Robinson Crusoe
Literary Theory and Criticism
Dr. Ramirez


How does Defoe speed up the pace of the narrative and why is this important?

Less on the mundane, more on visitors to the island
Survival now requires more action

Shift from introspection to observation
More resources and people to manage
Feeling of haste, more external stimulus
Protective of his domain
Initially, time is specific, then it becomes general, and then it becomes specific again
Application of all his musings and thoughts; additional figures allow his theories to become more widespread practices

Additional figures advance the plot
Passage of time allows for maturity of trees and thought
Defoe preserves sense of reserve and he is building on the climax of the story

Course Review
Classical and Formalist Theories:
Plato conceived of eternal forms
Aristotle looked at formal elements
Application of these ideas to the Indian Queen

Historical and Sociological approaches:
Marx takes a historical and sociological perspective on Crusoe.  He looks at how value is generated--he privileges use value over value of a commodity

Hunter: offers a sociological reading of Crusoe and says not to read too much into history; meanwhile, he uses history to document his argument about the religious climate

Burke: Argues that proverbs and sayings are lessons for life; we can find in literature similar lessons for life :"Keep your weather eye open" his approach is sociological

Mythopoetic and Structural Approaches:
Saussure looks at how language is a convention, he breaks it up into its components
Jung looks at how archetypes appear in literature and in the collective imagination
Frye also looks at archetypes and reappearing plots and symbols--criticism should be a science



Postcolonialism:
Reevaluates the application of history. Looks at representations of the Other; Looks at the relationship between the colonized and the colonizer (Caribbean islanders and Columbus evaluated later by Todorov: Conquest of America: Questions of the Other (1984) Or Jean Rhys's response to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre with her own Wide Sargasso Sea)