Defoe, Daniel - short biography. Biography of Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe achievements

Daniel Defoe (1660 - 1731), English writer and publicist.

A merchant is born. He studied at J. Fisher's school in Dorking, then at the C. Morton Academy in Stoke Newington, which trained pastors for the Presbyterian Church. He began composing religious poetry, but soon became involved in commercial activities. For some time he traded in Spain and traveled extensively throughout Western Europe. It is known that before 1685, between Harwich and Holland, he was captured by Algerian pirates, but soon he was allegedly ransomed. Defoe married Mary Tuffley, who bore him eight children. In 1692, his wife's large dowry and his own savings were swallowed up by bankruptcy. He never recovered from this commercial failure.

In 1701, Defoe wrote a poem, "The Thoroughbred Englishman," which satirized fictions of racial superiority, and King William III considered it a valuable service. However, a year later the monarch died, and Defoe was attacked from all sides. The Tories blamed him for advising the king to dissolve the pro-French parliament, zealous adherents of the high church were wounded by ridicule in his caustic essay “How to Shortchange Dissidents,” and he antagonized the London judges, before whom Defoe appeared on charges of political sins, by exposing their personal vices .

According to the sentence, he had to stand in the pillory three times, pay a huge fine and find guarantors for his exemplary behavior for seven years, and until the execution of the sentence he had to remain in prison.

Although Defoe's pillorying turned into a show of enthusiastic support, his reputation suffered, and the thriving tile business fell into complete disarray while the owner was in prison. He could have remained in prison until the end of his days if not for the intervention of the Speaker of the House of Commons R. Harley, who knew the value of Defoe the journalist.

In 1703, Harley secured Defoe's release and then got him into public service. Defoe began editing the Review, a periodical published from 1704 to 1713. Of all Defoe's political writings, his comments in the Review are the best known. In 1691-1730 Defoe's pamphlets and poems came out in an almost continuous stream.

In 1719, without ceasing his active journalism, Defoe began to write prose. Following “The Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” are “Notes of a Cavalier”, “Captain Singleton”, “The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders”, “Diary of the Plague Year”, “The Story of Captain Jack” and “Roxana”. He also wrote such important works as “A Travel Around the Island of Great Britain”, “A General History of Piracy”, “The Perfect English Merchant” and “Maritime Trade Atlas”.

The novel Robinson Crusoe was first published in 1719, and then two sequels appeared. In "Further Adventures" Crusoe returns to his island and travels around Africa and Asia. “Serious Reflections” was written to familiarize the public with the thoughts of Crusoe, which he indulged in alone. Description of Crusoe's life on a desert island, unique throughout the world fiction, was partly based on the case of A. Selkirk, who landed on one of the uninhabited islands of the Juan Fernandez archipelago (1704-1709), partly - on stories about the captivity of R. Knox in Ceylon (1660-1680), however, above all, this is a vivid story about the human will to live.

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) was a versatile and prolific English writer and publicist. It is believed that it was he who made this popular in Great Britain. literary genre like a novel. The world's most famous hero his works is Robinson Crusoe. In total, Defoe wrote more than 500 books, magazines and pamphlets on a variety of topics, ranging from politics and economics to religion, psychology and family. He laid the foundations of economic journalism and is considered the founder of British intelligence.

Childhood and adolescence

Daniel Defoe was born around 1660 near London in the small town of Cripplegate. His father's name was Jay Fo, he was a fairly wealthy merchant, sold meat and, in addition to this, also had a small candle factory. Both father and mother were ardent Puritan dissidents, that is, they opposed the English mainstream church.

Daniel's parents prepared him for the Presbyterian pastorate, so at the age of 14 they sent him to theological seminary. After her, the young man graduated from Morton Academy in Stoke Newington. He, like an exemplary student, studied Greek, Latin and classic literature, but all this was not for young man interesting. He was fascinated by commerce and trading, and Daniel was ready to do this all his life. Although, all the same, he always remembered the Newington school with warmth because it gave him a lot of necessary knowledge.

