Caleb Williams; Or, Things as They Are

Caleb Williams; Or, Things as They Are (1794) is a novel by English writer and political philosopher William Godwin. Published a year after the appearance of his Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793), Caleb Williams; Or, Things as They Are is a thriller and mystery based on the principles set forth in his popular work of anarchist political philosophy.

Caleb Williams, a self-educated orphan, gets a job at the estate of Ferdinando Falkland, a reclusive aristocrat. Curious as to his master’s temperamental nature, Williams asks the estate’s administrator to share any information he knows regarding Falkland’s past. Through Mr. Collins, Caleb learns of Falkland’s feud with Barnabas Tyrrel, his oppressive neighbor. Caleb is surprised to discover that Falkland was once regarded as a generous and gregarious gentleman who persevered in vain for the love of Tyrrel’s niece. Following Emily Melville’s untimely death and the unsolved murder of Barnabas Tyrrel, Falkland became an embittered man, prone to violent outbursts and averse to social interaction. Shocked by Mr. Collins’s account, Caleb begins to investigate Falkland’s behavior and soon grows to suspect his master of murder. When news of his suspicion reaches Falkland, he accuses Caleb of attempted theft, forcing the young man to flee under threat of imprisonment. A fugitive, Caleb resists the temptations of criminal life, but the past—and Falkland—are never far behind him.

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