История литературы / 19. Daniel Defoe

J.Milton summed up 2 epochs-the Renaissance (the last scholar and poet of it) and the epoch of Enlightment. At the turn of the epochs the Puritans also tried to express the ideas very much opposed to those of the Renaissance. R denounced limitation, put forward hum being as an entity of hum body and soul. This hum being was responsible for his actions. The puritans-avoided responsibility. They-empty vessels. God is to fill these vessels. The opposition existed as: freedom of thought VS strict rules. Miltom embodied it. The ideas of puritanism and reformation brought to life this epoch (18^th century). No one expected it,but came radical change. In Eng there were Hobbes, Locke, Newtoy. They experimented with natural science, investigated the laws of nature. Scotland-adam Smith(economic laws), France- Voltaire(experience assuch), Germany-Kant(philosophy of existence).

Every age has its favorite genre: for Renaissance it’s drama & the 18^th century was represented by Novel. The novel as a genre belongs to fiction(=lie). The novel appeared at the turn of the 18^th century it manifested the change in man’s interest. Nothing that preceded it could explain it. There are no classical models of it. The only book that may be considered as a novel is Servantes’s “Don Quixote”, but still there is no evidence that it influenced English authors. *People come to divide experience into individual and collective-collective was regarded as a summary of individual one. The genre that represented all that-novel (epic genre). The novel is a genre that deals with the past, present & future. The novelist dealt with men in a specific place & time.he is very much conscious of time, never copied life-gives his own interpretation!He is a master of adoption, adopts life to his life and environment. In drama psychology lies between the lines, never shown directly. In the NOVEL it is on the surface. Any novel represents the author`s attitude to the urgent problems of contemporary life. Still the Shakespearian drama had a great influence upon the novel, as Shakespeare & his contemporaries were able to create life-like characters. Every novel should be populated with characters, who serve as pivots. The novel & the plot evolve around a character. The novel imitates life & at the same time it may be regarded as a model of life. The novelist is able to depict any relationships of life: man-man, man-society, man-nature, man-sign etc. Only novel can afford it, because of its unlimited size. The novel may be regarded as a unity consisting of every word in it (every word on its right place) – this makes fiction credible. The novel imposes its own moral code. Features of novel:*The novel is fiction *It evolves around a character *The character is a pivot *The action is presented against a background *The novel presents all sorts of relationships *The novel possesses an aesthetic function: it relates not facts as such, it expresses the attitude of a writer & has some emotional impact on the reader *The plot is a model of life *The character is a bridge between the writer & the reader Daniel Defoe (1661 – 1731)-the 1^st novelist (The true-born Englishman, Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York Mariner, Colonel Jack, Roxana…)

Daniel Defoe’s life was complicated and adventurous. He was the son of a wealthy London butcher and received a good education. Born in London he tried his hands on all sorts of things until he became a journalist. He engaged himself in pamphlet writing. He was a man of extraordinary industry. He wrote a lot of books (≈375).

Defoe relies upon facts. It’s not the situation that’s life-like, but the facts that make it so. When Defoe wrote the 1^st part of “Robinson Crusoe” – “The life & surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe”, he was 59. There was hardly any device for creating illusion of reality that Defoe did not employ. He –great fodger of experience. He relies on it, taking truth as background. He tried to make novel as plausible as possible. Seemed artless as possible which was artfulness itself! His novels-more likely reportages, writing them he acted as a journalist. He was the 1^st who told lies to the readers,but the readers were made to believe. He used realistic detail as his chief tool. Used it with such a skill,that readers thought everything happened to the author himself. In RC Defo has an excellent subject-romance that comes out of the box of tools. Our imagination is captured by the constant facts. 28 years 2 months & 19 days – Defoe captures time in the net of calendar. He was exact in everything, that connected time and space. Even at the 1^st day R had a pole and marked the passed day with a knife.He invented a calendar (which is a cage for capturing time). It helped him to remain psychologically active and alive. *Rob Crusoe is the story of an Englishman who travels abroad. He is trying to increase his wealth by trade.His father wants him to become a lawyer, but Robinson runs away from home, and his adventures begin: he is shipwrecked several times.But once after another shipwreck he finds himself on a desert island. Robinson settles there. One day he saves a man from cannibals who becomes him a friend, Friday. He becomes a devoted servant and companion to his master. After many years Robinson and Friday the ship takes Robinson to England. The stress is not on the island, but on the man himself He sinned according to Puritan values.-disobeyed the father as he went to the sea.-so he should be punished. The major theme in the play is that sin has its retribution, but peace can be found through forgiveness and belief. Acc to puritan values, God helps those who help themselves. The sense of partnership of God & man never leaves Crusoe. By describing his adventures Defoe did more. Now Crusoe’s island symbolizes the earth & Crusoe symbolizes humanity. Crusoe is the prodigal son. He runs away to sea against the wishes of his family. A series of disasters happen to him as a sailor, as punishment for his rebellious nature. After twenty-eight years on the island, he is finally able to escape, because he tried hard to make life comfortable, never was upset or passive. The prodigal son returns to England. His changed soul, no longer rebellious, finds peace. All the problems raised in the novel are urgent & at the same time Crusoe is mostly a prototype of Englishman of the 18th from lower classes who is characterized by strong sense of personal responsibility. He’s self-reliant, energetic, a person who is in direct relation with God. Defoe was a great master of realistic detail, the book is very realistic. The reader follows R’s every step as he creates a life for himself on the island. Due to it the reader is involved not only in the physical world, but to R’s thoughts and torments as well. The 1st Person narration also adds realism to the events. So, 1^st R meets goats and he domesticates them. (has milk and cheese)-the usual beginning of the human being. Then-started hunting (the next stage of development of humanity)-he got meat to eat. Then he finds some sprouts and has grain. Then-his own slave(God gave him Friday, whom he civilized).He shared his experience with this man-eater (the epoch of enlightenment). Robinson has the ability to preach and to show his greatness. It was a little before the great rains just now mentioned that I threw this stuff away, taking no notice, and not so much as remembering that I had thrown anything there, when, about a month after, or thereabouts, I saw some few stalks of something green shooting out of the ground, which I fancied might be some plant I had not seen; but I was surprised, and perfectly astonished, when, after a little longer time, I saw about ten or twelve ears come out, which were perfect green barley, of the same kind as our European - nay, as our English barley. (we share emotions, we r doomed to trust!1^st person) This touched my heart a little, and brought tears out of my eyes, and I began to bless myself that such a prodigy of nature should happen upon my account; and this was the more strange to me, because I saw near it still, all along by the side of the rock, some other straggling stalks, which proved to be stalks of rice, and which I knew, because I had seen it grow in Africa when I was ashore there. – chapter 5! RC not only teaches a person to be good, but also gives us knowledge of the epoch of enlightenment or the age of Reason, because there r many things Crusoe never mentions (love,human relations). But he moralizes, draws different conclusions as far as his philosophy goes. It’s “Robinson Crusoe” that is considered to be the book that influenced the works of many writers not only of the epoch, but of the century to come. It influenced a great deal the works of Jonathan Swift