It became an instant bestseller and marked the beginning of a classic English novel. The author's work gave impetus to a new literary movement and cinema, and the name Robinson Crusoe became a household name. Despite the fact that Defoe’s manuscript is saturated with philosophical reasoning from cover to cover, it has firmly established itself among young readers: “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” is usually classified as children’s literature, although adult lovers of non-trivial plots are ready to plunge into unprecedented adventures on a desert island together with the main character. hero.

History of creation

Writer Daniel Defoe immortalized his own name by publishing the philosophical adventure novel Robinson Crusoe in 1719. Although the writer wrote more than one book, it was the work about the unfortunate traveler that firmly ingrained itself in the consciousness of the literary world. Few people know that Daniel not only pleased the regulars of bookstores, but also introduced the residents of Foggy Albion to such a literary genre as the novel.

The writer called his manuscript an allegory, taking as a basis philosophical teachings, prototypes of people and incredible stories. Thus, the reader not only observes the suffering and willpower of Robinson, thrown to the margins of life, but also a man who is morally reborn in communication with nature.

Defoe came up with this seminal work for a reason; the fact is that the master of words was inspired by the stories of boatswain Alexander Selkirk, who spent four years on the uninhabited island of Mas a Tierra in the Pacific Ocean.

When the sailor was 27 years old, he, as part of the ship’s crew, set off on a voyage to the shores of South America. Selkirk was an obstinate and prickly man: the adventurer did not know how to keep his mouth shut and did not respect subordination, so the slightest remark from Stradling, the captain of the ship, provoked a violent conflict. One day, after another quarrel, Alexander demanded to stop the ship and land it on land.

Perhaps the boatswain wanted to intimidate his boss, but he immediately satisfied the sailor’s demands. When the ship began to approach the uninhabited island, Selkirk immediately changed his mind, but Stradling turned out to be inexorable. The sailor, who paid for his sharp tongue, spent four years in the “exclusion zone”, and then, when he managed to return to life in society, he began to walk around bars and tell stories of his adventures to local onlookers.

The island where Alexander Selkirk lived. Now called Robinson Crusoe Island

Alexander found himself on the island with a small supply of things; he had gunpowder, an axe, a gun and other accessories. Initially, the sailor suffered from loneliness, but over time he was able to adapt to the harsh realities of life. Rumor has it that, having returned to the city's cobbled streets with stone houses, the sailing enthusiast missed being on an uninhabited piece of land. Journalist Richard Steele, who loved to listen to the traveler's stories, quoted Selkirk as saying:

“I now have 800 pounds, but I will never be as happy as I was when I didn’t have a farthing to my name.”

Richard Steele published Alexander's stories in The Englishman, indirectly introducing Britain to a man who in modern times would be called . But it is possible that the newspaperman took the sayings from his own head, so whether this publication is pure truth or fiction - one can only guess.

Daniel Defoe never revealed the secrets of his own novel to the public, so hypotheses among writers continue to develop to this day. Since Alexander was an uneducated drunkard, he was not like his book incarnation in the person of Robinson Crusoe. Therefore, some researchers are inclined to believe that Henry Pitman served as the prototype.

This doctor was sent into exile in the West Indies, but did not accept his fate and, together with his fellow sufferers, escaped. It's hard to say whether luck was on Henry's side. After a shipwreck, he ended up on the uninhabited island of Salt Tortuga, although in any case everything could have ended much worse.

Other lovers of novels are inclined to believe that the writer was based on the lifestyle of a certain ship captain Richard Knox, who lived in captivity for 20 years in Sri Lanka. It should not be ruled out that Defoe reincarnated himself as Robinson Crusoe. The master of words had a busy life, he not only dipped his pen into the inkwell, but also engaged in journalism and even espionage.

Biography

Robinson Crusoe was the third son in the family and from early childhood dreamed of sea adventures. The boy's parents wished their son a happy future and did not want his life to be like a biography or. In addition, Robinson's older brother died in the war in Flanders, and the middle one went missing.

Therefore, the father saw in the main character the only support in the future. He tearfully begged his son to come to his senses and strive for the measured and calm life of an official. But the boy did not prepare for any craft, but spent his days idly, dreaming of conquering the watery expanse of the Earth.

The instructions of the head of the family briefly calmed his violent ardor, but when the young man turned 18, he collected his belongings secretly from his parents and was tempted by the free trip provided by his friend’s father. Already the first day on the ship became a harbinger of future trials: the storm that broke out awakened remorse in Robinson’s soul, which passed along with the inclement weather and was finally dispelled by alcoholic drinks.

It is worth saying that this was far from the last black streak in the life of Robinson Crusoe. The young man managed to turn from a merchant into a miserable slave of a robber ship after it was captured by Turkish corsairs, and also visited Brazil after he was rescued by a Portuguese ship. True, the conditions of rescue were harsh: the captain promised the young man freedom only after 10 years.

In Brazil, Robinson Crusoe worked tirelessly on tobacco and sugar cane plantations. The main character of the work continued to lament the instructions of his father, but the passion for adventure outweighed the quiet lifestyle, so Crusoe again got involved in adventures. Robinson's colleagues in the shop had heard enough of his stories about trips to the shores of Guinea, so it is not surprising that the planters decided to build a ship in order to secretly transport slaves to Brazil.

Transporting slaves from Africa was fraught with dangers of sea crossing and legal difficulties. Robinson participated in this illegal expedition as a ship's clerk. The ship sailed on September 1, 1659, that is, exactly eight years after his escape from home.

The prodigal son did not attach importance to the omen of fate, but in vain: the crew survived a severe storm, and the ship began to leak. Ultimately, the remaining crew members set off on a boat that capsized due to a huge shaft the size of a mountain. The exhausted Robinson turned out to be the only survivor of the team: the main character managed to get to land, where his many years of adventure began.

Plot

When Robinson Crusoe realized that he was on a desert island, he was overcome by despair and grief for his dead comrades. In addition, hats, caps and shoes thrown ashore were reminders of past events. Having overcome depression, the protagonist began to think about a way to survive in this seedy and God-forsaken place. The hero finds supplies and tools on the ship, and also builds a hut and a palisade around it.

The most necessary thing for Robinson was a carpenter's box, which at that time he would not have exchanged for a whole ship filled with gold. Crusoe realized that he would have to stay on the uninhabited island for more than one month or even more than one year, so he began to develop the territory: Robinson sowed the fields with cereals, and tamed wild goats became a source of meat and milk.

This unfortunate traveler felt like a primitive man. Cut off from civilization, the hero had to show ingenuity and hard work: he learned to bake bread, make clothes and bake clay dishes.

Among other things, Robinson took from the ship feathers, paper, ink, a Bible, as well as a dog, a cat and a talkative parrot, which brightened up his lonely existence. In order to “at least somewhat ease his soul,” the protagonist kept a personal diary, where he wrote down both remarkable and insignificant events, for example: “It rained today.”

