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... L IFE AND LITERARY ACTIVITY OF DANIEL DEFOE
“When , in the second decade of the eighteenth century, the novel really emerged, it did from a man to whom art and literary theory meant nothing, from a writer who was not a gentleman but a tradesman dealing in commodities”(Walter Allen)
Daniel Defoe was born in 1660, in London, and was originally christened Daniel Foe, changing his name around the age of thirty-five to sound more aristocratic. Like his character Robinson Crusoe, Defoe was a third child. ... As a child, Daniel witnessed two of the greatest disasters of the seventeenth century: a recurrence of the deadly plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666. ...
Defoe attended a respected school in Dorking, where he was an excellent student, but as a Presbyterian, he was forbidden to attend Oxford or Cambridge. ... Though he abandoned this plan, his Protestant values endured throughout his life despite discrimination and persecution, and these values are powerfully expressed in Robinson Crusoe. In 1683, Defoe became a traveling hosiery salesman. Visiting Holland, France, and Spain on business, Defoe developed a taste for travel that lasted throughout his life. His fiction reflects his interest in travel as well, as his characters Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe both change their lives by voyaging far from their native England.
In April 1719 Defoe was nearly 60 and his industry did not flag for another 10 years. ... Robinson Crusoe was followed in a few weeks by The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, The history of the Life of Mr. ... These 8 books would themselves have conferred immortality on Defoe but there was much more.
Defoe, the founder of English journalism and the father of the English novel , was a new sort of man in the English literary scene. ...
Daniel Defoe died in 1731, poor and fighting. ... ROBINSON CRUSOE- THE PLOT
The plot in Robinson Crusoe may be evaluated in terms of the variety of incidents it contains, the amount of suspense and surprise, and the ingenuity with which all the happenings are made to contribute to the meaning in general. In Defoe’s opinion the success of his work “is acknowledged to be due to the surprising variety of the subject”
Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of York in the seventeenth century, the youngest son of a merchant of German origin. Encouraged by his father to study law, Crusoe expresses his wish to go to sea instead. His family is against Crusoe going out to sea, and his father explains that it is better to seek a modest, secure life for oneself. Initially, Robinson is committed to obeying his father, but he eventually succumbs to temptation and embarks on a ship bound for London with a friend. When a storm causes the near deaths of Crusoe and his friend, the friend is dissuaded from sea travel, but Crusoe still goes on to set himself up as merchant on a ship leaving London. This trip is financially successful, and Crusoe plans another, leaving his early profits in the care of a friendly widow. The second voyage does not prove as fortunate: the ship is seized by Moorish pirates, and Crusoe is enslaved to a potentate in the North African town of Sallee. ... A kindly Portuguese captain picks them up, buys the slave boy from Crusoe. In Brazil, Crusoe establishes himself as a plantation owner and soon becomes successful. ... Crusoe soon learns he is the sole survivor of the expedition and seeks shelter and food for himself. ... Drinking tobacco-steeped rum, Crusoe experiences a religious illumination and realizes that God has delivered him from his earlier sins. After recovering, Crusoe makes a survey of the area and discovers he is on an island. ... Crusoe begins to feel more optimistic about being on the island, describing himself as its “king. ... One day Crusoe is shocked to discover a mans footprint on the beach. ... Crusoe once again thanks Providence for having been saved. Soon afterward, Crusoe discovers that the shore has been strewn with human carnage, apparently the remains of a cannibal feast. ... Later Crusoe catches sight of thirty cannibals heading for shore with their victims. ... Crusoe protects him, killing one of the pursuers and injuring the other, whom the victim finally kills.
Approximate Word count = 3470
Approximate Pages = 13.9
(250 words per page double spaced)
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