İNGİLİZ/AMERİKAN EDEBİYATI I

The known date and place of birth of Daniel Defoe is 1661, London.

Defoe wrote the novel 'Robinson Cruzoe' when he was fifty eight years old.

Especially the realism and the use of daily language in Defoe’s works served well to the taste of the middle classes.

The aim of the artist in Realism is to make a picture of life through observation rather than an exploration of individual feelings and perceptions.

Robinson names the savage as Friday to commemorate the day of Friday’s survival.

Crusoe is born in 1632 to a middle-class family that emigrated from Bremen/Germany.

His father wants him to study law.

Robinson’s heart has always been in the seas.

All come true when Robinson is left desolate on the island which he calls “The Island of Despair”.

Xury consents and the two escape to their liberty.

Daniel Defoe left scool at the age of 18. He was put in prison because he went bankrupt. Defoe
worked as journalist, a tradesman, a pamphleteer, a public official and an editor.  The reason for his death is not clear.

Slave trade was not uncommon.

The aim of the artist is to make a picture of life through observation rather than an exploration of individual feelings and perceptions.

In the late part of his life, Defoe produced his most known works starting with Robinson Crusoe. His writings mainly deal with religion, politics and everyday life.

In the 17th century, middle class began to gain power thanks to the money they earned from colonial trade and began to shape the politics as well as arts.

Until 17th century, aristocratic class was unquestionably the leading class giving shape to politics, morality and arts. However, in the 17th century, middle class began to gain power thanks to the money they earned from colonial trade and began to shape the politics as well as arts. For instance, the novel genre started in these centuries because the middle class did not want to read about the heroic ideals of the aristocratic class anymore, and wanted a realistic representation of real people with their real experiences in literature (Koç, 2005, p. 10). The reason for this was because poetry was not really proper for the depiction of the lives of middle class and this gave rise to the novel genre, Daniel Defoe being the forerunner. Especially the realism and the use of daily language in Defoe’s works served well to the taste of the middle classes.

Rahn (2011) claims that the characters are depicted in such a detail that “They are psychologically complicated, multifaceted, and with conflicting impulses and motivations that very nearly replicate the daily tribulations of being human”. Therefore, realistic novels take their power not only from the plot but mainly from the power of characterization.

All pieces of information given about the nove are true.

Being invited by a friend who is to sail to London in his father’s ship, Robinson sets sail suddenly without a second thought, without informing his family.

The novel starts with a conversational language. Robinson tells everything to the audience as if he were disclosing his secrets to his best friend. This type of narration makes the audience familiarize him/herself with the character in the novel.