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Daniel Defoe

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Erin Bosman

Daniel Defoe was an English author in the late 17th and early 18th centuries known for works such as Robinson Crusoe. He lived a varied life as a merchant, soldier, and spy before becoming a prolific writer. Defoe produced over 500 works reflecting the social and political issues of his time, including the Acts of Union. His characters like Crusoe and Moll Flanders embodied changing values as individuals gained more independence and self-actualization during the Enlightenment. Through his novels, Defoe explored themes of religion, society, and one's ability to fulfill their own potential despite obstacles.

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Running head: DANIEL DEFOE 1 Daniel Defoe Erin N. Bosman University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire; Harlaxton College
DANIEL DEFOE 2 Daniel Defoe Eye Witness, T. Taylor, Merchant, Andrew Morton, and Heliostrapolis, secretary to the emperor of the moon were all pen names for an author who achieved literary immortality. Daniel Defoe, born Daniel Foe, was a man of many names and personalities who used his work to reflect the aspects of his time. Daniel Defoe had an incredible amount of experiences throughout his lifetime including working as a merchant, a manufacturer, an insurer of ships, a soldier, a spy, but best known as a writer, among other things as well. He produced over 500 works on a variety of topics, often related to events, changes and issues in the eighteenth century such as the Act of Union and Scottish Enlightenment. Robinson Crusoe is one of the most well known pieces of his work. Defoe was a creative author, who held the attention of his readers through his often simple and relatable characters, as well as his stories that were often full of spirit, satire and exploration. In addition, he also worked as a spy for Robert Harley, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Defoe lived through the Great Fire of London, the Black Plague, multiple wars, pillory, and enlightenment. His experiences were full of change, adjustment, struggle, and adventure. The work that Defoe did reflected his time, the late seventeenth century and the eighteenth century. Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe (1719), Captain Singleton (1720), True Born Englishman (1701), and the Shortest Way with the Dissenters (1702), among various other works (Jokinen, A., 2006). A good percentage of his writing has ties with eighteenth century political and social issues, as well as changes during a period of expansion and restoration. Daniel Defoe was punished and had to stand in a pillory for his pamphlet, the Shortest Way with the Dissenters in 1702. Within the Shortest Way with the Dissenters it states, Alas, the Church of England! What with Popery on one hand, and Schismatics on the other, how has She been crucified between two
DANIEL DEFOE 3 thieves. NOW, LET US CRUCIFY THE THIEVES! The pamphlet countered a bill to outlaw occasional conformity. Instead of the punishment being public embarrassment and potentially highly dangerous, he was protected by those in the society who followed his beliefs. Daniel Defoe was a Presbyterian, which at this time were known as Dissenters. The Dissenters was made up of non- Protestants and smaller Protestant groups excluded from the Church of England. The punishment ended up being beneficial to Defoe in that he used it to sell a poem, Hymn to the Pillory, which mocked the justice system. Later, Defoe worked undercover for Robert Harley, Chancellor of the Exchequer. He worked as a spy visiting Scotland in the year leading up to the Anglo-Scottish Union. He wrote to Harley to keep him in touch with the general opinions of the Scots on the Union and promoted alliance between Scotland and England. After the Union took place in 1707, Defoe worked for both Whig and Tory administrations as a political writer (Ellison, Alker, Nelson, & Trinh, 2007). Throughout all of his various types of work and life experiences, Defoe was a writer above all. Neo-classicism, reason, and the Enlightenment characterized the eighteenth century. The Acts of Union brought together England and Scotland in 1707 as Great Britain, and then Great Britain with Ireland in 1801, and people emigrating from Europe to the colonies in North America; there were many changes occurring and attempts to maintain loyalty to the monarchy throughout this time period. Individuals were becoming curious; there was a greater focus on mans understanding of himself, visual exploration, and communication. In addition, women were starting to be seen as more relevant to society. They were no longer there to be simply seen and not heard, but were seen as cheap labor and being given work outside of the home. They had more of an impact than they had previous to the Act of Union. These changes in the way individuals viewed themselves and the changing society around them is reflected in Daniel
