle.
It was mere madness in him to think of contesting with a
man of Mr. Tyrrel's eminence and fortune. It was a fawn
contending with a lion. Nothing could have been more easy
to predict, than that it was of no avail for him to have
right on his side, when his adversary had influence and
wealth, and therefore could so victoriously Justify any
--------------------------------------------------------------------- cft-
extravagances that he might think proper to commit, (p. 89),
Even Caleb finds himself incapable of challenging his
employer’s wealth and power. When he attempts to reveal
Falkland's guilt, he is merely rebuffed. No one will believe
;3uch an accusation from a servant who is himself charged with
robbing his master. The magistrate upon hearing Caleb's
story exclaims:
A fine time of it indeed it would be if, when gentlemen of
six thousand a-year take up their servants for robbing
them, those servants could trump up such accusations as
these, and could get any magistrate or court of justice to
listen to them! (p. 3^8).
To which, Caleb replies:
And this at last was the justice of mankind! A man under
certain circumstances, shall not be heard in the detection
of a crime, because he has not been a participator of it!
The story of a flagitious murder shall be listened to with
indifference, while an innocent man is hunted, like a wild
beast, to the farthest corners of the earth! Six thousand
a year shall protect a man from accusation; and the validi
ty of an impeachment shall be superseded because the author
of it is a servant, (p. 3^9)
Though innocent of the charge of robbery, Caleb is unable to
overcome his more influential adversary. When brought before
;he servants of Falkland's household, he can only issue this
pathetic plea:
Fellow-servants! Mr. Falkland is a man of rank and for
tune; he is your master. I am a poor country lad, without
a friend in the world. That is a ground of real differ
ence to a certain extent; but it is not a sufficient ground,
for the subversion of justice.(p. 213)-
The story of St. Leon deals in a large measure with this
question of wealth and poverty. Although St. Leon possesses
.......... 95"
Limitless wealth, Godwin is careful to emphasize that other
bhings in human existence are far more valuable. The at
tractiveness of wealth is clearly emphasized by the Count as
he retells his story. He has his moment of glory when he
Learns the secret of untold wealth. However, even this show
of wealth does not insure for him a serene and abiding happi
ness. His story is one of misery, loneliness, and suffering.
In spite of his wealth, his son leaves him, he becomes es
tranged from his wife and daughters, he is treated with mal
ice and contempt by suspicious strangers, and he is forever
hounded by the authorities. Alone, distraught, and frus
trated, St. Leon arrives at a philosophical conclusion con
cerning wealth, luxury, and worldly ambitions.
What are gold and Jewels and precious utensils? Mere dross
and dirt. The human face and the human heart, reciproca
tions of kindness and love, and all the nameless sympathies,
of our nature,— these are the only objects worthy being at
tached to. What are rank and station?--the homage of the
multitude and the applause of fools. Let me Judge for my
self 1 The value of a man is in his intrinsic qualities; in
that of which power cannot strip him, and which adverse
fortune cannot take away. That for which he is indebted to
circumstances, is mere trapping and tinsel, (p. 93)
Throughout the story Godwin presents situations which
show that the love of wealth is filled with iniquitous and
disastrous results. One point stressed is that a person,
once in possession of wealth, can never be satisfied unless
ie accumulates more. In St. Leon's case, the gaming tables
are the answer. Of his own weakness, the Count admits:
96"
This frame of mind led me on insensibly to the most ex
travagant adventures. It threw me in the first place into
the hands of notorious gamblers. Men of real property
shrunk from the stakes I proposed; as, though they were in
some degree infected with the venom of gaming, their in
fection was not so deep as mine, nor with my desperation of
thought, (p. 55)
Contrasted with St. Leon's view is Marguerite's approach
to the problem. She values character and intellectual at
tainment more than the love of wealth. When St. Leon's for
tune is lost, and claims are made for gambling losses, Mar-
( pierite manages to pay off all debts. The honor and reputa
tion of the family name are at stake, and the suffering wife
:Ls determined to pay off the debts and then leave the coun
try, "but she would not leave behind her for the last de
scendants of the counts de St. Leon any avoidable disgrace"
'p. 72). Again, when the family takes up residence in the
rustic setting of Switzerland, Marguerite displays a wise ap
proach to their impoverished state. She considers poverty a
very slight evil and commends the happiness of the poor peas
antry in the neighborhood. In referring to her new neigh
bors, she says:
One disadvantage, indeed, they were subjected to,— the ab
sence of cultivation and learning. . . . She wished her
children to attain intellectual refinement, possess fully
the attributes of a rational nature, and to be as far re
moved as possible from the condition of stocks and stones,
by accumulating a magazine of thoughts, and by a rich and
cultivated sensibility, (p. 78)
finally, she condemns wealth and luxuries on the basis that
bhey result from the oppression exercised on the poor._______
' 9 7 1
Alas, Reginald! It is, I fear, too true, that the splendour
in which we lately lived has its basis in oppression; and
that the superfluities of the rich are a boon extorted from
the hunger and misery of the poor! (p. 85)*-
The simple, rustic life of Switzerland helps to soothe
the Count's troubled mind and permits him to readjust his
values temporarily regarding the worthwhile things of the
world. He admits that there are certain pleasures in this
world that wealth cannot attain. After extolling the beau
ties of nature and luxury of domestic affections, he con
cludes by admitting that "wealth serves no other purpose thar.
