Daniel Defoe

saggio in inglese sulle caratteristiche principali delle opere di Daniel Defoe , in particolare "Robinson Crusue" .(1 pag., formato word) (0 pagine formato doc)

Appunto di farfa
DANIEL DEFOE THE REALISTIC NOVEL DANIEL DEFOE (1660 - 1731) Defoe can be considered the father of the english novel mainly for the fact that he wrote Robinson Crusue and Moll Flanders.
In these two novels we can find some elements that will become stereotyps of the new genre such as a quite eventful and realistic plot. In Robinson realism is given by the well described setting, by the time, which is always established by dates and events, that are based on the adventures of a scottish sailor, who shipwrecked and lived on a desert island in the Pacific Ocean for five years. Characters: the characters are presented from the inside and through their actions rather than from the outside.
They usually appear in isolation, either physically like Robinson or socially like Moll Flanders, in their struggle for survival or daily bread. The new hero belongs to the middle class, which gives human happiness not exposed to the miseries and not embaraced with the pride ambition and envy of the upper class. Robinson is a flat character because he doesn't evolve or develope. He is described only superficially and has no psychological insight. Realism: the events are usually presented in the form of a diary or of an autobiography, related in the first-singular person in order to increase verisimilitude. There is not a real plot but a sequence of events unrolling, in a chronological order, around the same protagonist. The setting is represented by the island that is the ideal place for Robinson to prove his qualities in exploiting and dominating the nature. Style: the language is simple, concrete to reinforce the impression of reality given by the first person narrator. Robinson Crusoe: this book is based on the adventures of a real seaman, Alexander Selkirk, who in 1704 shipwrecked on a desert island in the Pacific Ocean and on the reading of some of the travel books so fashionable in his time.