DANIEL DEFOE 4 Defoes characters such as Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders. In reference to the characters in Defoes works Virginia Woolf stated in The Common Reader, It was their natural veracity, bred in them by a life of hardship, that excited his interest. For them there were no excuses; no kindly shelter obscured their motives. Poverty was their taskmaster. Defoe did not pronounce more than a judgement of the lips upon their failings. But their courage and resource and tenacity delighted him. He found their society full of good talk, and pleasant stories, and faith in each other, and morality of a home-made kind. Their fortunes had that infinite variety which he praised and relished and beheld with wonder in his own life. These men and women, above all, were free to talk openly of the passions and desires which have moved men and women since the beginning of time, and thus even now they keep their vitality undiminished. (Woolf, V. 1925). Robinson Crusoe is Daniel Defoes most well known novel; Robinson Crusoe reflects the changing values of society along with his own Protestant values. The character of Robinson Crusoe was based on the true story of a shipwrecked, Scottish seaman named Alexander Selkirk. Selkirks experience caught attention and seven years after his return, Defoe published The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner (Midgley, D., 2014). The character Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of York in the late seventeenth century. His father is a merchant who wants him to study law and live a modest, safe, ordinary middle class life. Crusoe does not agree with his parents and hopes to work as a sailor instead. Initially, Robinson is committed to obeying his father, but he eventually gives in to his dreams and sets sail with a friend. When a storm hits his friend is discouraged and Crusoe goes on to set himself up as a merchant on a ship. After his first successful trip Crusoe sets up another
DANIEL DEFOE 5 adventure, which does not go as well as planned. Pirates take the ship, and Crusoe is enslaved to a potentate in the town of Sallee. He manages to break free, sail down the African coast, is picked up by a captain and taken to Brazil. In Brazil, Crusoe establishes himself as a plantation owner and soon becomes successful. He takes off on an expedition to West Africa searching for slaves, but ends up shipwrecked off of the coast of Trinidad. Crusoe is the sole survivor of the expedition. He manages to adapt and learns how to survive through his difficulties, fulfilling his needs as best he can (Defoe, D., 1719). The character of Robinson Crusoe may be loosely based off of Alexander Selkirk but he also reflects parts of Defoes life as well. Daniel Defoes father had wanted him to lead a secure life in the ministry, but Defoe had other goals in mind, similar to Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe has themes of the changing values of society, importance of ones self, and religion which followed the Act of Union and aligned with the Enlightenment. He intended to be more successful, than what was expected of him with having been born into the middle class and a minority religious group outside of the Church of England (Jokinen, A., 2006). These themes can be seen through Robinson Crusoes want to explore, his adaptation to being stranded, and his ability to fulfill his own wants and needs. After the success of the first Robinson Crusoe novel, he wrote another novel surrounding Robinson Crusoes life before moving on to new characters and themes starting in 1720. Daniel Defoe followed Robinson Crusoe with many other works continually surrounding issues of the century, his own values, and other themes. One of the other works that he published was The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders in 1722. The elderly Moll is a writer, similar to Defoe. She writes about her life as a child, and later as a prostitute and a thief. She writes about her time as a wife and the five husbands she had throughout her life. This novel reflects the growing changes in society
DANIEL DEFOE 6 during the eighteenth century and how the changes are affecting women more than they have in the past. These reflections of the time period can be seen through the significance of art and self- acceptance throughout this time period, as well as curiosity and exploration. Defoes work A Journal of the Plague Year, discusses life in London during the Great Plague of 1665, which Daniel Defoe had lived through as a child. It was originally considered to be in the genre of history instead of fiction, which did later change. In 1724, Defoe published Roxana. Roxana shares an instinct for self-preservation with Moll, and many fictional characters as well as living individuals of the eighteenth century. Roxana lives in a world that is superior to that of Molls world, one that could represent the elite society rather than popular culture. However, she does show aspects of popular culture, such as self- actualization that were common throughout the enlightenment period. Self- actualization is a term describing the desire an individual has for self- fulfillment and the want to explore ones personal interests, this term was first used by Abraham Maslow. Again, this novel represents the changes in society for women. Although he continued to write until his death in 1731, only a few of Defoe's later works are considered to be significant, for example Augusta Triumphans in 1728. This supposedly was Defoe's plan to make London the most flourishing City in the Universe (Daniel Defoe, 2004 & 2014). Daniel Defoe lived a life full of varying, and contrasting experiences in a time full of changes. He reflects both his life experiences and the changing society around him through representing several key themes in his works including the importance of accepting oneself, the changing values of women, and the changing status of various issues such as non-conformity.
