58 pages 1 hour read

William Godwin

Caleb Williams

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1794

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Volume 3, Chapters 11-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Volume 3, Chapter 11 Summary

After Gines arrests Caleb, he removes all of his disguise and by the next morning looks like himself again (374). Now knowing for sure who Caleb it, the authorities draft a warrant to send him back to his own town (375). Caleb tries to tell the magistrate about the murder, but the magistrate explains that he cannot do anything unless Caleb was involved himself and that Caleb has no evidence. Furthermore, he says that Caleb looks like a criminal, so he doesn’t want to help him (376).

Out of options, Caleb returns to the prison that he escaped from in Volume 2. Caleb is a changed man: He “no longer [beholds] the world as [his] youthful fancy had once induced [him] to do” and sees every man as an “instrument of the tyrant” (378). However, Caleb slowly “recover[s] [his] spirit of determination” (379). He contemplates breaking out, but since the assizes are approaching, he waits to see if his case is called.

Caleb's name is called, and when he shows up at court he is surprised to learn that Ferdinando never showed up, so the charges have been dropped and Caleb is able to leave (380). 

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