DANIEL DEFOE
LIFE
He was born in 1660 into a family of dissenters, a Protestant sect which refused the
authority of the Church of England
He studied modern languages, geography and economics at Newington Green, one of
the best Dissenting academies
His father wanted a religious career for him but he began working as apprentice and
then he went into the business on his own.
He suffered 2 bankruptcies so he started to write in Whig paper. As a journalist he
published the Review, a periodical which became famous in England.
He became a famous and well-paid intellectual by writing political essays till the reign
of Queen Anne. The queen didn’t like his critics and had him arrested, tried and
imprisoned. He also made 3 appearance in the pillory but it wasn’t shameful for him
because the crowd threw flower at him instead of rocks.
To be free he denied his Whig ideas and became a secret agents for the new
government.
When he was about 60 he started to write novels which were very successful. He
published Robinson Crusoe, Captain Singleton, Moll Flanders, Colonel Jack and Roxana.
He earned a lot of money and he could afford a comfortable standard of life.
He died in 1731
DEFOE’S NOVEL
He is regarded as the father of the English novel
His narrative technique was original and became the basis for the development of the
realistic novel
His novels are fictional autobiographies and they pretending to be true stories through
the biographical details and memories of the protagonist.
The novels are preceded by a preface by the author which confirm their authenticity.
The structure of the novel is characterised by a series of episodes and adventures held
together by the presence of a single hero
The lack of a coherent plot is due to the fact that Defoe neither planned and revised his
works. His main aim was to produce a large and effective output not intended for a
critical audience.
Defoe used retrospective first person narration and the author’s point of view
coincided with the character’s.
The characters are presented from the inside rather than from the outside and they
appear in isolation.