DANIEL DEFOE 7 References Daniel Defoe. (2008, January 1). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/defoe.htm "Daniel Defoe." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004, "Defoe, Daniel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2014, & "Defoe, Daniel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. (2004, January 1). Daniel Defoe. Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Daniel_Defoe.aspx Defoe, D. (1719). The surprising life, and most strange adventures of Robison crusoe, of the city of York, Mariner! Giving an account how he was cast on shore by shipwreck, (none escaped but himself) on an uninhabited Island, on the cost of America, near the mouth of the great river Oroonoque, where he lived twenty-eight year, till at leegth he was strangley delivered by pirates and brought home to his-nature country. London: W. Taylor. Defoe, D. (1702). The shortest-way with the dissenters or proposals for the establishment of the church. London. Ellison, K., Alker, S., Nelson, H., & Trinh, K. (2007, March 31). Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731). Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://www.defoesociety.org/defoe.html Jokinen, A. (2006, October 5). The Life of Daniel Defoe (c.1660-1731). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/defoe/defoebio.htm Midgley, D. (2014, October 10). The real Robinson Crusoe. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/521156/The-Scottish-sailor-inspired-Daniel- Defoe-novel-Robinson-Crusoe Woolf, V. (1925). The common reader. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.

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Daniel Defoe

  • 1. Running head: DANIEL DEFOE 1 Daniel Defoe Erin N. Bosman University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire; Harlaxton College
  • 2. DANIEL DEFOE 2 Daniel Defoe Eye Witness, T. Taylor, Merchant, Andrew Morton, and Heliostrapolis, secretary to the emperor of the moon were all pen names for an author who achieved literary immortality. Daniel Defoe, born Daniel Foe, was a man of many names and personalities who used his work to reflect the aspects of his time. Daniel Defoe had an incredible amount of experiences throughout his lifetime including working as a merchant, a manufacturer, an insurer of ships, a soldier, a spy, but best known as a writer, among other things as well. He produced over 500 works on a variety of topics, often related to events, changes and issues in the eighteenth century such as the Act of Union and Scottish Enlightenment. Robinson Crusoe is one of the most well known pieces of his work. Defoe was a creative author, who held the attention of his readers through his often simple and relatable characters, as well as his stories that were often full of spirit, satire and exploration. In addition, he also worked as a spy for Robert Harley, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Defoe lived through the Great Fire of London, the Black Plague, multiple wars, pillory, and enlightenment. His experiences were full of change, adjustment, struggle, and adventure. The work that Defoe did reflected his time, the late seventeenth century and the eighteenth century. Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe (1719), Captain Singleton (1720), True Born Englishman (1701), and the Shortest Way with the Dissenters (1702), among various other works (Jokinen, A., 2006). A good percentage of his writing has ties with eighteenth century political and social issues, as well as changes during a period of expansion and restoration. Daniel Defoe was punished and had to stand in a pillory for his pamphlet, the Shortest Way with the Dissenters in 1702. Within the Shortest Way with the Dissenters it states, Alas, the Church of England! What with Popery on one hand, and Schismatics on the other, how has She been crucified between two