:o deprave the soul, and adulterate the fountains of genuine
delight" (p. 101).
r In Mandeville. scattered references to this topic of
property and wealth are made. Regarding the rights of prop
erty, Henrietta, at one point, says:
. . . the proprietor of a large estate was merely a steward
for the benefit of others. All wealth, when accurately ex
amined, resolved itself into a certain quantity of human
labour; and they who performed the labour, whatever were
the artificial regulations which society, wisely or other
wise, adopted on the subject, were entitled to benefit. (II,
133).-
On the subject of the inequality of wealth causing oppression
and cruelty, Holloway theorizes:
The whole world, . . . the civilised world, was a scene
of warfare under the mask of civility. Every man oppres
sed his neighbour. The rich man oppressed the poor; and
that was his supreme delight. Such a man came into the
world with a token of good fortune on his forehead; and he
was a lord over his fellows, merely because chance so de
creed it. . . . The rich man made no scruple to consume up-
on his unnatural appetites, what, diffused, would produce
: -8-
health and comfort to hundreds; and the laws, which were
framed by the rich exclusively for the protection of their
monopoly, bore them out in this. (II, 75~76),
Godwin's theory of making the accumulation of wealth an
undesirable action and thereby directing the desire for es
teem into other worthwhile channels is clearly suggested in
one of the early episodes. Clifford, though descended from z.
noble ancestry, represents an impoverished branch of the
family. At college, he delivers a rather lengthy oration on
uhe evils of wealth and the advantages of poverty. So ef
fective are his declamations that all the students thereafter
look with disdain on wealth and with favor on poverty. In
his speech, Clifford suggests that the truly independent man
is the one who has the fewest wants because he need not fear
any change of fortune, worry about insufficient income, or
uhe honesty of his employees. He decries the inequalities of
wealth with these words:
The earth supplies us freely with her production, and in
dustry multiplies them. These productions are then dividec
among the inhabitants of the earth. But how divided? One
man gets the share of ten thousand, which he wastes and
dissipates in thoughtless profusion, as far as he can, and
then gives away the remainder with niggard hand, to the
pining and anxious wretches to whom the whole was indebted
for existence. (I, 242-43)
The rich man, Clifford maintains, would not relish his luxu
ries if he knew the misery and the want of the poor: "every
costly morsel that he eats, is mixed with the tears and the
curses of the poor by whose labours it was procured" (I, 243).
_ _ . w
He then proceeds to praise his own poverty because it results,
in his independence and liberty. Conversely, he suggests,
she rich man is a slave. Having made people servile to him,
he now becomes dependent upon them for every phase of his
living.
He cannot move without scores of menials to attend him. He^
cannot dine without twenty dishes before him. He cannot
sleep, but on thrice-driven beds of down, . . . He calls
himself the master of all these, and he is the slave of all.
(I, 239)*
The young student then insists that the pursuit of wealth is
sime-consuming and is done at the expense of nobler activi
ties. The rich man's time is spent with thoughts of trade
and barter and with anxieties for losses and gains. Finally,
Clifford sums up his oration by severely denouncing the self
ish and luxurious possessions of the upper class people of
his day.
Godwin is not attempting to say that poverty is more de
sirable than wealth. He sees that in poverty there is just
as much chance for error and vice as in riches. His positior.
is more clearly seen in Mandeville's reaction to Clifford's
speech.
I saw that poverty was environed on all sides with temp
tations, urging and impelling a man, to sell his soul, to
sacrifice his integrity: to debase the clearness of his
spirit, and to become the bond slave of a thousand vices.
(I, 257-58)
Neither poverty nor wealth is Godwin's position; equality of
wealth and property based on .justice and benevolence is his
utopian ideal.
The hollowness of wealth is emphasized in the novel when
all the resources of Mandeville's estate cannot check his
prejudiced and burning hatred of Clifford. In the last vol
ume Mandeville surveys his own tragedy and proclaims:
What matters it? I carry a poison in my bosom, to which
they [riches] afford no antidote. I bear with me a blem
ished reputation, a wound that not all the arts 'of medi
cine, and all the incantations of witchcraft, can heal.
What avails it then for a man to be rich, who knows that
he is destined to be miserable? (Ill, 15)*
The Judicial System and, Punishment
One of the evils of political institutions, Godwin in
sists, is the maladministration of laws, and the Infliction of
punishment. In Book III, Chapter V of 'Political Justice he
asks the question, "Who has authority to make laws?" He
answers his own question by contending that neither man nor
society, can make law but can only declare the law which has
already been decreed by abstract and immutable justice.
Legislation, as it has been usually understood, is not
an affair of human competence. Immutable reason is the
true legislator, and her decrees it behoves us to investi
gate. The function of society extend [sic.], not to making,
but the interpreting of law; it cannot decree, it can only
declare that, which the nature of things has already de
creed, and the propriety of which irresistibly flows from
the circumstance of the case. (I, 221)
Legislation, he continues, is in almost every country gross
ly the favorer of the rich against the poor. He cites the
laws governing game, revenue and other such items as an
---------------------------------------- xor
attempt to throw the burden from the rich upon the poor. He
also Insists that by the same principle, "robbery and other
offences, which the wealthier part of the community have no
temptation to commit, are treated as capital crimes" (I, 21);
and are attended with the most vicious and inhumane punish
ments .
