This thesis explores the relationship between William Godwin and his ideas and William Wordsworth in the context of the significant reappraisal of Godwin since 1950 (which has gained further momentum in the 1980's) and more recent questioning of the biographical status of The Prelude, so long accepted by critics. The purpose is to challenge the inadequacy of earlier over-simplistic views of Godwin's rationalism, which have led (ever since Legouis' identification of Godwin as a significant "influence" in Wordsworth's thinking) to critical acceptance of Words worth's account of Godwin's role in the poet's development, culminating in the rejection of Godwin and what he represented during the period of alleged "moral crisis".