William Baldwin, Beware the Cat (1553/1570)

Abstract

William Baldwin’s Beware the Cat, which has been labelled ‘the first English novel’, is of particular interest for the development of vernacular prose fiction. Beware the Cat presents itself as a history with claims of factual accuracy, while at the same time highlighting its unreliability and fictionality through fantastical tales about speaking cats. Along these contradictory lines, it explores questions of religious confession, of spiritual and sexual betrayal, of surveillance and secrecy, and, importantly for the development of prose fiction, of the reliability of oral and written stories. Written during the Reformation debates, the narrative mimics anti-Catholic propaganda, but its elaborate narrative form creates ambiguity and playfulness that ultimately undercut any straightforward didacticism. Juxtaposing medium and message, Beware the Cat has it both ways: it offers, as its full title announces, a “pleasant and merry” “marvelous hystory”, and at the same time encourages readers to beware of “wounderfull and incredible matters” set forth by fiction.