The judicial system is further condemned because of the
Lndefiniteness of the law. Godwin maintains that laws pre
tend to foretell what a man will do in the future; its task
is to describe what will be the actions of mankind, and to
dictate decisions respecting them. Halevy summarizes God
win's position on this problem with this passage:
The law is efficacious to the extent to which it defines,
arbitrarily selected crimes, and condemns acts which the
principle of utility does not condemn, but becomes propor
tionally less necessary as its prescriptions coincide more
with the prescription of public utility: . . . The law is
essentially indefinite: it has to multiply its prescrip
tions in order to try to equal by its 'complexity the multi
plicity of the particular cases. Consequently, it is un
certain I
Godwin insists that every case is a rule to itself. No ac
tion of any man is ever the same as any other action or has
ever the same degree of utility or injury. The uniqueness of
jsach lawsuit complicates the administration of law and often
makes for inequality and injustice. Positive laws are
13Elie Halevy, The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism
(New York, 1928), pp. 196-97.
1 0 2 -
mechanical standards to which men conform to save them
selves the trouble of discovering how justice requires
them to act in certain cases.I2*
Godwin's sympathy for the person apprehended in a crime
stems from his belief that crime "is not the native heritagej
but the accident, of the species, of which we are members"
[Talfourd, p. 16). In Book IV, Chapter VIII of Political
Justice. Godwin uses the doctrine of necessity to emphasize
the injustice of punishment.
. . . the doctrine of necessity will teach us to look upon
punishment with no complacence, and at all time to prefer
the most direct means of encountering error, the develop
ment of truth. Whenever punishment is employed under this
section, it will be employed, not for any intrinsic recom
mendations it possesses, but only as it shall appear to
conduct to general utility. On the contrary, it is usually
imagined, that, independently of the supposed utility of
punishment, there is a proper desert in the criminal, a
certain fitness in the nature of things that renders pain
the suitable concomitant of vice. (I, 393)
Godwin continues his argument against punishment by de
nouncing the feeling of injustice and distaste it excites in
ehe sufferer. Instead of impressing the criminal with his
error or vice, punishment tends to alienate the mind from the
eruth with which the criminal is to be impressed. He argues
ehat punishment on the basis of restraint, reformation, and
example is unacceptable. He further insists that the idea of
eunishment is fallacious because no two crimes are alike
li*'John Plamenatz, The English Utilitarians (Oxford,
1949), P. 94.
either from intent or result, and it is foolish to attempt to
match the form of punishment with the degree of delinquency.
No standard of delinquency ever has been, or ever can be
discovered. No two crimes were ever alike; and therefore
the reducing them explicitly or implicitly, to general
classes . . . is absurd. Nor is it less absurd to attempt
to proportion the degree of suffering to the degree of de
linquency, when the latter can never be discovered. (II,
347-48)
: furthermore, punishment is wrong because it stems from such
potential errors as the uncertainty of evidence, the unreli
ability of witnesses, the lack of absolute impartiality, and
:he disadvantages of a criminal suit in which passions and
Indignation rule. Although opposed to all forms of punish
ment, Godwin is especially vehement against the practice of
imprisonment. Of this system he writes:
The most common method pursued in depriving the offender of
the liberty he has abused, is to erect a public Jail, in
which offenders of every description are thrust together,
and left to form among themselves what species of society
they can. Jails are, to a proverb, seminaries of vice; and
he must be an uncommon [man] proficient in the passion and
practice of injustice; or a man of sublime virtue, who does
not come out of them a much worse man than he entered. (II,
385)
The social ideas regarding the maladministration of laws,
^.nd the infliction of punishment are clearly reflected in
Godwin's novels. The theme that the laws favor the rich over
the poor is treated to some extent in the previous section by
the examples of the oppression practiced by the wealthy on
those less fortunate. References to Caleb Williams. St. Leon,
Cloudesley, and Deloraine will constitute the bulk of the
- - ' ror
discussion of this section.
In Caleb Williams. Hawkins deliberately refrains from
seeking redress by law. The reason for his position is ex
plained in this passage:
Hawkins had hitherto carefully avoided, notwithstanding the
injuries he had suffered, the attempting to right himself
by legal process; being of the opinion that law was better
adapted for a weapon of tyranny in the hands of the rich,
than for a shield to protect the humbler part of the com
munity against their usurpations, (p. 91)-
ltfhen Hawkins finally decides to resort to the courts to pro
ject his rights, Tyrrel consults an attorney and by various
subterfuges prevents the issue from ever being resolved. The
direct refutation of the charge is the least of Tyrrel's con
cern, but his object is "by affidavits, motions, pleas, de
murrers, flaws, and appeals, to protract the question from
;erm to term, and from court to court" (pp. 91~92), until
Hawkins' resources are exhausted. When young Hawkins breaks
down the barricade erected by Tyrrel, the latter has him ar
rested under the Black Act, which decrees the death penalty
for a criminal who disguises his face and who arms himself
with a sword or other offensive weapon. The truth of the
matter is that young Hawkins had buttoned the cape of his
coat over his face and had carried an iron to wrench open the
padlock on the barricade.
Caleb also finds that the courts favor the rich. At one
point during his harassment by Falkland, the young hero cries
■ ..“- r o ' 5 "
out in desperation,
The 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 principles, (p. 350),
Even Falkland is aware of the partiality of the courts and
with confidence warns Caleb, "Your innocence shall be of no
service to you; I laugh at so feeble a defence" (p. 191).
tfhen Caleb is first apprehended following his escape from the
house, he can only proclaim his innocence.
