English Literature

NOTES ON ROBINSON CRUSOE DANIEL DEFOE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Daniel Defoe (1659-1731) serves as a link between the great essayists of the earlier years and the great novelists of the later years of the 18 th century. He is said to be one of most voluminous writers of the English language. Born at St. Giles, London and educated at Newington , he was a government secret agent and worked for both Whigs and Tories. He had a versatile personality being a speculator, a traveler, a bankrupt and a journalist. In stead of becoming a minister he took to trade. He participated in Monmouth�s rebellion after being a failure in trade. During the closing years of the 17 th century he went on a visit to the Continent. His failure in business attracted him towards pamphlet journalism and fiction writing. The fame of Defoe as a novelist depends on his novels like Robinson Crusoe (1719), Captain S