Trade

At the age of nineteen, Defoe completed his studies and, as his father advised him, began commercial activity. In London there was an office of a wholesale hosiery company that dealt with foreign countries. Daniel's father sent him to this office to study trade practice and accounting; the young man combined his studies with work as a clerk for a hosiery merchant.

Defoe graduated from the office in 1685 and immediately began the wholesale hosiery trade in Cornhill. The company he opened lasted until 1695. Then he was engaged in the trade in bricks and tiles, wines and tobacco. On duty, he had to visit Portugal, France and Spain, where he became acquainted with European life and studied foreign languages.

Very often Daniel entered into risky transactions, was repeatedly on the verge of bankruptcy, but always found a way out of the current situation.

Policy

In addition to commerce, Daniel was always interested in religious and political struggle. For example, in 1685 he was a participant in the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, who opposed the policies of James II Stuart. On July 6, 1685, the Battle of Sedgemoor took place, the rebels lost it, the authorities then strangled the uprising, the Duke was executed, and Defoe himself barely managed to hide from persecution.

Back in 1681, he began to become interested in poetry and wrote poems on religious topics. And in 1687 he wrote his first pamphlet, in which he discussed freedom of conscience and addressed His Royal Highness. The occasion was the recently signed declaration ending punitive religious laws. This first literary performance described Defoe as good writer and a mature politician, although he was only 26 years old at that time. However, many of his friends did not accept such opposition to the royal declaration. This greatly disappointed Defoe and he abandoned his literary intentions and again took up exclusively trading.

But after a few years, Daniel returned to literature. He wrote satirical poems and essays, pamphlets and treatises in which he exposed unjust laws and called for reforms. His satire was very popular among the people, and Defoe soon became a prominent political figure.

When Queen Anne came to power, Defoe went to prison for his pamphlets and was pilloried three times.

To be freed from prison, Daniel had to cooperate with the authorities; he became a secret agent and carried out government assignments for several years.

Literature

Defoe was already approaching 60 years of age when he heard real story about how a sailor from Scotland, Alexander Selkirk, ended up on the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez in Pacific Ocean. He lived there for 4 years until he was discovered and picked up by a ship commanded by Woods Rogers. Captain Rogers later described these events in the book “Sailing Around the World.” And soon after this, Defoe also caught the eye of Style’s essay “The History of Alexander Selkirk.” Daniel became seriously interested in this Scottish sailor, and Defoe's creative consciousness turned unique story on a large scale piece of art.

Well, who among us, being at a very young age, did not read “The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe”, where main character lived on a deserted island for 28 years and managed not only to survive, but also to create his own personal world.

The success of this novel was so phenomenal that Daniel Defoe soon took up its continuation. In 1719, the novel “The Subsequent Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” was published, and a year later the writer composed “Serious Reflections during Life and amazing Adventures Robinson Crusoe with his vision of the angelic world." But, it must be said that in terms of popularity the next two novels cannot be compared with the first novels; they did not have such reader success.

Now Defoe devoted all his time, and one might say, his life, only to creativity. One after another, works come from his pen:

• 1720 - “Captain Singleton”, “Memoirs of a Cavalier”;
• 1722 - “Colonel Jack” and “Moll Flanders”, “Diary of the Plague Year”;
• 1724 - “Roxana”;
• 1726 - “Travel through England and Scotland.”

His writings were largely dominated by the genre of adventure novels, historical and adventure themes. He also wrote a lot of novels and memoirs.

Last years of life and death

Defoe was married to Mary Tuffley, the woman gave birth to eight children for the writer, but it turned out that he died alone.

Last year Daniel Defoe's life turned out to be terrible and gloomy. The publisher who had deceived him tried to punish him cruelly, although quite deservedly,; he pursued him, attacked him once with a sword, but Defoe, despite his advanced age, was then able to disarm his enemy.