I was totally ignorant of the charge to be advanced against
me; and not a little astonished, when it was in my power to
be . . . the accuser of Mr. Falkland, to find the princi
ples of equity so completely reversed, as for the innocent
but instructed individual to be the party accused and suf
fering. (p. 203)-
Williams discovers that the laws are completely at the serv
ice of the powerful, and that the very machinery of Justice
san be used to further Falkland's purpose. He cries out in
protest against these injustices on several occasions. Dur
ing his stay with the gang of thieves, he engages in a rather
scholarly conversation with Raymond concerning the equity of
the laws. In the discussion, the outlaw leader presents this
view of the laws:
Either be the friend of the law, or its adversary. Depend
upon it that, wherever there are laws at all, there will be
laws against such people as you and me. Either, therefore,,
we all of us deserve the vengeance of the law, or law is
not the proper instrument for correcting the misdeeds of
mankind. (p. 278),
Eater on in the same discussion, Raymond reveals his apprais-
al of the courts: _______________________________________________ _
1061
Who ever was fool enough to volunteer a trial, where those
who are to decide think more of the horror of the thing of
which he is accused, than whether he were the person that
did it; and where the nature of our motives is to be col
lected from a set of witnesses, that no wise man would
trust for a fair representation of the most indifferent ac
tion of his life? (pp. 279~80)
When Caleb is conducted to prison, Godwin devotes sever
al pages to a description of prison life and conditions. He
comments on the squalor and filth of the prison, saying, "The1
dirt of a prison speaks sadness to the heart, and appears to
be already in a state of putridity and infection” (p. 221).
He describes the dungeons as
cells, seven and a half feet by six and a half, below the
surface of the ground, damp, without window, light, or air,
except from a few holes worked for that purpose in the doori
(p. 225)
Although Caleb relates no incidents of physical punishment
during his imprisonment, Godwin emphasized that the solitude,
silence, and banishment from society are equally intolerable
tortures. The system of solitary confinement is also con
demned by Godwin as inhumane. The main evil, Godwin sug
gests, is that it precludes the sufferer from enjoying the
company of other human beings. In describing the dungeon in
which Caleb is imprisoned, he writes:
I was conducted to a room called the strong-room, the
door of which opened into the middle cell of the range of
dungeons. . . . The door had not been opened for years; the
air was putrid; and the walls hung round with d&mps and
mildew. The fetters, the padlock, and the staple were em
ployed, as in the former case, in addition to which they
put on me a pair of handcuffs. For my first provision, the:
keeper sent me nothing but a bit of bread, mouldy and______
J ■ ro7‘
black, and some dirty and stinking water, (p. 251)
To Godwin, the main evil of penal institutions is the incapa
bility of reforming the inmates. Instead of curing the crim
inal’s vicious tendencies, and acting as a deterrent for fu
ture crimes, the system engenders bitterness in the heart of
the criminal and divorces him from vitally needed participa
tion in human society.
These same ideas are found in the other novels. In St.
Leon, the Impoverished Count cannot obtain immediate redress
in the courts because his adversary is rich and influential.
When imprisoned unceremoniously at Constance, St. Leon
Launches out on an attack on the maladministration of the
Laws. He denounces the practice of jailing a man without
proper investigation and hearing.
Is it . . .a part of the justice you boast of, to drag a
man . . . from his home without any intimation of the cause
of his being so treated, and then, instead of investigating
immediately the charge against him, to send him to prison
instead? (p. 218)«
Later, at the trial, St. Leon confronts the magistrates and
berates them for the treatment he has received.
But what is this that you call justice? You put together
circumstances in your own mind: you form conjectures; and
then, without information, accuser, or oath,/ without the
semblance of guilt, you condemn me to prison, and expect
to extort from me confession.(p. 221)
When St. Leon is taken prisoner in the Inquisition, God
win, in a similar vein to that of Caleb Williams. capitalizes
on the situation and exposes the abuses of the prison system
......................................................... 108
employed by the inquisitors. After describing the filth, the
crowded conditions, and the melancholy aspects of the in
mates, he comments on the rule of silence employed by the
prison officials. St. Leon, when informed that no conversa
tion is permitted with anyone, questions the tyranny of such
a . regulation.
What a profound and inconceivable refinement in the art of
tyranny is this silence! The jailor might well tell me,
that beneath his roofs there was neither complaint nor mur
mur, that the very soul of its inhabitants was subdued, ancL
that they suffered without astonishment or indignation.
This is the peculiar prerogative of despotism: it produces
many symptoms of the same general appearance as those which
are derived from liberty and justica (p. 320) ,
In Cloudesley. when Danvers refuses the plea of his
servant to restore Julian to his inheritance, Godwin features
the confidence with which Danvers proceeds, knowing his serv
ant cannot prove his case in a court of law.
He [Cloudesley] had perhaps no proof to adduce, that, in a
court of law, he could put down the formal attestation with
which I was furnished. Then, in a court of law, money is
everything. . . . What a delightful resource is to be found
in the procrastination of the law, where the steps to be
multiplied in behalf of the rich man are eternal, and every
step requires all but the purse of a monarch, before it can
be surmounted.(II, 141-42)*
Danvers is aware that truth and justice can easily be
bhwarted. Even if Cloudesley appeals to the head of the
Family, the elder Lord Danvers, Richard is still confident
that the servant's accusation will carry very little influ
ence.
