Caleb Williams

When young Caleb Williams comes to work as a secretary for Squire Falkland, he soon begins to suspect that his master is hiding a terrible secret. His unearthing of the guilty truth proves calamitous when - despite Caleb loyally swearing never to reveal his discovery - the Squire enacts a cruel revenge. A tale of gripping suspense and psychological power, William Godwin's novel creates a searing depiction of the intolerable persecution meted out to a good man in pursuit of justice and equality. Written to expose the political oppression and corrupt hierarchies its author saw in the world around him, Caleb Williams (1794) embodies a radical appeal to end the abuses of power while simultaneously exploring the complexities of that endeavour.

Acknowledgements

7

(9)

Introduction

9

(38)

William Godwin: A Brief Chronology

47

(4)

A Note on the Text

51

(4)

Preface to the 1794 Edition

55

(2)

Caleb Williams

57

(378)

Appendix A: The Composition of the Novel

435

(33)

The Original Manuscript Ending of the Novel

435

(8)

Godwin's Account of the Composition of the Novel from the Preface to the 1832 ``Standard Novels'' Edition of Fleetwood

443

(7)

Godwin's Account of the Novel's Aims, from the British Critic (July 1795)

450

(3)

Godwin's Essay, ``Of History and Romance'' (1797)

453

(15)

Appendix B: The Foundations of the Novel: Godwin's Political Philosophy and England in the 1790s

468

(40)

Select British Responses to the French Revolution

468

(15)

From Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790)

468

(8)

From Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (1791)

476

(7)

From William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793)

483

(9)

From William Godwin, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1796)

492

(6)

From Godwin's Correspondence

498

(10)

Appendix C: Criminal Lives and the State of the Prisons

508

(11)

From the Account of Jack Sheppard, in The Malefactor's Register; or the Newgate Calendar (1779)

508

(7)

From John Howard, The State of the Prisons (1777)

515

(4)

Appendix D: Literary Influences: Crime and Pursuit Narratives and Scenes of Confrontation

519

(24)

From Mateo Aleman, Guzman de Alfaache (1599)

519

(3)

From The History of Mlle. de St. Phale (1691)

522

(4)

From Daniel Defoe, Colonel Jack (1722)

526

(5)

From Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740--41)

531

(6)

From Thomas Holcroft, Anna St. Ives (1792)

537

(6)

Appendix E: The Influence of Caleb Williams

543

(11)

From George Colman, The Iron Chest (1796)

543

(5)

From Mary Wollstonecraft, The Wrongs of Woman: or, Maria (1798)

548

(6)

Appendix F: Contemporary Reviews

554

(15)

From the Critical Review (July 1794)

554

(1)

From the British Critic (July 1794)

555

(1)

From the British Critic (April 1795)

556

(3)

From the Monthly Review (September 1794)

559

(3)

From the Analytical Review (January 1795)

562

(2)

From James Mackintosh, Review of Godwin's ``Lives of Edward and John Philips,'' Edinburgh Review (October 1815)

564

(3)

From William Hazlitt, The Spirit of the Age (1825)

567

(1)

Review of the 1831 edition of Caleb Williams, New Monthly Magazine (May 1831)

568

(1)

Works Cited/Recommended Reading

569

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Caleb Williams

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