Robinson-Crusoe鲁滨逊漂流记.ppt

To read it socially, we find that Crusoe’s adventures imply different Western cultural values. This novel sings a song of “the dignity of labor,” a slogan which the bourgeoisie used to justify their accumulation of wealth though diligent work and colonial expansion. Robinson is a self-made man. He succeeds in creating a new life all through his own efforts. The novel also explores the theme of “back to nature.” Industrialization brought England material wealth, but it also ended the peaceful life in the countryside and created appalling poverty in the city. The novel expressed a desire to go back to a more economic and basic life style. There is also the theme of “religious devotion.” Completely separated from civilization, Crusoe reflects upon man’s frailty and God’s mercy. Just as Moses came out of the wilderness with a fuller understanding of the sustaining power of religion, Crusoe finds the need, after being thrown into the wilderness of the island, for prayer and repentance, and finds that inner peace does not come from material possessions but from communication with God. contents Defoe’s reputation and facts to be remembered A list of Defoe’s works before 1719 Defoe’s novels A case study of Robinson Crusoe Moll Flanders A list of Defoe’s other important writings The features of Daniel Defoe’s novels Moll Flanders (1722) was among the most important novels in 18th-century England. It relates the adventures of a London prostitute, a woman “twelve years a whore, five times a wife, and twelve years a thief, eight years a transported felon in Virginia.” After suffering all types of misfortunes, Moll finally settles down and comfortable life on her plantation in America. Moll Flanders attempted to break away from the didactic tradition in early English novels. Defoe emphasized that the environment in which one grew up and lived was the decisive element in the orientation of one’s behavior. Virtue eventually prevails at the end of the novel, bu