In what temper of mind would lord Danvers listen to this
T091
tale? He would have said to the late lord Alton's menial,
who had come over to England to prefer such a charge, Who
are you, that I should give credence to your story? If you
persist in it, go before the king, before the assembled
lords, and the courts of law: but come not to me. (II, 145“
46)«
Danvers' confidence that he will not be exposed also resides
in his knowledge of the structure and operation of the
courts. He reveals his knowledge in the following passage:
The judge and the jury would be called upon to decide, not
according to the instinctive feelings by which an ingenuous
mind is led to the touchstone of truth, but by rules of
evidence, by acts of parliament, and all those musty prece
dents by which truth is ever and anon overwhelmed with dis
comfiture and confusion.(II, 152),
The. inflexibility of the law is the theme emphasized in
Deloraine. After the murder of William, Deloraine labels it
as a deed of terrific violence, saying, "I assumed in my own
person the robe and the function of public justice" (II, l4l),
Dut in explaining the motives which prompted his act, he re
veals extenuating circumstances which he feels a court of law
would not bother to consider.
In the manner of the death of William there was nothing
ambiguous. It was clear how he came by his fate; and there
was witness in abundance to bring it home to me. In my owr
eyes I stood justified for the act of destroying him. But
I knew enough of the laws of my country, to know that that
which in my mind was vindication, would not be so received
in an English court of justice as to obtain my acquittal of
the crime of murder. The death of Margaret, for I believed,
she was dead, would not fail, though my hands were clear of
the charge of perpetrating it, to operate so as grievously
to exasperate a judge and jury against me. The two events
were parts of one act, and were accomplished in the same
hour. I should certainly be regarded as a monster of in
iquity, hardened in crime (ill, 54-55)*
'rxcn
Godwin devotes several pages to the proceedings of the in
quest and criticizes the English law as applied in the case
If murder.
Nothing . . . was more precise than the expounding and
application of the English law in the case of murder. It
is like the application of a cloth-yard in a mercer’s shop.
. . . The life of the individual arraigned, is disposed of
in obedience to terms and definitions. The only question
is, Does the deed under consideration come up to the rule?
Just as in the shop of the mercer we decide, Does the cloth
measure three feet of twelve inches each? The investiga
tion is of malice; in other words, Had the individual ac
cused so much time given, between the sight of the offence
that irritated him, and the infliction of the mortal wound,
as may logically and metaphysically be interpreted to have
afforded room for deliberation? . . . No consideration is
had of the characters of the parties, or the nature of the
provocation. The heart of the judge is dead within him,
and so of the rest. (II, 168-69)*
In Catherine's plea to Travers at the close of the story, the
inflexibility of the law is again emphasized. She criticizes
;he law that scorns to take account of previous circumstances,
It [the law] comes with its scales, and weighs every thing
to the partition of a hair. It comes with its measures,
and takes account of roods, and yards, and inches of space,
and reckons hours, and quarters of, an hour, and, minutes,
and seconds of time. And it finds in the present case the
required sum of space and time, and pronounces a crime of
malice prepense, and verdict of wilful murder. It hurries
the actor therefore to an ignominious death.(Ill, 294-95)
Universal Benevolence
In spite of his condemnation of the abuses of a corrupt
society and the injustices of human institutions, Godwin
still maintains a persistent faith in man's ability to reforir
and/progress. Godwin saw quite plainly ’ ’that men could be
“ — - nr
jrery much different than they are--so much better, indeed,
as to be virtually quite d i f f e r e n t . " ^ He designates this
jbheory as the "perfectibility of man," and explains that man,
bhough incapable of perfection, is capable of indefinite im
provement. This progressive improvement, he contends, is to
be motivated by an appeal to the reason and intellect by the
Fundamental principles of justice, by which each individual
.is to regulate his conduct to produce the greatest good for
bhe greatest number. This broad-sweeping humanitarianism is
referred to in Godwin's work as "universal benevolence."
Mr. Godwin was the first whole-length broacher of the doc
trine of Utility. He took the whole duty of man-- . . .
passions, affections, rules, weaknesses, oaths, gratitudes}
promises, friendship, natural piety, patriotism,--infused
them in the glowing cauldron of universal benevolence, and
ground them into powder under the unsparing weight of the
conviction of the individual understanding.16
However, universal benevolence can only proceed from
virtuous action. By virtue, Godwin means
any action or actions of an intelligent being, proceeding
from kind and benevolent intention, and having a tendency
to contribute to general happiness. (Political Justice. I,
149)-
ftn action which may be pure in its intent cannot be virtuous
Lf it produces mischievous results. Likewise, an action
William Godwin: Apostle of Universal Benevolence,"
The Times (London) Literary Supplement. April 4, 1936, pp.
285-86.
•^"Cloudesley: A Tale," Edinburgh Review, 51:144-59*
April_l8.3Q_.____________ _______________________________________
------------ ---------_____ . x r r
Deneficial in consequence is not virtuous if it proceeds
E*rom corrupt and degrading motives. Godwin is careful to de
nounce any benevolent action that proceeds from self-love or
Love of esteem and gratitude. It is true, he asserts, that
benevolence at first originates from a habitual tendency to
desire agreeable sensation. However, as this habit continues
ho operate, the means are converted into ends, so that
after having habituated ourselves to promote the happiness
of our child, our family, our country or our species, we
are at length brought to approve and desire that happiness
without retrospect to ourselves. It happens in this in
stance that we are actuated by the most perfect disinter
estedness, and willingly submit to tortures and death,
rather than see injury committed upon the object of our af
fections. (Political Justice, I, 426-27)
When this disinterestedness permeates all human relation
ships and sincere altruism supersedes self-love, the state
of universal benevolence has been reached, according to God
win. This ideal does not rule out the value of marital and
domestic affections. Many writers have criticized Godwin
for his condemnation of marriage and private affections in
Political Justice. In fairness to him, it should be men
tioned that he revised this early opinion and later came to
accept both the need and value of private affections as a
bontributing factor to his larger theme. Brailsford sums up
Godwin's position as follows:
Let a man love his wife above all other women, but "univer
sal benevolence" will forbid him to exploit other women in
order to surround her with luxury. Let him love his sons,
I but virtue will forbid him to accumulate a fortune for____
1 T 3 _
them by the sweated labour of poor men's children. Let
him love his fellow-countrymen, but reason forbids him to
seek their good by enslaving other races and waging ag
gressive wars. (pp. 161-62) ' .
