Couplets are a term used in poetic literature to describe two lines that have a rhythmic pattern. Couplets do not have to rhyme perfectly, but to give the poem a sort of rhythm to promote movement in a poem. This allows the reader to read the poem with a sense of movement similar to a song. There are many different types of couples. Two examples are closed and run-on couplets. Closed couplets signify that there is a grammatical end to the lines. This is shown when two lines that follow one another and rhyme so you know where the end is. A run-on couplet is more general and has to do with the entirety of the poem. The meaning of something that begins in one line, is carried down into the next lines without a grammatical end.

In Coleridge’s poem, Christabel, he uses couplets in order to enhance the readers experience when reading the poem. The couplets that he uses are inconsistent, which may be intentional. It is possible that Coleridge did it to throw a reader off because there is an certain feeling you should get while reading the poem. Also, the couplets provide a sense of rhyme and repetition which captivate. One of the things that Coleridge does is when each different character is talking, he uses a different meter and couplet pattern in order to distinguish them. This makes the poem more interesting and easier to follow. It also gives you insight to how the characters would be if they were real. Overall, with a variety of couplets, Coleridge makes the poem seem interesting and draws the reader in.

“Couplet.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/couplet.

“Couplet.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Mar. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couplet.

“What Is Couplet? | Definition and Examples.” Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans, www.k12reader.com/term/couplet/.

Romanticism refers to the period during the eighteenth century where literacy, art and philosophical thinking boomed. The movement began in Europe, mainly in Britain, France and Germany  in a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and Age of Enlightenment. This is where new ideas were discovered in government and self realization. There were many aspects of the Romantic Period. One was the importance of modernity. The ideas expressed through art and literature during this time helped influence the new wave of ideas in political groups like liberalism, radicalism, conservatism and nationalism. Work from this period also included the emotions of fear, sadness, terror and showed a representation of beauty. Another thing is that many romantic writers feel that they have a distrust of human-nature.

Coleridge was one of the most well known writers of the Romantic Period. He believed that the aspect of imagination was extremely important in order to convey the ideas of natural law. His work was very original, which he thought was essential as well. He was able to express himself through writing and related his ideas to the way people felt during that period.

In the long poem, Christabel, that Coleridge wrote, there are many aspects of the Romantic Period. One way Christabel shows aspects is a morphed representation of beauty. The character of Geraldine is introduced and described as a beautiful, angelic woman. Geraldine appears in the forest, in the shadows dressed in all white and bright. Another thing expressed in Christabel, is deception of reality. Christabel is described as a beautiful, young girl who seems to live in a castle. Although, she is portrayed in the most beautiful way, she is also extremely unfilled and unhappy. She doesn’t have a mother figure, and although her father figure loves her very much, he doesn’t spend much time looking after her. She is able to go into the forest by herself and be deceived by a woman she just met.

“Romanticism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Mar. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism.

“Romanticism.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/romanticism.

Beer, John Bernard. “Samuel Taylor Coleridge.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2 Aug. 2017, www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Taylor-Coleridge.

A narrative is a story, real or imaginary, that is presented to the reader as a sequence of events. Because they can be fiction or nonfiction, they can be told in a variety of ways such as a biography, legends, and in the case of Caleb Williams a novel. As part of human nature, humans have been telling stories ever since we could communicate to one another. The purpose of this was generally to convey messages and wisdom from older generations to newer generations. Modern narratives now serve to spread the writer’s morals, cultural, and political perspectives.

Caleb Williams is presented as a first-person narrative, the story being told from Caleb’s perspective. First-person narratives help the reader get into the mind of the narrator, to understand their feelings and viewpoints on the world. As Caleb tells us his story, we get to see how Caleb’s views change. One example of this is when Caleb sees the wanted notice for him after he escapes; he starts to hate Falkland who was not content with destroying Caleb’s reputation and confining him to jail for a period of time, and who is hunting down Caleb with “unmitigatable cruelty.”

The story is also told to the readers in a retrospective narrative, instead of a direct narrative perspective. In a direct narrative the events being told are currently happening to the narrator, but Caleb is telling us the events of the past with his knowledge of the future influencing his narration. This is how he knows of all of Falkland’s past events in the first volume of the novel, such as the interactions between Falkland and Tyrrel in the past.

