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Daniel Defoe: Life and Novels Explained

Daniel Defoe was born in 1660 in England and studied at a Dissenting academy where he learned practical subjects. He struggled financially and faced two bankruptcies. He became a famous journalist writing for Whig papers and publishing a periodical called The Review. His greatest novels include Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722), and Roxana (1724), which were fictional autobiographies told from the perspective of the protagonists and presented as true stories. Defoe pioneered the realistic novel in England and is considered the father of the English novel.

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112 views2 pages

Daniel Defoe: Life and Novels Explained

Daniel Defoe was born in 1660 in England and studied at a Dissenting academy where he learned practical subjects. He struggled financially and faced two bankruptcies. He became a famous journalist writing for Whig papers and publishing a periodical called The Review. His greatest novels include Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722), and Roxana (1724), which were fictional autobiographies told from the perspective of the protagonists and presented as true stories. Defoe pioneered the realistic novel in England and is considered the father of the English novel.

Uploaded by

Lorenzo Alfano
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Daniel Defoe

Life and works


Daniel Defoe was born in 1660 in a protestant family. He studied in one of the best
Dissenting academies where he studied practical subjects like languages, economics and
geography. The father wanted a religious career for him but Daniel started his own
business. He suffered two bankruptcies which he faced both with legal and illicit means.
He started writing in Whig papers as a journalist. His greatest achievement is: 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 ideas on queen Anne.
Queen Anna didn’t like his critical attitude and made arrest him. In prison he wrote some
appearances with the means to degrade himself but the effect was the opposite.
When he was free and 60, he started write some very famous and popular novels like:
Robinson Crusoe in 1719 which was followed by: Captain Singleton in 1720.
In 1722 he published Moll Flanders and Colonel Jack. The last novel was Roxana.
All his novels made him a rich man but the creditors found 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. His techinc was original
and became the basis for the realistic novel. His novels are fictional autobiographies
always pretending to be true stories through the biographical details and memories
provided by the protagonist.
The structure of the novels is characterized by a series of episodes and avventure held
together by the unifying presence of a single hero.
The characters are presented from the inside and taught their actions rather than from
the outside.
They are usually appear in isolation, physical either socially like Robinson Crusoe or
Moll Flanders.
Robinson Crusoe
Plot
The author tells the events in a linear way. Robinson Crusoe was born in the city of
York, where he was educated. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, but his only
desire was to go to sea. When he was nineteen he left home without asking permission
and began his life at sea. After various adventures, he found himself on a ship sailing for
the African coast.
A violent tornado pushed the ship on the land. All the seaman abandoned the ship,

and they drowned. But Robinson went ashore at the beach. He was on an island. He

swim out to the ship and get as many things as he could. After ten month later,

Robinson explored the island. It was uninhabited, and rich of fruit trees. One day he

decided to build a boat. One midday Robinson saw a footprint in the sand, than he

knew that in the other side of island there are some savage, and they were cannibals.

Robinson attack the cannibals, and saved a person, who called Friday. Three years

passed, and Friday saw three boats. They attack the savage, and between the

prisoner, there was Friday's father. One morning he saw an English ship, and they

report home Robinson with Friday.

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