The spirit of universal benevolence' holds a high posi
tion in Godwin's social philosophy. In his scale of happi
ness "the man of benevolence" occupies the uppermost level.
In describing him, Godwin writes:
He enjoys all the good that mankind possess, and all the
good that he perceives to be in reserve for them. No man
so truly promotes his own interest, as he that forgets it.
No man reaps so copious a harvest of pleasure, as he who
thinks only of the pleasures of other men. (Political Jus
tice . I, 448)
This theme is evident throughout Godwin's novels and,
at least, has been implied in the discussion of previous sec
tions of this chapter. In a negative way this theme is ad-
I
vanced in the situations which show "man’s inhumanity to
man." The solution to human oppression and man's cruelty to
man is embodied in this ideal of benevolence. Man will be
able to see "things as they are" when he reaches a true
understanding of benevolence. Ideas of honor, wealth, pres
tige, ambition— all these fail when not properly directed
toward this one ideal.
The greatest tragedy in man's failure to follow this
principle is that it cuts off needy and desperate individuals
from society. In a sense, Godwin is saying that the unfortu
nate characters displayed in his novels might have fared bet
ter had they been the objects of someone's universal _
............... irr
benevolence. The death of Emily and the plight of Hawkins
and his son might have been avoided. Caleb might not -have
[
suffered so much had he received the kindly assistance of so
ciety. Mandeville might have turned out better had someone
rushed to his aid during his early misfortunes. The tragedy
of Julian might have been eased had Cloudesley and Danvers
repented sooner. Deloraine might have been hanged for murder'
had Travers shunned his benevolent promptings.
Isolated examples and varying degrees of benevolence are
presented in the novels. In Caleb Williams, Falkland exem
plifies certain benevolent virtues. He engages in humanitar
ian gestures and kindly assists Emily and Hawkins when they
are in distress. However, Falkland fails to achieve the high
ievel of true disinterestedness as he is prompted largely by
love of honor.
The story of Fleetwood is designed to show the great
value of this principle. Fleetwood's tragedy results from
his inability to follow these principles in his own life.
Instead of turning his efforts to the outside world and to
liankind in general, he seeks his happiness in his own self
ish wishes.
. . . his pursuit after happiness, through various scenes,
is uniformly directed by the narrow principle of self-
gratification; there is no aspiration towards promoting
t/
- ■ — ■ ------------------- H 5'
the public advantage, or the happiness of i n d i v i d u a l s
In the story, Godwin uses Macneil to counteract Fleetwood’s
Weakness. When Fleetwood confesses his misanthropic tenden
cies, Macneil attempts to enlighten him by revealing the ef
fects of a life governed by universal benevolence.
How much good neighbourhood there is in the world! what
readiness in every man to assist every stranger that comes
in his way, if his carriage is broken down, if his horse
has run and left him, or almost whatever his distress! how
cheerfully does he give his day’s labour, or the produce
of his day's labour, to his friend, (p. 196).
The best example of altruism in Fleetwood is Ambrose
Fleetwood, who takes Ruffigny into his own home, sends him
co school, sets him up in business, and treats him like a
son. When Ruffigny attempts to pour out his gratitude to
his benefactor, Ambrose merely recites the principles by
T|fhich he has been guided.
You belonged to me, because you belonged to no one else.
This is the great distribution of human society; every one
who stands in need of assistance appertains to some one in
dividual, upon whom he has a stronger claim than upon any
other of his fellow-creatures. My son belongs to me, be
cause I was the occasion of his coming into existence; you
belong to me, because you were hungry and I fed you, be
cause you wanted an education and a protector, and have
found them in me. (p. 141)-.
These same sentiments are revealed in Mandeville when
lenrietta attempts to cure Charles of his passionate hatred
for Clifford. She reads to him from a book containing ideas
^Sir W. Scott, "Godwin's Fleetwood: A Novel," Edin-
>urgh Review. 6:182-93, April 1805. __________________
of mutual sympathy and understanding of each other's joys and
sorrows. She concludes her reading with this statement:
. . . we are all exactly fitted to contribute to the good
of all; and it is by each carrying his respective amount
to the general bank of human happiness, that each is en
abled to draw most largely for his private accommodation.
(II, 139-40)
Catherine, the young daughter in Deloraine, exemplifies
bhe spirit of universal benevolence. When she volunteers to
give up her safe and secure life to accompany her father as
3 . fugitive from the law, she accounts for her decision by
stating,
It is the first question of a well-constituted mind, How
can I make myself perfectly useful? How can I employ all
my thoughts and energies in substantial good? (II, 198)
This ideal is further demonstrated in Catherine's passionate
plea to Travers to spare her father's life. Her plea is con
cluded with this stirring message:
Oh, let us not always expend our cares upon the impas
sive and unconscious dead; but let us learn to feel also
for those that live, that live through every line and
fibre of their frames, whose sinews may be stretched with
agony, whose souls may be torn with tormenting visions,
who may count the minutes of nights bitter and sleepless,
and suffer things that no words can adequately describe I
What are we, that we should studiously engage ourselves in
the infliction of misery, and derive a chosen delight from
the perpetration of mortal agonies. (Ill, 300),
Of Travers' response to Catherine's plea, Godwin writes,
Travers saw truth in her own "shape how lovely." He saw;
and every avenue of his heart opened to receive it; and
benevolence and philanthropy rushed in at once with resist
less tide. (Ill, 300)
Of all the novels. Cloudesley presents this principle
..... — ...— ........nr
jcf universal benevolence in the strongest light. Coming as
one of the later novels, Godwin may have mellowed in his
later years, and in the closing chapters of the book, de
scribes in glowing and sentimental phrases his ideals of
love and brotherhood. The agent for revealing his thoughts
is Borromeo, who becomes Julian’s foster-father after
Cloudesley's death. At the conclusion of the story, when
Lanvers confesses his villainy and the boy is restored to
nis rightful station in life, Borromeo praises the justice
that has been achieved.