These constant threats and persecutions eventually broke the sickly old man, and he went mad. The man he had deceived threatened with revenge, and Daniel ran away from his family, went into hiding, called himself by a false name, and constantly moved from place to place in different cities of England.

Having wandered around for a while, Defoe returned to England in 1731 and settled in Moorfield, the most remote area of ​​the city. Here the famous creator of Robinson Crusoe died old and alone on April 26, 1731.

None of his relatives knew about his death; the landlady took care of the funeral. She sold the things that were left of Defoe at auction to reimburse herself for funeral expenses.

Daniel Defoe was born in 1660 in London into the family of a wealthy meat merchant, James Faw. Famous for the adventure novel "Robinson Crusoe", he had a great life path, tried his hand at entrepreneurship, journalism and even politics. The writer took the pseudonym Daniel Defoe as an adult.

In 1666 there was a terrible fire in the city. The fire destroyed the church and the parish register with the birth record kept in it, so the exact date is unknown. When the boy was 8 years old, his mother died.

The father saw his son as a minister of the Presbyterian Church, so the future writer went to study at a school that trained clergy and even graduated from the academy. During his studies, he was interested in classical literature, studied several foreign languages. Some believe that Defoe spoke Russian, although he had never been to Russia. Already at school, the young man was engaged in composing poems on religious themes. However, he was not destined to become a minister of the church - the idea of ​​going into trade was more attractive.

Daniel was an adventurer and traveled widely. Business related to trading activities allowed him to frequently travel to Spain, Portugal and France, where he had the opportunity to hone his knowledge of languages.

It is known that the writer was found by Algerian pirates, to whom he ended up on his way to Holland. Having received a ransom for him, the pirates quickly released him. According to other sources, Defoe liberated the British patrol frigate.

In 1684, Daniel received a rich dowry by marrying Mary Tuffley. Mary and Daniel gave birth to eight children. With the money received as a dowry, the family could lead a comfortable existence, however, in 1692, the entire fortune was swallowed up by bankruptcy. According to Defoe, he got rich and went broke 12 times, but was never able to overcome this commercial failure.

The first poem, “The Thoroughbred Englishman,” was published in 1701. Society reacted very controversially to the poem, but King William III highly appreciated the work. The death of the monarch led to a hurricane of attacks from all sides.

The Church reacted painfully to the release of the opus “How to Shorten Other Believers.” In 1703, Defoe stood in the pillory three times and paid a considerable fine. The punishment did not cause moral harm, but the reputation of the businessman was seriously damaged.

For his willful speeches, Defoe was sent to prison, from which he was soon released, thanks to the patronage of Minister Robert Harley.

D. Defoe's passion for prose came in 1719. The first work to come out of the pen was the book “The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.”

In 1720, “Notes of a Cavalier” and “Captain Singleton” appeared.

In 1724, the writer finished work on “Roxana”.

No less significant works: “A Journey Through the Entire Island of Great Britain”, “A General History of Piracy”, “The Complete English Merchant” and “Maritime Trade Atlas”.

Biography 2

Daniel was born in 1661 in the Cripplegate area of ​​London. The family of the future novelist was not poor - his father was engaged in the meat trade. Relatives saw a career as a pastor for the boy. Therefore, upon reaching the age of 14, Daniel began studying at a theological seminary. After graduating from the seminary, Daniel enters the Protestant Academy. But the young man himself never saw himself as a pastor. He was attracted to commerce and trade. By the age of 20, Daniel opened his first business, which brought him profit for 10 years. It was a hosiery company. Afterwards he was engaged in the trade of wine, building materials, as well as tobacco and tobacco products, doing business not only in his homeland, but also in some European countries.

Daniel was actively interested in politics. He also gained fame in the world of literature for his works on politics and the public after 1699. With fame came both supporters and hostile critics. Daniel Defoe's politically oriented work once led him to his arrest and sentence to the pillory. This punishment was supposed to lead to mockery and shame, but it worked in the opposite direction. The writer was praised and showered with flowers, the crowd sang the “Hymn to the Pillory” written by him.

