Daniel Defoe was born in London to James Fo, a meat merchant and candle manufacturer. The writer later changed his last name to Defoe.
The interests of the family in which Daniel grew up were trade and religion. Daniel's father, in his religious views, was a puritan, a dissident. Loyalty to Calvinism, an irreconcilable attitude towards the dominant Anglican Church was for English merchants and artisans a kind of form of protection of their bourgeois rights during the years of political reaction and the restoration of the Stuarts (1660-1688).
Daniel's father, noticing his son's exceptional abilities, sent him to a dissident school called an academy that trained priests for the persecuted Puritan church.
Defoe abandoned the future of the priest and engaged in trade. Throughout his life, Defoe remained a businessman. He was a hosiery manufacturer and a merchant for the export of fabrics from England and the import of wines. Subsequently, he became the owner of a tile factory. As a trade intermediary, he traveled extensively in Europe, staying especially long in Spain and Portugal. A wide variety of commercial plans arose in Defoe's head, he started more and more new enterprises, enriched himself and went bankrupt again. At the same time, he took an active part in the political events of his era.
In the so-called "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, Defoe took all possible part. He joined the army of William when he landed on the English coast, and then, as part of the guard of honor, exhibited by the richest merchants, was present at the triumphal procession of the king.
In subsequent years, Defoe, together with the bourgeois Whig party, actively supported all the activities of William III of Orange. He issued a number of pamphlets in defense of his foreign policy and the extensive military appropriations intended for the war with France. But his verse pamphlet The Thoroughbred Englishman (1701), directed against the nobility-aristocratic party, was of particular importance. In the pamphlet, Defoe defends William III from his enemies, who shouted that the Dutchman should not rule "full-blooded Englishmen." The pamphlet had a sharp anti-feudal coloring. Defoe denies the very concept of "full-blooded Englishman", since the English nation was formed as a result of a mixture of different nationalities, as a result of the conquest of the British Isles by the Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. But with the greatest harshness, he falls on the English aristocrats, who are proud of the "antiquity of the family." Recent immigrants from the bourgeoisie, they have acquired coats of arms and titles for money and, forgetting about their bourgeois origin, shout about noble honor, noble dignity.
The writer calls on the English aristocrats to recognize the class compromise that has already taken place, to forget about the imaginary noble honor and finally follow the bourgeoisie. From now on, the dignity of a person should be measured by his personal merits, and not by a brilliant title. Satirical attacks against the nobility ensured the success of the pamphlet in the widest circles of readers. William III, pleased with the support of a talented pamphleteer, began to provide Defoe with constant patronage.
The death of William III in 1702 put an end to the hopes that Defoe placed on this king. He indignantly attacked the Tory nobles, who rejoiced at the death of Wilhelm, in his pamphlet "Pretending Mourners".
The reign of Queen Anne (daughter of James II) was marked by temporary political and religious backlash. Anna hated the Puritans and secretly dreamed of a complete restoration of the Stuarts. With her assistance in 1710 there was a Tory coup in parliament. Even earlier, under her patronage, the cruel persecution of dissident Puritans began. Bishops and pastors, fanatics of the Church of England, openly called in their sermons for reprisals against dissidents.
Defoe felt somewhat lonely in his own puritanical party, as he was outraged by manifestations of all kinds of religious fanaticism. But in these difficult years for the Puritans, he came out in their defense with unexpected fervor. The writer chose for this the path of parody and literary hoax and published in 1702 an anonymous pamphlet "The shortest way to deal with dissidents." The pamphlet was written on behalf of the Representative of the Anglican Church, calling for the complete extermination of dissidents. In this pamphlet-parody, an anonymous author advised to destroy the English Puritans, as the Huguenots were once destroyed in France, suggested replacing penalties and fines with gallows, and in conclusion recommended "crucifying these robbers who have crucified hitherto the holy Anglican Church."
This mystification was so subtle, so reproducing the unbridled tone of the pogrom sermons that sounded in the churches, that both religious parties did not at first understand its true meaning. Some supporters of the Anglican Church declared their full solidarity with the author of the pamphlet. It was attributed to one of the bishops. The dismay and horror of the dissidents, who were awaiting total extermination, were so great that Defoe was forced to issue an "Explanation to the" Shortest Way ", where he revealed his plan - to ridicule the bloodthirsty churchmen. This explanation, like the pamphlet itself, was anonymous, but friend and foe now guessed Defoe's authorship. True, the dissidents have not yet completely calmed down, they have not fully believed their defender, who spoke under the guise of an enemy.
But on the other hand, the government and the Anglican clergy fully understood the meaning of the pamphlet and appreciated the danger that the indomitable pamphleteer represented for them. In January 1703, an order was issued for the arrest of Defoe, "guilty of a crime of extreme importance."
Defoe fled and hid from the police. The London Gazette advertised a government reward of £50 to anyone who would hand over Defoe, "a thin man of medium height, about 40 years old, swarthy, with dark brown hair, gray eyes, a hooked nose, and a large mole near the mouth" . Defoe was extradited and imprisoned in Newgate Prison. The pamphlet was burned in the square by the executioner.
The sentence handed down to the writer was exceptionally severe. He was sentenced to pay a large fine, stand in the pillory three times, and be imprisoned indefinitely until special order from the Queen. Defoe courageously accepted the punishment. Even during his pre-trial detention, he wrote "Hymn to the Pillory" (1703), in which he declared that he was proud of his fate. This anthem was distributed by his friends, sold on the streets by boys, and was soon on everyone's lips. The appearance at the pillory turned into a real triumph for Defoe. A huge crowd greeted him enthusiastically, the women threw flowers at him, the pillory was decorated with garlands. However, this ended the heroic period in the life of Defoe. He was released the same year, secretly accepting the terms offered to him by Tory circles and, above all, by Robert Gurley, later prime minister of the Tory government.
In the future, Defoe was no longer subjected to political persecution.
By the end of his life, he was alone. In the outback, Defoe lived out his days. Own children have long since scattered from the nest. Sons trade in the City, daughters are married. And only the children of his imagination - the heroes of his books - did not leave old Defoe when fate dealt him a fatal blow. Sick and weak, she again forced him to leave his comfortable home, to run, to hide. And as once, in bygone days, Defoe unexpectedly took refuge in the slums of London, which he knew so well.
