Godwin, William, 1756-1836

Source Citation

William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism.[2] Godwin is most famous for two books that he published within the space of a year: An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, an attack on political institutions, and Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, an early mystery novel which attacks aristocratic privilege. Based on the success of both, Godwin featured prominently in the radical circles of London in the 1790s. He wrote prolifically in the genres of novels, history and demography throughout his life.

In the conservative reaction to British radicalism, Godwin was attacked, in part because of his marriage to the feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 and his candid biography of her after her death from childbirth. Their daughter, later known as Mary Shelley, would go on to write Frankenstein and marry the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. With his second wife, Mary Jane Clairmont, Godwin set up The Juvenile Library, allowing the family to write their own works for children (sometimes using noms de plume) and translate and publish many other books, some of enduring significance. Godwin has had considerable influence on British literature and literary culture.

William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism.[2] Godwin is most famous for two books that he published within the space of a year: An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, an attack on political institutions, and Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams, an early mystery novel which attacks aristocratic privilege. Based on the success of both, Godwin featured prominently in the radical circles of London in the 1790s. He wrote prolifically in the genres of novels, history and demography throughout his life.

In the conservative reaction to British radicalism, Godwin was attacked, in part because of his marriage to the feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 and his candid biography of her after her death from childbirth. Their daughter, later known as Mary Shelley, would go on to write Frankenstein and marry the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. With his second wife, Mary Jane Clairmont, Godwin set up The Juvenile Library, allowing the family to write their own works for children (sometimes using noms de plume) and translate and publish many other books, some of enduring significance. Godwin has had considerable influence on British literature and literary culture.

odwin first met Mary Wollstonecraft at the home of their mutual publisher. Joseph Johnson was hosting a dinner for another of his authors, Thomas Paine, and Godwin remarked years later that on that evening he heard too little of Paine and too much of Wollstonecraft; he did not see her again for some years. In the interim, Wollstonecraft went to live in France to witness the Revolution for herself, and had a child, Fanny Imlay, with an American adventurer named Gilbert Imlay. In pursuit of Gilbert Imlay's business affairs, Wollstonecraft travelled to Scandinavia, and soon afterwards published a book based on the voyage. Godwin read it, and later wrote that "If ever there was a book calculated to make a man in love with its author, this appears to me to be the book."[42]

When Godwin and Wollstonecraft were reintroduced in 1796, their respect for each other soon grew into friendship, sexual attraction, and love.[43] Once Wollstonecraft became pregnant, they decided to marry so that their child would be considered legitimate by society. Their marriage revealed the fact that Wollstonecraft had never been married to Imlay, and as a result she and Godwin lost many friends. Godwin received further criticism because he had advocated the abolition of marriage in Political Justice.[44] After their marriage at St. Pancras on 29 March 1797, they moved into two adjoining houses in Somers Town so that they could both still retain their independence; they often communicated by notes delivered by servants.[45]

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born in Somers Town on 30 August 1797, the couple's only child.[46] : 5  Godwin had hoped for a son and had been planning on naming the child "William."[47] On 10 September 1797 Wollstonecraft died of complications following the birth. By all accounts, it had been a happy and stable, though brief, relationship.[48] Now Godwin, who had been a bachelor until a few months before, was distraught at the loss of the love of his life. Simultaneously, he became responsible for the care of these two young girls, the new-born Mary and toddler Fanny.

When Mary was three years old, Godwin left his daughters in the care of James Marshall while he travelled to Ireland. Godwin's tone in his letters demonstrates how much he cared about them. His letters show the stress he placed on giving his two daughters a sense of security. "And now what shall I say for my poor little girls? I hope they have not forgot me. I think of them every day, and should be glad, if the wind was more favourable, to blow them a kiss a-piece from Dublin to the Polygon.. but I have seen none that I love so well or think half so good as my own."[47]

In December 1800 his play Antonio, or the Soldier's Return was put on at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane without success.[49]In 1801, Godwin married his neighbour Mary Jane Clairmont.[50] She brought two of her own children into the household, Charles and Claire. Journalist H.N. Brailsford wrote in 1913, "She was a vulgar and worldly woman, thoroughly feminine, and rather inclined to boast of her total ignorance of philosophy."[51] While Fanny eventually learned to live with Clairmont, Mary's relationship with her stepmother was tense. Mary writes, "As to Mrs Godwin, something very analogous to disgust arises whenever I mention her",[46]: 200  "A woman I shudder to think of".[52]

