Date of Graduation
2002
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MA
Committee Chair
Mary Lou Lustig
Abstract
Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) advocated social and moral reform in early eighteenth century England through his novels, pamphlets, essays, and other moralistic writings. This work traces Defoe’s reform efforts by analyzing his religious education and those political actions that helped him to develop his beliefs. While Defoe’s writings reflect religious and moral concerns that were typical of the era and addressed by other polemicists, he differed from contemporary reformers in that he used fiction as well as essays and pamphlets to disseminate his beliefs. While other writers quickly followed suit, up until 1720, only Paul Bunyan in The Pilgrim’s Progress, published in two parts in 1678 and 1684, had used fiction as a medium of reform. Defoe in the three novels discussed in this work, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (both published in 1719), and Captain Singleton (1720), tried to reform society by instilling morality and virtue in the English public. In his work, whether fiction or non-fiction, Daniel Defoe urged the poor to embrace moral behavior and the wealthy to assume responsibility for the poor. Defoe believed that only such reform would permit England to prosper as a nation.
Recommended Citation
Stocks, Tiphanie N., "Daniel Defoe and the reform of the English nation: An examination of his moralistic writings." (2002). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD). 11059.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/11059