He died at the end of April 1731. Compassionate Miss Brox, the mistress of the house where Defoe was hiding, buried him with her own money. The newspapers devoted short obituaries to him, mostly of a mocking nature, in the most flattering of which he was honored to be called “one of the greatest citizens of the Republic of Grub Street,” that is, the London street where the then hacks and rhymers huddled. A white tombstone was placed on Defoe's grave. Over the years, it has grown, and it seemed that the memory of Daniel Defoe - a free citizen of the city of London - was covered with the grass of oblivion. More than a hundred years have passed. And time, the judgment of which the writer so feared, receded before his great creations. When Christian World magazine in 1870 turned to the “boys and girls of England” with a request to send money for the construction of a granite monument on the grave of Defoe (the old slab was split by lightning), thousands of admirers, including adults, responded to this appeal. In the presence of the descendants of the great writer, a granite monument was opened, on which was carved: “In memory of the author of Robinson Crusoe.” And rightly so: of the three hundred works written by Daniel Defoe, it was this work that brought him true fame. His book is a mirror of the era, and the image of Robinson, in which the writer sang the courage of man, his energy and hard work, is the hero of the great epic of labor.
Defoe's writing activity was unusually varied. He wrote more than 250 works of various genres - from poetic and prose pamphlets to extensive novels. In addition to the political pamphlets mentioned above and the Essay on Projects, after 1703 he published a huge number of essays and articles of the most varied content. There were historical and ethnographic works in which exclusive attention was paid to the development of trade: "A General History of Trade, Especially British Commerce" (1713), "A General History of Discoveries and Improvements, Especially in the Great Branches of Commerce, Navigation and Agriculture, in all parts Light "(1725)," Travel around the island of Great Britain "(1727)," An impartial history of the life and deeds of Peter Alekseevich, the current Tsar of Muscovy "(1723). There were also instructive treatises, in every possible way promoting bourgeois enterprise ("Exemplary English merchant", 1727, etc.). At the same time, Defoe's new projects appeared in the press, new attempts at research in the form of "Experiments" - "Defence of the press, or an experiment on the usefulness of literature" (1718), "An experiment on literature, or a study on the antiquity and origin of writing" - and along with them witty topical pamphlets, sometimes in the form of parodies (“Instructions from Rome in favor of the applicant, addressed to the high-ranking Don Sacheverellio”, 1710, a pamphlet revealing the closeness of the Anglican Church with Catholicism).
Defoe deliberately gives some of his pamphlets and essays a sensational character and supplies them with spectacular, intriguing headings. In one pamphlet from 1713 he poses the question to the reader: "What to do if the queen dies?" (1717). A certain courage and freedom in posing such questions was allowed by Defoe's rapprochement with the ruling circles, as well as the anonymity of the pamphlets. The English layman, of course, greedily pounced on these pamphlets and sought help and advice in them in the years when the country was threatened by a new restoration of the Stuarts or an invasion of the Swedes.
The pursuit of literary earnings forced Defoe to create, along with serious works, tabloid "stories" about famous robbers and ghosts, accurate and detailed accounts of completely fantastic events. He described in detail the terrible hurricane that swept over England in 1703, being an eyewitness to it; but a few years later he gave the same accurate and realistic description of the volcanic eruption, which in fact did not exist. In 1705 he wrote a fantastic account of a trip to the moon, which is a satire on recent events in England, especially on the activities of the fanatics of the Anglican Church.
Defoe should be considered the founder of journalism in England from 1705 to 1713, he publishes the newspaper Review of French Affairs. Under this masking title, it meant a review of all European politics and the internal affairs of England. Defoe published his newspaper alone, was its only collaborator, and carried out in it, despite his secret connection with Harley, the old progressive principles, constantly offending churchmen and extreme Tories. The newspaper published extensive international reviews, and commented on the events of the internal political life of England. On the fourth page of the newspaper, entitled "Scandalous Mercury, or News of the Scandal Club", there was a humorous section, which was of a satirical and moralizing nature. Here, mainly private vices were ridiculed, satirical images of quarrelsome or unfaithful wives, gullible and deceived husbands were displayed; but sometimes the injustice of bribed judges, the corruption of journalists, the fanaticism and ignorance of churchmen were also exposed; in this case, readers recognized famous people in London under assumed names, and this contributed to the popularity of the newspaper. Her sharply independent tone, her frank attacks against reactionary circles, and the thoroughness of her political reviews won her broad readership. The newspaper was published twice a week and anticipated in many respects the journals of Style and Addison (Chatterbox and Spectator) published in 1709-1711. It took all the colossal efficiency and energy of Defoe to run this newspaper alone for a number of years, reincarnating now as a serious columnist, now as a witty pamphleteer.
Already an old man, enriched by vast experience in journalistic and historiographical work, Defoe began to create works of art. His celebrated novel The Life and Strange, Wonderful Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719) was written by him at the age of 58. Soon the second and third parts of the novel appeared, and then a number of novels: The Life and Adventures of the Famous Captain Singleton (1720), Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720), Notes of a Plague Year (1721), Joys and Sorrows of the famous Moll Flenders "(1721)," The History and Remarkable Life of the Honorable Colonel Jacques "(1722)," The Fortunate Mistress, or the History of the Life and Various Adventures ... of a Person Known as Lady Roxanne "(1724)," Notes of George Carlton "(1724 ).
All of Defoe's novels are written in the form of autobiographies and memoirs of fictitious persons. All of them are distinguished by the simplicity and restraint of the language, the desire for accurate descriptions, for the exact transmission of the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
Defoe was a staunch supporter of simplicity and clarity of style. Each of his novels presents the story of the life and upbringing of the hero, starting from childhood or adolescence, and the upbringing of a person continues into his mature years. A variety of adventures, difficult trials form a human personality, and in Defoe's novels it is always an energetic and prudent person, who wins the blessings of life by all permitted and prohibited means. Defoe's heroes are most often rogues, their hoarding is accompanied by a number of unseemly acts (the exception is Robinson, Defoe's favorite, and therefore positive hero). Captain Singleton is a pirate, Moll Flanders and "Colonel" Jacques trade in theft, Roxanne is an adventurer and courtesan. At the same time, they all succeed in their life path and enjoy the well-known sympathy of the writer. The author, who knew Spanish well, uses the traditions of the Spanish picaresque novel with its motley change of adventures, wanderings of a clever loner in an indifferent and cruel world. But the perception of life and attitude towards their own characters in Defoe's novels is much more complex and deeper than in a picaresque novel. Some of Defoe's heroes are distinguished by their cordiality and industriousness (Moll Flenders), they are aware of their fall, but the cruel bourgeois environment disfigures them, turns them into immoral adventurers. Defoe perfectly understands and shows his readers that the blame for the moral fall of his heroes falls on society. The spring of personal and social life is selfishness, as in Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees. Like Hobbes, Defoe is inclined to regard this selfish struggle of individuals for material goods as the eternal law of human existence.