Later, the writer was offered to work secretly for the government, and was also made a secret agent of Britain in Scotland. The purpose of his work was to inform his government about the activities of the Scottish opposition and influence public opinion through the publication of his works. In exchange, the government paid off Daniel's fine and his family's debts, thereby saving Daniel, his wife and eight children from starvation.

Later, in 1719, it was published famous work writer. "Robinson Crusoe" captivated the reader with the scale of its concept and the fascination of the plot. After the success of the book, Daniel published a sequel to the novel, which did not cause a similar sensation, but also attracted due attention. The third book in the Robinsonade series was also released, but it also did not bring initial success.

The novelist died while on the run, alone, in 1731. His sons had long since gone about their business, and his daughters lived in their own families. The funeral was taken over by the landlady of his rented apartment.

Daniel Defoe - English writer, publicist, journalist, founder of economic journalism, popularizer of the novel genre in Great Britain, author of the novel about Robinson Crusoe - was born around 1660 near the English capital, in Cripplegate. His father, a meat merchant, groomed him for a career as a Presbyterian minister and sent him to a seminary, Morton Academy in Stoke Newington, where his son studied classical literature, as well as Latin and Greek. However, Defoe Jr. was attracted by a completely different path - commercial activity, trade.

After graduating from the academy, he went to work as a clerk for a hosiery merchant and repeatedly made business trips to Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy. Later, he acquired his own hosiery production; his entrepreneurial biography included managing and owning a large factory that produced bricks and tiles. In this sense, Defoe was a man of his time: then there were many such commercial adventurers, and he was among those whose commercial activities ultimately ended in bankruptcy.

However, entrepreneurship was far from Daniel Defoe's only interest; he lived a bright and eventful life. As a young man, he took an active part in political life, was one of the rebels against King James II Stuart, then hid in different cities to avoid imprisonment.

Activities in the field of literature began with pamphlets and satirical poems, as well as prose treatises on business issues. In 1701, Defoe wrote a pamphlet, The Thoroughbred Englishman, which ridiculed the aristocracy. It gained incredible popularity: it was sold on the street, and all 80 thousand copies were immediately sold out. For the pamphlet, the authorities sentenced him to the pillory, a gigantic fine, and sent him to prison until his sentence was executed. When Defoe stood in the pillory, the people of London came to support him, but business reputation Considerable damage was caused, and while he was in prison, his business enterprise - a tile factory - essentially collapsed.

The imprisonment could have been very long, and the prospects unclear, if Daniel Defoe had not been rescued by Robert Harley, the Speaker of the House of Commons, a minister. After that, Defoe worked for him as a secret agent, collecting various information of interest to the patron in England and Scotland. In 1704, Harley got him a job in the civil service - in the famous periodical “Review”, where he was responsible for writing and editing articles. The publication existed until 1713; Defoe's comments during his work in the Review became the most famous of his political works.

Working tirelessly in the field of journalism, Daniel Defoe writes and literary works. In 1719, the book “The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” was published - a work that was included in the treasury of world literature and brought stunning success to the author. In its wake, Defoe wrote “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” in the same year, and a year later - another continuation story, but the glory of “The Life and Adventures...” turned out to be unattainable. It is with this work, glorifying the strength of the human spirit, its ineradicable will to live, that the name of Daniel Defoe is primarily associated, although his creative heritage was very rich and varied in themes, genres, and scale.

He is the author of more than five thousand works, including the novels “The Joys and Sorrows of Mole Flanders” (1722), “The Happy Courtesan, or Roxana” (1724), “The Life, Adventures and Pirate Exploits of the Famous Captain Singleton” (1720) and “History Colonel Jack" (1722), works "The Perfect English Trader", "Maritime Trade Atlas", "General History of Piracy", "Travel throughout the Island of Great Britain". Daniel Defoe died in April 1731 in London.

