Crime and punishment in the novels of Defoe, Fielding, and Godwin
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"The eighteenth century is characterized by lawless activity, economic growth seemingly as productive of poverty as of wealth, and certain spasmodic efforts to establish justice and render society less corrupt. The records of the times bear out these notions; however, the century should not be viewed as one where virtually nothing in the way of reform took place. Many men sought means of bettering their society. In some areas their efforts were obscured, but, even so, they laid the foundations for later improvements. Such was the case with Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, and William Godwin, who made use of the subject of crime and punishment in their novels. Writing approximately at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the century, they each have a reformative motive in using this material. The manner in which they use it provides interesting comment on their lives, works, and times. Crime as used in this study may be defined as an act forbidden by law and punishable by law upon conviction, although the definition may be broadened to Include offenses against morality. Punishment may be defined as the penalty prescribed by law for an offence. A large section of chapter one is devoted to the causes of crime. The police force, the establishments for confining the criminal, the law and its administration, economic changes, and poverty and vice all are shown to be productive of crime. In the three subsequent chapters these causes of crime again form the basis of the major portion of the discussion, for the reformative value of specific novels can be estimated by the author’s awareness of these causes. This portion of each chapter is preceded by certain details of the author’s life and work which seem to have relevance to his treatment of the subject. Because certain of Defoe’s numerous works are similar, they will be treated as a group rather than individually. Because Fielding's novels differ a great deal in treatment, each is discussed separately. A similar discussion of Caleb Williams is separated from that of Godwin’s other novels for reasons that will be made obvious."--Introduction.
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