Like a genre. He helped popularize the genre in Britain and is considered by some to be one of the founders of the English novel. Defoe is a prolific and varied writer, having written over 500 books, pamphlets and magazines on various topics (politics, economics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology, the supernatural, etc.). He was also the founder of economic journalism. In journalism, he promoted bourgeois sanity, advocated religious tolerance and freedom of speech.
In 1697 he wrote his first literary work, An Essay on Projects. In 1701 he wrote The True-Born Englishman, a satirical work ridiculing xenophobia. For the pamphlet " The shortest way of reprisal with the dissenters" ("Shortest Way with the Dissenters") in 1703 he was sentenced to pillory and imprisonment.
Even in prison, Defoe continued his literary activity, writing "Hymn to the Pillory". In the same year, he was released on the condition that he would carry out secret orders from the government (i.e., become a scout).
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At the age of 59 (1719), Daniel Defoe published the first and best novel in his entire creative life - "The Life and Strange, Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, described by himself" (this is a short title, the full one occupied almost half of the printed volume of the title page of the book... this work is known to the Russian reader as "Robinson Crusoe").
The idea of the novel was suggested to the writer by a real incident: in 1704, a Scottish sailor, Alexander Selkirk, after a quarrel with the captain, landed on an unfamiliar shore with a small supply of provisions and weapons. For more than four years he led a reclusive life, as it turned out, on the island of Juan Fernandez in the Pacific Ocean, until he was taken to a ship commanded by Woods Rogers.
Defoe introduces the Enlightenment concept of history through the novel. So, from barbarism (hunting and gathering), Robinson on the island passes to civilization (agriculture, cattle breeding, craft, slavery).
Bibliography
Novels
- Robinson Crusoe (Robinson Crusoe) - 1719
- "The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" (The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) - 1719
- "The Life and Pirate Adventures of the Glorious Captain Singleton" (Captain Singleton) - 1720
- Memoirs of a Cavalier - 1720
- "Diary of the Plague Year" (A Journal of the Plague Year) -
- “Joys and sorrows of the famous Moll Flenders" (Moll Flanders) -
- "The Happy Courtesan, or Roxana" (Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress) - 1724
- "The King of Pirates" (King of Pirates)
- "The Story of Colonel Jack" (Colonel Jack)
Other in prose
- "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) - 1706
- "The Consolidator or, Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World in the Moon" - 1705
- "Atlantis Major" (Main Atlantis) - 1711
- "A Tour Thro" The Whole Island of Great Britain, Divided into Circuits or Journies "(A direct tour of Great Britain) - 1724–1727
- "The Family Instructor" (Instructor's Family)
- "General history piracy" (The Pirate Gow) - 1724
- "The Storm" (Storm)
- "A New Voyage round the World" -
- The Political History of the Devil -
- "System of Magic" (Magic System) -
- "The History Of The Remarkable Life of John Sheppard" - 1724
- "A Narrative Of All The Robberies, Escapes, &c. of John Sheppard" (The Narrative of All Robberies, Escapes) - 1724
- "The Pirate Gow" (Pirate Gow) - 1725
- "A Friendly Epistle by way of reproof from one of the people called Quakers, to T. B., a dealer in many words" - 1715
Essay
- "Conjugal Lewdness" (Matrimonial Depravity)
- "Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe" (Serious Reflections of Robinson Crusoe) - 1720
- "The Complete English Tradesman" (The Complete English Tradesman)
- "An Essay Upon Projects" (Essay on projects)
- "An Essay Upon Literature" (Essay on Literature) - 1726
- "Mere Nature Delineated" (A simple delineation of nature) - 1726
- "A Plan of English Commerce" (Plan of English Trade) - 1728
- "Essay on the Reality of Apparitions" (Essay on the reality of phenomena) -
poems
- "The True-Born Englishman" (Thoroughbred Englishman) - 1701
- "Hymn to the Pillory" (Hymn to the Pillory) - 1703
Other
- Moubray House
Publicism
Defoe edition in Russia
- "Abbey Classics" series. Translations and publications in Russia: Robinson Crusoe, in two parts, transl. from French, St. Petersburg,;
- Robinson Crusoe, in two vols. 200 drawings by Granville, engraved on stone and printed in two tones, new translation. from French, M.,;
- Robinson Crusoe, trans. P. Konchalovsky, M.,;
- transl. M. Shishmareva and Z. Zhuravskaya, St. Petersburg, ;
- transl. L. Murakhina, ed. Sytina, M., ed. 4th, and more. others
- The Joys and Sorrows of the Famous Mall Flanders, transl. P. Konchalovsky, "Russian wealth", ЇЇ 1-4, ed. ed., M., with Art. V. Lesevich, G. Gettner, Taine, P. S. Kogan, V. M. Friche;
- Universal history of literature, ed. Korsh and Kirpichnikov;
- Kamensky A. Daniel Defoe, his life and work, St. Petersburg, (in the biographical series of Pavlenkov);
- Zalshupin A., English. publicist of the 17th century, "Observer", , Ї 6;
- Lesevich V., Daniel Defoe as a person, writer and public figure, “Russian. wealth”, ЇЇ 5, 7, 8;
- His same, About "Mall Flanders" D. Defoe, "Russian. wealth”, , Ї 1;
- Alferov A. et al., “Ten readings in literature”, M., ed. 2nd, M., . Biographies of D. (English): Chambers, ; Lee, ; Morley H., ; Wright, ; Whitten, 1900.
- Charles Johnson (Daniel Defoe). General history pirates / Translation from English, preface, notes, applications by I. S. Malsky // Day and night. - . - No. 3. (In 2014 it was published under the title "The General History of Piracy", St. Petersburg: Azbuka, Azbuka-Atticus)
Other materials related to Defoe
- Lamb, Hazlitt, Forster, Leslie Stephen, Minto, Masefield, W. P. Trent (Cambridge History of English Literature). In French lang.: Dottin, 3 vv.,
The economic journalism of modern Britain was born in the distant years of the second half of the 17th century, when in 1660 its founder, Daniel Defoe, was born into the family of the entrepreneur James Fo.
He bore his father's surname until 1703, and then became a celebrity, which is now remembered every time the legendary figure of a hermit on a desert island comes into view.
The biography of this popularizer of the genre of the novel in his homeland is ambiguous, starting from childhood. In particular, he is credited with a serious passion for religion. This was facilitated by the following fact: being a dissenter by religion, James (according to one version he was a meat merchant, according to another - tallow candles) hoped that a successful Presbyterian pastor would come out of his son.
In this regard, the future star of British journalism and journalism, Daniel became a student of the Theological Seminary of the Ch. Morton Academy. And his first opuses in the literary field were religious poems.
