Defoe, Daniel (1660-1731), English novelist and journalist, whose work reflects his diverse experiences in many countries and in many walks of life. Besides being a brilliant journalist, novelist, and social thinker, Defoe was a prolific author, producing more than 500 books, pamphlets, and tracts.
Defoe was a very good story-teller. He had a gift for organizing minute details in such a vivid way that his stories could be both credible and fascination. His sentences are sometimes short, crisp and plain, and sometimes long and rambling, which leave on the reader an impression of casual narration. His language is smooth easy, colloquial and mostly vernacular. There is nothing artificial in his language; it is common English at its best.
Style: English Realistic Novel, realistic narration, sympathetic, realistic, narrative
The eighteenth century was the golden age of the English novel. The novel of this period spoke the truth about life with an uncompromising courage. The novel is the most important gift of bourgeois ,or capitalist, civilization to the world's imaginative culture.
Defoe's "Robinson's Crusoe" was one of the forerunners of the English realistic novel. It creates the imagine of an enterprising Englishman, typical of English bourgeoisie of the 18th century .Defoe's novels were first published anonymously, which led the reader to believe that these were genuine and authentic stories .This impression was heightened by the circumstantial detail and verisimilitude of the narrative.
The principal problem of the Enlightenment-influence of society on man's nature-stands in the centre of all these novels .The writers and philosophers of the Enlightenment held that man is good and noble by nature but many succumb to an evil environment. So Defoe in his novel.
Defoe, Daniel
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