What are the characteristics of Defoe's novels?

(A) Defoe's Robinson Crusoe's "Desert Island Literature" style characteristics

Defoe's Robinson Crusoe tells the story of a man who fell on a desert island. After the Renaissance, Britain became stronger and stronger, and constantly explored colonies overseas through maritime hegemony, and the desert island literature in the literary field also developed. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is the most outstanding masterpiece of desert island literature. The story of Robinson Crusoe took place in17th century. During this period, British manufacturing, commerce and overseas trade were in a period of rapid rise. In Defoe's view, promoting trade is the foundation of Britain's development, while foreign trade depends on the navigation industry. This universal capitalist thought is intuitively reflected in Robinson Crusoe. Robinson was a boy of 18 years old before he was trapped on a desert island. At that time, Robinson was full of dissatisfaction with the mediocre life and ventured out to sea three times against his father's wishes. In the third adventure of African slave trade, Robinson's ship was completely destroyed due to a big storm. Except Robinson himself, he was stranded on a desert island, where he lived for 28 years, and finally returned to the original society.

Robinson Crusoe focuses on Robinson's life on a desert island, occupying almost two-thirds of the novel. The groundbreaking of Robinson Crusoe is that after the protagonist Robinson Crusoe ran aground on the island, no one came to save him. He can only improve the current predicament through his own wisdom and hands. In order to survive, Robinson used the common sense of human society to build his own house, make simple and rough tools, and maintain food supply by hunting and domesticating animals. After step by step efforts, Robinson turned the desert island into a place suitable for his life. Robinson Crusoe adopts the typical "desert island literature" structure and narrative clues in the novel structure, that is, the protagonist is trapped on a desert island due to external reasons, and after a series of adventures on the desert island, he is finally rescued or rescued from the desert island and returns to civilized society. Robinson Crusoe, the hero of Robinson Crusoe, shines everywhere with the unique light of the production class during the rising period of the bourgeoisie. The novel advocates continuous development, continuous labor and continuous progress. After living on a desert island for more than 20 years, Robinson rarely gives himself time to rest. Although far away from civilized society, he is never satisfied with the status quo. He is willing and willing to try anything that can change the status quo. Robinson's positive spirit is the reason why people like him. Robinson Crusoe is set on a desert island, far from industrial civilization, and this kind of free environment is also desirable, which makes it a masterpiece of English desert island literature.

(B) Defoe's Captain singleton's "Desert Island Literature" style features.

Following Robinson Crusoe, Defoe completed another novel, Captain singleton, with the theme of life on a desert island on 1720. The protagonist of the novel is a rich boy who was abducted and sold to gypsies as a child. Bob, a 0/2-year-old hero, came to Newfoundland with a shipowner and was robbed and became a slave to the helmsman. Bob and some people were abandoned on a desert island after taking part in the uprising, and 23 people began to make a living on the desert island. Compared with the desert island in Robinson Crusoe, there are many aborigines living on Bob's desert island far from civilized society. Moreover, Bob is not alone on a desert island, but trapped on a desert island with his companions from 23 civilized societies. These people's means of survival on a desert island are not self-reliance to open up new homes, but through trading with indigenous people in the process of experiencing fear and suffering. Just when young Bob and others were not satisfied with life on a desert island, Bob was recommended as the captain after building a ship, and started a sailing adventure. Bob is called Captain singleton. After many difficulties and obstacles, they conquered the sea and desert and reached the golden coast of Africa. After getting enough wealth, these adventurers chose to end their voyage and return to their original residence in London, England.

After squandering all his money, Captain singleton chose to go to sea again, joined a pirate gang, bought and sold slaves and robbed money. Years of piracy have made Captain singleton a rich man. But in the face of these ill-gotten gains, Captain singleton became more and more afraid and returned to London to live in seclusion with remorse. Compared with the unchangeable desert island scene in Robinson Crusoe, the region where the hero of Captain singleton moves is constantly changing. Of course, the background of these changes still has the characteristics of a desert island. At first, this strange island was a veritable desert island. Later, the places where the protagonist arrived did not seem to be islands, and they were basically far away from the world-famous centers, which seemed to be like a desert island in European society at that time. In other words, all the places in Captain singleton are far from civilization and unconstrained, and they all need to rely on their own continuous efforts to survive. Captain singleton, like Robinson Crusoe, will constantly pursue and accumulate wealth through self-struggle and hard work in the course of various hardships. People in Captain singleton can even abandon morality and humanity in pursuit of money. Their predatory nature is the embodiment of early British imperialism. As a "desert island literature", the adventure in the book is undoubtedly the most attractive place for readers. Its setting of crossing the African continent, which has just been known by the world, adds a lot of mystery to the whole novel, and foreign exploration is one of the most common themes in English desert island literature.

(C) Defoe's Moore Flanders's "Desert Island Literature" style characteristics

Apart from Robinson Crusoe and Captain singleton, which have obvious desert island background, Defoe has also created some novels with urban background characteristics of hidden desert island literature style, such as Moore Flanders. Moore Flanders, with the city as the background, tells the story of the protagonist's struggle for survival in the city. Moore's mother is a thief and Moore was born under supervision. In the process of growing up, he experienced all kinds of misfortunes such as being raped, abandoned, turned into a prostitute and a thief. Money is poor Moore's highest goal, and making money with sex is more important to her than having fun. In order to make more money, Moore did not hesitate to take various measures. After Moore was exiled for stealing, he accidentally learned that his mother owned a plantation, and Moore, who inherited the plantation, decided to change his absurd life in the past. Compared with the first two novels, the biggest difference in Moll Flanders lies in the gender of the protagonist. Compared with Robinson and Captain singleton's Wandering on a Desert Island and Africa, Moore is a wandering female image in a city.

In British society at that time, women were in an absolute weak position. In addition, Moore lost his parents since childhood and never received an education. The hardship of city life is no different from Robinson's survival on a desert island. At that time, women in Britain could not make a living. They have very few choices. They can only get married, engage in prostitution or do some menial work. Women have no right to go to school. All these inequalities make the social environment in which Moore lives difficult. In his early years, Moore wanted to grow into an ideal lady by his own ability, but this dream was soon dashed. In order to survive on an urban desert island, Moore had to seek his sense of security and wealth through marriage. Moore married an upper-middle-class man, but when she was full of hope for love and marriage, she was abandoned a few years later and finally had to become a prostitute, thief and prisoner. But looking at the social environment at that time, Moore's depravity was the choice he had to make in the predicament, not because of his own moral problems. Although Moore's exchange of money is not as constructive as Robinson's transformation of a desert island, everything she does is to survive in a difficult situation. At a deeper level, Moore's behavior is also an enterprising behavior and an instinctive survival response when people face difficulties. Although Moore also has a spirit of self-struggle in the pursuit of life, she is not excited about the survival results she has created, but more helpless. Her life is hard but full of enthusiasm, which is consistent with the pioneering process of male perspective in "Desert Island Literature".

From Defoe's novels, we can clearly see the context and characteristics of "desert island literature". Whether Robinson Crusoe, Captain singleton or Moore Flanders, they are full of enterprising spirit of surviving on a desert island, which is a distinct product of the times.