The world is not what I took it to be. It contains
something more than the relative position of the bondsman
and his lord. It contains warm hearts and entire affec
tion. It Is a beautiful world. . . .
The true key of the universe is love. That levels all
inequalities, "makes low the mountains, and exalts the val
ley," and brings human beings of every age and every sta
tion into a state of brotherhood.(Ill, 3^2)
The closing pages of Cloudesley continue in this same vein
and clearly depicts Godwin's contention that the social
abuses of which he has been writing can be erased by this
ideal permeating the soul of each individual member of so
ciety. The concluding paragraphs of the novel contain these
sentiments:
Yes, the true system for governing the world, for fash
ioning the tender spirits of youth, for smoothing the pil
low of age, is love. Nothing else could have made a
Cloudesley; nothing else could have made a Julian. . . .
There is no joy like the joy of a generous sentiment,
to go about doing good, to make it our meat and our drink
, , 218
to promote the happiness of others, and diffuse confidence
and love to everyone within the reach of our influence.
(Ill, 343-44)
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
This study has been designed to evaluate the didactic
nature and social commentary of Godwin's novels. The discus
sion of the social ideas incorporated in the novels reveals
that Godwin wages a relentless and conscientious battle
against the evils of social institutions. Because he con
ceives of these institutions as giving "permanence and sub
stance" to existing error and vice, he champions the cause
of individual liberty and freedom unfettered by governmental
?r institutional control. However, this liberty must be
f
stabilized by the correct use of private judgment, and from
this belief emerges Godwin's strong insistence that sound
reasoning and understanding be the basis for social reform
and progressive improvement of mankind.
His novels portray those individuals who, in their rela
tionships to their fellow men, fail to see "things as they
are." These stories poignantly present the miserable
wretches who are victimized by the inhumanity of man and by
the injustice of institutions. They disclose the disparity
between the wealthy and the poor and the injustices which re-
sult from that inequality. They condemn the laws which_____
„ 12'0~
oppress the poor and the weak, the partial and imperfect ad
ministration of these laws, and the system of punishment en
forced by these laws.
Godwin is often criticized for his anarchistic leanings,
itfhile he boldly denounces governmental oppression and tyran
ny, he still realizes that formal termination of government,
without first solving the problem of property and wealth,
would only result in the resurrection of other governmental
forms and a recurrence of the same social ills and abuses.
He suggests that governmental controls can be abolished when
man is capable of wiser and maturer judgment, and concedes
that such abolition would prove chaotic and disastrous in
man's present state.
He does not attempt to give an explicit method in his
f
novels for reforming or correcting these social abuses. He
Implies that universal benevolence is the key to man's abili
ty to correct existing evil. Universal benevolence, however,
Is not to be motivated by external circumstances or imposed
Dy established authority, but is to be cultivated by the pow-
sr of reason and intellect infused with proper sentiments
and emotions. By developing man's reason and by encouraging
right and virtuous action, Godwin hopes to establish a bet
ter, happier, and more equitable society.
The novels treated in this study simply present reflec-
bions of his social and political philosophy. The inclusion
- ...... : ............. ..... .. ......... — T2T"
:Ln this study of primary source material reveals the extent
to which the novels reflect the basic tenets of Political
I i i i i — mi. ■■..in— i ••■«!-
Irustice. Although he uses the medium of fiction to propagate:
his social ideas, the limitations involved in this medium
often prevent a full and complete explanation of these social
theories. Although Godwin uses frequent philosophical di
gressions and didactic commentaries, he does not completely
neglect the narrative and still fulfills the obligation of
the novelist to relate an adventure.
Godwin's reputation as a novelist rests primarily on the
excellence of Caleb Williams. The fame and reception ac
corded him during his lifetime are justly deserved because he
saw conditions and situations in England that called for im
mediate attention and correction. Because he writes specifi
cally for a temporal purpose, and only generally on universal
shemes, and because many of his ideas have either been ac
cepted, or since discarded, his present diminished ranking
among novelists is understandable.
The lasting importance of the social ideas in Godwin's
novels cannot be measured solely by accuracy, practicality,
universality, or wholehearted acceptance, but the value of
his ideas is found in the attitude toward man and human na
ture which he revealed. His theory of human perfectibility
by which man is capable of indefinitely improving and his
faith in the efficacy of intellectual power and advancement
222-
are high and noble conceptions. Godwin is criticized today
for conceiving too nobly about his fellow man. He is con
demned for raising the standard of morality far above the
reach of humanity so as to make it dangerous and impractica
ble. However, this attitude of faith in the basic goodness
of mankind and in his ability to improve is a positive and
optimistic attitude that is sorely needed in this day and
age. It is an attitude that can helpfully counteract much
Of today's skepticism and pessimism concerning the social anc
moral state of man.