I must say that the time of study was not in vain for Defoe, because he devoted them to the study of classical literature, Latin and Greek. It would seem that nothing foreshadowed a dramatic change in fate for him.
However, perhaps it was then that in the young head of the future author of the Robinsonade, thoughts briefly arose to become a merchant, sailor, journalist, politician and even a spy. At least, it was still very far from the writer's path then. Yes, and Daniel became them at the end of the sixth decade, at 59 years old!
Commerce
Be that as it may, but, having left the academy, he came to grips with the development of commercial activities. His first specialty in the trade sphere was a clerk in the service of a hosiery merchant. Perhaps it was this experience that became fundamental for Defoe for the rest of his life.
After all, he, on business, happened to be in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy. And in the future, his biography was replenished with his own hosiery production, as well as the management and ownership of a factory for the production of bricks and tiles.
However, this was not surprising. In Britain of those times, the profession of an entrepreneur was as popular as in Russia in the 90s of the XX century. Just like for many of his countrymen, his own business for the future classic of the novel genre ended in failure.
There are many legends about these years in the fate of Daniel. In addition to the fact that Spain then became for him a place of constant trade, there is the fact that he was captured by Algerian pirates in 1685, when he was on his way to Holland. Soon, the future creator of Robinson was bought out, and he settled down, profitably taking Mary Tuffley as his wife.
Eight children were born in their family. This period in Defoe's life was the most commercially successful. However, in the end, Mary's large dowry and his own savings came to an end in the form of complete bankruptcy.
It may well be that, had he not become a writer, Daniel Defoe was quite able to realize himself as a businessman. But, having become bankrupt, he abruptly turned fate into a different plane, without breaking away, however, from the business community. A lover of a bright and eventful life, he remained true to himself even after the financial collapse that befell him.
Policy...
Having changed business to politics, Daniel continued his religious experiences in the literary field with pamphlets and satirical poems. At the same time, speaking among those dissatisfied with the policy imposed on Britain by King James II Stuart, Defoe subsequently hid from persecution for a long time, so as not to end up behind bars.
At the same time, he began to develop his prose talents with treatises on the topic of entrepreneurship.
1701 was a turning point in his life. It was then that his famous "Pureblood Englishman" was born. The incredibly popular pamphlet was sold on the streets of London, so well that the people instantly sold out 80,000 copies of it.
In this work, the author defends against the attacks of the ruling Wilhelm III, who built his policy on supporting the interests of the bourgeoisie. For this, the king was disliked by the aristocrats, who believed that a foreigner who did not speak English well could not be trusted to rule Britain.
Courageously taking the side of William III, the pamphleteer stigmatizes the aristocrats, calling the ancient ancestors Norman pirates, and the new ones French lackeys, hairdressers and tutors. For a short time, this bold step allowed the novice writer Defoe to get close to the king and win his full confidence.
However, this enterprise also turned out to be unprofitable in the end: the king died, and for his civic courage and entrepreneurial resourcefulness, Defoe, by decision of the new authorities, was fined a gigantic amount and sentenced to stand at the pillory, followed by seven years in prison.
This medieval type of punishment was doubly painful, since anyone passing by could deal with him, serving a shameful service, at his own discretion. However, the Londoners showered the bold pamphleteer with flowers.
In 1702, Daniel shares with readers "The shortest way to deal with sectarians." The church and the aristocracy, against which criticism was directed in this work, manage to achieve a trial of a talented writer.
However, before going to jail, Daniel manages to give satirical praise to the "Hymn to the Pillory". Perhaps he would have been in prison until the end of his days, but the speaker of the House of Commons, R. Harley, petitioned for his release in the same year.
…and literature
From that time on, Defoe's public service began as editor of the Riviu (1704-1713) and, accordingly, the author of comments in this publication, which cemented his fame as a born politician.
All this time he did not stop creating as a writer. 1719 was the year of the birth of "Robinson Crusoe", to the continuation of which Daniel returned twice more.
He became the parent of Captain Singleton and Roxanne, Captain Jack and Molly Flanders, but it was Robinson who became his calling card for all time. It is interesting that the basis of this incredible, especially for those times, novel is the most real.
The image of Robinson is drawn from the Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk, who lived until 1721, who for 4 years and 4 months was forced to fight alone for his life on Mas-a-Tierra (now this island bears the name of the literary double of its former inhabitant).
Defoe died in the capital of England on April 24, 1731, leaving behind a rich legacy. Until now, the grateful Britons will find out how much their legendary countryman did for his country.
The future writer was born on April 26, 1660 in the English city of Bristol, where his father, James Fo, had a small trading business.
The fictitious nobility and ancient (allegedly Norman) origin, later invented by Daniel, gave the right to join the common “Fo” - the “De” particle. Later, the future writer will call himself "Mr. De Foe", and the spelling of the surname will be continuous even later. Designed by Daniel Defoe, the family coat of arms will consist of three ferocious griffins against a background of red and gold lilies and alongside the Latin motto, which reads: “Praise is worthy and proud.”
When Defoe was twelve years old, he was sent to school, where he stayed until the age of sixteen.
His father tried to give his only son an education that would enable him to become a priest. Daniel was educated at a boarding school called Newington Academy. It was something like a seminary, where they taught not only theology, but also a fairly wide range of subjects - geography, astronomy, history, foreign languages. It was there that the boy's abilities were noticed. Daniel not only immediately became the first in foreign languages, but also turned out to be a very talented polemicist.
However, studying at the academy did not at all contribute to strengthening the faith in the young man; on the contrary, the further, the more he experienced disappointment in the Catholic faith, and the desire to become a priest disappeared.
Upon leaving the Newington Academy, he became a clerk for a merchant who promised to make Daniel a participant in his business in a few years. Daniel conscientiously fulfilled his duties. He traveled to Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Holland. However, he soon got tired of trading, although it brought a good profit.
Subsequently, Defoe himself was the owner of a hosiery production, and later - the manager, and then the owner of a large brick and tile factory, but went bankrupt. Defoe was an entrepreneur with an adventurous streak.
At the age of twenty, Daniel Defoe joined the army of the Duke of Monmouth, who rebelled against his uncle, James Stuart, who pursued a pro-French policy during his reign. Jacob crushed the uprising and dealt harshly with the rebels. And Daniel Defoe had to hide from persecution.
It is known that on the way between Harij and Holland, he was captured by Algerian pirates, but escaped. In 1684 Defoe married Mary Tuffley, who bore him eight children. His wife brought a dowry of £3,700, and for some time he could be considered a relatively wealthy man, but in 1692 both his wife's dowry and his own savings were swallowed up by bankruptcy, which claimed £17,000.
