Caleb Williams

Excerpt from Standard Novels, Vol. 1: N° II; Caleb WilliamsBut to turn to the story itself, the character of Falkland lives in our minds as one of the great creations of fiction. In the end Caleb says of him: A nobler spirit lived not among the sons of men. And nothing could be more re markable than the way in which the author justifies this statement. We see Falkland at first chivalrous, benevolent, the very pattern of Aristotle's magnanimous man, with only one weakness, that pride of reputation which turns him into> a murderer and a madman. I live, he says, the guard ian of my reputation. That, and to endure a misery such as man never endured, are the only ends to which I live. But when I am no more, my fame shall survive. My char acter shall be revered as spotless and unimpeachable by all posterity, as long as the name of Falkland shall be te peated in the most distant regions of the many-peopled globe. This pride is the rock on which he goes to pieces. One would have to seek far in literature to find a more powerful study of an obsession than that which transforms the gay, humane Falkland into a fiend of vengeance and remorse.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.