Scarica Romanzi e autori del XVIII secolo inglese e più Guide, Progetti e Ricerche in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! “Robinson Crusoe” The novel is narrated by the protagonist himself, through a sort of false autobiography, since Robinson never existed. The realism inside the novel is given by the numerous descriptions and information that the author inserts, so that the reader can follow the protagonist step by step in his story. The novel also celebrates the English mercantile spirit, in fact Robinson represents the typical Puritan English who wanted to colonize the world, convinced that he would then be rewarded by God. The goal of colonization is evident towards the end of the novel, in which he will colonize the native man, namely Friday. Robinson in fact will take care of giving a name to the colonized, of dressing him in European clothes, of teaching him a new language and a new religion, always maintaining a technical superiority in such a way as to possess various advantages over the colonized. (The novel in question also has similarities with some ideas of the great Rousseau, including that of radical individualism. For Rousseau, primitive man's well-being was exclusively tied to his individual life as well as for Dafoe. The two, however, had two different ideas about nature, in fact Daniel unlike the French, who believed in the strong relationship between nature and man, leads Robinson to choose to live in a natural life in a desert place, in addition to considering nature is a resource to be exploited economically thanks also to the free labor force of colonized Friday.) Samuel Richardson The novel "Pamela and the rewarded virtue" is considered the first bestseller in the world, it is an epistolary novel written in letters, which are largely written by the protagonist Pamela. Pamela was a young waitress of about 15, who in the novel in addition to writing numerous letters to her parents will dare to resist the various sexual advances of her master in order to protect his virtue. In the end, however, she will manage to marry her young nobleman but by setting conditions that he had to respect: to follow a Christian life, sober and married. Pamela's action proved to be an inspiration for the various readers, who considered her a real heroine. Others, on the other hand, considered it a social danger, as this attitude encouraged other women to oppose the libertine lifestyle of the nobles. Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift was one of the most influential Irish writers of this era especially for his satirical works. His most famous work was the book "Gulliver's Travels", in which the author mixes the utopian genre with that of the travel tradition; in fact on a first level of reading it is a simple journey of the protagonist, Gulliver, around the world, totally imaginary but made real thanks to Swift's attention in describing geography; in the background, on the other hand, satire is evident, used by the author to expose civilized society to complete criticism. The work, initially published anonymously due to the many allusions to the politics of the period, was made up of 4 books: (In the first, Gulliver finds himself in the land of the Lilliputians, men of small size but large in their thirst for power when they decide to enslave him. By this Swift refers to the politicians of the time. In the second trip, Gulliver arrives in Brobdingnag, made up of large, wise and good people, in fact they force Gulliver to reflect on the almost barbaric English civilization. Gulliver's third journey takes place in Laputa, where his king enjoys mocking the population of the kingdom below by threatening them to cover the sun with Laputa. The inhabitants of the kingdom are obsessed with the mathematical sciences. But their obsession with science leads to nothing more than the creation of meaningless objects. With this Swift wants to criticize philosophers and scientists who believe they can solve all the problems of humanity. In the last journey the character finds himself in the land of the Houyhnhnm, the wise and noble horses who do not consider the concept of war and violence. On the other hand, their land is characterized by the presence of brutal beings who walk on two legs instead of on four, the Yahoo, monstrous beings who are ultimately men. The Houyhnhnm are perfect while the Yahoo are beastly. The Houyhnhnms banish Gulliver who decides to return to England.) The novel "Gulliver's Travels" ends with Gulliver that once back in his country he will be very confused to the point of not knowing which world he belongs to anymore. Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne was a great Irish writer, whose greatest masterpiece was "Tristram Shandy", a work consisting of nine volumes. Stern's innovation was not to adopt any plot and no temporal scheme, in fact the various dialogues and thoughts of the characters are not clearly defined. In order to do this, Stern used various tricks: to leave blank pages, especially following the death of characters, asterisks, doodles .. All this gives the impression that Stern wants to make fun of the critics of the time, in fact his work was defined as an anti-novel, but in reality it is a sentimental novel, in which the author emphasizes a great sensitivity of sensations in his characters. Furthermore, not having a temporal pattern is also due to the fact that Stern considers that an action can have an impact on the character that can be much longer than the real duration, which is why for him that action will take up entire paragraphs.