Defoe went bankrupt after the sinking of a chartered ship. The case ended with another escape from the inevitable debt prison and wanderings in the Mint quarter - a haven for London criminals. Defoe secretly lived in Bristol under a false name, fearing officials who were arresting debtors. The bankrupt Defoe could only go outside on Sundays - these days arrests were prohibited by law. The longer he plunged into the whirlpool of life, risking his fortune, social position, and sometimes life itself - the ordinary bourgeois Daniel Fo, the more he extracted from life facts, characters, situations, problems that led to reflection, the writer Defoe
Returning to England, Defoe, who by that time had become a Protestant, began to publish pamphlets directed against the Catholic Church. That is why in 1685, when the leader of the Protestants, the Duke of Monmouth, was executed and King James II ascended the throne, Defoe had to hide and even leave England. True, the link did not last long, because already in 1688 a bourgeois revolution took place in England and William III became king, allowing Protestantism.
Since that time, Defoe has been included in the circle of famous English publicists. He writes pamphlets, small essays in verse or prose on contemporary political and social topics, and even publishes his own newspaper, Obozreniye.He was also one of the most active politicians of his time. Only Defoe's literary work provided him with fame not only among his contemporaries, but also among subsequent generations. A talented publicist, pamphleteer and publisher, he, without officially holding any public office, at one time had a great influence on the king and the government.
In his literary activity, Defoe proved himself to be a talented satirist-publicist. He wrote on various political topics. In one of his works, The Experience of Projects, he proposes to improve communication routes, open banks, savings banks for the poor and insurance companies. The significance of his projects was enormous, considering that at that time almost nothing he proposed existed. The functions of banks were performed by usurers and jewelers-changers. The Bank of England, one of the centers of world financial capital at the present time, had just opened at that time.Defoe gained especially wide popularity since the appearance of his pamphlet The True Englishman. Eighty thousand copies were sold semi-legally on the streets of London within a few days. The appearance of this pamphlet is due to the attacks of the aristocracy against King William III, who defended the interests of the bourgeoisie. The aristocrats attacked the king in particular because he was not an Englishman, but a foreigner who even spoke English poorly. Defoe defended him and, not so much defending the king as attacking the aristocracy, argued that the ancient aristocratic families originate from the Norman pirates, and the new ones from the French lackeys, hairdressers and tutors who flooded into England during the restoration of the Stuarts. After the publication of this pamphlet, Daniel Defoe became close friends with the king and rendered enormous services to the English bourgeoisie in obtaining trade privileges and securing them by acts of parliament.
In 1702, Queen Anne, the last of the Stuarts under the influence of the Conservative Party, ascended the English throne. Defoe wrote his famous satirical pamphlet The Surest Way to Get Rid of Dissenters. Protestant sectarians in England called themselves Dissenters. In this pamphlet, the author advised Parliament not to be embarrassed by the innovators that bothered him and to hang them all or exile them to the galleys. At first, the parliament did not understand the true meaning of the satire and were glad that Daniel Defoe directed his pen against the sectarians. Then someone figured out the real meaning of the satire.
Aristocrats and fanatics from the clergy took this satire seriously, and the advice to crack down on dissidents with the gallows was considered a revelation equal to the Bible. But when it turned out that Defoe brought the arguments of the supporters of the ruling church to absurdity and thus completely discredited them, the church and the aristocracy considered themselves scandalized, achieved Defoe's arrest and trial, by which he was sentenced to seven years in prison, a fine and three times pillory.
This medieval method of punishment was especially painful, as it gave the right to street onlookers and voluntary lackeys of the clergy and aristocracy to mock the convict. But the bourgeoisie turned out to be so strong that they managed to turn this punishment into a triumph for their ideologist: Defoe was showered with flowers. By the day of standing at the pillory, Defoe, who was in prison, managed to print the “Hymn to the pillory”. Here he smashes the aristocracy and explains why he was put to shame. This pamphlet was sung by the crowd in the streets and in the square, while the sentence on Defoe was carried out.
Defoe was released from prison two years later. Although Defoe's pillorying turned into a show of enthusiastic support, his reputation suffered, and the thriving tiling business during the time the owner was in prison fell into complete disarray.Poverty threatened, and possibly exile. To avoid this, Defoe agreed to the Prime Minister's dubious offer to become a secret agent of the Conservative government and only outwardly remain an "independent" journalist. Thus began the double life of the writer. Defoe's role in the behind-the-scenes intrigues of his time is not entirely clear. But it is obvious that Defoe's political chameleonism finds, if not justification, then an explanation for itself in the peculiarities of the political life of England. Both parties that alternated in power - the Tories and the Whigs - were equally unprincipled and self-interested. Defoe perfectly understood the essence of the parliamentary system: “I saw the wrong side of all parties. All this is appearance, simple pretense and disgusting hypocrisy ... Their interests dominate their principles. Defoe was also aware of how enslaved his people were, even though they lived in a country where there was a constitution. In his pamphlet "The Poor Man's Request", he protested against the new deity - gold, before which the law is powerless: "English law is a web in which small flies get entangled, while large ones easily break through."
Defoe was sent to Scotland on a diplomatic mission to set the stage for the union of Scotland with England. He turned out to be a talented diplomat and brilliantly fulfilled the task entrusted to him. For this, Defoe even had to write a book on economics, in which he substantiated the economic benefits of the future association.
Upon the accession to the English throne of the House of Hanover, Daniel Defoe wrote another poisonous article, for which Parliament awarded him a huge fine and imprisonment. This punishment forced him to leave political activity forever and devote himself exclusively to fiction.His first novel about the adventures of Robinson, the full title of which is The Life and Wonderful Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor from York, who lived for twenty-eight years in complete solitude on a desert island off the coast of America, near the mouths of the Orinoco River, where he was thrown by a shipwreck, during whom the entire crew of the ship, except him, perished, with an account of his unexpected release by pirates, written by himself ”- Defoe wrote at the age of 59.
The first edition of Robinson Crusoe was published in London on April 25, 1719, without the name of the author. Defoe passed off this work as a manuscript left by the hero of the story himself. The writer went for it more out of necessity than by calculation. The book promised good sales, and Defoe was, of course, interested in its material success. However, he understood that his name as a journalist who writes sharp journalistic articles and pamphlets would rather harm the success of the book than draw attention to it. Therefore, at first, he hid his authorship, waiting until the book gained unprecedented fame.
In his novel, Defoe reflected a concept shared by many of his contemporaries. He showed that the main quality of any personality is reasonable activity in natural conditions. And only she can preserve the human in a person. It is by force of mind that Robinson attracts the younger generation.
The popularity of the novel was so great that the writer released a continuation of the story of his hero, and a year later added to it a story about Robinson's journey to Russia.
