The goal of this thesis is to discuss the formation of Robinson Crusoe¡¦s capitalist identity in Daniel Defoe¡¦s Robinson Crusoe with the issue of dominance/submission and the concepts of capitalism. Defoe¡¦s Robinson Crusoe is regarded as the first novel in the English literary history. The novel tells how Crusoe, from exiled on an isolated island to return to English society, manipulates power of mastery with authority to undergo metamorphosis to be a colonizer and a successful capitalist. The novel deals with not only the issue of the establishment of Robinson Crusoe¡¦s identity struggling on the isolated island, but also the hegemony of Britain and the advocacy of Capitalism and Protestantism.
This thesis consists of four chapters. In chapter one, I will briefly discuss the historical background and reasons, socially as well as politically, for the rise of the novel in the eighteenth century, and Daniel Defoe¡¦s background, his writing style, and his first novel Robinson Crusoe. In chapter two, I will clarify the illusion of the biblical Eden in the novel, and discuss the significance of the island for Robinson Crusoe. Moreover, how Crusoe¡¦s progression civilizes the island, resulting in the loss of the biblical Eden. Crusoe¡¦s status is reversed from God to a capitalist looking for profit. In chapter three, I will discuss the formation of Crusoe¡¦s identity with power and authority. How he establishes his identity through the process of mastery over non-humans and humans. In conclusion, I will give an overall review of the whole thesis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NSYSU/oai:NSYSU:etd-0131108-153613 |
| Date | 31 January 2008 |
| Creators | Lo, Chun-chin |
| Contributors | Shu-fan Lai, Rudolphus Teeuwen, Li-ching Chen |
| Publisher | NSYSU |
| Source Sets | NSYSU Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lib.nsysu.edu.tw/ETD-db/ETD-search/view_etd?URN=etd-0131108-153613 |
| Rights | withheld, Copyright information available at source archive |
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