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58 pages 1 hour read

William Godwin

Caleb Williams

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1794

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Important Quotes

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“The spring of action which, perhaps more than any other, characterized the whole train of my life, was curiosity.”


(Volume 1, Chapter 1, Page 60)

Caleb defines himself by his curiosity, and it is often his driving force when it comes to his actions. Caleb highlight’s this characteristic’s importance by noting it at the very beginning of the novel.

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“Mr. Falkland is the principal agent in my history; and Mr. Falkland in the autumn and decay of his vigor, such as I found him, cannot be completely understood without a knowledge of his previous character, as it was in all the gloss of youth, yet unassailed by adversity, and unbroken in upon by anguish or remorse.”


(Volume 1, Chapter 2, Page 68)

The story of Ferdinando and Barnabas shapes the story of Ferdinando and Caleb, so Ferdinando’s backstory is necessary to understand his later motivations.

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“They could not help remarking the contrast between these two leaders in the fields of chivalry, the one of whom paid no attention to any one’s pleasure but his own, while the other seemed all good-humor and benevolence.”


(Volume 1, Chapter 3, Page 79)

Comparisons of Ferdinando and Barnabas appear several times during Volume 1. These temperamental differences set the groundwork for the inevitable boiling point that the conflict between them reaches.

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“The death of Mr. Clare removed the person who could most effectually have moderated the animosities of the contending parties, and took away the great operative check upon the excesses of Mr. Tyrrel.”


(Volume 1, Chapter 5, Page 97)

Mr. Clare does not have a huge role in the story, but he is close to both Ferdinando and Barnabas and is the only character to exist as a mediator between the two. Now that Mr. Clare is gone, the tension between Ferdinando and Barnabas gets worse.

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“Observing that they were motionless, [Ferdinando] dismounted from his horse, and called upon them in an authoritative voice to follow him. He ascended the house in an instant, and presently appeared upon the top of it, as if in the midst of the flames.”


(Volume 1, Chapter 6, Page 104)

The conflict between Barnabas and Ferdinando shapes the progression of the novel, and this moment shows a defining difference between the two, as Ferdinando comes off as heroic. A large part of the tension between the men stems from the horrible treatment that Barnabas shows to Emily because of her affection for Ferdinando, which his rescue of her from this fire sparked.

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“For God’s sake, Mr. Grimes, think what you are about! You cannot be base enough to ruin a poor creature who has put herself under your protection!”


(Volume 1, Chapter 8, Page 127)

During Emily’s attempted sexual assault, she pleads with Grimes not to “ruin” her. She knows that even nonconsensual sex will tarnish her in the eyes of society and appeals to the “softer” sexism of chivalry to defend herself, arguing that it would be dishonorable for Grimes to violate a woman under his protection. The conversation highlights how a woman’s relationship to men dictates how society perceives her.

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“Though I am a plain, working man, your honor, do you see? yet I am a man still. No; I have got a lease of my farm, and I shall not quit it o’ thaten. I hope there is some law for poor folk, as well as for rich.”


(Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 137)

Mr. Hawkins’s statement when he is at the courts fighting against Barnabas encapsulates the point that Godwin is trying to make about the law’s injustice towards the lower classes. Mr. Hawkins argues that the legal system should defend his rights as well as those of the wealthy, but this rarely occurs in practice.

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“Mr. Tyrrel was determined to prosecute the offence with the greatest severity; and his attorney, having made the proper enquiries for that purpose, undertook to bring it under the clause of the act 9 Geo. I. commonly called the Black Act.”


(Volume 1, Chapter 9, Page 140)

With Leonard Hawkins’s arrest, Godwin highlights the injustice of a real 18th-century law. The Black Act criminalized being outside at night with one’s face covered and was an anti-poaching measure inherently intertwined with class inequality.

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“My thoughts fluctuated from conjecture to conjecture, but this was the centre about which they revolved. I determined to place myself as a watch upon my patron.”


(Volume 2, Chapter 1, Page 180)

This is the moment that Caleb starts the path that will lead to his eventual downfall as a tragic hero. Caleb’s curiosity gets the better of him, and his decision to observe Ferdinando eventually pushes the latter too far.

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“Curiosity is a restless propensity, and often does but hurry us forward the more irresistibly, the greater is the danger that attends its indulgence.”


(Volume 2, Chapter 1, Page 187)

Caleb pushes and pushes Ferdinando through hints and stories until Ferdinando confesses. In satisfying his curiosity, Caleb makes an enemy of Ferdinando and sets in motion the problems that will plague him throughout the novel.

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“I know myself too well, ever to be tempted to do anything that is really bad.”


(Volume 2, Chapter 2, Page 190)

Mr. Hawkins writes in his letter to Ferdinando that he would never do anything to actually hurt Barnabas. This is the evidence that cements Caleb’s belief in Ferdinando’s guilt because it suggests that Mr. Hawkins did not commit the murder for which he was executed.

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“What a story is mine! Insulted, disgraced, polluted in the face of hundreds, I was capable of any act of desperation. I watched my opportunity, followed My Tyrrel from the rooms […] and stabbed him in the heart.”


(Volume 2, Chapter 6, Page 214)

It is during a rant that Ferdinando finally confesses to the murder of Barnabas. He describes how Barnabas shamed him in front of many people; this pride is the flaw that makes him a tragic hero.