Robinson was followed by other novels - The Adventures of Captain Singleton, Moll Flenders, Notes of the Plague Year, Colonel Jacques and Roxanne. At present, his numerous works are known only to a narrow circle of specialists, but Robinson Crusoe, read both in major European centers and in the most remote corners of the globe, continues to be reprinted in a huge number of copies. Occasionally, Captain Singleton is also reprinted in England."Robinson Crusoe" is the brightest example of the so-called adventurous marine genre, the first manifestations of which can be found in English literature of the 16th century. The development of this genre, reaching its maturity in the 18th century, is due to the development of English merchant capitalism.
Since the 16th century, England has become the main colonial country, and the bourgeoisie and bourgeois relations are developing most rapidly in it. The founders of "Robinson Crusoe", as well as other novels of the named genre, can be considered descriptions of genuine travels that claim to be accurate, not artistic. It is very likely that the immediate impetus for writing "Robinson Crusoe" was one such work - "Traveling around the world from 1708 to 1711 by Captain Woods Rogers", which also tells how a certain sailor Selkirk, a Scot by origin, lived on one uninhabited island for over four years.
The story of the Selkirk, who actually existed, made a lot of noise at that time and was, of course, known to Defoe. The appearance of travel descriptions is due, first of all, to production and economic necessity, the need to acquire skills and experience in navigation and colonization. These books were used as guides. According to them, geographical maps were corrected, a judgment was made on the economic and political profitability of acquiring one or another colony.
In such works, maximum accuracy dominated. The travel documentary genre, even before the advent of Robinson Crusoe, showed a tendency to move into the fiction genre. In Robinson Crusoe, this process of changing the genre through the accumulation of elements of fiction was completed. Defoe uses the style of Travels, and their features, which had a certain practical significance, become a literary device in Robinson Crusoe: Defoe's language is also simple, precise, protocol. The specific methods of artistic writing, the so-called poetic figures and tropes, are completely alien to him.
In Journeys one cannot find, for example, an "endless sea", but only an exact indication of longitude and latitude in degrees and minutes; the sun does not rise in some "apricot haze" but at 6:37; the wind does not "caress" the sails, not "light-winged", but blows from the northeast; they are not compared, for example, in whiteness and elasticity with the breasts of young women, but are described as in the textbooks of nautical schools. The reader's impression of the complete reality of Robinson's adventures is due to this manner of writing. Defoe interrupts the narrative form with a dramatic dialogue (Crusoe's conversation with Friday and the sailor Atkins), Defoe introduces a diary and an account book entry into the fabric of the novel, where good is written in debit, evil is written in credit, and the remainder is still a solid asset.
In his descriptions, Defoe is always accurate to the smallest detail. We learn that it takes 42 days for Crusoe to make a board for a shelf, 154 days for a boat, the reader moves along with him step by step in his work and, as it were, overcomes difficulties and fails with him. Wherever Crusoe finds himself on the globe, everywhere he looks at the surroundings through the eyes of the owner, the organizer. In this work of his, with equal calmness and tenacity, he pitches the ship and douses the savages with hot brew, breeds barley and rice, drowns extra kittens and destroys cannibals that threaten his cause. All this is done in the order of normal daily work. Crusoe is not cruel, he is humane and fair in the world of bourgeois justice.
The first part of "Robinson Crusoe" sold out in several editions at once. Defoe bribed readers with the simplicity of descriptions of real travels and the richness of fiction. But "Robinson Crusoe" never enjoyed wide popularity among the aristocracy. The children of the aristocracy were not brought up on this book. But Crusoe, with its idea of the rebirth of man in labor, has always been a favorite book of the bourgeoisie, and entire education systems are built on this Erziehungsroman. Jean Jacques Rousseau in his Emile recommends Robinson Crusoe as the only work in which the youth should be educated.
For us, Robinson, first of all, is a wonderful creator, a hard worker. We admire him, even those episodes where Robinson burns clay pots, invents scarecrows, tames goats, and fries the first piece of meat seem poetic. We see how a frivolous and self-willed young man turns under the influence of labor into a hardened, strong, fearless man, which is of great educational importance.
Not only for contemporaries, but also in the memory of all subsequent generations, Daniel Defoe remained, first of all, as the creator of this amazing book, which is still very popular all over the world.
Daniel Defoe may be considered one of the most prolific English writers, to whom, as is now established, he wrote about four hundred separately published works, not counting the many hundreds of poems, polemical and journalistic articles, pamphlets, etc., published by him in periodicals. Defoe's creative energy was exceptional and almost unparalleled for his country and time.
The influence of Defoe's novel on European literature is not limited to the "Robinsonade" he gave rise to. It is wider and deeper. Defoe, with his work, introduced the subsequently extremely popular motif of simplification, the loneliness of a person in the bosom of nature, the beneficialness of communication with her for his moral improvement. This motif was developed by Rousseau and varied many times by his followers (Bernardin de Saint-Pierre and others).
Much is due to "Robinson" and the technique of the Western European novel. The art of depicting characters in Defoe, his ingenuity, expressed in the use of new situations - all this was a great achievement. With his philosophical digressions, etc., skillfully intertwined with the main exposition, Defoe raised the significance of the novel among readers, turned it from a book for an amusing pastime into a source of important ideas, into an engine of spiritual development. This technique was widely used in the XVIII century.
In Russia, "Robinson Crusoe" became known more than a hundred years after its appearance in England. This is explained by the fact that the mass non-aristocratic reader in Russia appeared only in the second half of the 19th century.
It is characteristic that Defoe's contemporary, Swift, became known in Russia from the middle of the 18th century, and the works of Byron and W. Scott were read almost simultaneously in England and Russia.
By the end of his life, he was alone. Defoe lived out his days in a suburban outback. The children parted - the sons traded in the City, the daughters are married. Defoe himself lived in the well-known slums of London.
He died on April 24, 1731 at the age of 70. Compassionate Miss Brox, the mistress of the house where Defoe lived, buried him with her own money. The newspapers devoted short obituaries to him, mostly of a mocking nature, in the most flattering of which they honored him with calling him “one of the greatest citizens of the Republic of Grub Street,” that is, the London street where the then scribblers and rhymers huddled. A white tombstone was placed on Defoe's grave. Over the years, it has grown, and it seemed that the memory of Daniel Defoe - a free citizen of the city of London - was covered with the grass of oblivion. More than a hundred years have passed. And time, the judgment of which the writer so feared, receded before his great creations. When Christian World magazine in 1870 asked the "boys and girls of England" to send money to build a granite monument on the grave of Defoe (the old slab was split by lightning), thousands of admirers, including adults, responded to this appeal.In the presence of the descendants of the great writer, a granite monument was opened, on which was carved: “In memory of the author of Robinson Crusoe.”
was born in London to James Fo, a meat merchant and candle manufacturer. The writer later changed his last name to Defoe.
