THE FOUNDER OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL

Daniel DeFoe

DeFoe

English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer

Best known for being the author of Robinson Crusoe

Wrote more than 500 books, pamphlets, and journals

Pioneer of economic journalism

Biography

Born between 1659-1661Death was April 24, 1731Born in the parish of St.

Giles Cripplegate in London

Father worked as a tallow chandler (candle maker)

Born as Daniel Foe, and added the de in front of his last name to make it sound aristocratic

How did he survive?

In 1665, 70,000 were killed by The Great Plague of London

In 1666, The Great Fire of London hit DeFoe’s neighborhood hard, and left only three houses standing, one of them being DeFoe’s

In 1667, a Dutch fleet attacked Chatham via the River Thames

At the age of 13, his mother passed away

In 1703, he witnessed The Great Storm, the only hurricane to make it across the Atlantic. The Great Storm took lives of 8,000 people.

The Unexpected

DeFoe’s parents were Presbyterian dissenters (believed in separation of church and state)

He was educated in a Dissenting Academy at Newington Green, and also went to church there

It was expected that he would become a dissenting minister, but instead entered the world of business

As an salesman, he sold hosiery, general woolen goods, and wine

Even though he was very good at his job, he was always in debt

Marriages and Poor Decisions

1n 1684, DeFoe married Mary Tuffley and received a dowry of £3700

The couple had EIGHT children, but two diedDeFoe joined the ill-fated Monmouth rebellion,

but gained a pardonHe was arrested in 1692 for a debt of £700, but

was really in debt close to £17,000He left England upon release, and travelled to

Europe and ScotlandWhen he came back to London, he served as a

“commissioner of the glass duty”

Pamphleteering and Prison

“An Essay upon Projects” – defended the right of King William III for his participation in ending the Nine Years War

“The True-Born Englishman” – defended the king against the perceived xenophobia of his enemies

“Legion’s Memorial” – it demanded the release of the Kentish petitioners, who asked the Parliament to support the king in an imminent war against France

More Pamphleteering and Prison

“The Shortest Way with the Dissenters” and “Or, Proposals for the Establishment of the Church” – asking for extermination of dissenters

“Hymn to the Pillory” – caused audience to throw flowers instead of harmful objects, but caused him to be incarcerated for three days

It wasn’t all about politics…

“A True Relation of the Apparition of One Mrs. Veal the Next Day after her Death to One Mrs. Bargrave at Canterbury the 8th of September, 1705” – deals with interaction between the spiritual realm and the physical realm

“Appeal to Honour and Justice” – 1715 “The Family Instructor” - 1715 “Minutes of the Negotiations of Monsr. Mesnager” – 1717 A Continuation of the Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy” - 1718 “Robinson Crusoe” – 1719 “Captain Singleton” – 1720 “Colonel Jack” – 1722 “Religious Courtship” – 1722 The Complete English Tradesman – 1726 The New Family Instructor - 1727

More of his works

The Great Law of Subordination Considered – 1724Everybody’s Business is Nobody’s Business – 1725The Politcal History of the Devil – 1726A System of Magick – 1726An Essay on the History and Reality of Appartions –

1727A General History of Discoveries and Improvements

– 1727Atlas Maritimus and Commercialis – 1728A tour thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain (1724-

1727)

Death

Died in April 24, 1731 while hiding from creditors

He was buried in Bunhill Fields, London, where his grave can still be visited

At his death, he used a minimum of 198 pseudonyms

Robinson Crusoe

The story of Robinson Crusoe tells of a man’s shipwreck on a deserted island and his subsequent adventures

The story of Robinson Crusoe is based partly on the true story of Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk and partly on a Muslim man’s fictitious story

The Crusoe’s friend, Friday, was based off a publicized case of a marooned Central American

DeFoe Inspires and Sequels

Inspired a new genre called the “Robinsonade”

Wyss’s The Swiss Family Robinson – 1812J.M. Coetzee’s Foe – 1986Tournier’s Vendredi ou les limbes du

Pacifique – 1967DeFoe’s The Farther Adventures of Robinson

Crusoe and Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe

Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

Quiz