DEFOE, Daniel(Defoe, Daniel - 1660 or 1661, London - 04/26/1731, ibid.) - English writer and publicist.

Defoe is the founder of the European realistic novel of modern times. Being the first link in the history of the educational novel of the 18th century, he also prepared the social realistic novel of the 19th century. Defoe's traditions were continued by G. Fielding, T. D. Smollett, and C. Dickens. Defoe's work constituted an entire era in the development of English prose. His main work, the novel Robinson Crusoe, received worldwide recognition.

Defoe became the founder of such types of novel genre as adventure, biographical, psychological, crime novels, educational novels and travel novels. In his work, these similarities still appear in an insufficiently dissected form, but it was Defoe, with his characteristic breadth and daring, who began to develop them, outlining the most important lines in the development of the novel genre.

In his concept of man, Defoe departs from the Enlightenment idea of ​​his good nature, which is influenced by the environment and life circumstances. Defoe's novel develops as a social novel.

Defoe also played an important role in the development of English journalism. The son of his turbulent and intense time - the era of the formation of bourgeois society - D. was at the center of political, ideological and religious struggle. His energetic and multifaceted nature combined the features of a businessman and politician, a brilliant publicist and a talented writer.

D. was born into the family of a meat merchant and candle manufacturer, James Fo, who lived in London. To his father's surname Fo, the share "Where" was added by Daniel himself in 1703, when he had already become famous as an author of pamphlets and could count on his strength in literary activity. Defoe's family was Puritan and shared the views of the Disinters (opponents of the mainstream Anglican Church). Daniel studied at the Puritan Theological Academy, but he did not become a religious preacher. He was attracted by life with all its vicissitudes, risks in commerce, vigorous enterprise in the most equal spheres. Several times he was forced to declare himself bankrupt and hide from creditors and the police. However, Defoe's interests were not limited to entrepreneurship; his vigorous energy was manifested in political and journalistic activities. In 1685, he took part in a rebellion led by the Duke of Monmouth against King James II, who was trying to restore Catholicism and the absolute monarchy. After the defeat of the uprising, D. was forced to hide for a long time in order to avoid severe punishment. He met the revolution of 1688 with sympathy and supported the policies of William III of Orange.

Defoe constantly reflected on ways to better organize the life of society, came up with various projects for improving and changing existing orders. He wrote about this in his treatises and pamphlets. He was concerned about the education of his compatriots and especially the issues of female education, the problem of class privileges and the fate of people deprived by nature - the blind, deaf, and insane; he wrote about possible ways to get rich and dealt with issues of business ethics, spoke out against the Anglican Church, denying its dogmas. The people treated Defoe's works favorably, and the author himself was repeatedly arrested and imprisoned.

Defoe's literary career began in 1697, when his first pamphlet, An Essau upon Projects, was published.

Defoe made a proposal here to organize bank loans and insurance companies, to improve communications; he wrote about the creation of an academy that could deal with issues of norms literary language, spoke about the need for female education. A year later, the pamphlet “A Poor man's Plea” (“A Poor man's Plea”, 1698) appeared, which talks about the injustice of laws that punish the poor and protect the rich: “The web of our laws is such that small flies fall into it, and big ones make their way through her."

The poetic satire “The True-born Englishman. A Satyr”, 1701, also had a democratic character, which affirms the right of a person to be proud not of his origin, but of personal valor, not of his chosen ancestors, but noble deeds and actions. Defoe condemns and ridicules the aristocratic arrogance of the nobles. This pamphlet was written in defense of William III (Dutch by birth), who was reproached by supporters of the Stuarts ruling in 1688 for not being a “purebred Englishman,” he seized the throne. Defoe believes that the very concept of a “purebred Englishman” has no right to exist, since the history of the English nation is a history of mixing different nations. Turning to genealogy, he proves the illegitimate claims of the British nobility to be called “pure-blooded Englishmen.” Defoe's satire was popular among the people.

