Caleb Williams by William Godwin

First published: 1794, as Things as They Are: Or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Detective and mystery

Time of plot: Eighteenth century

Locale: England

Principal characters

• Caleb Williams,
• Ferdinando Falkland, Caleb’s employer
• Collins, Falkland’s servant
• Barnabas Tyrrel, Falkland’s enemy
• Gines, Caleb’s enemy
• Emily Melvile, Tyrrel’s cousin

The Story:

Caleb Williams is engaged as secretary by Mr. Ferdinando Falkland, the wealthiest and most respected squire in the country. Falkland, although a considerate employer, is subject to fits of distemper that bewilder Caleb. These black moods are so contrary to his employer’s usual gentle nature that Caleb soon investigates, asking Collins, a trusted servant of the household, about them and learning from him the story of Falkland’s early life.

Studious and romantic in his youth, Falkland lived many years abroad before he returned to England to live on his ancestral estate. One of his neighbors was Barnabas Tyrrel, a man of proud, combative nature. When Falkland returned to his family estate, Tyrrel was the leading gentleman in the neighborhood. As a result of his graceful manners and warm intelligence, Falkland soon began to win the admiration of his neighbors. Tyrrel was jealous and showed his feelings by speech and actions. Falkland tried to make peace, but the ill-tempered Tyrrel refused his proffered friendship.

Miss Emily Melvile, Tyrrel’s cousin, occupied the position of a servant in his household. One night, she was trapped in a burning building, and Falkland saved her. Afterward, Emily could do nothing but praise her benefactor. Her gratitude annoyed her cousin, who planned to take revenge on Emily for her admiration of Falkland. He found one of his tenants, Grimes, a clumsy, ill-bred lout, to consent to marry Emily. When Emily refused to marry a man whom she could never love, Tyrrel confined her to her room. As part of the plot, Grimes helped Emily to escape and then attempted to seduce her. She was rescued from her plight by Falkland, who for the second time proved to be her savior. Further cruelties inflicted on her by Tyrrel finally killed her, and Tyrrel became an object of disgrace in the community.

One evening, Tyrrel attacked Falkland in a public meeting, and Falkland was deeply humiliated. That night, Tyrrel was found dead in the streets. Since the quarrel had been witnessed by so many people just before the murder, Falkland was called before a jury to explain his whereabouts during that fatal night. No one really believed Falkland guilty, but he was hurt by what he considered the disgrace of his being questioned. Although a former tenant was afterward arrested and hanged for the crime, Falkland never recovered his injured pride. He retired to his estate, where he became a moody and disconsolate recluse.

For a long time after learning these details, Caleb ponders the apparent unhappiness of his employer. Attempting to understand Falkland’s morose personality, Caleb begins to wonder whether Falkland suffers from the unearned infamy that accompanies suspicion of murder or from a guilty conscience. Determined to solve the mystery, Caleb proceeds to talk to his master in an inquisitive way, to draw him out in matters concerning murder and justice. Caleb also looks for evidence that will prove Falkland guilty or innocent. Finally, the morose man becomes aware of his secretary’s intent. Swearing Caleb to secrecy, Falkland confesses to the murder of Tyrrel and threatens Caleb with irreparable harm if he should ever betray his employer.

Falkland’s mansion becomes a prison for Caleb, and he resolves to run away no matter what the consequences. When he escapes to an inn, he receives a letter ordering him to return to defend himself against a charge of theft. When Falkland produces some missing jewels and bank notes from Caleb’s baggage, Caleb is sent to prison in disgrace. His only chance to prove his innocence is to disclose Falkland’s motive, a thing no one will believe. Caleb spends many months in jail, confined in a dreary, filthy dungeon and bound with chains. Thomas, a servant of Falkland and a former neighbor of Caleb’s father, visits Caleb in his cell. Perceiving Caleb in his miserable condition, Thomas can only wonder at English law that keeps a man so imprisoned while he waits many months for trial. Compassion forces Thomas to bring Caleb tools with which he can escape. At liberty once more, Caleb finds himself in a hostile world with no resources.