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“Everything he had to relate delighted me; while, in return, my sympathy, my eager curiosity, and my unsophisticated passions, rendered me to Mr. Forester a most desirable hearer.”


(Volume 2, Chapter 7, Page 223)

The relationship between Mr. Forester and Caleb is important because it is a tension point between Caleb and Ferdinando. After seeing how close the two men are, Ferdinando demands that Caleb stop speaking to him, which is when Caleb begins to understand what life with his master will be like from now on.

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“He watched me; and his vigilance was a sickness to my heart. For me there was no more freedom, no more of hilarity, of thoughtlessness, or of youth.”


(Volume 2, Chapter 7, Page 224)

Once Ferdinando realizes that Caleb knows the truth about Barnabas’s murder, their roles reverse: Ferdinando is now watching Caleb. This marks the beginning of Caleb’s change in character, as he feels that he has been stripped of his youthfulness.

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“We were engaged in the earnest discussion of subjects thus interesting to my peace, when we were interrupted by an event the most earnestly to have been deprecated. Without the smallest notice, and as if he had dropped upon us from the clouds, Mr. Falkland burst into the room.”


(Volume 2, Chapter 8, Page 230)

Caleb running into Mr. Forester seems to him to be great luck since Caleb is able to plead his case to Mr. Forester, as well as get off the road after becoming lost. It is by pure bad luck that Ferdinando happens to arrive at Mr. Forester’s while Caleb is there.

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“You write me here, that you are desirous to quite my service. To that I have a short answer: You shall never quit my service.”


(Volume 2, Chapter 8, Page 235)

Caleb writes a letter to Ferdinando in the hopes that the man will let him leave his service. After reading it, Ferdinando confirms Caleb’s fears by telling Caleb that he will never escape the predicament he created by being too curious.

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“‘Thank God,’ explains the Englishman, ‘we have no Bastille! Thank God, with us no man can be punished without a crime!’”


(Volume 2, Chapter 11, Page 266)

During and after the French Revolution, the Bastille became a symbol of autocracy and injustice. Caleb, however, notes that England is wrong to consider itself freer or more inhumane, especially in its treatment of prisoners, who remain in jail for months or years without receiving a trial.

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“Never did a man more strenuously prefer poverty with independence, to the artificial allurements of a life of slavery.”


(Volume 3, Chapter 1, Page 300)

Caleb remarks that he would rather be a poor but free than a “slave.” He does not use slavery in the historical sense of the word, but rather as a metaphor for class inequality and in particular his bondage to Ferdinando.

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“We, who are thieves without a license, are at open war with another set of men who are thieves according to the law.”


(Volume 3, Chapter 2, Page 307)

Captain Raymond argues that, as a group of thieves, they should not sell out Caleb, profiting by the system that would also condemn them. By saying that they are at open war with another set of thieves, Captain Raymond claims that those who rule the country—the landowners, judges, politicians, etc.—are just as guilty of injustices and crimes as those living on the wrong side of the law. 

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“I no longer beheld the world, as my youthful fancy had once induced me to do, as a scene in which to hide or to appear, and to exhibit the freaks of a wanton vivacity.”


(Volume 3, Chapter 11, Page 378)

Caleb is no longer the carefree curious man he was at the beginning of the novel. He has become downtrodden thanks to both bad luck and the consequences of his own actions, and he no longer sees the world the same way.

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“[T]hey attempted to conduct me from the inn in the same manner that they had brought me into it. I was not without some curiosity to see the conclusion that was to follow upon so extraordinary a commencement.”


(Volume 3, Chapter 12, Page 382)

When Caleb is taken to a new inn by people he thinks want to hurt him, he chooses to wait and see what will happen. The men leave Caleb in the room alone; he could have escaped but instead remains in danger just to satisfy his curiosity.

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“You are determined to be my enemy. I have in no degree deserved this eternal abhorrence. I have always esteemed and pitied you.”


(Volume 3, Chapter 12, Page 385)

Caleb is at his wits end by the concluding chapters of the novel, and he makes his feelings for Ferdinando clear in this quote. Caleb has been proven innocent, and yet Ferdinando continues to harass him.

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“There was a family of a very different description, of which I gradually became the chosen intimate.”


(Volume 3, Chapter 13, Page 393)

 Caleb has been alone in life since he lost his parents, and after trying to make a home at Ferdinando’s estate and failing, Caleb has been on the run. Meeting a family at a time in his life when he is desperate to settle down has finally given Caleb a sense of peace and community—until Ferdinando once again strips this away.

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“I will tell a tale—! The justice of the country shall hear me!”


(Volume 3, Chapter 15, Page 421)

Caleb finally realizes that he does not have to put up with Ferdinando’s harassment: He is a free man with no criminal indictments. He’s tired of being silent and decides at this moment to tell not only his own story but also the truth of Ferdinando’s guilt.

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“All is over. I have carried into execution my meditated attempt.”


(Volume 3, Chapter 15, Page 423)

Caleb ends his narrative with a postscript that takes place after Ferdinando’s trial. The word “attempt” is significant; Caleb ultimately finds little satisfaction in seeing Ferdinando brought to justice.

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