After the death of William III (1702) the English Church withdrew new wave persecution of disinterns. In this situation, Defoe anonymously published the pamphlet “The Shortest Way to Deal with the Disinters.” (“The Shortest Way with the Dissenters,” 1702). In it, he defended religious tolerance, resorting to the technique of mystification: by calling for reprisals against disinters, the author, in fact, acted as their adherent. The discovery of the essence of the author's plan led to the persecution of Defoe. He was sentenced to imprisonment and standing in the pillory. Even before this civil execution, “A Hymn to the Pillory” (1703), Defoe wrote in Newgate Prison, had spread among people. "Anthem" is created in the form folk song, and that day, when Defoe stood in the pillory, the crowd came to the square, sang this song, welcoming its author.

The themes of Defoe's pamphlets and treatises are the same: he wrote about events and facts of socio-political and Everyday life English, gives advice to businessmen and businessmen, shares his own experience of doing similar things and at the same time fantasizes, invents, attracting attention with the unusualness and sensationalism of the “news”. But he writes about clearly fictitious events just as busily as he writes about completely reliable and real phenomena. He reports the appearance of a ghost using such everyday details, everything seems quite familiar, and he writes about the trip to the Moon as if he personally took part in it. The writer's creative imagination reinforces the courage of his thoughts. Reality and fiction merge together and are presented as a fact of life.

Defoe was released from prison when he agreed to become a secret government agent. Life experience convinced him of the hypocrisy of politicians, and now he no longer made a difference between Tories and Whigs, serving both.

The undisguised expression of democratic sympathies was replaced by a persistent moderation of views. In the period from 1704 to 1713. Defoe regularly wrote articles on the pages of the Review newspaper, addressing a variety of issues: commerce, morality, education, politics. He made a significant contribution to the development of journalism and the formation of the essay genre. However, he entered the history of world literature as a novelist, and above all as the creator of the famous “Robinson Crusoe”.

Defoe was fifty-nine years old when the first part of the Robinson Crusoe novel appeared. Its full title is “The Life and Amazing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, a sailor and VNOrk, who lived twenty-eight 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 died, with his transfer unexpected release by pirates, written by himself” (“The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe...”, 1719). When creating this book, Defoe did not think of continuing it. However, the success of the first part prompted him to write the second, and after it the third: “The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” (“The Old Man’s Adventures of Robinson”, 1719) and “Serious reflections during the life and amazing adventures of Robinson Crusoe, with his vision of the angelic peace" (1720). The first part received worldwide recognition and remained to live on for centuries. After Robinson Crusoe, Defoe wrote the adventure novels The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flandres, 1722, Lady Roxana, 1724, and Colonel Jacque. , 1722); naval novel “Captain Singleton”, 1720; historical novels “Diary of the Plague Year” (“A. Journal of the Plague Year", 1722) and "Memoirs of a Cavalier", 1720). All these genre modifications are presented in Defoe's works on early stage their development.

With his inherent penchant for mystification, Defoe published his first novel as the memoirs of Robinson himself, thereby presenting his hero to readers as a completely real person.

This is exactly how Robinson was initially perceived by his contemporaries. However, there were certain reasons for this, since the impetus, and in many ways the basis for the creation of the novel, was the essay “The History of Alexander Selkirk,” published in 1713 in the magazine “The Englishman.” It talked about real case: the sailor Selkirk quarreled with the captain of the ship and he was landed on the island of Juan Fernandez, where he spent four months in complete solitude. He had with him a supply of food for one day, several pounds of tobacco, a flintlock gun, a pound of gunpowder, flint and steel, an axe, a knife, a bowler hat, a suit of clothes and a bedding, several books of spiritual content, books on navigation and some mathematical instruments. At first, Selkirk fell into despair and suffered greatly from loneliness, but over time, having settled on the island, he became stronger in spirit and life “became so surprisingly pleasant for him that he did not consider any minutes as a burden.” He ate turtle meat, casatina; when his clothes were worn, he put on clothes made of goatskins. He prayed to God, completely resigned himself to his fate, and “life for him became as joyful as it had been sad before.” Returning to the mainland did not make Selkirk any happier. The essay ends with an instructive conclusion: “Happy is he who limits his desires only to natural needs; for those who follow their own whims, their needs grow along with their wealth.”