The interests of the family in which Daniel grew up were trade and religion. Daniel's father, in his religious views, was a puritan, a dissident. Loyalty to Calvinism, an irreconcilable attitude towards the dominant Anglican Church was for English merchants and artisans a kind of form of protection of their bourgeois rights during the years of political reaction and the restoration of the Stuarts (1660-1688).
Daniel's father, noticing his son's exceptional abilities, sent him to a dissident school called an academy that trained priests for the persecuted Puritan church.
Defoe abandoned the future of the priest and engaged in trade. Throughout his life, Defoe remained a businessman. He was a hosiery manufacturer and a merchant for the export of fabrics from England and the import of wines. Subsequently, he became the owner of a tile factory. As a trade intermediary, he traveled extensively in Europe, staying especially long in Spain and Portugal. A wide variety of commercial plans arose in Defoe's head, he started more and more new enterprises, enriched himself and went bankrupt again. At the same time, he took an active part in the political events of his era.
In the so-called "Glorious Revolution" of 1688, Defoe took all possible part. He joined the army of William when he landed on the English coast, and then, as part of the guard of honor, exhibited by the richest merchants, was present at the triumphal procession of the king.
In subsequent years, Defoe, together with the bourgeois Whig party, actively supported all the activities of William III of Orange. He issued a number of pamphlets in defense of his foreign policy and the extensive military appropriations intended for the war with France. But his verse pamphlet The Thoroughbred Englishman (1701), directed against the nobility-aristocratic party, was of particular importance. In the pamphlet, Defoe defends William III from his enemies, who shouted that the Dutchman should not rule "full-blooded Englishmen." The pamphlet had a sharp anti-feudal coloring. Defoe denies the very concept of "full-blooded Englishman", since the English nation was formed as a result of a mixture of different nationalities, as a result of the conquest of the British Isles by the Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans. But with the greatest harshness, he falls on the English aristocrats, who are proud of the "antiquity of the family." Recent immigrants from the bourgeoisie, they have acquired coats of arms and titles for money and, forgetting about their bourgeois origin, shout about noble honor, noble dignity.
The writer calls on the English aristocrats to recognize the class compromise that has already taken place, to forget about the imaginary noble honor and finally follow the bourgeoisie. From now on, the dignity of a person should be measured by his personal merits, and not by a brilliant title. Satirical attacks against the nobility ensured the success of the pamphlet in the widest circles of readers. William III, pleased with the support of a talented pamphleteer, began to provide Defoe with constant patronage.
The death of William III in 1702 put an end to the hopes that Defoe placed on this king. He indignantly attacked the Tory nobles, who rejoiced at the death of Wilhelm, in his pamphlet "Pretending Mourners".
The reign of Queen Anne (daughter of James II) was marked by temporary political and religious backlash. Anna hated the Puritans and secretly dreamed of a complete restoration of the Stuarts. With her assistance in 1710 there was a Tory coup in parliament. Even earlier, under her patronage, the cruel persecution of dissident Puritans began. Bishops and pastors, fanatics of the Church of England, openly called in their sermons for reprisals against dissidents.
Defoe felt somewhat lonely in his own puritanical party, as he was outraged by manifestations of all kinds of religious fanaticism. But in these difficult years for the Puritans, he came out in their defense with unexpected fervor. The writer chose for this the path of parody and literary hoax and published in 1702 an anonymous pamphlet "The shortest way to deal with dissidents." The pamphlet was written on behalf of the Representative of the Anglican Church, calling for the complete extermination of dissidents. In this pamphlet-parody, an anonymous author advised to destroy the English Puritans, as the Huguenots were once destroyed in France, suggested replacing penalties and fines with gallows, and in conclusion recommended "crucifying these robbers who have crucified hitherto the holy Anglican Church."
This mystification was so subtle, so reproducing the unbridled tone of the pogrom sermons that sounded in the churches, that both religious parties did not at first understand its true meaning. Some supporters of the Anglican Church declared their full solidarity with the author of the pamphlet. It was attributed to one of the bishops. The dismay and horror of the dissidents, who were awaiting total extermination, were so great that Defoe was forced to issue an "Explanation to the" Shortest Way ", where he revealed his plan - to ridicule the bloodthirsty churchmen. This explanation, like the pamphlet itself, was anonymous, but friend and foe now guessed Defoe's authorship. True, the dissidents have not yet completely calmed down, they have not fully believed their defender, who spoke under the guise of an enemy.
But on the other hand, the government and the Anglican clergy fully understood the meaning of the pamphlet and appreciated the danger that the indomitable pamphleteer represented for them. In January 1703, an order was issued for the arrest of Defoe, "guilty of a crime of extreme importance."
Defoe fled and hid from the police. The London Gazette advertised a government reward of £50 to anyone who would hand over Defoe, "a thin man of medium height, about 40 years old, swarthy, with dark brown hair, gray eyes, a hooked nose, and a large mole near the mouth" . Defoe was extradited and imprisoned in Newgate Prison. The pamphlet was burned in the square by the executioner.
The sentence handed down to the writer was exceptionally severe. He was sentenced to pay a large fine, stand in the pillory three times, and be imprisoned indefinitely until special order from the Queen. Defoe courageously accepted the punishment. Even during his pre-trial detention, he wrote "Hymn to the Pillory" (1703), in which he declared that he was proud of his fate. This anthem was distributed by his friends, sold on the streets by boys, and was soon on everyone's lips. The appearance at the pillory turned into a real triumph for Defoe. A huge crowd greeted him enthusiastically, the women threw flowers at him, the pillory was decorated with garlands. However, this ended the heroic period in the life of Defoe. He was released the same year, secretly accepting the terms offered to him by Tory circles and, above all, by Robert Gurley, later prime minister of the Tory government.
In the future, Defoe was no longer subjected to political persecution.
By the end of his life, he was alone. In the outback, Defoe lived out his days. Own children have long since scattered from the nest. Sons trade in the City, daughters are married. And only the children of his imagination - the heroes of his books - did not leave old Defoe when fate dealt him a fatal blow. Sick and weak, she again forced him to leave his comfortable home, to run, to hide. And as once, in bygone days, Defoe unexpectedly took refuge in the slums of London, which he knew so well.