While exploring the island, Crusoe discovered traces of cannibal savages who travel overland and hold feasts where the main dish is human meat. One day Robinson saves a captive savage who was supposed to end up on the table of the cannibals. Crusoe teaches his new acquaintance English and calls him Friday, since on this day of the week their fateful acquaintance took place.

During the next cannibal raid, Crusoe and Friday attack the savages and rescue two more prisoners: Friday's father and the Spaniard, whose ship was wrecked.

Finally, Robinson caught his luck by the tail: a ship captured by the rebels sails to the island. The heroes of the work free the captain and help him regain control of the ship. Thus, Robinson Crusoe, after 28 years of life on a desert island, returns to the civilized world to relatives who considered him long dead. Daniel Defoe's book has a happy ending: in Lisbon, Crusoe makes profits from a Brazilian plantation, making him fabulously rich.

Robinson no longer wants to travel by sea, so he transports his wealth to England by land. There, the final test awaits him and Friday: while crossing the Pyrenees, the heroes’ path is blocked by a hungry bear and a pack of wolves, with whom they have to fight.

• The novel about a traveler who settled on a desert island has a sequel. The book “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” was published in 1719 along with the first part of the work. True, she did not find recognition and fame among the reading public. In Russia, this novel was not published in Russian from 1935 to 1992. The third book, “The Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe,” has not yet been translated into Russian.
• In the film “The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” (1972), the main role went to, who shared the set with, Vladimir Marenkov and Valentin Kulik. This picture was watched by 26.3 million viewers in the USSR.

• The full title of Defoe's work is: “The Life, Extraordinary and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived for 28 years all alone on an uninhabited island off the coast of America near the mouth of the Orinoco River, where he was thrown by a shipwreck, during which the entire crew of the ship , besides him, died, with an account of his unexpected liberation by pirates, written by himself."
• "Robinsonade" is a new genre in adventure literature and cinema that describes the survival of a person or group of people on a desert island. The number of works filmed and written in a similar style is countless, but we can highlight popular television series, for example, “Lost,” where Terry O’Quinn, Naveen Andrews and other actors played.
• The main character from Defoe's work migrated not only to films, but also to animated works. In 2016, viewers saw the family comedy Robinson Crusoe: A Very Inhabited Island.

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/

INTRODUCTION

"Robinson Crusoe" (English Robinson Crusoe) is the hero of the novels of Daniel Defoe. We have known Robinson since childhood. They believe in Robinson, even knowing that it is a fiction, but they succumb, like an obsession, to the incredible authenticity of the story. In Defoe's time, it was enough to go to sea and then talk about it to force yourself to listen. But many adventures and journeys have disappeared without a trace from the memory of readers; no one except historians looks into them anymore. Meanwhile, the fascination and persuasiveness of Robinson's adventures have been preserved, although they were written by people who had not experienced any extraordinary adventures. Daniel Defoe hated swimming: he suffered from seasickness, and even in a boat on the river he felt ill.

Daniel Defoe was one of those enlightenment authors who, with their work, laid the foundations for many types, genre varieties and forms of the novel of the 19th and 20th centuries. There are, in fact, so few books equal to Robinson that it would even be natural to explain the fate of such a book by miracle or paradox and, finally, misunderstanding. Isn’t it a miracle that many people, starting with Swift, tried to expose Robinson, but people still believe in Robinson’s adventures, and they read this book. Defoe's book has remained a model of accessible and fascinating reading.

Of course, Robinson was and is read in different ways. Children read it as an adventure, but a whole philosophical doctrine was subtracted from the same Robinson. Every time, every age and every nation reads Robinson in its own way, but it always reads it. The book about Robinson, at the same time light and deep, contains the life of an ordinary person, but at the same time something unprecedented.

Someone will see in Robinson's adventures a guide to survival, someone will begin to argue with the author whether Robinson should go crazy, like Atkinson from The Children of Captain Grant and the Mysterious Island, others will see in him the resilience of the human spirit, etc.

The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe is a brilliant book. The short concept of genius contains the source of the longevity of such books. It is impossible to fully explain their secret. Only such an omnipotent critic as time, which through its objective course reveals the meaning of masterpieces, can do this. Robinson's book will always be unread.

The purpose of the work is to study and analyze the poetics and features of D. Defoe's novel Life, the extraordinary and amazing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York.

1.1 Summary of the novel

The full title of the first book is “The Life, Extraordinary and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived for 28 years all alone on an uninhabited island off the coast of America near the mouth of the Orinoco River, where he was thrown out by a shipwreck, during which the entire crew of the ship except he died, with an account of his unexpected release by pirates; written by himself."

In August 1719, Defoe released a sequel, “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe,” and a year later, “The Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe,” but only the first book was included in the treasury of world literature, and it is with it that the new genre concept “Robinsonade” is associated.

This novel tells the story of a man whose dreams have always been directed towards the sea. Robinson's parents did not approve of his dream, but in the end Robinson Crusoe ran away from home and went to sea. On his first voyage he failed and his ship sank. The surviving crew members began to avoid Robinson as his next voyage failed.

Robinson Crusoe was captured by pirates and stayed with them for a long time. Having escaped, he sailed the sea for 12 days. On the way he met natives. Stumbling upon a ship, the good captain took him on deck.

Robinson Crusoe remained to live in Brazil. He began to own a sugar cane plantation. Robinson became rich and influential. He told his friends about his adventures. The rich became interested in his story about the natives he met while escaping from pirates. Since blacks at that time were the labor force, but they were very expensive. Having assembled the ship, they set off, but due to the unfortunate fate of Robinson Crusoe, they failed. Robinson ended up on the island.

He quickly settled in. He had three houses on the island. Two near the shore, to see if a ship sails past, and the other house in the center of the island, where grapes and lemons grew.

After staying on the island for 25 years, he noticed human footprints and bones on the northern shore of the island. A little later, on the same bank, he saw smoke from a fire; having climbed a hill, Robinson Crusoe saw through a telescope the savages and two prisoners. They had already eaten one, and the other was awaiting its fate. But suddenly the prisoner ran towards Crusoe’s house, and two savages ran after him. This made Robinson happy and he ran towards them. Robinson Crusoe saved the prisoner, naming him Friday. Friday became Robinson's roommate and employee.

