Daniel defoe’s “robinson crusoe” as the prototype of the english novel

Robinson Crusoe’s experience is not only the adventure tale it seems at first, but a moral illustration of the virtues of solitude and reliance on one’s own powers and resources. In the beginning, Crusoe can only comprehend his isolation as a punishment. Though, by the end of his adventure, when he turns an uninhabited island into a piece of civilized land, he reaches the inner peace of soul and mind. In the broad sense, “Adventures of Robinson Crusoe” marks the beginning of the history of European realistic novels and it was Defoe who pioneered this genre.