Caleb Williams

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1794

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Volume 1, Chapters 11-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Volume 1, Chapter 11 Summary

Ferdinando cursed Barnabas when he heard of Emily’s death, broken at how unnecessary it was. When Barnabas learned that Emily had died, he refused to believe it and denied having anything to do with it; however, Mrs. Hammond insisted that Emily was truly gone. After this, Barnabas began to realize how much the town hated him for what he had done.

Tired of hiding, Barnabas showed up to the city assembly, even though most people there did not want to admit him. He told the people that if they had any problems with him they should address him directly, but everyone was too intimidated (163). When Ferdinando showed up at the meeting, he advanced on Barnabas, reiterating that Barnabas was not welcome there . Outnumbered and with everyone on Ferdinando’s side, Barnabas left feeling ashamed of his defeat (164). He came back drunk an hour or so later and tried to fight Ferdinando; they were pulled apart, and Barnabas left once again.

These events angered Ferdinando, who felt that both he and Barnabas were disgraced now. The next morning, Ferdinando was shocked when people found Barnabas dead on the street not far from the assembly house.

Volume 1, Chapter 12 Summary

The rest of Ferdinando’s backstory takes place in Mr. Collins’s own words. The day Barnabas died marked a crisis for Ferdinando . Ferdinando did not have a good alibi and was summoned to court to plead his case. His personality was already changing at this point; he was ashamed of the rumors that were circulating about him and upset that anyone would believe he could have murdered Barnabas (168).

Rather than arresting Ferdinando, the magistrates asked him to come talk to them. Ferdinando pled his case in front of these peers and claimed that he was innocent; he argued that people knew his character and never spoke badly of him. While admitting that he did not like Barnabas, he said that he did not do the murder and that the fact that he hadn’t fled proved his innocence (181). The magistrates found him innocent. Weeks later, some bloody clothes belonging to Hawkins were found; both he and Leonard were ultimately executed for Barnabas’s murder.

Volume 1, Chapters 11-12 Analysis

These chapters detail the final fall that Barnabas takes as a tragic hero, pushing his feud with Ferdinando to a point of physical conflict and sealing the town’s negative impression of him. Falling from grace was Barnabas’s biggest fear, and he blames everything that has happened on Ferdinando instead of taking responsibility for his own prideful actions. Barnabas never realizes his mistakes and dies without having grown at all.

These chapters also lay the groundwork for Ferdinando’s own downfall. Barnabas’s murder is the pivotal point when everything changed for him, ultimately leading to his and Caleb’s conflict. For the moment, however, Ferdinando’s status seems to have protected him. Ferdinando’s ability to avoid a warrant and defends himself in front of a sympathetic audience is a glimpse into the type of justice system that Godwin is critiquing. Ferdinando provides no real evidence clearing him of the charges; he simply argues that he does not appear to be a person who would do such a thing. Comparing this trial to the trial that Caleb faces when returning to the city reveals the disparity in the way the legal system treated people of different classes. Like Ferdinando, Caleb cites his willingness to face trial as proof that he is innocent, but the court does not receive Caleb’s defense the way it does Ferdinando’s.