Pamela or Rewarded Virtue by Samuel Richardson and Caleb Williams by William Godwin are both novels that deal with the influence of social hierarchy on the psychology of the characters. In Caleb Williams, the protagonist is a young man who learns the horrible truth about his master (Squire Falkland) and spends the entire novel being hunted. Pamela tells the story of a young maid subjected to the unwanted attentions of Squire Brandon. These two novels feature the respective protagonists being pursued by someone belonging to a higher social hierarchy and evoke the conscious abuse of power on the part of the authorities. However, the master-servant relationship that exists makes it difficult for the protagonists to do anything about their current situation and they are forced to make the best of their situation. Caleb Williams is forced into solitary confinement because of how Falkland has effectively become "one of millions of men, in arms against (him) (Godwin, p. 259)"; Pamela Andrews is even more limited in her options due to her status as a woman, but she continues to resist Squire B even after being locked up by him. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The theme of corrupt political authorities in Caleb Williams is largely inspired by the real events that William Godwin experienced while writing the novel . At a time when the English government was at the height of its paranoia about revolution, this distrust resulted in the arrest and execution of various political radicals, many of whom were considered acquaintances of Godwin. First published in 1794, Caleb Williams represents Godwin's attempts to explore English political and social issues considered radical, while criticizing the English authorities for their oppressive rule against their tenants. This is depicted through the character of Caleb, a servant unjustly persecuted by the law due to the influence of a powerful English aristocrat. Falkland's character continually displays behavior not expected of a gentleman of his social status, sending Caleb to prison and relentlessly stalking him wherever he goes. Godwin demonstrates how the hypocrisy of the actions contradicts the expected behavior of the Falkland social class - he accuses Caleb of theft and takes extreme measures to ensure that Caleb is isolated. The exploitation of power is also an important theme in Pamela, when Squire B uses his power and influence to hide Pamela in an attempt to force her to become his mistress. Similar to Godwin's depiction of Falkland, Samuel Richardson portrays the character of Squire B as an authority who abuses his power in order to convince his servants and tenants to obey him. Although he knows the line between master and servant, he continually crosses the line and then uses his power to keep his servants silent ("And he charged Mrs. Jervis not to say a word of what had happened; and on this condition, he would forgive her for what she had said and done” [Richardson, p. 96]). Richardson was not as radical as Godwin, nor did he draw on his own experiences when writing about Pamela's authority, but his description of the abuses of power within the authorities also echoes that found in Caleb Williams, although to a lesser extent. The lack of moral and social constraints depicted in Squire B has, however, been widely criticized, due to its apparent encouragement of such behavior by the classhigher social. To understand the psychology of Pamela and Caleb, it is necessary to examine the social hierarchy present in the time setting of the two novels. Both protagonists are servants of an authority and live in a time when there were few laws to protect the peasant class and tenants and servants were subject to the whims of their landlord. One of Caleb Williams' most prominent examples is the character Hawkins, who, after offending Tyrrel, was tormented to the point of being forced to pack up his entire family and leave to escape Tyrrel. This is also true in Pamela, where Farmer Monkton and his family are found to be entirely under Squire B's dominion, for he had "great obligations to their landlord," they added, "and they expected from him reparations and other favors. ..” (Richardson, p. 143). This dependence on Falkland and Squire B was not limited to tenants; this also applied to servants. Pamela has recognized this dependence on her master, which partly explains why she does not expose her actions to the rest of the servants, for fear of implicating them: “'Thank you, Mr. Jonathan,' I said; “but as you value your place, do not appear to speak to one like me,” I also cried; and I distanced myself from him as much as I could, for his own sake, lest he should seem to pity me (Richardson, p. 80). title. Harvey Gross attributes this to the force of society acting on “the characters are projected as individuals subject to the action of the forces of society; and, as in the novel, strong class feelings motivate their action” (Gross, 1959). Caleb states that Falkland's servants regard him with "reverence as a being of a higher order" and "by the benevolence of his actions and the principles of unbending integrity by which he was habitually guided." Caleb also becomes of service to Falkland with the determination to