The Natural World and Human Nature

William Godwin’s St. Leon displays many of the characteristics that describe the Romanticism period. The characteristic I focused on while reading this novel is the celebration of nature. Godwin represents this quality in two different ways: one, being the nature of the natural world, and one being the nature of humans.

            Godwin depicts the natural world as a calming, sobering part of Reginald’s character. Reginald admits his greatest problems, specifically his gambling addiction, takes place while he is in the city. When he takes his son Charles to school in Paris, he gambles away the money he and his wife had saved (Godwin 93, 101). For Reginald, being trapped within the manmade structures of the city causes him to make questionable decisions that hurt the family. This is made clear when Marguerite takes him from the city to the countryside in Switzerland (124-125). In the country, Reginald is surrounded by open landscapes that remind him of his freedom. The country allows Reginald to be free of his disease—gambling—and become a better husband and father. Godwin’s illustration of the natural world affecting Reginald shows that escaping into nature is sometimes necessary to overcome the depression of the city.

            In comparison, Godwin also represents the nature of humanity through the thoughts and feelings of Reginald. Specifically, the quote, “The value of man is in his intrinsic qualities; in that of which power cannot strip him, and which adverse fortune cannot take away” (130). In this sentence, Godwin is explaining how humanity is given specific qualities naturally that cannot be taken by someone else. Reginald says this line to Marguerite to convince her that his value comes from the qualities he was given and not from society. Godwin is telling his readers that their value comes from how they perceive themselves and not how others perceive them. The nature of humanity becomes just as important as nature in the natural world because both enable humans to lead a better life when cared for properly.