The book ‘Caleb Williams’ can be described as a travel memoir, documenting Caleb’s thoughts as he travels to escape Falkland’s grasp.

BARKER, GERARD A. “THE NARRATIVE MODE OF ‘CALEB WILLIAMS’: PROBLEMS AND RESOLUTIONS.” Studies in the Novel, vol. 25, no. 1, 1993, pp. 1–15. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/29532912.

“Narrative.” Literary Devices, https://literarydevices.net/narrative/.

A narrator is the voice who is telling the story. The narrator is used by the author to deliver information to the readers. The narrator does not have to be a physical person, it can be a separate entity such as a voice, or a fictional or non-fictional character in the story itself. A work can also have more than one narrator. The book Caleb Williams only has one narrator, Caleb.

Because Caleb is a character directly in the story’s plot, he is considered a first-person narrator. If a narrator were telling a story where they were not in the plot, they would be considered a third-person narrator. This first-person narration lets the reader get into the mind of Caleb, letting them feel what Caleb is feeling in the moment. However this can be a disadvantage, as the viewpoint of the reader is limited towards just Caleb, and cannot reliably understand other characters such as Falkland and Gines.

There are also different categorizations of narrators; intrusive, unreliable, and naive narrators. Intrusive narrators interrupt the story to provide their thoughts on some aspect of the plot or a more general topic. Unreliable narrators do not understand the entire plot and therefore makes assumptions and incorrect conclusions about the events they have seen. Naive narrators do not have the knowledge and sophistication to understand the entire plot, even though the reader can understand. Caleb Williams can be categorized as a intrusive narrator, often pausing the timeline of the plot to tell the reader what he is thinking of. This can be seen in his thoughts thinking about human nature, about how he has found himself “subjected, undeservedly on [his] part, to all the disadvantages on which mankind, would hesitate to impose on acknowledged guilt.”

The narrator can often invoke imagery to help the reader to visualize the scenario they are in. In addition, because the reader can hear Caleb’s thoughts the reader can feel sympathy for Caleb.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Narrator.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 14 Feb. 2017, www.britannica.com/art/narrator.

Novel, Now. “First Person Narrative: 7 Tips for Great Narrators.” Now Novel, 15 Mar. 2016, www.nownovel.com/blog/first-person-narrative-7-tips/.

Sublime is something of “very great excellence or beauty, producing an overwhelming sense of awe or other high emotion through being vast or grand.” Sublime describes something “beautiful or good and causing strong feelings of admiration or wonder.” Sublime is something so breathtaking and impressive that needs to be admired. Sublime can describe something in nature which will expand your thoughts and emotions.

In Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. By Mary Wollstonecraft writes in the most beautiful way. Her writing makes it feel like you are right there with her. In her travel book she uses the word sublime to describe the rockiness of mountains. As stated in, “Fate has separated me from another, the fire of whose eyes, tempered by infantine tenderness, still warms my breast; even when gazing on these tremendous cliffs sublime emotions absorb my soul.” It seems to me that Mary Wollstonecraft looks at the beauty in nature and the environment and feels such great emotion to it. It is like she has a connection with the rockiness of mountains or cliffs. For some people I feel like they see the mountains as something dangerous, lonely and not calming. It seems like Mary Wollstonecraft saw the complete opposite, it is like she saw the beauty of it. I think she used this as a connection of the mountains and the water to fertility or rebirth. Which is very interesting considering before her travels she tried to commit suicide. Mary Wollstonecraft also uses the word sublime to connect women’s rights and being a mother.

“Sublime | Definition of sublime in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sublime.

“Sublime.” Sublime – Definition for English-Language Learners from Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary, www.learnersdictionary.com/definition/sublime.

Wollstonecraft, Mary, et al. Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Ambiguity is a noun used to express a sense of vagueness or uncertainty. It can be used intentionally in poetry to hint at multiple meanings to a line or stanza. The prefix “ambi-“ is roughly translated to “two.” When ambiguity is involved, things cannot be resolved completely until more information is provided.