  • 3. DANIEL DEFOE 3 thieves. NOW, LET US CRUCIFY THE THIEVES! The pamphlet countered a bill to outlaw occasional conformity. Instead of the punishment being public embarrassment and potentially highly dangerous, he was protected by those in the society who followed his beliefs. Daniel Defoe was a Presbyterian, which at this time were known as Dissenters. The Dissenters was made up of non- Protestants and smaller Protestant groups excluded from the Church of England. The punishment ended up being beneficial to Defoe in that he used it to sell a poem, Hymn to the Pillory, which mocked the justice system. Later, Defoe worked undercover for Robert Harley, Chancellor of the Exchequer. He worked as a spy visiting Scotland in the year leading up to the Anglo-Scottish Union. He wrote to Harley to keep him in touch with the general opinions of the Scots on the Union and promoted alliance between Scotland and England. After the Union took place in 1707, Defoe worked for both Whig and Tory administrations as a political writer (Ellison, Alker, Nelson, & Trinh, 2007). Throughout all of his various types of work and life experiences, Defoe was a writer above all. Neo-classicism, reason, and the Enlightenment characterized the eighteenth century. The Acts of Union brought together England and Scotland in 1707 as Great Britain, and then Great Britain with Ireland in 1801, and people emigrating from Europe to the colonies in North America; there were many changes occurring and attempts to maintain loyalty to the monarchy throughout this time period. Individuals were becoming curious; there was a greater focus on mans understanding of himself, visual exploration, and communication. In addition, women were starting to be seen as more relevant to society. They were no longer there to be simply seen and not heard, but were seen as cheap labor and being given work outside of the home. They had more of an impact than they had previous to the Act of Union. These changes in the way individuals viewed themselves and the changing society around them is reflected in Daniel
  • 4. DANIEL DEFOE 4 Defoes characters such as Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders. In reference to the characters in Defoes works Virginia Woolf stated in The Common Reader, It was their natural veracity, bred in them by a life of hardship, that excited his interest. For them there were no excuses; no kindly shelter obscured their motives. Poverty was their taskmaster. Defoe did not pronounce more than a judgement of the lips upon their failings. But their courage and resource and tenacity delighted him. He found their society full of good talk, and pleasant stories, and faith in each other, and morality of a home-made kind. Their fortunes had that infinite variety which he praised and relished and beheld with wonder in his own life. These men and women, above all, were free to talk openly of the passions and desires which have moved men and women since the beginning of time, and thus even now they keep their vitality undiminished. (Woolf, V. 1925). Robinson Crusoe is Daniel Defoes most well known novel; Robinson Crusoe reflects the changing values of society along with his own Protestant values. The character of Robinson Crusoe was based on the true story of a shipwrecked, Scottish seaman named Alexander Selkirk. Selkirks experience caught attention and seven years after his return, Defoe published The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner (Midgley, D., 2014). The character Robinson Crusoe is an Englishman from the town of York in the late seventeenth century. His father is a merchant who wants him to study law and live a modest, safe, ordinary middle class life. Crusoe does not agree with his parents and hopes to work as a sailor instead. Initially, Robinson is committed to obeying his father, but he eventually gives in to his dreams and sets sail with a friend. When a storm hits his friend is discouraged and Crusoe goes on to set himself up as a merchant on a ship. After his first successful trip Crusoe sets up another
  • 5. DANIEL DEFOE 5 adventure, which does not go as well as planned. Pirates take the ship, and Crusoe is enslaved to a potentate in the town of Sallee. He manages to break free, sail down the African coast, is picked up by a captain and taken to Brazil. In Brazil, Crusoe establishes himself as a plantation owner and soon becomes successful. He takes off on an expedition to West Africa searching for slaves, but ends up shipwrecked off of the coast of Trinidad. Crusoe is the sole survivor of the expedition. He manages to adapt and learns how to survive through his difficulties, fulfilling his needs as best he can (Defoe, D., 1719). The character of Robinson Crusoe may be loosely based off of Alexander Selkirk but he also reflects parts of Defoes life as well. Daniel Defoes father had wanted him to lead a secure life in the ministry, but Defoe had other goals in mind, similar to Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe has themes of the changing values of society, importance of ones self, and religion which followed the Act of Union and aligned with the Enlightenment. He intended to be more successful, than what was expected of him with having been