Two years later, a boat with an English flag sailed to their island. There were three prisoners on it; they were pulled out of the boat and left on the shore, while others went to inspect the island. Crusoe and Friday approached the prisoners. Their captain said that his ship mutinied and the instigators of the riot decided to leave the captain, his assistant and the passenger on what they thought was an uninhabited island. Robinson and Friday caught them and tied them up, they surrendered. An hour later another boat arrived and they were also caught. Robinson Friday and several other prisoners took a boat to the ship. Having successfully captured it, they returned to the island. Since the instigators of the riot would have been executed in England, they decided to stay on the island, Robinson showed them his possessions and sailed to England. Crusoe's parents have long since died, but his plantation still remains. His mentors became rich. When they learned that Robinson Crusoe was alive, they were very happy. Crusoe received a significant amount of money by mail (Robinson was hesitant to return to Brazil). Robinson later sold his plantation, becoming rich. He got married and had three children. When his wife died, he wanted to return to the island and see how life was there. Everything flourished on the island. Robinson brought everything he needed there: several women, gunpowder, animals and more. He learned that the inhabitants of the island fought with the savages, winning and taking them prisoner. In total, Robinson Crusoe spent 28 years on the island.

1.2 Problems of genre affiliation

The plot of the novel “Robinson Crusoe” falls into two parts: one describes the events associated with the hero’s social life and stay at home, the second describes the hermit’s life on the island.

The narration is told in the first person, enhancing the effect of verisimilitude; the author is completely removed from the text. However, although the genre of the novel is close to the descriptive genre of a real incident (maritime chronicle), the plot cannot be called purely chronicle. Robinson's numerous arguments, his relationship with God, repetitions, descriptions of the feelings that possess him, loading the narrative with emotional and symbolic components, expand the scope of the genre definition of the novel.

It is not without reason that many genre definitions were applied to the novel “Robinson Crusoe”: adventure educational novel (V. Dibelius); adventure novel (M. Sokolyansky); novel of education, treatise on natural education (Jean-Jacques Rousseau); spiritual autobiography (M. Sokolyansky, J. Gunther); island utopia, allegorical parable, “classical idyll of free enterprise,” “fictional adaptation of Locke’s theory of the social contract” (A. Elistratova).

According to M. Bakhtin, the novel “Robinson Crusoe” can be called novelized memoirs, with sufficient “aesthetic structure” and “aesthetic intentionality” (according to L. Ginzburg). As A. Elistratova notes: “Robinson Crusoe” by Defoe, the prototype of the educational realistic novel in an as yet unisolated, undivided form, combines many different literary genres.”

All these definitions contain a grain of truth.
Thus, “the emblem of adventurism, writes M. Sokolyansky, is often the presence of the word “adventure” (adventure) already in the title of the work.” The title of the novel just says: “Life and amazing adventures...” Further, adventure is a type events, but extraordinary events. And the plot of the novel “Robinson Crusoe” itself represents an extraordinary event. On Robinson Crusoe, Defoe carried out a kind of educational experiment, throwing him onto a desert island. In other words, Defoe temporarily “switched off” him from real social relations, and practical Robinson's activity appeared in the universal form of labor.This element constitutes the fantastic core of the novel and at the same time the secret of its special appeal.

The signs of spiritual autobiography in the novel are the very form of narration characteristic of this genre: memoir-diary. Elements of the novel of education are contained in Robinson's reasoning and his confrontation with loneliness.

As K. Atarova writes: “If we consider the novel as a whole, this action-packed work breaks down into a number of episodes characteristic of a fictionalized journey (the so-called imaginaire), popular in the 17th-18th centuries. At the same time, the central place in the novel is occupied by the theme of the hero’s maturation and spiritual formation.”

A. Elistratova notes that: “Defoe in “Robinson Crusoe” is already in close proximity to the educational “novel of education.”

The novel can also be read as an allegorical parable about the spiritual fall and rebirth of man, in other words, as K. Atarova writes, “a story about the wanderings of a lost soul, burdened with original sin and through turning to God, finding the path to salvation.”

“It was not for nothing that Defoe insisted in the 3rd part of the novel on its allegorical meaning,” notes A. Elistratova. The reverent seriousness with which Robinson Crusoe ponders his life experience, wanting to comprehend its hidden meaning, the stern scrupulousness with which he analyzes his spiritual impulses - all this goes back to that democratic Puritan literary tradition of the 17th century, which was completed in “The Way.” pilgrim" by J. Bunyan. Robinson sees the manifestation of divine providence in every incident of his life; he is overshadowed by prophetic dreams... shipwreck, loneliness, an uninhabited island, an invasion of savages - everything seems to him like divine punishments.”

Robinson interprets any trifling incident as “God’s providence,” and a random set of tragic circumstances as fair punishment and atonement for sins. Even coincidences of dates seem meaningful and symbolic to the hero: “... a sinful life and a solitary life,” Crusoe calculates, “began for me on the same day.”

According to J. Starr, Robinson appears in a dual hypostasis, both as a sinner and as God’s chosen one.

“Connected with this understanding of the book,” notes K. Atarova, is the interpretation of the novel as a variation of the biblical story about the prodigal son: Robinson, who despised his father’s advice, left his father’s house, gradually, having gone through the most severe trials, comes to unity with God, his spiritual father , which, as if as a reward for repentance, will ultimately grant him salvation and prosperity."

M. Sokolyansky, citing the opinion of Western researchers on this issue, disputes their interpretation of “Robinson Crusoe” as a modified myth about the prophet Jonah.

“In Western literary criticism, he notes, especially in the latest works, the plot of Robinson Crusoe is often interpreted as a modification of the myth of the prophet Jonah. At the same time, the active life principle inherent in Defoe’s hero is ignored... The difference is noticeable in a purely plot level. In the “Book of the Prophet Jonah” the biblical hero appears precisely as a prophet...; Defoe’s hero does not act as a predictor at all...”

This is not entirely true. Many of Robinson's intuitive insights, as well as his prophetic dreams, may well pass for predictions inspired from above. But further: “Jonah’s life activity is completely controlled by the Almighty... Robinson, no matter how much he prays, is active in his activities, and this truly creative activity, initiative, ingenuity does not allow him to be perceived as a modification of the Old Testament Jonah.”

Modern researcher E. Meletinsky considers Defoe’s novel, with its “orientation towards everyday realism,” “a serious milestone on the path to the demythologization of literature.”

