Jacobin novel

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William Godwin's Caleb Williams, the quintessential Jacobin novel
William Godwin's Caleb Williams, the quintessential Jacobin novel

Jacobin novels were written between 1780 and 1805 by British radicals who supported the ideals of the French revolution. The term was coined by literary scholar Gary Kelly in The English Jacobin Novel 1780-1805 (1976) but drawn from the title of the Anti-Jacobin: or, Weekly Examiner, a conservative periodical founded by the Tory politician George Canning. Canning chose to tar British reformers with the French term for the most radical revolutionaries: Jacobin. Among the Jacobin novelists were William Godwin, Robert Bage, Elizabeth Inchbald, and Charlotte Smith.[1]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Bellamy, Liz Bellamy. "Jacobin Novel". The Literary Encyclopedia. Published on 24 May 2005. The Literary Dictionary Company. Retrieved on 30 August 2007.