vita, opere e descrizione di Daniel Defoe, Appunti di Inglese

Scarica vita, opere e descrizione di Daniel Defoe e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! DANIEL DEFOE  Life and works - Born in1660 into a family of Dissenters  Protestant sect which refused the authority of the church of England - He was educated at the Newington Green, where he studied pratical subject  Modern languages, economics and geography. - his father wanted a religious career for him  Defoe began working as an apprentice, and went into business on his own. - He suffered two bankruptcies, which he faced both with legal an illicit means - He started to write in Whig papers  as a journalist his greatest achievement was the Review - He became a famous and well-paid intellectual by writing political essays and pamphlets till the reign of Queen Anne  she didn’t 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 - He started to write novels which were very successful  in 1719 he published Robinson Crusoe, followed by Captain Singleton  voyage story of a captain who becames a pirate - He published Moll Flanders  the adventures of a woman who was born in Newgate prison in London - Colonel Jack  the story of a pickpocket who repents and ends up leading a respectable life - Defoe’s last novel was Roxana  deals with the adventures of a high-society woman who exploits her beauty to obtain what she wants - He died in 1731  Defoe’s novels - He is 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 - Narrative technique  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 - Structure of the novels  series of episodes and adventures held together by the presence of a single hero - Defoe used retrospective first-person narration, and the author’s point of view coincided with the main characters - The characters are presented from the inside and through their actions rather than from the outside  they appear in isolation, either physically or socially, in their struggle for survival or for their daily bread ROBINSON CRUSOE  Plot - The main character  Robinson Kreutznaer, anglicised Crusoe, born in York in 1632 of a German father and English mother - 19 years old  he decided to leave his home, his family and the prospect of a comfortable life in order to travel around the world and make his fortune - His first voyage leads hime to Guinea and back to England - His second voyage  he is captured by Moorish pirates but manages to escape  he is rescued by a Portuguese ship and brought to Brazil - Robinson became the owner of a plantation and sets out on a voyage to Africa to get more slaves  he is shipwrecked on a desert island 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 God - After 12 years he finds a human footprint  he also finds some human bones and flesh left by cannibals  he decides to attack them, but they escape and leave one of their captives, whom he calls Friday (the day he rescue him) - The novel ends with Robinson’s return to England and his discovery that his plantation in Brazil has prospered and made him very rich  Robinson’s island - The island  the ideal place for Robinson to prove his qualities, to demonstrate that he deserved to be saved by God’s Providence - Robinson organises a primitive empire on the island  the prototype of the English coloniser  his stay is seen as a chance to exploit and dominate nature  Characters - Robinson  belongs to the middle class, he is restless and wants to find his own identity as an alternative to the model provided by his father - The story begins with an act of transgression, of disobedience  places the character in a situation of separation - Robinson’s life on the island develops the issue of the relationship between the individual and society, between the private and the public spheres - The society Robinson creates it can be read as an exaltation of 18th-century England and its ideals of mobility, material productiveness and individualism  Defoe shows that the individual can shape his destiny through action - Man can overcome doubt and modify reality through his work and the interpretation of his achievements in the light of the Bible - Robinson has a pragmatic and individualistic outlock  his objective and rational approach to reality is demonstrated by his journal-keeping  his progress re-invents the learning processes of baking, ship- building, carpentry and farming - Friday is the first native character to be portrayed  he is attractive and lively