Daniel Defoe - ROBINSON CRUSOE

QUESTIONS

1. Defoe's method of introducing verisimilitude (novel vs. romance)

• title, preface

• first-person narrative

• circumstantial evidence

• non-fictional genre conventions (travel narrative, spiritual autobiography, diary)

• internal consistency (same events described twice, absence of contradictions)

2. Genre structure of the text and its function

• didactic genres (spiritual autobiography, providence book)

• entertaining genres (travel narrative, tale of adventure)

3. The ways of introducing the religious dimension to the text

• explicit references to the Bible (Prodigal Son, Original Sin, Fall of Man)

• narrative structure (the biblical pattern of fall/sin-punishment/repentance-reward/redemption reflected in the composition of the novel: Crusoe's escape from home/wandering - his stay on the desert island - homecoming)

4. The characterisation of the protagonist

• direct (self-description)

• indirect (implied by his actions and behaviour)

• the protagonist as a culture hero (enterprising, self-help, rational, etc)

2. How are Crusoe's adventures reinterpreted by him in religious terms? Consider the imposition of the spiritual autobiography on the tale of adventure and the double perspective of the narrator (the young Crusoe vs. the old Crusoe).

a) the function of biographical details:

b) the double perspective of Robinson Crusoe (typical of the spiritual autobiography):

c) the elements/ style typical of the travel narrative:

d) the reasons behind Robinson's conflicting emotional reactions to the effect of the shipwreck; why are these reactions in conflict with the genuine religious sentiment?

e) the indirect characterisation of the protagonist:

f) the stages of Crusoe's spiritual awakening and reinterpretation of his life:

- warning signs from God: sickness, dream;

- growing awareness of his sin (analyse Robinson's self-description);

- regular prayers (as opposed to those in distress);

- the mystique Voice;

- reading the Bible;

- understanding of the Providential design;

- physical and spiritual cure;

g) the reinterpretation of the notion of ”deliverance” and the imprisonment on a desert island;

h) the new pattern of life as a reflection of spiritual recovery

i) the function of ultimate re-interpretation of Crusoe's life; the direct and indirect allusions to the biblical stories

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