Daniel Defoe and the Rise of Realistic Novels: A Study of 'Robinson Crusoe', Appunti di Lingua Inglese

Scarica Daniel Defoe and the Rise of Realistic Novels: A Study of 'Robinson Crusoe' e più Appunti in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! DANIEL DEFOE AND THE REALIST REALIST NOVEL Middle and upper-class public wanted to read stories about their own problem and individual experiences and the writes, when the profession became profitable, created this. The novel became more and more a mirror of reality and came to be defined as “realistic” not only because of “what” it presented, but above all because of “how”. Authors began to use “Clock- time” and “physical settings” and developed a new type of “hero”, the self-made and self-reliant man, guided by bourgeois value. DANIEL DEFOE’S life D.D. was in 1660 into a dissidents Protestant family, which refuse the authority of the Church of England. He worked for “The Review”, which he published two or three times a week. At the age of 60 years he started to write successful novels In 1719 he published his first novel, “Robinson Crusoe” and afterwards “Moll Flanders”, “Colonel Jack” and “Roxana” D.D. died in 1731. Robinson Crusoe R.C. is the most famous Defoe’s novel. It was inspired by the real story of Alexander Selkirk, a seaman who in 1704 was put ashore on the island of Juan Fernandez in the Pacific Ocean, from which he was saved in the 1709. The new middle-class hero Robinson Crusoe belongs to the middle class and has in common with the classical hero of travel literatuw Robinson leaves his family at 19 years and become a seaman to make his fortune. He re is his calm and tranquility, the search of own identity in alternative to the father. The story R.C. consist of three separate sections: Part I: tells holands in Brazil, where he make a successful plantation. One day, during an expedition to buy some slaves for his plantation, he shipwrecked on a remote island where he spends twenty-eight years, two months and nineteen days. Part II: This section tell about the Robinson’s experience on the island, how he is able to recreate the same civilization of his country and when he saves a young savage from cannibals and makes his is servant, calling him “Friday”. After, R.C. was finally rescue by an English ship. Part III: In this section Robinson return to England and he discovers that he has enriched himself thanks to the plantations in Brazil. A spiritual autobiography The novel is full of religious references. It can be read like a spiritual autobiography in which R.C. reads the Bible to find comfort and guidance. This is the conflict between economic motivation and spiritual salvation. The island Robinson use the island for to demonstrate to be worthy in the eyes of God, for the God’s Providence. Robinson organizes a primitive empire, creating a prototype of the English coloniser . The individual and the society The Robinson’s society it can be read as an exaltation of the English 18th century and its ideals of productivity, individualism and mobility. Defoe show that, though God is the prime cause of everything. He applies a rational method to every situation: starts by observing the situation and, when he makes a list of possible solutions, chooses the best alternative. EXERCISE 2