William Godwins Attack on the Law :: European Europe History

William Godwins Attack on the natural lawLaws We know what they are, and what they are worth They are spider webs for the rich and mighty, leaf blade chains for the poor and weak,fishing nets in the hands of government.- Proudhon1On the surface, William Godwins Caleb Williams (1794) is besides an entertaining murder mystery and detective story. The tale of an unfortunate consideration who learns the truth of his masters past and flees for fear of his life, it has thrilled generations of readers. However, Godwin designed the work to service a purpose more general and important than immediately appears on the face of it.2 Written immediately after the publication of Godwins initial and some famous work, Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793), Caleb Williams answers as a vehicle for Godwin to introduce his philosophy to the general public. The issue he addresses in the novel is that of things as they are... While one party pleads for reformation and change, the former(a) exto ls in the warmest terms the existing constitution of society.3There rear end be no mistaking Godwins position. He uses Caleb Williams to launch a complete barrage against things as they are and the modes of despotism by which man destroys his testify kind - principally through prisons, law, and wealth.4 The law plays a in particular important role in the novel. It affects almost every major character, invariably aiding the oppression of the weak by the mighty and serving as a tool of tyranny. Godwins opinion of the law is as interesting as it is extreme. His finis is to force the reader to conclude universally that law is an institution of the most pernicious tendency, as he argues in his Political Justice.5 In his attack on the law, he makes use of common criticisms of the law from the late eighteenth century that were more often used as a call option for its reform than for its abolition. In addition to these, however, he introduces arguments that successful reform is out (predicate) and that the law by its very nature will inevitably serve as a tool of injustice, tyranny, and oppression.Godwins attacks on the law occur endlessly throughout Caleb Williams, as its complex plot slowly evolves. The first victim of the law is the tenant farmer Hawkins, whose pride leads him imprudently to offend his landlord, Mr. Tyrrel. When Tyrrel orders him to drop by the wayside his farm, Hawkinss pride again gets the best of him and he refuses I have got a lease of my farm, and I shall not quit it othaten.