Daniel Defoe

Didascalia alternativa:

goes to sea to make his fortune. After several adventures, he lands in Brazil, where he starts a successful plantation. One day he is shipwrecked on a remote island. The second section is actually in the form of a diary-like account of Robinson's experiences on the island. In the third section Robinson returns to England, where he learns that his plantation in Brazil has made him rich. The new middle-class hero Robinson Crusoe belongs to the middle class 'the middle state'. What Robinson has in common with the classical heroes of travel literature is his restlessness, the search for his own identity in alternative to the model provided by his father. A spiritual autobiography The novel is full of religious references to God, sin, Providence and salvation. It can be read as a spiritual autobiography in which the hero reads the Bible to find comfort and guidance. What Defoe explores is the conflict between economic motivation and spiritual salvation. The island The setting of most of the story is the ideal place for Robinson to prove his qualities. On the island Robinson organises a primitive empire. His stay on the island is seen as a chance to exploit and dominate nature. The individual and society The hero's life on the island puts forward the issue of the relationship between the individual and society. The society Robinson creates on the island is not an alternative to the English one. Defoe shows that the individual can shape his destiny through action, Robinson has a pragmatic and individualistic outlook.