Daniel Defoe

Daniel defoe was born in 1660 into a family of dissenters, a protestant sect which refused the autorithy of
the church of England. He was educated in Newington Green into one of the best dissenting academies,
where he studied pratical subjects such as modern languages. His father wanted a religious career for him,
but Defoe began working as an apprentice, and then went into business on his own. He suffered two
bankruptcies. He started to write in Whig papers, as a journalist his greatest achievement was The Review,
the periodical which he published three times a week from 1704 to 1713, He became a famous and well-
paid intellectual by writing political essays and pamphlets till the reign of Queen Anne (3 2). The queen did
not like his critical attitude and had him arrested, tried and imprisoned. He denied his Whig ideas so as to
be freed and became a secret agent for the new government. When he was about 60, he started to write
novels which were very successful. In 1719 he published his first novel, Robinson Crusoe, which was
followed by Captain Singleton in 1720, the voyage story of a captain who becomes a pirate In 1722 he
published Moll Flanders, which is about the adventures of a woman who was born in Newgate prison in
London, and Colonel Jack. Defoe's last novel was Roxana (1724. Thanks to the money he carned with these
works, he could alford a comfortable standard of life, but his old creditors haunted him and led him into
numerous adventures till his death in 1731.

Defoe’s novels
Defoe is generally regarded as the father of the English novel, the representative of a new social class that
wanted to see their life and ideals portrayed in literature. His narrative technique was original and became
the basis for the development of the realistic novel. His novels are fictional autobiographies always
pretending to be true stories through the biographical details and memories provided by the protagonist.
They are also preceded by a preface The structure of the novels is characterised by a series of episodes and
adventures . Defoe used retrospective first-person narration, and the author's point of view mainly
coincided with the main character's. The characters are presented from the inside and through their actions
rather than from the outside. They usually appear in isolation, either physically like Robinson Crusoe, or
socially like Moll Flanders, in their struggle for survival or for their daily bread.

Robinson Crusoe
The main character in Defoe's novel is Robinson Kreutznaer, anglicised Crusoe, born in York in 1632 of a
German father and an English mother. At the age of 19 he decides to leave his home, his family and the
prospect of a comfortable life as a member of the trading middle class in order to travel around the world
and make his fortune. His first voyage leads him to Guinea and then back to England. During his second
voyage he is captured by Moorish pirates but manages to escape; he is finally rescued by a Portuguese ship
and brought to Brazil. There he becomes the owner of a plantation and sets out on a voyage to Africa to get
more slaves. During this journey he is shipwrecked on a desert island ( 135) where he will remain for 28
years. The rest of the novel tells how he gradually re-builds the same kind of society as exists in his country.
He writes a diary where he records his experiences and debates contemporary ideas addressing himself,
the reader and even God. After 12 years of solitude he finds a human footprint on the shore. he also finds
some human bones and flesh left by cannibals. Once Robinson decides to attack them: they escape and
leave one of their captives, whom he calls Friday, after the day of his rescue. When other cannibals them
and free two of their prisoners, one of whom turns oul to be Friday's father. The novel ends with
Robinson's return to England and land on the island, Robinson and Friday attack his discovery that his
plantation in Brazil has prospered and made him very rich.