In William Godwin’s Caleb Williams, a large amount of ambiguity takes place throughout volume one and two. In volume one, the reader gathers information about Tyrrel’s murder as Caleb does, and he/she is also faced with the open-ended question of: Did Falkland kill Tyrrel? Caleb has difficulty believing it until he has gathered more facts, making things unclear for most of volume one. Volume two is also ambiguous as Caleb’s quest for information continues. When he finally comes to realize that Falkland is, in fact, a murderer, the reader is then left with a bit a vagueness regarding Caleb’s future. Will he try to bring Falkland to justice? Or will he keep this horrible realization to himself? This conflict is resolved, however another one follows shortly after.

To build suspense and keep a reader engaged, an author needs to incorporate ambiguity. Without it, there is no anticipation in a novel, and a reader can become uninterested easily. William Godwin’s writing is impressively suspenseful, creating a large amount of uncertainty. This keeps the reader interested in the novel, and makes him/her eager to unveil what happens next.

This word can be linked to allusion because of how it indirectly connects ideas, like how ambiguity can hint at something more. It also relates to symbolism.

“Ambiguity.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambiguity.

“Definition of “ambiguity” – English Dictionary.” Ambiguity Definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary, dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/ambiguity.

Godwin, William. Caleb Williams. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Due to the changing times and Westward expansion, many of the French wanted a change in their government. The wealthy people were looking to gain political power and the peasants wanted an end to feudalism. As the French population grew, the food supply did not, and this created even further tensions in the country. Fueled by ideals discovered in the Enlightenment, French citizens wanted to put an end to monarchy, so they violently revolted against their government.

The French Revolution directly relates to the excerpt from Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790). Written shortly after the “official” start of the French Revolution, Burke provides his thoughts and opinions on the events that took place, such as the slaughter of monarchy officials. He believes the Revolution was necessary, yet unnecessary, due to the horrendous actions that take place. This account is very important because it provides us with a different point of view on the Revolution. We read about it in textbooks and on websites, but Burke’s Reflections was written while the Revolution took place, and provide a personal viewpoint on the situation.

The morals behind the French Revolution can also be linked to William Godwin’s Caleb Williams. The French peasants were fighting for what they wanted and what they believed the country needed. Similarly, Caleb Williams fought for his own ethics, and went against Falkland’s wishes. Caleb’s desire to uncover the truth and bring justice to the situation correlates with the French people’s longing for a new form of government and how they wouldn’t stop until they were closer to their goal.

This definition is related to Romanticism, due to the overlapping time occurrence. The French Revolution can also be loosely related to the Victorian era of literature, because of the ideas that brought about the Revolution and therefore influenced future ideas to come.

Burke, Edmund, and L. G. Mitchell. Reflections on the revolution in France. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Godwin, William. Caleb Williams. Oxford University Press, 2009.

History.com Staff. “French Revolution.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/french-revolution.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “French Revolution.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 7 Feb. 2018, www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution.

Utopia is a fictional place where everything and everyone are in the state of perpetual perfection, the complete opposite of dystopia (1). The origin of the English word “utopia” originated in the 16th century and stemmed from the Greek ou translating to “not” and topos meaning “place”. Originally, the word was used to describe a fictional setting that was not necessarily perfect. Nowadays, this concept of the perfect world has manifested itself as a seemingly unreachable goal, towards which people contribute little by little everyday. In literary works, the world of utopia is used in juxtaposition with reality/dystopia to animate various pitfalls or achievements of human nature.

In Paradise Lost, John Milton incorporates the biblical stories into his epic poem in order to describe how Satan was able to single-handedly ignited The Fall from Paradise. Therefore, the utopia created by God has fallen and God’s creations were riddled with sin. Paradise Lost illustrates an interesting perspective on utopia as it paints a world of dictatorial government where God’s word is the law (2). However, that statement by itself questions what perfection truly is. If Paradise was in a perfect state, how could it have fallen? In the perfect utopia, Eve would have gladly declined Satan’s offer of the forbidden fruit because she was perfect. Therefore, Eve preemptively possessed an imperfection from the hands of God. However, without the knowledge of imperfection, Eve could not have known what perfection is and have the drive to maintain this Paradise.

Work Cited:

1. “Utopia| Definition of Symbolism in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/utopia.
2. Milton, John. Paradise Lost: 1677. Scolar Press, 1968.