The fact presented in Steele's essay was transformed in Defoe's work into a detailed narrative, which attracted not only an interesting plot, but also a philosophical meaning. Robinson's story develops into an allegorical depiction of human life as such. IN in a certain sense Defoe's hero is close to everyone. And obviously, this is precisely why, finishing his novel, Defoe himself comes to the conclusion that he personally experienced everything depicted in his book. He talks about this in the final part of Robinson Crusoe, comparing his life with the fate of Robinson: “The adventures of Robinson Crusoe are a diagram of the true life of twenty-eight years spent in the most stupid, lonely and sad circumstances that have ever befallen a person. During this time I lived a long and amazing life- in constant storms, in the fight against the worst kind of savages and cannibals... I suffered all sorts of violence and oppression, unfair reproaches, human neglect, attacks of devils, heavenly punishments and earthly enmity; experienced countless vicissitudes of fortune, was in slavery worse than Turkish, was saved with the help of the same successful plan as the one depicted in the history of Xuri..., fell into a sea of ​​​​disasters, suffered again and died again... One word, no in imaginary history of not a single circumstance which would not be a legitimate allusion to real story" Defoe's novel is the story of the human personality. The educational concept of man, faith in his capabilities, appeal to the theme of work, the fascination and simplicity of the story, the amazing power of influence of the entire atmosphere of the work - all this attracts people to him different eras, equal ages and different interests.

The story in the novel is told on behalf of Robinson. Its simplicity and ingenuousness, the gullibility of its tone create the illusion of absolute authenticity of what is happening. The classically simple beginning of the work: “I was born in 1632 in the city of York into a wealthy family...” In this style, the story will last until the very end. The power of the novel lies in its verisimilitude.

Robinson embodies the Enlightenment ideas about the “natural man” in his relationship with nature. For the first time in literature, the theme of creative work is being developed. It was work that helped Robinson remain human. Finding himself completely alone, Defoe's hero, with his characteristic tirelessness and efficiency, works on making household items, hollows out a boat, grows and harvests his first crop. Overcoming many difficulties, he masters various crafts. The production of each item, each stage of the labor process is described in great detail. Defoe encourages the reader to observe with unflagging attention the intense work of Robinson's mind and deft hands. Everything is businesslike and common sense hero. His religiosity and piety are combined with the practicality of a businessman. He begins any business by reading a prayer, does not part with the Bible, but is always and in everything guided by the interests of profit. He “with complete detachment, like a creditor,” compares and evaluates everything, and in his diary, which he keeps with his characteristic accuracy, he pays special attention to summing up the “balance” of positive and negative aspects its position:

“...like a creditor and a debtor, I divided the page in half and wrote “bad” on the left and “good” on the right, and this is what I came up with: Bad

I've been marooned on a terrible, uninhabited island, and I have no hope of freeing myself.

I am isolated from all humanity; I am a hermit, exiled from human society.

But I remained alive, although I could have drowned, like all my companions.

But I did not starve and did not die in this deserted place...”

Robinson's character is also revealed in his communication with Friday. In this young wild bird, whom he saved from death, Robinson wants to see his devoted servant. It’s not for nothing that the first word he teaches him to pronounce is “Mr.” Robinson needs an obedient assistant; he is pleased with Friday’s “humble gratitude” and “boundless devotion and humility.” But, having gotten to know him better, Robinson understands that Friday is in no way inferior to him.

Defoe is a master of descriptions. He creates bright pictures southern nature, conveys the originality of each season, its wonderful descriptions of the sea. And the portrait of Robinson, pulled into a camisole and knee-length trousers, a high fur hat and with an umbrella made of goatskin over his head, remains forever in my memory; The feeling of fear and hope experienced with Robinson when he saw a man’s footprint on the coastal sand will forever remain in his soul.