Meanwhile, if we draw parallels between Defoe’s novel and the Bible, then a comparison with the book “Genesis” rather suggests itself. Robinson essentially creates his own world, different from the island world, but also different from the bourgeois world he left behind, a world of pure entrepreneurial creation. If the heroes of previous and subsequent “Robinsonades” find themselves in ready-made worlds already created before them (real or fantastic, for example, Gulliver), then Robinson Crusoe builds this world step by step like God. The entire book is devoted to a thorough description of the creation of objectivity, its multiplication and material growth. The act of this creation, divided into many separate moments, is so exciting because it is based not only on the history of mankind, but also on the history of the entire world. What is striking about Robinson is his godlikeness, stated not in the form of Scripture, but in the form of an everyday diary. It also contains the rest of the arsenal characteristic of Scripture: covenants (numerous advice and instructions from Robinson on various occasions, given as parting words), allegorical parables, obligatory disciples (Friday), instructive stories, Kabbalistic formulas (coincidences of calendar dates), time breakdown (day first, etc.), maintaining biblical genealogies (whose place in Robinson’s genealogies is occupied by plants, animals, crops, pots, etc.). The Bible in "Robinson Crusoe" seems to be retold at an understated, everyday, third-class level. And just as the Holy Scripture is simple and accessible in presentation, but capacious and complex in interpretation, “Robinson” is also externally and stylistically simple, but at the same time plot-wise and ideologically capacious. Defoe himself assured in print that all the misadventures of his Robinson were nothing more than an allegorical reproduction of the dramatic ups and downs in his own life.

Many details bring the novel closer to a future psychological novel.

“Some researchers, writes M. Sokolyansky, not without reason, emphasize the importance of the work of Defoe the novelist for the formation of the European (and above all English) psychological novel. The author of Robinson Crusoe, depicting life in the forms of life itself, focused attention not only on the external world surrounding the hero, but also on the inner world of a thinking religious person." And according to the witty remark of E. Zimmerman, “Defoe in some respects connects Banyan with Richardson. For Defoe’s heroes... the physical world is a faintly discernible sign of a more important reality...”

CHAPTER 2. THE ADVENTURES OF THE NOVEL “ROBINSON CRUSOE”

2.1 The novel “Robinson Crusoe” in criticism

Defoe's greatest fame is his novel Robinson Crusoe. According to researchers of the writer’s work, the immediate impetus for writing the novel was an episode from the ship’s diary of Captain Woods.

Subsequently, based on the materials of this diary, the famous journalist Style published an article about the adventures of a Scottish sailor, who is believed to be, to a certain extent, the prototype of Robinson Crusoe.

D. Defoe moved the location of his hero to the Atlantic Ocean, and moved the time of action approximately 50 years into the past, thereby increasing the length of his hero’s stay on the uninhabited island by 7 times.

Characteristic features of the educational novel “Robinson Crusoe”:

Ш Affirmation of the idea that reason and labor are the main driving forces of human progress;

Ш The verisimilitude of the work was provided by the real story underlying the plot;

Ш The reliability of the narrative was facilitated by the form of the diary;

Ш The introduction of a first-person narrative, on behalf of the hero himself, allowed the author to show the world through the eyes of an ordinary person and at the same time reveal her character, feelings, and moral qualities;

Ш The image of Robinson Crusoe is presented in development;

Ш The focus is not only on the exoticism of a deserted island and exciting adventures, but on how many people, their experiences, feelings when they were left alone with nature;

Sh Robinson is an effective and active person, a true son of his time, he is looking for various means of discovering his own abilities and practicality;

Sh Robinson is a new hero. This is not an outstanding or exceptional person, not a historical figure, not a mythical figure, but an ordinary person, endowed with soul and mind. The author glorifies the activity of the common man in transforming the surrounding reality;

Ш The image of the main character has great educational significance;

Ш An extreme situation becomes a criterion for determining not only physical strength, but primarily the human qualities of the hero;

Ш The artistic achievement of the novel is the writer’s decision to force his hero to analyze not only what is happening in his soul;

Ш Nature gave impetus to the development of the hero’s moral qualities. Thanks to her constant influence. Robinson seems to be going through social problems, intrigues and conflicts. He doesn't need to be hypocritical, greedy, or deceitful. Being in the lap of nature and in harmony with it brought to life only the best traits of nature - sincerity, hard work and the ability to be natural;

Ш The main idea of ​​the work is the glorification of activity, labor energy, intelligence and high moral qualities of man, which help her master the world, as well as the affirmation of the great importance of nature for the spiritual development of mankind;

Ш "Robinson Crusoe" is an example of a realistic novel of the Enlightenment era. The plot was determined primarily by the interest of English society in geographical discoveries and travel;

This topic was not new in the literature of that time. Even before D. Defoe, works appeared that told about the fate of unfortunate travelers abandoned in the uncivilized world. In 1674, a translation of the book by the 12th-century Arab writer Ibn Tufail “about the adventures of Haji Ben Yokdan,” who achieved great wisdom while living completely alone on the island, was published in England.

After the appearance of Defoe’s novel, literary scholarship was enriched with the new concept of “Robinsonade”, which means a traditional plot in literature, built on depicting the life and trials of a character who found himself in extreme conditions, and for certain reasons was deprived of human society.

The Robinsonade novel is a distinctive feature of literature not only of the 18th century, but also of subsequent stages in the development of world literature. Examples of Robinsonade novels are the following works: “Felsenburg Island” by I. Schnabel, “The New Robinson” by I. Kampe, “Swiss Robinson” by Wyss, “The Hermit of the Pacific” by Psi Layer, “Mowgli” by Kipling, “Russian Robinson” by S. Turbin .

2.2 literary analysis of the novel

He hadn't read Robinson Crusoe since he was a child, said Betteredge, talking to himself. Let's see if Robinson Crusoe will amaze him now!
Wilkie Collins. Moonstone: “Daniel Defoe... The famous creator of the famous Robinson Crusoe, about whose adventures on a desert island every child knows even before he learns to read... But it would seem difficult to imagine a more familiar, “homely”, universally accessible writer!”

And yet the author of Robinson Crusoe, both as a person and as an artist, is one of the most mysterious literary figures of his era. There are still many dark places in his biography. Start at least with the date of birth, which is not precisely established. The role of Defoe in the behind-the-scenes intrigues and political struggles of his time is not completely clear; biographers are now discovering more and more new facts.

And yet this is not the main thing. The mystery lies in the secret of his irresistible influence on readers. Essays and notes by great writers, articles and monographs by literary critics are devoted to its resolution. The debate about this mystery, which began during the author’s lifetime, continues to this day. Crystal clear, understandable, it would seem, to any child, the book stubbornly resists analytical separation and does not reveal the secret of its unfading charm. The phenomenon of simplicity is much more difficult to critically comprehend than complexity, encryptedness, and hermeticism.

By the time Defoe created his Robinson, he was already a well-known figure in the literary and political life of London. Behind the shoulders of the writer, who barely reached his seventies, was a life full of vicissitudes and adventures, participation in the Monmouth Rebellion (1685) and a happy escape from the bloody massacre; various commercial activities, which twice led Defoe to bankruptcy; business trips around the country and to the continent; participation in the political struggle and journal polemics of his time; proximity to the court during the reign of William of Orange and imprisonment under Queen Anne; humiliating punishment in the pillory (1703) for evil satire against the official “high” church and secret relations with the English prime ministers Harley and Godolphin... Indeed, as Defoe himself later claimed, he led a life no less stormy than his hero.

In this vibrant life, which has absorbed the activities of an entrepreneur, businessman, politician, journalist and writer, we are most interested in one area - literary. But even in this area, the genre scope is very wide: Defoe is the author of hundreds of works of satirical pamphlets on the topic of the day in prose and verse, biographies of prominent personalities (including criminals), treatises and essays on economics, commerce, politics, and theology.

But in some broader sense, Defoe, like his hero on a desert island, started, as they say, “from scratch.” “Life is both strange and wonderful...” was listed on the title page of the first book, which rightfully opens the history of the English novel of the Enlightenment,” writes A. A. Elistratova. One can say more broadly, “the history of the European realistic novel.” It was Defoe who turned out to be the pioneer in this genre. The morally descriptive epics of Fielding, the “psychological dramas” of Richardson, the satirical burlesques of Smollett, the anatomy of human consciousness in the works of Sterne have not yet been created. And the timid attempts of the pen of Defoe’s contemporaries, for example, the writer and playwright E. Hale, who appeared simultaneously with him in genre of the novel, are distinguished by obvious immaturity. It is possible that Defoe’s own brilliant discoveries were spontaneous in nature. “He least of all thought that his book would become one of the first examples of the future realistic novel of new European literature and that its very shortcomings would turn out to be its advantages: artlessness will become deep art, edification will become a historical sign of the time when it was written,” wrote Academician M.P. Alekseev about the author of “Robinson Crusoe.”

And yet Defoe, again like his hero, relied heavily on the fruits of civilization. "Robinson" had predecessors both in real life and in literature.

The hero’s very passion for travel is a vivid sign of the time, a time when on the world map in some places it was written: “Places not yet discovered.” The map attached to the fourth edition of Robinson Crusoe (published in August 1719) does not yet show the northwestern borders of North America, the northeastern borders of Asia, and only slightly outlines the northern and western outlines of Australia, then called New Holland. The interest in the stories of sailors was enormous. Books about travel were in great demand among readers. From a whole stream of authors of travel essays and notes from the late 17th to early 18th centuries. Let's name just two names associated with the circumstances of the creation of "Robinson", Admiral William Dampier, who published the very popular "New Voyage Around the World" (1697), "Travels and Descriptions" (1699) and "Journey to New Holland" (1703), and Woods Rogers

In the travel diaries of the latter's Pacific travels, published in 1712, Defoe could read the story of Alexander Selkirk, the prototype of the famous Robinson.

A Scot, a native of the small town of Largo in Fife, Selkirk, as an assistant to Captain Stradling, took part in William Dampier's Pacific expeditions.

One of William Dampier's Pacific expeditions. Having quarreled with the captain, he voluntarily remained on the uninhabited island of Massa Tierra in the Juan Fernandez archipelago, off the coast of Chile. Selkirk hoped that some passing ship would pick him up, but he had to wait 4 years and 4 months for this. Only in 1709 was he taken on board the ship “Duchess” under the command of Woods Rogers, which landed on the island to replenish drinking water supplies. Three years later, Selkirk returned to England with Rogers' expedition. His amazing story was told in their travel notes by both Rogers and Captain Cook, who sailed with Rogers on the ship “Duke,” and a little later it was told to an even wider circle of readers by Richard Steele in his magazine “The Englishman” (1713).

Rogers' story was also published as a separate brochure entitled "The Vicissitudes of Fate, or the Amazing Adventures of Alexander Selkirk, Written by Himself." The legend that Defoe used the Selkirk manuscripts for his novel probably originates from this pirated brochure. Meticulous researchers already in our century discovered other hermits against their will, who spent a long time on the islands; Defoe might also have known their stories.

However, most researchers are unanimous that the story of Selkirk and others like it suggested to Defoe only the idea of ​​the plot and some external details of the story.

“Robinson” also had purely literary sources, most notably Henry Neuville’s novel “The Isle of Pines, or the Fourth Island near the unknown Australian continent, recently discovered by Heinrich Cornelius von Slotten” (1668), which told about the life of the Englishman George Pines and his family on a desert island .

But these are only later assumptions, the result of the latest critical research. And at one time, the history of the creation of “Robinson Crusoe” was overgrown with myths and legends: they argued with passion about where the novel was written in Kent or in the London house in Stoke Newington; they reproached the author for plagiarism, for using the allegedly existing notes of Alexander Selkirk himself, asserted with confidence that not a single publisher undertook to publish the book, and even questioned Defoe’s authorship. On April 25, 1719, the first novel was published in the snow in London, at the printing house of William Taylor.

In London, in the printing house of William Taylor. The success of the book was so great that during the same year three more editions were published (according to modern concepts of additional editions), not counting the “pirated” ones. Four months later, Defoe released a sequel to the “fashionable” book: “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe,” telling about the fate of the “Robinson colony” and the hero’s travels through China, the Far East and Siberia. In August 1720, Defoe published the third volume: “The Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe...”

Defoe apparently had a certain influence on Defoe’s allegorical novel “The Pilgrim’s Progress” (1678–1684), which tells not about a real journey, but about the wanderings of the soul in search of truth.

But these are only later assumptions, the result of the latest critical research. And at one time, the history of the creation of “Robinson Crusoe” was overgrown with myths and legends: they argued with passion about where the novel was written in Kent or in the London house in Stoke Newington; they reproached the author for plagiarism, for using the allegedly existing notes of Alexander Selkirk himself, asserted with confidence that not a single publisher undertook to print the book, and even questioned Defoe’s authorship. On April 25, 1719, the first novel was published in the snow in London, in William’s printing house Taylor.

In London, in the printing house of William Taylor. The success of the book was so great that during the same year three more editions were published (according to modern standards, reprints of the circulation), not counting the “pirated” ones. Four months later, Defoe released a sequel to the “fashionable” book: “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe,” telling about the fate of the “Robinson colony” and the hero’s travels through China, the Far East and Siberia. In August 1720, Defoe published the third volume: “The Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe...” This is a series of essays on philosophical, social and religious topics.

Now "Robinson" has migrated to the category of children's books; "the work that ushered in a new era in the development of mankind has now become primarily a book for children's reading." But we must remember that the novel was originally intended for a wider and not at all children's circle of readers. For all its apparent simplicity, this book is surprisingly multifaceted. Modern lovers of English literature are unaware of some of its aspects.

Defoe novel genre criticism

CONCLUSION

The novel by the English writer Daniel Defoe “The Life, Extraordinary and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe...” is rightfully one of the most widely read works of world literature. Interest in him does not dry up both on the part of readers and on the part of researchers of the English novel of the Proseschen era, who highly appreciate the writer’s contribution to the development of the national traditions of the genre and all Western European fiction. D. Defoe was one of those educational authors who, with their creativity, laid the foundations for many types, genre varieties and forms of the novel of the 19th - 20th centuries. The secret of the unprecedented success of the novel about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe lies, of course, in the choice of topic: the hero’s passion for travel - a clear sign of the times when there were still empty spaces on the map under the type inscription; "Undiscovered Lands".

Its entertainment lies in the adventurous, poetic nature of the main storyline of the novel. “Robinson Crusoe on his island - alone, deprived of self-help, however, nutrition and self-preservation even achieving some well-being, this is a subject... which can be made entertaining in a thousand ways... “,” wrote J. J. Rousseau in the pedagogical treatise “Emile, or on the rise.”

Defoe, using the example of Robinson Crusoe, proves the enduring value of labor in social development and the creation of the material and spiritual basis of society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Atarova K.N. Secrets of simplicity // Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe. M., 1990

2. Bakhtin M.M. Questions of literature and aesthetics. M., 1975

3. Ginzburg L.Ya. About the psychology of prose. L., 1971

4. Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe. M.: “Fiction”, 1992

5. Elistratova A.A. English novel of the Enlightenment. M.: “Nauka”, 1966. 472 p.

6. Meletinsky E.M. Poetics of myth. M., 1976.

7. Sokolyansky M.G. Western European novel of the Enlightenment: Problems of typology. Kyiv; Odessa, 1983.

8. . Shalata O. “Robinson Crusoe” by Defoe on a light biblical theme // Word I hour. 1997. No. 5. P. 53

9. Shishmarevaa M. M. Defoe D. Robinson Crusoe // trans. from English: SP Lexika, 1992

10. Papsuev V.V. Daniel Defoe is a novelist. On the problem of the genesis of the modern novel in English literature of the 18th century. M., 1983

11. Urnov D.M. Robinson and Gulliver M.: Science, 1973

12. Urnov D.M. Defoe. M.: Nauka, 1978

13. . Shevel A.V. Lexical and structural compositional features of the text of an English novel of the early 18th century. (Based on the works of D. Defoe.) Lvov, 1987

Posted on Allbest.ur

Similar documents

Brief biography of Daniel Defoe. The history of the creation of the novel "Robinson Crusoe". The construction of a novel based on the book of Genesis and the events that prompted him to create this novel: the desire to summarize his life experience, the history of a Scot, reading religious literature.

abstract, added 05/15/2010


Daniel Defoe and his hero Robinson Crusoe, the history of writing this work. “Natural” man in the novel “The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”: the definition of truth and fiction. Crusoe is like the author's favorite hero, a bourgeois and a hard worker.

test, added 09.29.2011


Daniel Defoe's novel "Robinson Crusoe" as assessed by foreign and domestic critics. Mixing genres as one of the features of storytelling. The image of the hero-storyteller. Philosophical digressions as a feature of the narrative. Speech as a form of storytelling.

course work, added 06/28/2015


Biographical information about the life and work of the legendary English writer and public figure Daniel Defoe, his political views and their reflection in his works. Man in nature and society in Defoe's understanding. Analysis of the book "Robinson Crusoe".

abstract, added 07/23/2009


The problem of peaceful living in D. Defoe’s novel “Robinson Crusoe”, the pattern of development of specialness in the most important situations, the influx of emphasis on people and their setting to action. The importance of non-conflict is placed on the hero based on his particularity.

course work, added 05/15/2009


"Robinson Crusoe" as a plot model of the world Robinsonade, the genesis of this genre, its distinctive features. Classification according to ideological and thematic principles. The parable novel "Lord of the Flies" by W. Golding as a parody of Ballantyne's novel "Coral Island".

course work, added 11/13/2016


Features of national schools of Enlightenment in France, England and Germany. Description of the process of human moral rebirth in D. Defoe's fictional novel "Robinson Crusoe". Consideration of the values ​​and ideas of enlightenment in the work of F. Goya "Caprichos".

abstract, added 10/20/2011


The essence, history of appearance and possibilities of using the term “Robinsonade”. "The Tale of Haya, son of Yakzan" by the Western Arab author Ibn Tufail as a forerunner of the novels about Robinson Crusoe. The Scottish sailor A. Selkirk is a real prototype of the hero of D. Defoe's novels.

abstract, added 12/16/2014


Daniel Defoe is a famous English novelist and publicist. Entrepreneurial and political career. First steps in literary activity: political pamphlets and newspaper articles. Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" is an example of the adventurous sea genre.

abstract, added 01/16/2008


A look at the work of Daniel Defoe and Voltaire through the prism of popular uprisings that arose in conditions of the feudal crisis and directed against the feudal order. "Robinson Crusoe" is an example of the adventurous sea genre. Defoe's idealism and Voltaire's realism.

- “The Life and Amazing Adventures of the Sailor Robinson Crusoe.” The author presents his main character as a respectable and honest person, the embodiment of “common sense”, perseverance and hard work.

According to the plot of the book, Robinson is abandoned on a desert island. He finds himself alone with nature. And here begins the story that gave the novel its enduring significance.

The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. 1972 film

All the positive qualities of the hero - his enterprise, perseverance in achieving goals, tireless energy are now being put to real use. He builds a hut, expands a cave, hollows out a boat, erects walls in case of defense against savages, tames goats, cultivates the land in order to grow the first harvest from a handful of grain.

Difficulties, obstacles and direct dangers await him at every step: the sun burns his first crops, birds and animals take away the grain, an earthquake threatens to fill up his cave, and, finally, the footprint of a cannibal in the sand reminds him of the danger of attack. But Robinson does not lose heart, he soberly assesses every danger and prevents it in time.

A lonely man on a lonely island, he seems to be repeating the path of humanity: a hunter, a cattle breeder, a farmer, later a slave owner and, finally, the owner of a small colony. In detail, with all the details, naming exact numbers, the author unfolds before us the story of the hero’s creative efforts. His strong hands combined with his practical mind work wonders. The exciting story about Robinsonade sounds like an enthusiastic hymn to human labor and the human mind. For the first time in the history of literature, the theme of labor became the central theme of a large work of art. In Defoe's book, faith in man, in his creative capabilities, in the strength of his hands and mind resounded loudly.

Defoe presents his hero, who finds himself outside of society, as a “natural man.” Robinson's labor feat brought world fame to the novel. For many years, Robinson Crusoe became one of the favorite children's books. Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that Robinson Crusoe is the first book that every child should read as soon as he learns to read the ABC book.

In the history of English literature of the 18th century. Defoe's work was a significant milestone on the path to realism. The material world is the focus of attention of the hero and the author and is depicted in detail, extremely specifically. This accuracy of description creates the illusion of complete verisimilitude of the events described by Defoe, as if this is not a novel with a fictional story, but a piece of life itself - it is not for nothing that it was indicated on the title page that the life and adventures of the hero were written by him.

This is how this novel combines the truthfulness of the depiction of the situation with the conventionality of the plot itself. After all, in concept and meaning, this is a philosophical novel, an educational parable about a Man who can and must subjugate nature.

Robinson opens up a gallery of energetic, active heroes, with whom optimistic (perhaps even beyond measure) European literature is so rich

In the second part of the novel, telling the story of Robinson's colony, Defoe gives a miniature picture of the social development of mankind. Initially, natural equality reigns on the island (Robinson allocated equal plots to all the colonists), but soon, due to differences in character, hard work, etc., this natural equality is violated, envy, enmity, and bitterness are born, resulting in open clashes. And only the common threat of invasion by savages forces the islanders to unite for the purpose of self-defense and achieve a certain equilibrium existence on the basis of a “social contract”. This island utopia reveals a good knowledge of it in the second philosophical works of Thomas Hobbes (“Leviathan”, 1651) and John Locke (“Two treatise on government", 1690).

Defoe also applies Hobbesian standards to the description of life in England, where Robinson feels more alone than during his 28 years on a desert island. "Our own selves are after all

purpose of existence. Thus, a person can be completely LONELY in the midst of a crowd, in the bustle of business people; all his observations are directed at himself; he enjoys all pleasures himself; He too tastes all the worries and sorrows. What is the misfortune of another to us? and what is his joy?..” Indeed, in this, as in Defoe’s other novels, there are no descriptions of friendship (communication with Friday does not go beyond the relationship between master and servant), love, or family ties; there is only a lonely “I” in confrontation with nature and the social world.

The disunity and complete loneliness of people in the midst of life depicted by Defoe allowed many to see in him the singer of a new socio-economic formation gaining strength in the 18th century - capitalism, which with particular clarity exposed the pragmatism and private interest underlying social relations.

Now Robinson appears not as Rousseau’s “natural man” or Coleridge’s “universal man,” but as a completely specific and socially defined type, a representative of the bourgeois world. This approach to the novel and its creator was embodied in the middle of the last century in the works of K. Marx and F. Engels, in the assessments of I. Taine, G. Getner and other representatives of the cultural-historical school of literary criticism. But modern researcher Ian Watt, considering Robinson as “homo economicus”, notes: “Robinson’s original sin is, in fact, the very dynamic tendency of capitalism, which never maintains the “status quo”, but is constantly transforming”

Individualism, which many foreign writers and researchers note, is certainly characteristic of Robinson and even more so of Defoe’s other heroes (perhaps this trait is even developing progressively, reaching its apogee in Defoe’s last novel “Roxana”, where the heroine, for the sake of her peace and prosperity, gives tacit consent to the murder of his own daughter). But precisely in the most successful and aesthetically perfect part of the novel - in the island episode - the spirit of bourgeois entrepreneurship, private interest, self-interest is less noticeable, since the hero is alone with himself. The novel in this part, for all its territorial isolation (a small island) and limited characters (for a long time only Robinson, then Friday and only in the finale several other characters), touches, as we have seen, all aspects of human life: physical (here it is solved in terms of Man and Nature), spiritual (Man and God), social (Man and Society)

“This narrative is only a strict statement of facts; there is not a shadow of fiction in it,” states the “publisher’s preface,” actually composed by the author of “Robinson Crusoe” himself.

One of the most important features of Defoe’s narrative style—both researchers and readers are unanimous here—is authenticity and verisimilitude. This applies not only to Robinson. Whatever Defoe wrote about, even about the experience of communicating with ghosts, he strove to create the effect of maximum verisimilitude. After the publication of “A True Account of the Appearance of the Ghost of a Certain Mrs. Ville” (1705), many believed in the possibility of communication with the other world. “Memoirs of a Cavalier” (1720) and “Diary of the Plague Year” (1722) were perceived by some sophisticated writers as genuine historical documents created by eyewitnesses of the events.

In his very desire to imitate authenticity, Defoe is not original: interest in fact, and not in fiction, is a characteristic tendency of the era that has outgrown chivalric novels and demanded stories about itself. Guessing this tendency, Defoe’s predecessor Aphra Behn in the preface to the novel “Orunoko, or the Royal slave” assured readers: “By offering you the story of this slave, I do not intend to entertain readers with the adventures of a fictional hero, whose life and fate the imagination can dispose of at will; and, while telling the truth, I am not going to embellish it with incidents other than those that actually took place...” However, in fact, her novel is full of the most implausible coincidences and adventures. But the author of “Robinson” managed not only to declare authenticity, but to create its illusion, the irresistibility of which continues to this day.

How did this happen? Here the opinions of researchers differ: by turning to memoir and diary form; due to the self-elimination of the author; through the introduction of “documentary” evidence of the story - inventories, registers, etc.; due to the most detailed detailing; due precisely not to detail, but to the ability to capture the entire external appearance of an object, and then convey it in a few words; due to the complete lack of literary quality, “aesthetic intentionality,” technique, and even... due to the purely human phenomenal ability to “lie” and lie convincingly.

All of Defoe's works of fiction are written in the first person, most often in memoir form. This is not an accident, but a conscious literary device, designed to eliminate the author-writer and transfer the narrative to a witness, eyewitness (“Diary of the Plague Year”) or, more often, the main participant in the events described (Robinson, Moll Flanders, Captain Jack, Roxanne, etc.) . “I saw it myself”, “it happened to me myself” - such statements were irresistible to the inexperienced reader. Even when Swift, in Gulliver’s “true” story, reached the point of outright incredibleness, the persuasiveness of the form and style of the narrative sometimes outweighed the fantastic nature of the content in the eyes of readers.

But the memoir form alone is not enough for Defoe. He also intersperses a diary (“an authentic document”) into the hero’s memoirs, and the events presented in memoir form are partly duplicated in the diary form for greater persuasiveness. (Let us note in parentheses that the diary form is inconsistent in the novel: the narrator continually enters into the diary information that he could only learn about later, thereby losing the main advantage of a diary entry - the absence of distance between the moment of action and the moment of description, the effect of immediacy The diary form gradually blurs and again turns into a memoir).

For the same persuasiveness, other “documents” are introduced into the text of the novel - inventories, lists, lists: how many and what things were taken from the stranded ship, how many Indians were killed and in what way, how many and what kind of food reserves were made for the rainy season... The very monotony and efficiency of these enumerations creates the illusion of authenticity - it seems, why make it up so boringly? However, the detail of dry and meager descriptions has its own charm, its own poetry and its own artistic novelty.

Like every truly great artist, Defoe expands the boundaries of aesthetic perception of reality for posterity. His younger contemporary Laurence Sterne showed “what a thick volume of adventures can come out of... an insignificant piece of life from one in whose heart there is a response to everything.” And Defoe had his own sphere of “strange and wonderful”: “It’s amazing that almost no one thinks about how many small works must be done in order to grow, preserve, collect, cook and bake an ordinary piece of bread." And indeed, most of Robinson's "adventures" are associated with making furniture, firing pots, arranging a home, growing crops, taming goats... Exactly that effect of “defamiliarization” occurs, which V. Shklovsky once wrote about - the most ordinary thing, the most ordinary action, becoming an object of art, acquires a new dimension - an aesthetic one. "Robinson Crusoe "Of course, the first novel in the sense that it is the first fictional narrative in which the main artistic emphasis is placed on the everyday activities of the ordinary person."

Despite the abundance of details, Defoe's prose gives the impression of simplicity, laconicism, and crystal clarity. Before us is only a statement of facts, even if it was unprecedentedly detailed for its time), and reasoning, explanations, and descriptions of mental movements are reduced to a minimum. There is no pathos at all.

Here is an episode from “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” - a description of the death of the faithful Friday: “... about three hundred arrows flew at him - he served as their only target - and to my indescribable chagrin, poor Friday was killed. Three arrows hit the poor man, and three more fell near him: the savages shot so accurately!”

The grief is “indescribable” - and that’s all. Dickens would later say that there was nothing more insensitive in world literature than the description of Friday's death. He himself described the death of his literary favorites in a completely different way. “When death strikes young, innocent beings and liberated souls leave the earthly shell, many deeds of love and mercy arise from the dead dust. Tears shed on timeless graves give birth to goodness, give birth to bright feelings. In the footsteps of the destroyer of life follow the pure creatures of the human spirit - they are not afraid of her power, and the gloomy path of death ascends to heaven along a shining path,” we read in the “Antiquities Shop” regarding the death of little Nell. And here is the author’s reaction to the death of the lonely tramp Joe from Bleak House: “He died, Your Majesty. He is dead, my lords and gentlemen. He died, you, reverend and non-reverend ministers of all cults. Died, you people; but heaven has given you compassion. And so they die around us every day.” Not surprisingly, Dickens could not understand or accept Defoe's laconic restraint.

However, the laconicism in the depiction of emotions does not mean that Defoe did not convey the hero’s state of mind. But he conveyed it sparingly and simply, not through abstract pathetic reasoning, but rather through the physical reactions of a person: “With extreme disgust I turned away from the terrible sight: I felt terrible nausea and probably would have fainted if nature itself had not come to me to the rescue by clearing my stomach with profuse vomiting.” As Virginia Woolf notes, Defoe describes first of all “the effect of emotions on the body”: how the hands clenched, the teeth clenched... At the same time, the author adds: “Let the naturalist explain these phenomena and their causes: all I can do is describe the bare facts " This approach allows some researchers to argue that Defoe’s simplicity is not a conscious artistic attitude, but the result of an ingenuous, conscientious and accurate recording of facts. But there is another, no less convincing point of view: “...it was Defoe who was the first wealthy, that is, consistent to the end, creator of simplicity. He realized that “simplicity” is the same subject of image as any other, like a facial or character trait. Perhaps the most difficult subject to depict.”

In 1719, when Defoe was 59 years old, the first part of " Robinson Crusoe"(The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe), which made his name immortal. The second part of the novel was published in 1720, the third in 1721. Defoe presented his novel as the original memoirs of Robinson himself. This is exactly how this book was perceived by his contemporaries .

Defoe's book becomes a great monument to human strength, vigor, enterprise, ingenuity and energy. Defoe's book was used by major figures in pedagogy, in particular the German teacher Joachim Heinrich Kampe ("The New Robinson", published in 1779, Russian translation - in 1781). The enormous popularity of Defoe's book caused a whole stream of imitations and alterations. The “Robinsonade” genre was created, in which the biggest names contributed. Among them are Jules Verne (The Mysterious Island), Kipling (Mowgli), Burroughs (Tarzan), and most recently Golding (Lord of the Flies). Leo Tolstoy made a peculiar adaptation of the novel by an English writer (the first volume).

Defoe's other novels ("Mole Flanders", "Captain Singleton", "Colonel Jack", etc.) are also original Robinsonades, only in them an isolated individual, a loner, finds himself in a hostile human element, in society. “A man is lonely among a crowd,” wrote Defoe. The life story of this isolated individual, always at first a renegade, rejected by people, ends with victory, his establishment in society.

In the novel by Daniel Dafoe, Robinson has a cheerful, optimistic outlook on things. He doesn't give in to despair. All his thoughts, in essence, boil down to searching for a way out of all the difficult situations into which circumstances throw him, and he always finds a way out and finds joy and peace of mind:...." I began to apply myself to arrange my way of living , and to make things as easy to me as I could." "... Even when I was afterwards, on due consideration, made sensible of my condition, ... all the sense of my affliction wore off; and I began to be very easy, applied myself to the works proper for my preservation and supply."

But Robinson’s main quality is will and perseverance: “I rarely gave up work, without finishing it.” Robinson is hardworking; He has a special taste for different types of manual labor. In describing labor processes, Defoe shows considerable ingenuity. For him, work is not a routine, but an exciting experiment in mastering the world. There is nothing incredible or far from reality in what his hero undertakes on the island. The author strives to portray the evolution of labor skills as consistently and even emotionally as possible, appealing to facts: "and, in a word, how, after having labored hard to find the clay - to dig it, to temper it, to bring it home, and work it - I could not make above two large earthen ugly things (I cannot call them jars) in about two months` labor". Labor in the work of Daniel Defoe is an element of self-education and self-improvement of the hero’s personality. Robinson's most precious find on the wreck of an English ship is a box of carpenter's tools. No wealth, no pleasures can give a person such satisfaction and joy as the success of an enterprise that requires a lot of effort from us. Failure and misfortune are temporary; moreover, they contribute to our moral improvement. His fits of despondency are very short-lived. Robinson experiences his greatest joy when his efforts are crowned with success. In general, we have before us a typical figure of an Englishman with his advantages and disadvantages. The impression of reality is also achieved by the disconnection of the story, the episodic appearance of many characters, the frank admission of failures..." Oh, my powder! My very heart sank within me when I thought that, at one blast, all my powder might be destroyed; on which, not "my defense only, but the providing my food, as I thought, entirely depended. I was nothing near so anxious about my own danger, though, had the powder took fire, I should never have known who had hurt me."

It should also be noted the principles of tolerance and freedom that Robinson is guided by - hatred of war, the importance of solidarity, division of labor, etc.

Robinson's "universal" theme is a man left to himself, face to face with nature, and cut off from humanity. The image of Robinson entered world literature. He became the eternal companion of humanity, like Don Quixote, Faust, Hamlet, Gulliver. Defoe's book is joyful, light-hearted, entertaining and instructive. She feels optimism and faith in a bright future. Man believes in his own strength, he subjugates nature.