Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe e analisi di Robinson Crusoe e di Moll Flanders (tutto in inglese) (2 pagine formato doc)
DANIEL DEFOE (1660-1731) DANIEL DEFOE (1660-1731) Structure of the novels In patterns they are fictional autobiographies and they pretend always to be true stories,because of the biographical details and memories.
They are preceded by a preface by the author which stresses their authenticity. This kinds of novel are a product of the tradition of diaries and journals. The structure: characterized by a series of episodes and adventures of a single hero. Defoe didn't plan and didn't revise his works,so they have incoherent plot. His main aim was to produce a large and effective output. Two different narrative methods: full scenic presentation where,at a definite time and place,what the characters do is reported; and passages of less detailed summary which set the stage and provide a necessary connective framework. Method of retrospective first person narration. The author's point of view coincides with the main character's. Characterisation Characters: presented from the inside and through their actions. They are isolated,phisically(Crusoe) or socially (Moll Flanders) in their struggle to earn a living or to survive. Defoe: the father of the English novel; who represents a new social class. His narrative technique was original and became the basis for the development of the realistic novel. ROBINSON CRUSOE (1719) Defoe Source and plot Crusoe was born in York in 1632 of a German father and an English mother. He decides to leave his home at the age of 19 and his family and the prospect of a comfortable life too. He wanted to travel around the world and make fortune. In the first voyage he goes to Guinea. In his second voyage he's captured by pirates,then is rescued by a ship and brought to Brazil. There he becomes the owner of a plantation. He goes to Africa to get slaves. He is shipwrecked on a desert island and he will remain there for 28 years. He rebuilds the society of his country. He writes a diary. After 12 years he finds a human footprint on the shore and then he finds human bones and flesh left by cannibals. He decides to attack them: they escape leaving one captives. Crusoe call him Friday and he teaches him English. The novel ends with his return to England and the discovery that his plantation has made him very rich. The new middle-class hero Middle class: the most suited to human happiness. Robinson has in common with the classical heroes of travel literature his restlessness,the search for his own identity in contrast to the model provided by his father. The story begins with an act of transgression ?separation and then isolation of Crusoe. The island The setting is functional to its ideological meaning. Island is the ideal place to prove his qualities,to demonstrate that he deserved to be saved by God's Providence,the God of the puritans who wants his chosen people to do their best. Robinson organizes a primitive empire(the prototype of the English colonizer). His stay on the island: not a return to Nature, but a chance to exploit and