《英语专业毕业论文-CHAPTER ONE THE INTRODUCTION OF DANIEL DEFOE AND HIS NOVEL.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《英语专业毕业论文-CHAPTER ONE THE INTRODUCTION OF DANIEL DEFOE AND HIS NOVEL.doc（23页珍藏版）》请在三一文库上搜索。
1、辽宁对外经贸学院论文CHAPTER ONE THE INTRODUCTION OF DANIEL DEFOE AND HIS NOVEL1.1 A Brief Biography Of DefoeDaniel Defoe(16601737),the author of Robinson Crusoe, was thought by many to be the first true novelist in English literature. He was born in London, the SOB of a Presbyterian butcher. Although he did n
2、ot go to the university, Defoe received a good education in one of the best Dissenting academies. Against his fathers will of becoming a preacher ,he became a hosier merchant later and did much commercial traveling in Spain, France, Holland and Italy, and through large sections of England. He was ve
3、ry good at running business and by 1 688 he owned a large warehouse, a London home and a country residence. Defoe was also interested in politics, taking part in the Duke of Monmouths rebellion against James II and narrowly escaped the punishment. Most unfortunately he was forced into bankruptcy on
4、account of the disastrous losses in shipping. This made him won the trust of the king and he was appointed as an unofficial royal adviser on trite and other matters.In 1702 Defoe published an anonymous pamphlet the shortest way with the Dissenters to satire the member of the right wing of the Tory P
5、arty in a humorous way. Because of this, he got a stand in the pillory for thee days. Defoe wrote a poem Hymn to the pillory and asked his friends to print it and shared it to the people in the street on his first appearance at his friends to print it and shared it to the people in the street on his
6、 first appearance at the pillory. It won the sympathy of many people for his courage and humor of his verse, but he became bankrupt while he was in prison.After coming out, he issued a periodical The Review and became publisher, editor, and reporter until 1713.He was a voluminous writer of pamphlets
7、 and articles for the journals, but his achievements in that respect were eclipsed by Addison and Steele in their paper for The Tatler and The Spectator. But in fact, many of Defoes views underlying his later novels were already expressed in The Review. The View came to all end in 1713.Then he was p
8、ut into prison again for his satirical pamphlet Reasons against the Protestant succession, and was pardoned by Queen Anne. And after the Queen had died in 1714, he was rearrested again and then was set free under the condition that he agreed to work for Whigs.In 1719, when he was almost sixty years
9、old, he retired to the countryside and wrote his first, also the most famous novel Robinson Crusoe. It was a great success to him and later followed a number of other novels, including Captain Singleton, Moll Flanders and Roxana. He died in 1730 and was buried at Bunhill Field in London.Daniel Defoe
10、s life was full of unexpected changes. From poverty to wealth, from a prisoner to a very famous writer, his experiences were a great treasure for his later writings.1.2The Background Of The 18th CenturyWith the development of social economy, the bourgeoisie as well as the aristocracy could not bear
11、the rules of the Stuart King Charles II and James II. They were asking for their own right in political life. In 1688, the Glorious Revolution brought the capitalists into power and established the system of capitalism in England. In the middle of the 18th century, England led the great industrial r
12、evolution as the result of the invention of textile machines and other machinery.All of these changes, political and social, greatly enriched the power of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy who n11ed the country together. There were also great Wars, with France in North America and in India through
13、 the l8th century.Inl789, the French bourgeois revolution broke out and it had a strong effect upon England. People in England sang high praise of the revolution and its slogans of liberty, fraternity and equality. They believed that the social problems could not be solved by church doctrine or by t
14、he power of God but should be tackled with human intelligence.Practically all the past was considered to deserve only regret and contempt, and for the first time came the reign of reason. When reason served as the yardstick for the measure of all human activities and social relations, superstition a
15、nd injustice, privilege and oppression were to yield place to eternal truth, eternal justice, natural equality and inalienable right of man.And they also had a better understanding of the power of the knowledge. John Locke followed the step of Bacon and pointed out that knowledge is to be obtained n
16、ot through intuition, but from sensation and experience, from experiments and observations of facts, and that generalizations must be arrived at through the operation of thought on particulars.The industrious revolution accelerated the development of capital society and made England the biggest mark
17、et of the world.111e rising bourgeoisie eagerly went out to enlarge their market. Robinson Crusoe was also one of the pioneers of the time.1.3The First Positive Characteristics of Capitalist Robinson CrusoeRobinson Crusoe, the first and also the greatest novel of Daniel Defoe, was published in 1719.
