The Executioner

by William Godwin

First appeared in Blackwood's, February 1832.

Genres: Short Stories

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1832

About the author

William Godwin was the son and grandson of strait-laced Calvinist ministers. Strictly-raised, he followed in paternal footsteps, becoming a minister by age 22. His reading of atheist d'Holbach and others caused him to lose both his belief in the doctrine of eternal damnation, and his ministerial position. Through further reading, Godwin gradually became godless. He promoted anarchism (but not anarchy). His Political Justice and The Enquirer (1793) argued for morality without religion, causing a scandal. He followed that philosophical book with a trail-blazing fictional adventure-detective story, Caleb Williams (1794), to introduce readers to his ideas in a popular format. Godwin, a leading thinker and author ranking in his day close to Thomas Paine, was enormously influential among famous peers.

He and Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, secretly married in 1797. She died tragically after giving birth to daughter Mary in 1797. Godwin's loving but candid biography of his wife, Memoirs of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1798), further scandalized society. Godwin, caring not only for the baby Mary, but her half-sister Fanny, remarried. He and his second wife opened a bookshop for children. Godwin, out of necessity, became a proficient author of children's books, employing a pseudonym due to his notoriety. His daughter Mary, at 16, famously ran off with poet Percy Shelley, whose Necessity of Atheism was influenced by Godwin. Mary's novel Frankenstein also paid homage to her father's views. Godwin's life was marked by poverty and further domestic tragedies. Godwin's prized manuscript attacked the Christian religion and was intended to free the mind from slavery. The Genius of Christianity Unveiled: in a Series of Essays was published only many years after his death.

Reviews

[Izzati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the story was pretty much predictable, I enjoyed reading it. It is a story of vengeance and deception and I could not help but to think of the whispers of Satan as I was reading it. I found the descriptions of how something could both be a foe and a friend and how someone could be a foe in the guise of a friend to be interesting.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing is exquisite but the plot is ghastly. William Godwin, the author, was the father of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley, who wrote Frankenstein. It looks like a talent for writing horror stories ran in the family.

[Kirsten Simkiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one has a decent story and writing style. I'm not sure I really liked it all that much, but the story concept is definitely cool. I've definitely seen this gambit used in other stories before with alternative characters and reasons. I can see how this has affected stories historically since.

[Star Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Story of a Executioner and His Horrible Parental Figure.

I liked it.

[Charlotte O'Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful miserable