Abstract: William Godwin is a famous British political scientist and novelist in the 19^th century. Scholars in China have mostly focused on his political theories on criminology, property view, and anarchism, but seldom, if ever, touched upon his Caleb Williams, let alone the explicit political implications of its emotional structure and custom culture. As a matter of fact, the view of custom culture expounded in the novel coincides with Samuel Richardson's thought of populist emotional structure. Godwin hopes to maintain the political belief and collective emotional structure of the social power mechanism and sustain the long-standing British custom culture. Besides, in the process of challenging the Irish politician, Edmund Burke, Godwin found a creative inspiration in Pamela. By reversing Pamela's identity, he creates a unique political path by turning Caleb from a radical average man to a squire of property. Therefore, the novel is an important carrier of Godwin's political thought. The writer skilfully integrates his political theory into the grand narrative of the novel in order to expose the lack of justice and the unfair political ecology in British society.

Key words: William Godwin, Caleb Williams, emotional structure, custom culture, political writing