ABSTRACT
Without habits of entire, unqualified sincerity, the human character never can be raised to true eminence. It gives what nothing else can so effectually give, an assured, unembarrassed and ingenuous manner. Mary Robinson's novel affirms Godwin's social critique and extends its scope through her Caleb-like protagonist Walsingham Ainsforth, a Wertheresque "man of feeling", who claims to be a Rousseauvian "pupil of nature", a Romantic nature poet, a Godwinian philosopher of sincerity and a radical social critic, and who takes on a triple role in the novel as victim, spy and author. About halfway through the novel, Walsingham is wrongly imprisoned, accused of murder and has to spend the night in Clerkenwell prison. Robinson's novel suggests that the culture of spying played a critical role in the sexualizing of queerness and the devaluing of masculine women. Although he would deny it, Walsingham is no different than the turnkey in his propensity to watch, except he is not in his majesty's service.