LIST OP WORKS CONSULTED
LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED
Allen, Beverly Sprague. 1 1 The Reaction Against William God
win," Modern Philology. 16:225”43, September 1913.
; _________________ . "William Godwin and the Stage,"
PMLA. 35:358-74. June 1920.
__________________________ "William Godwin as a Sentimentalist,"
PMLA. 33:1-29, March 1918.
Baker, Ernest A. "The Novel of Doctrine," The History of the
English Novel, V, New York, 1929*
3railsford, H. N. Shelley, Godwin, and Their Circle. New
York, 1913.
: Brown, Ford K. The Life of William Godwin. London, 1926.
Gatlin, George E. A Story of the Political Philosophers.
New York, 1939*
'Cloudesley: A Tale," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, 27:711"
16, May 1830.
'Cloudesley: A Tale," Edinburgh Review. 51:144-59, April
1830.
Gross, Wilbur L. The Development of the English Novel. New
York, 1923.
Deen, Floyd H. "Genesis of Martin Faber in Caleb Williams,"
MLN, 59:315-17, May 1944.
Dicey, A. V. "William Godwin," The Nation. 22:278-79, April
1876.
Fleisher, David. William Godwin: A Study in Liberalism.
London, 1951*
Glasheen, Adaline E. "Shelley's First Published Review of
Mandeville," MLN,.59:172-73, March 1944.
_ 125
Godwin, William. An Enquiry Concerning Political justice
and Its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness, ed.
Raymond A. Preston. 2 vols. New York, 1926.
________________. An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice
and Its Influence on Morals and Happiness, ed. P. E. L.
Priestley. 3 vols. Toronto, 1946.
________________ . Cloudesley: A Tale. 3 vols. London, 1830.
________________. Deloraine. 3 vols. London, 1833.
________________ . Fleetwood. London, 1832.
________________ . Mandeville: A Tale of the Seventeenth Cen
tury in England. 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1817.
St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century.
London, 1831.
. The Adventures of Caleb Williams. New
York, 1926.
______ . Thoughts on Man. His Nature. Productions,
and Discoveries. London. 183I.
Gregory, Allene. The French Revolution and the English
Novel. New York, 1915-
Halevy, Elie. The Growth of Philosophic Radicalism, trans.
Mary Morris’ ! New York, 1928.
Hazlitt, William. The Spirit of the Age or Contemporary Por
traits . London, 190V.
Hopkins, Annette Brown, and Helen Sard Hughes. The English
Novel Before the Nineteenth Century. Boston, 1915.
Knight, Grant C. The Novel in English. New York, 1931-
"Mandeville: a Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England,"
Quarterly Review. 18:176-77, October 1817.
Ylonro, D. H. Godwin's Moral Philosophy: An Interpretation
of William Godwin. London, 1953-
Paul, Charles Kegan. William Godwin: His Friends and Con
temporaries . 2 vols. London, 1876.
1216 "
Plamenatz, John. The English Utilitarians. Oxford, 1949.
Raleigh, Walter. The English Novel. London, 1894.
'Remarks on Godwin's New Novel, Mandeville," Blackwood's
Edinburgh Magazine, 2:268-79* December 1817.
'Remarks on Mandeville," Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. 2:
402-08, January lol8.
Rodway, A. E., ed. Godwin and the Age of Transition.
London, 1952.
Scott, Sir W[alter]. "Godwin's Fleetwood: A Novel," Edin
burgh Review. 6:182-93* April 1805.
Stephen, Leslie. History of English Thought in the Eight
eenth Century. 2 vols. London, 1927.
________________. "William Godwin's Novels," Studies of a
Biographer, III. London, 1902.
_____ _____ . "William Godwin," Fortnightly Review. 26:
444-6l, October 1876.
"William Godwin's Novels," National Review.
38:908-23* February 1902.
Stone, Edward. "Caleb Williams and Martin Faber: a Con
trast," MLN, 62:480-83, November 1947-
Talfourd, Thomas Noon. Critical and Miscellaneous Writings
of T. Noon Talfourd" Boston, 1857.
Wagenknecht, Edward. Cavalcade of the English Novel. New
York, 1954.
Wallace, W. B. "A Forgotten Novel," Westminster Review,
157:687-91* June 1902.
Whitney, Lois. Primitivism and the Idea of Progress in Eng
lish Popular Literature of the Eighteenth Century.
Baltimore, 1934.
"William Godwin: Apostle of Universal Benevolence," The
Times (London) Literary Supplement, April' 4, 1936, pp.
285^ 6,
— _— „ ---------------------- — 12T
’William Godwin, the Elder," Dictionary of National Biogra
phy, VIII, 64-68.
’William Godwin's Novels," Frazer's Magazine. 2:381“96,
November 1830.
Woodcock, George. William Godwin: A Biographical Study.
London, 1946.
Oniversity of Southern CalifomHi

Asset Metadata

Creator Ono, Ernest Sanro (author)

Core Title The social ideas in the novels of William Godwin (1756-1836)

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program English

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag literature, English,OAI-PMH Harvest

Language English

Advisor Crittenden, Walter M. (committee chair), Davenport, William H. (committee member), Locke, Harvey J. (committee member)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c20-420101

Unique identifier UC11264267

Identifier EP44349.pdf (filename),usctheses-c20-420101 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier EP44349.pdf

Dmrecord 420101

Document Type Thesis

Rights Ono, Ernest Sanro

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA