Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe (1719)

Historical context

Defoe’s influence on Robinson Crusoe

As a boy, Daniel witnessed two of the greatest disasters of the 17th century: a recurrence of
the plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666. These events may have shaped his
fascination with catastrophes and survival in his writing. Defoe entered a dissenting institution
called Morton’s Academy and considered becoming a Presbyterian minister. Though he
abandoned this plan, his Protestant values endured throughout his life despite discrimination
and persecution, and these values are expressed in Robinson Crusoe. In 1683, Defoe became a
travelling hosiery salesman. Visiting Holland, France, and Spain on business, Defoe
developed a taste for travel that lasted throughout his life. His fiction reflects this interest; his
characters Moll Flanders and Robinson Crusoe both change their lives by voyaging far from
their native England.

Defoe worked as a publicist, political journalist, and pamphleteer for Harley and other
politicians. He also worked as a spy, revelling in aliases and disguises, reflecting his own
variable identity as merchant, poet, journalist, and prisoner. This theme of changeable identity
would later be expressed in the life of Robinson Crusoe, who becomes merchant, slave,
plantation owner, and even unofficial king. In his writing, Defoe often used a pseudonym
simply because he enjoyed the effect.

Debts and value of money

A fervent critic of King James II, Defoe became affiliated with the supporters of the Duke of
Monmouth, who led a rebellion against the king in 1685. When the rebellion failed, Defoe
was essentially forced out of England, and he spent three years in Europe writing tracts
against James II. When the king was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and
replaced by William of Orange, Defoe was able to return to England and to his business.
Unfortunately, Defoe did not have the same financial success as previously, and by 1692 he
was bankrupt, having accumulated the huge sum of 17,000 pounds in debts. Though he
eventually paid off most of the total, he was never again entirely free from debt, and the
theme of financial vicissitudes—the wild ups and downs in one’s pocketbook—became a
prominent theme in his later novels. Robinson Crusoe contains many reflections about the
value of money.
British Imperialism

England created overseas trading posts and settlements from the late 16th century to the early
18th century. With their vast fleet of ships, England was one of the premier trading, shipping,
and exploring nations in the world. Expanding on their trading posts and land holdings, the
British began to conquer lands across the globe, creating what would become the largest
empire in history. At its height, the British Empire spanned 24% of the Earth’s total landmass
and ruled over 412 million people. The early 1700s marks the beginning and rapid expansion
of the imperialist mindset. Crusoe’s thirst for travel, quest for money, and disregard for the
humanity of the natives he encounters serves as a snapshot of the British colonist. The
unconscious cruelty Crusoe shows Friday and the idealized master-servant relationship
between the two men serves as a prototype for the cultural imperialism that would come to
subjugate native populations across the globe over the next two centuries.

Political Economy

At the beginning of the 18th century, the rigid social order in England began to change. The
18th century saw transitions between mercantilism and capitalism. Mercantilism was the
policy that guided nation-states to monopolize areas and their natural resources in order to
maximize the gold and silver holdings of the imperial state. In the 1770s, Adam Smith would
theorize about capitalism, which considered resource allocation through the decisions made
by rational agents in markets. While Crusoe's dreams of land are largely mercantilist, many of
his readers were already participating in (and benefitting from) the dynamics of capitalist
restructuring of Britain's economy, which made it possible for the middle class to develop. A
person was no longer trapped by the rank and class that they were born into, they could make
their fortune in trade, exploration, or import. Opportunities in the so-called “New World” also
made it possible for landless citizens to become landowners. Crusoe’s desire to pursue money
and travel abroad comes from this desire to gain status and rise above his station.

The Story of Scottish Sailor Alexander Selkirk

Robinson Crusoe reflects its author's interests and experiences. It was written in the midst of
ongoing English conflicts between Protestantism and Catholicism, and Robinson Crusoe's
religious journey addresses various aspects of these conflicts. His encounters with sailors of
different nationalities and natives of different continents are flavoured with political intrigue
and Defoe's experiences in trade.
However, the most direct influence and inspiration for Robinson Crusoe is the story of
Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk. A shoemaker's son from the town of Fife, Selkirk ran away
to sea as a young man, just as Crusoe runs away from his family. However, unlike Crusoe,
Selkirk also reportedly engaged in a fistfight with his father and two brothers. He also left at
least one alleged wife behind in Scotland. He became a privateer, or legalized pirate, and
spent several years raiding Spanish ships off the Pacific coast of South America on behalf of
the English government. During a conflict with the captain of his ship in 1704 off the coast of
Chile, Selkirk demanded to be left on a nearby island. The captain obliged, and Selkirk stayed
there for over four years. When he returned to England in 1709, his story became well known.

The island Selkirk likely occupied is in the Juan Fernandez archipelago, roughly 400 miles off
the western coast of Chile. The second largest island in the cluster is named Isla Alejandro
Selkirk (also known as Isla Más Afuera) for Selkirk. The largest island, known as Isla Más a
Tierra, is now sometimes called Isla Robinson Crusoe. However, Crusoe comes to understand
from Friday that his island is near the island of Trinidad, in the Caribbean Sea. Isla Robinson
Crusoe (and the location of Selkirk's island) is off the coast of Chile, in the South Pacific.

Colonization and racism

In many ways, Robinson Crusoe epitomizes English colonialism, the practice of acquiring
foreign lands, inhabiting the lands with settlers, and exploiting native people and resources for
the economic gain of England. The practice began in the late 16th century and continued into
the 20th century, affecting many regions of the world, including the Americas, India, and
Africa, among others. Robinson Crusoe's island becomes a microcosm of the British Empire.
Crusoe rules the area through a lens of cultural superiority as he brings to the island and its
people his language, system of naming, habits, and religion in an attempt to westernize the
area. His use of terms such as savages and creatures also conveys this attitude of superiority,
and works to dehumanize and subjugate the native people.

While the plot of Robinson Crusoe does not explicitly revolve around slavery, the institution
of slavery serves as a basis for much of the action of the novel. When Crusoe heads to Africa,
it is to purchase slaves. He himself becomes a slave and then soon becomes a slave owner.
This idea of ownership and superiority impacts his relations with such people as Xury and
Friday. Plus, Crusoe's wealth from his sugar plantations at the end of the novel would have
come from slave labour.
Literary context

The Rise of the Novel

Before the late 17th century, the idea of “fiction” as a literary genre did not exist. Books were
sold as “histories” consisting of pamphlets, memoirs, travel logs, political essays, historical
accounts, and even romances and poetry. Fictional tales were considered lies. However, in the
1670s, fictional tales rose in popularity. Writers began distinguishing published histories
from their own writings of “private history.” Defoe’s novel was published with the
designation: a “true private history.” In fact, Robinson Crusoe’s tale is loosely based on the
shipwreck and marooning of Alexander Selkirk, a sailor stranded for four years on the Pacific
island of Mas a Tierra. Thus, the genre of Defoe's novel is somewhere between fiction,
journalism, and personal memoir. It therefore helped create a space for the modern novel and
the genre of literary fiction.

Realism

Realism may be found in the journal or the diary that Crusoe kept after his survival after being
shipwrecked. In this journal, he records everything: his misery on the island as well as what
he is thankful for. He also makes a list of pros and cons about his shipwreck, showing the
reality of his situation and all he has been through. He makes an account of his advantages
and accounts in terms of 'debtor' and 'creditor' like a real tradesman. He keeps a calendar of all
of his daily routines and duties, and his struggle to find food. He records all of his struggles
and shortcomings as he searches for the deeper things of life during his time of isolation. This
authenticates his story and shows Crusoe in his everyday life and the struggles (both inward
and outward) in his new environment.

Despite its simple narrative style, Robinson Crusoe was well received in the literary world
and is often credited as marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre. It is
generally seen as a contender for the first English novel. Before the end of 1719, the book had
already run through four editions, and it has gone on to become one of the most widely
published books in history, spawning so many imitations, not only in literature but also in
film, television, and radio, that its name is used to define a genre, the Robinsonade.

At the age of 59, Defoe embarked on what was virtually a new career, producing in Robinson
Crusoe the first of a remarkable series of novels and other fictional writings that resulted in
his being called the father of the English novel.
More authors like Daniel Defoe:

● Jonathan Swift
● Tobias Smollett
● Charles Dickens

Themes

● Self-reliance
● Civilization
● Progress
● Christianity and religion
● Nature
● Slavery
● Wealth
Historical context

● ongoing conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism (Defoe was a Protestant)

● British Imperialism (started towards the end of the 16th century and lasted until the
early 18th century)
● topics such as colonialism and racism
● Defoe’s experiences: the plague or The Great Fire of London, struggled with money

Literary context

● Daniel Defoe is often referred to as father of the novel as Robinson Crusoe is

considered to be the first English novel. It is loosely based on the adventures of a
Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk. Also, Defoe’s interest in trade and politics is
reflected in the novel.
● The period in which Robinson Crusoe was published is also often referred to as the
rise of the novel as literary fiction was becoming more and more popular.
● The publication of this influential book also inspired several other authors, such as
Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. It also resulted in several movie adaptations.
● As the novel belongs to realism, it is possible to name some other authors, such as
Charles Dickens.
● Puritan undertones 552