In 1805, the Godwins set up a shop and publishing house called the Juvenile Library, significant in the history of children's literature. Through this, Godwin wrote children's primers on Biblical and classical history, and using the pseudonym Edward Baldwin, he wrote a variety of books for children, including a version of Jack and the Beanstalk,[53] and a biography of the Irish artist William Mulready,[54] who illustrated works for them. They kept alive family ties, publishing the first book by Margaret King (then Lady Mount Cashell), who had been a favoured pupil of Mary Wollstonecraft.[55] They published works never since out of print, such as Charles and Mary Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare. The Juvenile Library also translated European authors. The first English edition of Swiss Family Robinson was translated (from the French, not the German) and edited by them.[56][57][58] The business was the family's mainstay for decades.

In 1807 his Tragedy Faulkner was performed at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane without more success than his earlier play.[59]

The eldest of Godwin's children was Fanny Imlay (1794–1816), who committed suicide as a young woman. Charles Gaulis Clairmont[60] ended up as Chair of English literature at Vienna University[61] and taught sons of the royal family; news of his sudden death in 1849 distressed Maximilian.[62] Mary Godwin (1797–1851) gained fame as Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. Half a year younger than her was Claire Clairmont, Mary Jane's only daughter, to whom she showed favouritism. The youngest, and the only child of the second marriage, was William Godwin the Younger (1803–1832). Godwin sent him first to Charterhouse School and then to various other establishments of a practical bent. Nonetheless, he eventually earned his living by the pen. He died at 29, leaving the manuscript of a novel, which Godwin saw into print. All of Godwin's children who lived into adulthood worked as writers or educators, carrying on his legacy and that of his wives. Only two of them had children who in turn survived: Percy Florence Shelley, and the son and daughter of Charles. Godwin did not welcome the birth of Allegra Byron, but Claire's only child died aged five.

Godwin had high hopes for Mary, giving her a more rigorous intellectual experience than most women of her period, and describing her as "very intelligent." He wished to give his daughter a more "masculine education" and prepared her to be a writer. However, Godwin withdrew his support as Mary became a woman and pursued her relationship with Percy Shelley.[63] Mary's first two novels, Frankenstein and Mathilda, may be seen as a reaction to her childhood. Both explore the role of the father in the child's socialisation and the control the father has on the child's future.[64] Shelley's last two novels, Lodore and Falkner, re-evaluate the father-daughter relationship. They were written at a time when Shelley was raising her only surviving child alone and supporting her ageing father. In both novels, the daughter eludes the father's control by giving him the traditional maternal figure he asks for. This relationship gives the daughter control of the father.[64][65]

Godwin was awarded a sinecure position as Office Keeper and Yeoman Usher of the Receipt of the Exchequer,[66] which came with grace and favour accommodation in New Palace Yard, part of the complex of the Palace of Westminster, i.e. the Houses of Parliament.[67] One of his duties was to oversee the sweeping of the chimneys of these extensive buildings. On 16 October 1832, a fire broke out and most of the Palace burned down.[68] Literary critic Marilyn Butler concluded her review of a 1980 biography of Godwin by comparing him favourably to Guy Fawkes: Godwin was more successful in his opposition to the status quo.[69]

In later years, Godwin came to expect support and consolation from his daughter. Two of the five children he had raised had pre-deceased him, and two more lived abroad. Mary responded to his expectations and she cared for him until he died in 1836.

Citations

Unknown Source

Citations

Name Entry: Godwin, William, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "inu", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "LC", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "ohlink", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "nyu", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "NLA", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "WorldCat", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "harvard", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "ahub", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "LAC", "form": "authorizedForm" }, { "contributor": "nypl", "form": "authorizedForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: גודוין, וילים, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "authorizedForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Годвин, В. (Вильям), 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Marcliffe, Theophilius, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Author of Caleb Williams, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: ゴドウィン, ウィリアム, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Caleb Williams, Author of, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Годвин, Вильям, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Godvin, Viljem, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Godvin, Uilʹi︠a︡m, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Godwin, Wm. (William), 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Godvin, Vilʹi︠a︡m, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest

Name Entry: Baldwin, Edward, 1756-1836

Found Data: [ { "contributor": "VIAF", "form": "alternativeForm" } ]
Note: Contributors from initial SNAC EAC-CPF ingest