The Godwinian Novel: The Rational Fictions of Godwin, Brockden Brown, Mary Shelley

by Pamela Clemit

The Godwinian Novel is a pioneering analysis of the school of fiction inaugurated by William Godwin, and developed in the works of his principal followers, Charles Brockden Brown and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. In the first study of these authors as a historically specific group, Pamela Clemit argues for a greater unity between Godwin's fictional techniques and his radical political philosophy than has been perceived. Her analysis of the works of Brown and Mary Shelley, moreover, reveals how these writers modified, reshaped, and redefined Godwin's distinctive themes and techniques
in response to shifting ideological pressures in the post-revolutionary period. Examining prose fiction in a period traditionally seen as dominated by poetry, Clemit stresses the necessity for a revised view of British Romanticism. Uncovering the links between Godwin's fictional analysis of subjective experience and his progressive political philosophy, The Godwinian Novel paves the way for a reappraisal of the apparently quietistic and introspective concerns of other writers of the period.

270 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 1993

Reviews

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very useful examination of Godwin's political goals in writing Caleb Williams, and how the novel's interest in psychology relate to his own goal of promoting individual rational judgement.