Caleb Williams The Monk Analysis

Reform Ideology through Representations of the Banditti in Caleb Williams and The Monk

During the 1790s, the French Revolution transformed Europe into an environment of political turmoil. The destitution and injustice experienced by members of unprivileged classes inspired widespread social rebellion. Desperate for a sense of national security, philosophers and politicians introduced reform ideologies. Government reform is a central theme in eighteenth century literature; Gothic novelists react to political propositions in their fiction. William Godwin’s Caleb Williams (1794) and Matthew G. Lewis’s The Monk (1796) express opposing perspectives regarding social and political change. The novelists analyze antithetical reform ideology through their portrayal of the banditti.

In Caleb Williams, Godwin represents French revolutionaries as the banditti to express his support of the defiance occurring throughout the country. The novelist declares his sympathy for citizens in an oppressive position by characterizing the banditti as a

victim group that acts against government corruption. Raymond, the leader of the banditti, defines a thief as “a man living among equals” (209). The banditti’s violation of the law to promote equality relates their group to French revolutionaries, who insubordinately revolt against their oppressors to enforce change. The banditti defies a government that economically, socially, and judicially disadvantages members of unprivileged positions. Godwin favorably presents the banditti as victims of government oppression who advocate for equality, which suggests the novelist’s association with ideology that motivates French revolutionaries.
Godwin portrays the old woman in the banditti as a tyrannical terrorist to act as a symbol for the government. The old woman demonstrates the government’s inescapable influences; when Williams seeks refuge with bandits who preserve him from the law, he continues to receive punishments for a crime that he did not purposely commit. The old woman “thought an old and experienced sinner for a raw probationer but an ill exchange” (Godwin 212). By valuing one individual over another, the old woman references anti-revolutionary ideology. Her support of inequality parallels with the government’s uncharitable, revengeful, and hierarchal constitution. After Williams dreams of Mr. Falkland’s agent murdering him, he awakens to find the old woman attacking him with “Amazonian” vigor and “uncontrollable insanity” (Godwin 224). Williams relates his anxieties of legal prosecution with the old woman’s attack; both act as a tyrannical force that threatens his freedom. By symbolically displaying the government as the old woman, Godwin exposes the inhumane, overbearing manner in which political institutions infiltrate the lives of citizens.
Godwin proposes the radical ideology that anarchism will solve Europe’s social and political unrest.

He claims that government institutions force unprivileged classes to sacrifice their human rights for the benefit of aristocrats. Raymond describes anarchism when he declares “Law is not the proper instrument of correcting the misdeeds of mankind” (Godwin 216). Godwin reasons that legal systems have proven to be incapable of equally applying laws to every citizen. He suggests that citizens overthrow the government to live in a state of natural humanity. After Raymond explains anarchism, the thieves claim that they will protect Williams “at the hazard of [their] lives” (Godwin 217). When Raymond removes the influence of government from the thieves’ perspectives, they adopt an altruistic, community-based mindset. They are capable of relying on human compassion to promote morality and stability without the legal restrictions of the

government.
In The Monk, Lewis portrays the banditti as malevolent criminals to emphasize the necessity of government control. Although Lewis recognizes the importance of reform, he criticizes defiant organizations who use violence to demand immediate progress. The banditti act as irrational, inhumane convicts who rely on thieving as an occupation because of their insubordinate nature. Marguerite, the wife of a bandit, explains that her husband’s “excesses” lead him to “no other resource from beggary than a union with the banditti” (Lewis 107). Instead of attributing the thieves’ position in society to government corruption, Lewis argues that a lack of legal interference allows individuals driven by passion to engage in criminal activity. The banditti’s attempt to rebel against the government by committing acts of violence characterizes their organization as uncivilized, suggesting that Lewis is against revolutionary ideology.
To reveal the consequences of government defiance, Lewis characterizes Marguerite as a prisoner of the banditti. He describes Marguerite as a selfless victim who the banditti subjects to tyrannical abuse and control. Marguerite references the trauma that she and her children experience by stating that she “was tempted a thousand times to put an end to [her] existence” but she “trembled to leave [her] dear boys in [her] tyrant’s power” (Lewis 108). Marguerite’s exposure to the criminals’ violence and inability to escape her position forces her into submissive vulnerability. Lewis portrays the victim in an amiable manner to accentuate the criminal nature of the banditti. The banditti’s excessive cruelties suggest a need for government interference; the judicial system should punish criminal activities that victimize citizens.
Lewis proposes his support of government reform by criticizing revolutionary ideology, while recognizing the need for social and political change. He demonstrates the necessity of the government by characterizing the magistrate as the force that rescues the escaping victims from the banditti’s attack. Marguerite explains that her son “entreated assistance from the magistrate… [who] arrived just in time to save [them]” (Lewis 110). Lewis recognizes the legal system as an essential force of preserving the law; the magistrate imprisons the banditti for their criminal behavior. Although the novelist supports judicial interference, he references the need for reform by characterizing the magistrate as “anxious for the safety of his lady… it struck him that she might have fallen into the power of the robbers” (Lewis 110). The magistrate’s personal interests compel him to assist the victims, rather than his obligation to enforce the law. Lewis argues that the government is an institution that needs to enforce the law based on a system of legal justice.
Godwin and Lewis propose divergent solutions to social and political reform in eighteenth century Europe. Godwin perceives political defiance as a productive approach to enforce change. He recognizes the history of oppression that inspires the revolutionaries to revolt against the government by presenting criminal groups as victims of their society. Through the thieves’ explanation of their occupation, Godwin advocates for a civilization that relies on a self-governed system of equality. Alternatively, Lewis interprets revolutionary ideology as senseless and inhumane through his characterization of the banditti as excessively violent. By criticizing revolutionary behavior while recognizing the need for change, Lewis suggests government reform is necessary to stabilize Europe. Both of the Gothic novelists present the anxieties present during the French Revolution, as they explore different reform propositions in their literature.