By
Martin Anderson
And
Logan Hinderliter
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Born to James and Alice Foe of London in 1660
James Foe was a butcher.
The Foes were dissenting Protestants,
Protestants that didn’t belong to the Church of
England.
Defoe studied at Charles Morton's Academy in
London.
His father wanted him to become a minister.
He gave up this dream and went into business.
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Defoe married Mary Tuffley in 1684.
He was possibly a merchant in Spain from 1678
to 1683.
Defoe was part of the Duke of Monmouth’s
failed rebellion against King James II, a
Catholic king.
In 1692, Defoe declares bankruptcy after going
to debtors prison.
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Defoe began writing anonymously in the 1680s.
He mostly wrote political essays.
Defoe’s first success came in the form of a
satire, ‘The True-Born Englishman’ in 1701.
Defoe was imprisoned in 1703 for his satire,
“The Shortest Way with Dissenters”, an essay
in which he uses an ironic voice to depict a
religious zealot intent on eradicating
dissenters.
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Defoe was released from prison because of his
talent as a writer. He agreed to write
propaganda for Robert Harley, a member of
parliament.
He also became an intelligence agent, a line of
work that he continued after the Tories fell
from power and the Whigs rose.
He continued to write essays while he
published The Review from 1704 to 1713.
He changed his name from Foe to Defoe in
1703.
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Defoe became on of England’s most important
early novelists when he moved away from
essays and published Robinson Crusoe in
1719.
Defoe wrote many novels in the same format as
Robinson Crusoe in the five years after it was
published.
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Defoe’s life experiences influenced his novel, Robinson
Crusoe.
Crusoe lives by his religion, and by rational thought.
He does what is practical, he gathers food and creates a
shelter.
He also takes in Friday, a cannibal, who he reasons,
only eats other people because he doesn’t know any
better.
Crusoe, with his progressive views, didn’t condemn
Friday as a savage. Instead, he takes him in and
teaches him Christian values.
These traits were present in Defoe as well, he was
religious and progressive.
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1720 – Memoirs of a Cavalier
1722 – Journal of the Plague Year
1722 – Moll Flanders
1724 – Roxana
These were mostly first person accounts from
extraordinary people.
1724-1727 - Tour thro’ the Whole Island of
Great Britain
This was an economic survey of England and
Scotland.
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Defoe continued his intelligence career while
he wrote.
Defoe abandoned his home and family in 1729
to disappear into London.
Defoe died on April 26, 1731 .
He had written over 400 pamphlets and books.
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"Defoe, Daniel." British Authors Before 1800. 1952.
Biography Reference Bank. H. W. Wilson. MASH
Media Center, Meadville, PA. 27 May 2009
<http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/.
"Defoe, Daniel." Encyclopedia of British Writers, 18th
Century. 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts
On File. MASH Media Center. 27 May 2009
<http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=W
E54&SID=5&iPin=
EBWXVIII104&SingleRecord=True>.
Liukkonen, Petri. "Daniel Defoe." Books and Writers.
2008. Net Trekker. MASH Media Center. 27 May 2009
<http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/defoe.htm>.