Daniel Defoe, his life and work. “Robinson Crusoe”.

D. Defoe (1660—1731) was a great master of realistic detail. The novel " Robinson Crusoe" was written in 1719. The novel is praise to human labour and the triumph of man over nature.

Daniel Defoe was born in London in 1660, probably in September, third child and first son of James and Mary Defoe. He received a good education, as his father hoped he would become ministers, but Daniel wasnt interested. His family was Dissenters, Presbyterians to be precise, and those sects were being persecuted a bit at this time, so maybe Daniel had the right idea. He was always very tolerant of others religious ideas himself.

His mother died when he was ten, and his father sent him to a boarding school, after which he attended Morisons Academy, as he could not graduate from Oxford or Cambridge without taking an oath of loyalty to the Church of England. He was a very good student, and his teacher, the Reverend Mr. Norton himself, would later show up as a character in some of Daniels fiction. Daniel graduated in 1679, and by then hed pretty much decided against the ministry, though he wrote and spoke in favor of the Dissenters all his lives.

By 1683, Daniel was a successful young merchant, with a storefront in an upscale part of London and no real ideas of becoming a writer at all. On New Years Day, 1684, he married Mary Truffle, an heiress whose dowry amounted to Ј3, 7004. Later that year, he joined the army of the rebel Duke of Monmouth, who was attempting to take the throne from James Us. When the rebellion failed, Daniel and many other troops were forced into semi-exile. He traveled around the continent for three years.

Daniel went bankrupt in 1692. He ended up owing over Ј17, 000, and though he paid off all but Ј5, 000 within ten years, he was never again free of debt. Though he still considered himself a merchant, first and foremost, writing suddenly became a more prominent part of his life. In 1701, he wrote a poem? Called the True-Born Englishman which became the best-selling poem ever at that time. It was so well-known that he signed several of his later works as The True-Born Englishman, and everyone knew exactly what that meant. Still, it was only a pamphlet. He also started taking on a few " unofficial" government jobs, most notably an assignment to Scotland. There was at that time a movement to finally unify England and Scotland, a movement which was misunderstood by the average Scotsman. So Daniel tried to explain things to them.

In 1706, he returned to Scotland and started up a newspaper in Edinburgh called the Post-Maniz, which of course tried to put the still-under-construction unification plans in the best possible light. But Daniel, in his eternal quest for truth, actually bothered to learn about Scotland and its people, a rather unusual thing for that time. He also set up a really impressive intelligence-gathering network. The Act of Union was made official on 1 May 1707, and Daniel was out of one job. But he still had his pamphlets to fall back on, so things were all right.

The history of Robinsons life on the island is a story about creative work of a man, about his courage, his will, creative searching. This is a hymn to labor the source of life. Thanks to his creative work Robinson Crusoe remained a man. This is most remarkable and educative significance of the novel. The novel joined the elements of biographical documentary and adventure novel. The theme of creative labor should be emphasized especially Labor helped Robinson to stay a man in inhuman conditions of his life many years lonely in an island.

Defoe shows the development of his hero. At the beginning of the story we see an inexperienced youth, a rather frivolous boy, who then becomes a strong-willed man.

Robinson Crusoe's most characteristic trait is his optimism. His guiding principle in life become " never say die" and " in trouble to be troubled is to have your troubles doubled". He had confidence in himself and in man. He believed it was within the power of man to overcome all difficulties. Crusoe was an enthusiastic worker and always hoped for the best.

Defoe is a writer of the Enlightenment. He teaches people how to live, he tries to teach what's good and what's bad. His novel " Robinson Crusoe" is not only a work of fiction, an account of adventures, a biography and an educational pamphlet. It is a study of man, a great work showing man in relation to nature and civilization as well as in relation to labour and private property.