Historical Context
Robinson
Crusoe was published in 1719, at the beginning of a century that witnessed
great changes in the economic order. The
rise of capitalism throughout the period exposed individuals to a system of
evaluation that differed quite a bit from aristocratic tradition.
Instead of an individual’s place in society being determined at birth,
and being wholly related to their family name and rank, people entered
professions and new social arrangements based not on family or church, but on
their work. A relevant example of
this is the fact that we don’t learn much at all about Robinson’s family --
he abandons them in England within the first few pages of the book -- which
indicates precisely the degree to which family and other collective relations
were taking a back seat to the elaboration of the individual.
The
shift from an aristocratic order to a capitalist system was a complicated one,
and it would be difficult -- not to mention futile -- to attempt to pinpoint the
precise moment of transition. But
nonetheless, the century witnessed great changes, such as the rise of print
culture, the first copyright legislation, increased industrialization, and a
shift from focus on community to an emphasis on autonomous individualism.
Defoe is said to be one of the first writers to represent this kind of
economic individualism, and Robinson Crusoe -- his first novel -- is one
of the best places to see this at work.
Homo
Economicus (“economic man”) was
the symbol used to discuss the new individualism of the eighteenth century --
one which depended explicitly one an individual’s participation in a newly
competitive, credit-based marketplace. Robinson,
Defoe’s protagonist, spends the opening sections of the novel in heavy pursuit
of money. He readily admits to the
reader his reasons for travel: it is more profitable to trade with indigenous
peoples of non-Western cultures, since they value goods differently than
Europeans do. It is possible, then,
to trade trinkets that Westerners place little stock in -- like buttons and
baubles -- for gold and precious stones. Getting
more for one’s money than it is “worth” is one of the prime directives of
a capitalist economy, and Robinson is hooked on it from the moment he makes his
first trade. With the money he
makes from trading, he’s able to buy a plantation in Brazil and begin reaping
great profit.
Even
romantic love is secondary to economic gain.
Living alone on the island, of course, Robinson doesn’t have
opportunity for romance. But he
doesn’t worry about it much, either. While
long passages are devoted to his reflections on how being away from Europe has
changed his ideas of what’s valuable -- he has no need for money, for example,
but finds an old burlap sack a much more useful item -- there is not a single
moment of reflection on or longing for love.
Critics have suggested that Defoe saw romantic love as an obstacle to
economic advancement, since it is commonly held that romance does not follow
logical dictates, while market practices are assumed to hold to some sort of
logic or calculation.
