Daniel defoe biography wikipedia the free
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London & Brookfield, Vt.: Pickering & Chatto, 2006. Although he sided with the Dissenters, Defoe pretended to advocate for the "off-with-their-heads" stance towards any who dared to diverge from the tenets of the Church of England. As a businessman he traveled widely, trading principally in hosiery, general woollen goods, and wine.
Defoe may have met him, since he too participated in that rebellion. 37-38.
Early Life
Born Daniel Foe, probably in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate, London, Daniel Defoe in youth seemed destined for a career as a dissenting minister. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which may have been the first modern novel in English (publishing industry hadn't been invented yet).
He is considered a pioneer of realism in English literature, meaning he strived to depict life as it truly was, with all its complexities and imperfections. He achieved this through several techniques.
First-Person Narration and Detailed Realism
Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of his style is his use of first-person narration.
This is particularly evident in his use of prefaces and explanations, where he claims to be merely recounting the experiences of another person. When his authorship and true intention were discovered, he was arrested for sedition, and on 31 July 1703 Defoe was sentenced to both a prison term and three successive appearances in the public pillory, a penalty usually reserved for those guilty of public immorality.
His focus on the details of everyday life, his realistic portrayals of characters, and his exploration of complex moral issues continue to resonate with readers today. He was imprisoned several times for his seditious writings.
This poem attacked those who thought England should not have a foreign-born king, and not surprisingly, King William became a firm supporter of Defoe and his work. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958.
Novak, Maximillian E, Daniel Defoe, Master of Fictions: His Life and Ideas.
Daniel Defoe biography
Daniel Defoe's memorial in
Bunhill Fields, London
Daniel Defoe was born in 1660 to James Foe (note the spelling), a chandler in St.
Giles, Cripplegate, London. However, he turned his punishment into a triumph when his supporters sang a satirical song that Defoe had composed especially for his public humiliation ("Hymn to the Pillory," 1703) and pelted him with flowers rather than with the customary rotting fruits and vegetables at him.
Daniel Defoe is buried in Bunhill Fields, London.
However, religious and political currents led him down a different path. Robert Louis Stevenson admired it, saying that the footprint scene in Crusoe was one of the four greatest in English literature and most unforgettable.
Daniel Defoe
Imagine a life brimming with adventure, political intrigue, and even brushes with the law.
In 1696, he was operating a tile and brick factory in Tilbury, Essex. Given his later national and international popularity as a writer, it is ironic that he was buried in Bunhill Fields under the name "Dubow" because a semi-literate gravedigger has misspelled the name he was given at the boarding house. In exchange for Defoe's agreeing to serve as a government spy, Robert Harley, First Earl of Oxford, arranged the pamphleteer's release.
He wrote over 500 books, pamphlets and journals across a range of subjects, and helped popularize the English novel.
Born in 1660, Defoe witnessed significant historical events in England early in his life: the Great Plague of London, in which 70,000 people died in 1665, the Great Fire of London in which all but Defoe's and two other homes were left standing in his neighborhood, and an attack by a Dutch fleet on the City of Chatham near the River Thames.