At first, he becomes an associate of thieves, but he leaves the gang after he makes an enemy of a man named Gines. When Caleb goes to London, hoping to hide there, Gines follows him, and soon Caleb is again caught and arrested. Falkland visits him and explains that he knows every move Caleb made since he escaped from prison. Falkland tells Caleb that although he will no longer prosecute him for theft, he will continue to make Caleb’s life intolerable. Wherever Caleb goes, Gines follows and exposes Caleb’s story to the community. Caleb tries to escape to Holland, but just as he is to land in that free country, Gines appears and stops him.

Caleb returns to England and charges Falkland with murder, asking the magistrate to call Falkland before the court. At first, the magistrate refuses to summon Falkland to reply to the charge, but Caleb insists upon his rights, and Falkland appears. The squire is terrible to behold; his haggard and ghostlike appearance shows that he has not long to live.

Caleb presses his charges in an attempt to save himself from a life of persecution and misery. So well does Caleb describe his miserable state and his desperate situation that the dying man is deeply touched. Demonstrating the kindness of character and the honesty for which Caleb had first admired him, Falkland admits his wrongdoings and clears Caleb’s reputation. In a few days the sick man dies. Although remorseful, Caleb is determined to make a fresh start in life.

Bibliography

Boulton, James T. The Language of Politics in the Age of Wilkes and Burke. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1963. Discusses the “inexorable deliberateness” of Godwin’s novel, the way he builds up a systematic chain and combination of events. Boulton maintains that Godwin’s weakness is a lack of dramatic immediacy; too often Godwin speaks about psychological states rather than dramatizing them.

Carlson, Julie A. England’s First Family of Writers: Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin, Mary Shelley. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007. Examines Godwin’s work within the context of writings by his wife Mary Wollstonecraft and his daughter Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, demonstrating how their works engage in a “dialogue” with each other.

Clemit, Pamela. The Godwinian Novel: The Rational Fictions of Godwin, Brockden Brown, Mary Shelley. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Clemit argues that Godwin created a new school of British fiction, which influenced the work of Charles Brockden Brown and Godwin’s daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Points out the links between Godwin’s techniques of fiction and his radical political philosophy.

Godwin, William. Things As They Are: Or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams. Edited by Maurice Hindle. New York: Penguin Books, 1988. Hindle’s introduction discusses the novel’s origins, the politics and history informing its narrative, and its place in the genre. Includes notes, bibliography, and appendixes.

Graham, Kenneth W. The Politics of Narrative: Ideology and Social Change in William Godwin’s “Caleb Williams.” New York: AMS Press, 1990. Each chapter focuses on one facet of the novel and places the book within the context of the ideological battles of the 1790’s. Includes examination of the novel as a radical critique of women’s inequality, the law, prisons, and the court system; the book as a detective novel; the work’s gothic elements; and Godwin’s influence on other writers, including Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.

Kiely, Robert. The Romantic Novel in England. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1972. Considers how Godwin’s philosophy influences his novel and compares him to his contemporaries. Discusses his fascination with fantasy and romance writing.

Miyoshi, Masao. The Divided Self: A Perspective on the Literature of the Victorians. New York: New York University Press, 1969. Considers the novel as part of the gothic tradition. Analyzes Caleb’s motivations for spying on Falkland, discusses the differences between Godwin’s novel and his great work of political philosophy, Political Justice, and addresses differences between the imaginative and discursive process.

Ousby, Ian. Bloodhounds of Heaven: The Detective in English Fiction from Godwin to Doyle. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1976. Discusses the novel as the first work of English fiction to take a sustained interest in detection. Other critics have emphasized how the structure of the novel influenced later detective fiction, but Ousby points out that the main character, Caleb, is equally important because he is an original detective in the English novel.