The second and third parts of "Robinson Crusoe" both in terms of depth of content and artistic merit inferior to the first. They talk about Robinson's life and deeds after he left the island - about his trading travels to India, China and Siberia, about his organization of colonies of settlers on the island where he once lived alone. Robinson has to overcome many obstacles, but now it is not so much adventure as business adventures, trade deals and speculation, and Robinson himself is depicted as a clever entrepreneur and businessman. The third part of the novel contains didactic reflections on Robinson's life.

“Robinson Crusoe” influenced the development of literature, philosophy and political economy of the 18th century. His ideas and images were reflected in the works of writers and thinkers of many generations. They found a response in Voltaire’s Candida and in his works on the upbringing of Zhe. J. Rousseau, in “Faust” by J. V. Goethe. It is known how much the young L. Tolstoy admired Defoe’s novel. There are many imitations and adaptations of Defoe's novel. The most similar “New Robinsons” began to appear in many countries immediately after the publication of Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe” in England, in particular in the Ukrainian language - By. Grinchenko (1891), A. Pavetsky (1900), V. Otamanovsky (1917), G. Orlovna (1927) and others. T. Shevchenko remembered this work in the autobiographical story “The Artist” and created the drawing “Robinson Crusoe” (1856) . “Robinsonade” quickly grew, and the term itself established itself and spread in literary criticism; it means works that describe the life and adventures of a person who finds himself outside of society; Outside the literary context, the term “Robinsonade” is used in many cases related to the situation - a person in combat with nature, in a relationship with nature.

During his life, Defoe wrote more than three hundred and fifty works of various genres. In addition to the famous "Robinson Crusoe", the history of literature includes the novels "Moll Flanders", "Colonel Jack", "Roxanne", as well as some other works that became the prototype historical novel modern times (“Diary of the Plague Year”, “Memoirs of a Cavalier”, etc.). Connected to the tradition of the European picaresque novel is Defoe’s novel “The Joys and Hardships of the Famous Moll Flanders, who was born in Newgate Prison and during the sixty years of her life (not counting her childhood) was kept twelve times, married five times (of which once to her brother), a twelve-time thief, exiled to Virginia for eight years, but eventually became rich, lived an honest life, and died in repentance. Written from her own notes." The events of this novel take place in England. The heroine is the daughter of a convict, who was born in prison and raised in an orphanage. She knows the life of the slums and the daily struggle for existence. Moll Flanders is smart, energetic, beautiful, but life circumstances force her to become a thief and adventurer. In Robinson Crusoe, Defoe told the story of man's struggle with nature. In Moll Flanders he spoke about the fate of a single woman in society. Poverty, hunger, and the cruelty of people push her onto the path of sin. Moll would like a different fate; she tries to overcome her own “cruelty and inhumanity,” but she fails. “Poverty... is the real poison of virtue.”

Defoe's novels are written in the form of memoirs or biographies. They convey the story of the hero's life and the formation of his personality. Defoe reveals the influence of life conditions and circumstances on the formation of a person. His heroes face a cruel and soulless world. Usually, these are people without strong social ties - orphans, foundlings, pirates, who are forced to act according to cruel laws and social guidelines. Everyone fights alone, relying on their own own strength, ingenuity and dexterity. People do not disdain any means to achieve well-being. The “truly noble” Colonel Jack, who as a child was a homeless tramp and thief, having suffered all kinds of hardships in life, becomes a slave trader. Accepted at court, the charming Roxana has a dark past behind her: for the sake of her career, she becomes an unspoken accomplice in the murder of her own daughter.

Defoe entered the history of literature as the author of Robinson Crusoe, as the creator of an educational realistic novel. He wrote for a wide range of readers. His immortal "Robinson Crusoe" ranks among the greatest works of world literature.