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The rise of the novel and Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719) (NOVEL (The…
The rise of the novel and Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719)
NOVEL
The novel is a long prose narrative about fictional but realistic plausible characters and events.
The language and style was simple because the less well-educated readers had to understand it. It was for the practical tradesmen of the middle class, self-made and self-reliant and guided by common sense.
The message was reward and punishment because it had to satisfy the Puritan ethics of the middle classes.
TOPICS: stories of pirates and thieves, crime, journeys to distant countries.
The success of the novel was related to the growing importance of lending or circulating libraries (subscriptions were very cheap), to the increase in printed items and to a higher percentage of literate people. The writer became a profession and his/her value depended on how many pages he/she wrote.
STORY
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
SETTING
REALISTIC WITH REFERENCE TO NAMES OF COUNTRIES, STREETS AND TOWNS.
CHARACTERS
REALISTIC MIDDLE-CLASS HEROES WITH REAL NAMES AND SURNAMES, THEY STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL OR SUCCESS.
NARRATOR
OMNISCIENT 3RD PERSON OR 1ST PERSON (PROTAGONIST AND NARRATOR ARE THE SAME PERSON)
DANIEL DEFOE was the 1st novelist to create the new realistic type of fiction. His 1st novel was Robinson Crusoe, but we also remember Moll Flanders, Roxana...
ROBINSON CRUSOE
P. 165 see "THE STORY". The 1st section tells about his family. The second section is a diary-like account of his life on the island and his rescue.
MAIN THEMES
The conflict between the economic motivation and the spiritual salvation (with religious references to God and Sin). Defoe was a Dissenter (from a a protestant sect against the Church of England).
The island is a way to prove man's value/qualities and if he deserves to be saved by God.
Individualism. The individual can shape his destiny through action. Robinson observes the situation, studies solutions (pros and cons) and chooses the best ones. His actions aren't driven by instict but they're the result of a logical process. He has the pragmatic and commercial attitude of rising capitalism and considers actions according to their utility.
The human domination/colonization of nature: Crusoe exploits his island and dominates nature as a real colonizer.
The success of the self-made and self-confident man of the middle class (when rescued Robinson learns his plantation in Brazil has made him rich).
It was based on the real experiences of a seaman and his shipwrech on a desert island in the Pacific Ocean. It is travel literature. Robinson is restless and in search of his new identity but he still belongs to the middle class.
P. 169: MAN FRIDAY. Study the ex. p. 170.
Friday is the native Robinson has rescued from a group of cannibals who came to the island to perform their rites.