born into the middle class and a minority religious group outside of the Church of England (Jokinen, A., 2006). These themes can be seen through Robinson Crusoes want to explore, his adaptation to being stranded, and his ability to fulfill his own wants and needs. After the success of the first Robinson Crusoe novel, he wrote another novel surrounding Robinson Crusoes life before moving on to new characters and themes starting in 1720. Daniel Defoe followed Robinson Crusoe with many other works continually surrounding issues of the century, his own values, and other themes. One of the other works that he published was The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders in 1722. The elderly Moll is a writer, similar to Defoe. She writes about her life as a child, and later as a prostitute and a thief. She writes about her time as a wife and the five husbands she had throughout her life. This novel reflects the growing changes in society
  • 6. DANIEL DEFOE 6 during the eighteenth century and how the changes are affecting women more than they have in the past. These reflections of the time period can be seen through the significance of art and self- acceptance throughout this time period, as well as curiosity and exploration. Defoes work A Journal of the Plague Year, discusses life in London during the Great Plague of 1665, which Daniel Defoe had lived through as a child. It was originally considered to be in the genre of history instead of fiction, which did later change. In 1724, Defoe published Roxana. Roxana shares an instinct for self-preservation with Moll, and many fictional characters as well as living individuals of the eighteenth century. Roxana lives in a world that is superior to that of Molls world, one that could represent the elite society rather than popular culture. However, she does show aspects of popular culture, such as self- actualization that were common throughout the enlightenment period. Self- actualization is a term describing the desire an individual has for self- fulfillment and the want to explore ones personal interests, this term was first used by Abraham Maslow. Again, this novel represents the changes in society for women. Although he continued to write until his death in 1731, only a few of Defoe's later works are considered to be significant, for example Augusta Triumphans in 1728. This supposedly was Defoe's plan to make London the most flourishing City in the Universe (Daniel Defoe, 2004 & 2014). Daniel Defoe lived a life full of varying, and contrasting experiences in a time full of changes. He reflects both his life experiences and the changing society around him through representing several key themes in his works including the importance of accepting oneself, the changing values of women, and the changing status of various issues such as non-conformity.
  • 7. DANIEL DEFOE 7 References Daniel Defoe. (2008, January 1). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/defoe.htm "Daniel Defoe." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2004, "Defoe, Daniel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2014, & "Defoe, Daniel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. (2004, January 1). Daniel Defoe. Retrieved February 27, 2015, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Daniel_Defoe.aspx Defoe, D. (1719). The surprising life, and most strange adventures of Robison crusoe, of the city of York, Mariner! Giving an account how he was cast on shore by shipwreck, (none escaped but himself) on an uninhabited Island, on the cost of America, near the mouth of the great river Oroonoque, where he lived twenty-eight year, till at leegth he was strangley delivered by pirates and brought home to his-nature country. London: W. Taylor. Defoe, D. (1702). The shortest-way with the dissenters or proposals for the establishment of the church. London. Ellison, K., Alker, S., Nelson, H., & Trinh, K. (2007, March 31). Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731). Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://www.defoesociety.org/defoe.html Jokinen, A. (2006, October 5). The Life of Daniel Defoe (c.1660-1731). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://www.luminarium.org/eightlit/defoe/defoebio.htm Midgley, D. (2014, October 10). The real Robinson Crusoe. Retrieved February 26, 2015, from http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/521156/The-Scottish-sailor-inspired-Daniel- Defoe-novel-Robinson-Crusoe Woolf, V. (1925). The common reader. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co.