please him and willingly adapts to the role of servant, which is revealed in Falkland's first confrontation with Caleb: Sir, I could die to serve you! I love you more than I can express. I adore you as a being of a higher nature. I am stupid, crude, inexperienced, --- worse than any of them; -- but never a thought of disloyalty to your service entered my heart. (Godwin, p. 117) This speech demonstrates how deeply held these feelings were; Falkland's character is above Caleb's character and anything that goes wrong is obviously Caleb's fault. Pamela also displays the same social hierarchy mindset as Caleb, which is why Squire B's attentions leave her so agitated. Squire B's character is also aware of the social divide between them and frequently remarks on it: “I know best what is mine; but I have been bewitched by her, I think, to be freer than I suited myself... (Richardson, pp. 66-67) “Godwin presents a situation where the social order is deeply rooted in the minds of the characters by Caleb Williams, much more than Richardson's characters show. The feelings of superiority shown by upper-class men cause the lower-class people around them to view those in power with respect and superiority. Even the character of Tyrrel was initially regarded by young men as "a shy respect, conscious of the relative eminence which belonged unquestionably to the powers of his mind... (Godwin, p. 17)" and women were taught that "the hand of Mr. Tyrrel (was) the highest object of his ambition (Godwin, p. 17)” despite all his shortcomings and violent outbursts of anger. Caleb himself also has this social order deeplyingrained in his mind at the beginning of the novel, but after Falkland's unjust accusations, he is forced to defend his position and go against the social order to defy his master. When Caleb finally has the opportunity to take a stand against the social hierarchy during the final trial, he ultimately falls back into the expected role of servant and actually blames himself for trying to dishonor his master. However, Richardson's focus is less on the individual and more on the individual. society and the expected roles of servant and master, than Godwin does with his characters. This is evident by the behavior displayed by Mrs. Jervis, Jonathan and Longman, who go beyond their obligations to Squire B in an attempt to help Pamela. Mrs. Jervis even goes out of her way to openly defy Mr. B on several occasions, such as when she leaves her role as servant to refuse Mr. B's orders to leave the room and leave Pamela alone with him. In fact, the characters of Pamela and Mr. B themselves seem to be the two characters in the novel who most faithfully follow the servant-master obligation: I lost all fear and respect and said: “Yes, I do, sir, very well!” Well, can I forget that I am your servant, when you forget what belongs to a master. » I sobbed and cried very sadly. “What an idiot you are!” » he said: “Have I harmed you? “Yes, sir,” I said, “it is the greatest evil in the world: you have taught me to forget myself and what belongs to me; and you have reduced the distance which fortune has created between us, by demeaning yourself, for being so free towards a poor servant (Richardson, p. 55). Squire B's attraction to Pamela causes a shift in this method of thinking. Although Richardson is a conservative, scholars have noted that he appears to empower the lower class by perfectly embodying "a bourgeois class that was consolidating its power, challenging aristocratic institutions of control, and transforming the cultural and economic means of production." (Flint, 1989). The fact that someone from the working class is the model example of what it means to be virtuous directly challenges the mentality of the social hierarchy throughout the novel. The entire Pamela novel itself depicts Pamela and Mr. B's struggles to overcome the distance within their social class; Mr. B's mistreatment of Pamela resulted in part from his inability to accept that he had fallen in love with someone below his social status, his failed attempts to shake off his attraction, and Pamela's refusal to become his mistress. Both Godwin and Richardson play with the idea of ​​empowering the lower class and challenging the order established by the upper class. However, their two protagonists arrive at completely opposite conclusions after questioning the social order. Caleb finally falls back into the mentality of social order when he finally confronts Falkland in a fair trial and declares that: Mr. Falkland is of noble nature. Yes; despite the disaster at Tyrrel, the miserable end of the Hawkins and everything I myself suffered, I affirm that he has the most admirable qualities. It is therefore impossible that he could have resisted a frank and fervent denunciation, the frankness and fervor in which the whole soul was poured out. I despaired, while there was still time to have had the right experience; but my despair was criminal, it was a treason against the sovereignty of truth (Godwin, p. 300). Caleb's speech excuses Falkland's momentary behavior and blames himself for revealing the truth and having to condemn Falkland with it. His statement takes him into a state of mind focused on social order, because even though.