He died at the end of April 1731. Compassionate Miss Brox, the mistress of the house where Defoe was hiding, buried him with her own money. The newspapers devoted short obituaries to him, mostly of a mocking nature, in the most flattering of which he was honored to be called “one of the greatest citizens of the Republic of Grub Street,” that is, the London street where the then hacks and rhymers huddled. A white tombstone was placed on Defoe's grave. Over the years, it has grown, and it seemed that the memory of Daniel Defoe - a free citizen of the city of London - was covered with the grass of oblivion. More than a hundred years have passed. And time, the judgment of which the writer so feared, receded before his great creations. When Christian World magazine in 1870 turned to the “boys and girls of England” with a request to send money for the construction of a granite monument on the grave of Defoe (the old slab was split by lightning), thousands of admirers, including adults, responded to this appeal. In the presence of the descendants of the great writer, a granite monument was opened, on which was carved: “In memory of the author of Robinson Crusoe.” And rightly so: of the three hundred works written by Daniel Defoe, it was this work that brought him true fame. His book is a mirror of the era, and the image of Robinson, in which the writer sang the courage of man, his energy and hard work, is the hero of the great epic of labor.Defoe's writing activity was unusually varied. He wrote more than 250 works of various genres - from poetic and prose pamphlets to extensive novels. In addition to the political pamphlets mentioned above and the Essay on Projects, after 1703 he published a huge number of essays and articles of the most varied content. There were historical and ethnographic works in which exclusive attention was paid to the development of trade: "A General History of Trade, Especially British Commerce" (1713), "A General History of Discoveries and Improvements, Especially in the Great Branches of Commerce, Navigation and Agriculture, in all parts Light "(1725)," Travel around the island of Great Britain "(1727)," An impartial history of the life and deeds of Peter Alekseevich, the current Tsar of Muscovy "(1723). There were also instructive treatises, in every possible way promoting bourgeois enterprise ("Exemplary English merchant", 1727, etc.). At the same time, Defoe's new projects appeared in the press, new attempts at research in the form of "Experiments" - "Defence of the press, or an experiment on the usefulness of literature" (1718), "An experiment on literature, or a study on the antiquity and origin of writing" - and along with them witty topical pamphlets, sometimes in the form of parodies (“Instructions from Rome in favor of the applicant, addressed to the high-ranking Don Sacheverellio”, 1710, a pamphlet revealing the closeness of the Anglican Church with Catholicism).
Defoe deliberately gives some of his pamphlets and essays a sensational character and supplies them with spectacular, intriguing headings. In one pamphlet from 1713 he poses the question to the reader: "What to do if the queen dies?" (1717). A certain courage and freedom in posing such questions was allowed by Defoe's rapprochement with the ruling circles, as well as the anonymity of the pamphlets. The English layman, of course, greedily pounced on these pamphlets and sought help and advice in them in the years when the country was threatened by a new restoration of the Stuarts or an invasion of the Swedes.
The pursuit of literary earnings forced Defoe to create, along with serious works, tabloid "stories" about famous robbers and ghosts, accurate and detailed accounts of completely fantastic events. He described in detail the terrible hurricane that swept over England in 1703, being an eyewitness to it; but a few years later he gave the same accurate and realistic description of the volcanic eruption, which in fact did not exist. In 1705 he wrote a fantastic account of a trip to the moon, which is a satire on recent events in England, especially on the activities of the fanatics of the Anglican Church.
Defoe should be considered the founder of journalism in England from 1705 to 1713, he publishes the newspaper Review of French Affairs. Under this masking title, it meant a review of all European politics and the internal affairs of England. Defoe published his newspaper alone, was its only collaborator, and carried out in it, despite his secret connection with Harley, the old progressive principles, constantly offending churchmen and extreme Tories. The newspaper published extensive international reviews, and commented on the events of the internal political life of England. On the fourth page of the newspaper, entitled "Scandalous Mercury, or News of the Scandal Club", there was a humorous section, which was of a satirical and moralizing nature. Here, mainly private vices were ridiculed, satirical images of quarrelsome or unfaithful wives, gullible and deceived husbands were displayed; but sometimes the injustice of bribed judges, the corruption of journalists, the fanaticism and ignorance of churchmen were also exposed; in this case, readers recognized famous people in London under assumed names, and this contributed to the popularity of the newspaper. Her sharply independent tone, her frank attacks against reactionary circles, and the thoroughness of her political reviews won her broad readership. The newspaper was published twice a week and anticipated in many respects the journals of Style and Addison (Chatterbox and Spectator) published in 1709-1711. It took all the colossal efficiency and energy of Defoe to run this newspaper alone for a number of years, reincarnating now as a serious columnist, now as a witty pamphleteer.
Already an old man, enriched by vast experience in journalistic and historiographical work, Defoe began to create works of art. His celebrated novel The Life and Strange, Wonderful Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719) was written by him at the age of 58. Soon the second and third parts of the novel appeared, and then a number of novels: The Life and Adventures of the Famous Captain Singleton (1720), Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720), Notes of a Plague Year (1721), Joys and Sorrows of the famous Moll Flenders "(1721)," The History and Remarkable Life of the Honorable Colonel Jacques "(1722)," The Fortunate Mistress, or the History of the Life and Various Adventures ... of a Person Known as Lady Roxanne "(1724)," Notes of George Carlton "(1724 ).
All of Defoe's novels are written in the form of autobiographies and memoirs of fictitious persons. All of them are distinguished by the simplicity and restraint of the language, the desire for accurate descriptions, for the exact transmission of the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
Defoe was a staunch supporter of simplicity and clarity of style. Each of his novels presents the story of the life and upbringing of the hero, starting from childhood or adolescence, and the upbringing of a person continues into his mature years. A variety of adventures, difficult trials form a human personality, and in Defoe's novels it is always an energetic and prudent person, who wins the blessings of life by all permitted and prohibited means. Defoe's heroes are most often rogues, their hoarding is accompanied by a number of unseemly acts (the exception is Robinson, Defoe's favorite, and therefore positive hero). Captain Singleton is a pirate, Moll Flanders and "Colonel" Jacques trade in theft, Roxanne is an adventurer and courtesan. At the same time, they all succeed in their life path and enjoy the well-known sympathy of the writer. The author, who knew Spanish well, uses the traditions of the Spanish picaresque novel with its motley change of adventures, wanderings of a clever loner in an indifferent and cruel world. But the perception of life and attitude towards their own characters in Defoe's novels is much more complex and deeper than in a picaresque novel. Some of Defoe's heroes are distinguished by their cordiality and industriousness (Moll Flenders), they are aware of their fall, but the cruel bourgeois environment disfigures them, turns them into immoral adventurers. Defoe perfectly understands and shows his readers that the blame for the moral fall of his heroes falls on society. The spring of personal and social life is selfishness, as in Mandeville's The Fable of the Bees. Like Hobbes, Defoe is inclined to regard this selfish struggle of individuals for material goods as the eternal law of human existence.