18、There are three parts of it altogether, but the first part was the most popular one. In fact, the story was not a fabrication founded on nothing. It was composed according to the real experiences of a real sailor, Alexander Seilkirk or Seleraig, a Scottish sailor and son of a shoemaker. In 1704, he
19、joined a privatizing expedition and was left on an uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez off the coast of Chile at his own will. He remained there for five years before he was rescued. After he came back from England in 1709, Selkirks experiences attracted wide attention. Then the next year came out
20、Robinson Crusoe. With his powerful imagination, Defoe created a sailors story, which read like a real one.The story took place in the middle of me 17thcentury.In a middleclass family, Mr.Crusoe, an old English gentleman, designed his son for law, but the young man decided to become a sailor and ran
21、away from home at the age of 19.On one adventurous voyage to Africa, Robinson caught a frightful storm and was cast on an uninhabited island.He did not wait for the miracles that God would rescue him from the adversity one day, also would not like to waste the precious life on sentimental signings,
22、but spent most of his time on solid work. With his strong will and hard work, he had been living on the island for 28 years until he was rescued.After the story came out, it attracted great interests of the society immediately. People were surprised and appreciated at Robinson Crusoes alarming dange
23、rous experiences on the islands. Robinson Crusoe, for the readers at that time, was not just a name in the novel .But also a real adventurer in the real life. However, Defoe did not take the story as a simple adventurous legend, but a symbol of the Englishmans spirit of the time. Robinson Crusoe him
24、self, in fact, was the embodiment of capitalism. His love for freedom, eagerness for adventure, strong belief for human power and great capability for using knowledge fully showed the vitality of the rising bourgeoisie in the 18thcentury.Great changes have taken place in England in the 18thcentury.T
25、he Glorious Revolution of 1688 came to a compromise between the aristocracy and bourgeoisie. The industrial revolution influenced the social life as a whole, which brought so many new technical innovations. The famous Enclosure Movement forced so many landless peasants go to the cities and become th
26、e workers who were the essential condition for the development of capitalism. The rising capitalists won the economic position gradually and tried to get their political rights in social life. They made a strong objection to the old belief and the outdated religion and customs. In their eyes, they w
27、ere the owner of themselves. They had their own rights to decide their own fates.All of these changes had great effect on the development of literature. Some progressive the human aspiration for freedom and equality, condemned political oppression and religious dogmatism. These humanists chiefly wer
28、e the supporters of the progressive thought of the rising bourgeoisie.In fact, the author Defoe himself was a merchant also. Before he began his writing career as a novelist in his sixty, he had led a very successful career as a business runner. He had traveled so many countries and accepted their n
29、ew ideas. Like Robinson Crusoe, he would not like to stay at home and lead an unchangeable life. It was an instinct for him to go out and realize his dreams. Through his Robinson Crusoe, Defoe expressed the progressive ideas of the time.Robinson Crusoe, as the first positive character of the capital
30、ist fully showed the moving spirit of the capitalist at that time. He was not satisfied with the comfortable life, which his father described as:The upper station of low life, which he had found by long experience was the best state in the world, the most suited to human happiness, not exposed to th
31、e miseries and hardships, the labor and sufferings of the mechanic part of mankind, and not embarrassed with the pride, luxury, ambition and envy of the upper part of mankind.At last Robinson resolutely chose to leave his safe and comfortable home, going to the sea according to his own will was a ch
32、oice made not only by Robinson himself, but a choice made by the whole society. In the earlier Middle Ages, life was simple and monotonous. People were confined to a very limited place, knowing nothing about the outside world. In their heart, God was the creator and dominator of the whole world and
33、they must obey the instructions of God without any doubt. This life was profoundly changed during the closing centuries of the Middle Ages. With the development of social economy and modem science, peoples horizon was greatly broadened. They were eager to know the outside world and would not be cont
34、rolled by the old rigid dogmas.From the 17th century to the 18th century, the natural science was great improved in England. By the end of the 17th century classical mechanics and experimental science were established. The scientific upheaval that perhaps most affected the ordinary persons self imag
35、e was the shift in astronomy from a geocentric to a heliocentric world view. Nicolaus Copernicus developed an astronomical model with the sun as the center of the planetary System, which gave man a new, positive self-consciousness. Galileo and Isaac Newton were representatives of the mathematical na
36、tural science. They laid a solid foundation for the development in science and society. For the first time, people began to give serious thought to human right.It is a society that must be changed, and the goal is in this world, not hereafter. In other words, the modem faith in progress has begun to
37、 take shape. The divine history of salvation is no longer the core of history；instead mans ability to utilize and control mature is the core. History moves forward, but directed by man.These were what humanists had always advocated. Robinson Crusoes success on the uninhabited island was a fully demo
38、nstration of individualism. He would not like to be satisfied with such kind of condition and went out for his unpredictable adventure. For him the most important thing for people was not just to stay at home, adhering to the family properties. Robinson Crusoes success on the island was a success of
39、 human civilization.CHAPTER TWO THE ANALYSIS ON INDIVIDUALISM2.1The Concept Of IndividualismThe 16th century in England was a period of breaking up the feudal relations and establishing the foundation of capitalism. New social and economic conditions brought about great changes in the development of
40、 science and art. This period was also known as a flourishing of national cultural Renaissance.The term Renaissance signifies the cultural achievements of European society between 1300 to 1600, which marks the passage from the Middle Ages to the modem world. It first rose in Italy and then spread to
41、 other countries, including England. The Midge Ages were very ascetic. Life was orientated chiefly toward the eternal, to citizenship in the city of God built in the world of the spirit. For centuries nobles shared this view; even practical townsmen accepted it without gainsay. But things changed at
42、 the end of the Middle Ages.With the use of coined money and the development of social economy; the center of social life shifted from the manor to towns. The feudal nobility gradually lost their power and the bourgeoisies power was strengthened. The discoveries of Columbus and Magellan in geography
43、 also played a very important role in the social development. It not only opened up trade road to the different part of the world, but also broadened mens mind. It arouses mens curiosity for exploring the outside world instead of just staying at home. Copernicuss heliocentric theory gave people a be
44、tter knowledge of the heavens and shattered the dominant superstition for ages.The term Renaissance originally indicated a revival of classical arts and sciences after the Middle Ages. Indeed, a great number of the works of classical authors were translated into English during the 16thcentury.The pr
45、ogressive thinkers of humanists carried on the study and propagation of classical learning and art. They held their chief interest not in ecclesiastical knowledge. They bravely fought for the emancipation of man from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas.Individualism was the moving spirit
46、of Renaissance, the product of an environment created by me wealth and energy of a new class, the bourgeoisie. The core of the spirit of individualism was to heighten human status and lower Gods station in human mind. They extolled the dignity and the value of people and opposed to the contempt towa
47、rds human beings. Individualism had great influence in various field, especially literature and art.2.2The Earlier Individualism in Literary FieldIndividualism made a strong objection to the medieval superstition and emphasized mans power and freedom in the world. It had a great influence towards En
48、glish literary field.Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the earliest humanist writers in England. He was also the founder of the realistic literature of the period. At this time, Renaissance had not spread to England yet, superstition controlled peoples mind. His journey to Genoa and Florence in Italy in 1
49、373 was of particular significance, as it brought him into contact、vim the new tendencies of the renaissance in Italian literature. He was fascinated by the individualism and reflected the ideas in his 1ater work.Canterbury Tales was the masterpiece of Chaucer. He created a vivid panorama of his time and country, filling with the characteristic of the age of Renaissance. He believed in the right of man to earthly happiness and was eager to see man freed from superstition and