Daniel defoe and his novel ‘’robinson crusoe’’. Contents

The structure of the course work:The structure of the course work contains an introduction ,two chapters ,conclusion and used literature.It includes 30 pages.

1. 
   THE LITERATURE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
   

The Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason shaped philosophical,political and scientific discourse from late 17^th to the early 19^th century.The Enlightenment -the great ‘‘Age of Reason ‘’-is defined as the period of rigorous scientific ,political and philosophical discourse that characterised Europian society during the long 18^th century to the ending of the Nopoleonic Wars in 1815.This was a period of huge change in thought and reason ,which was decisive in the making of modernity. Centuries of custom and tradition were brushed aside in favour of exploration ,individualism ,tolerance and scientific endeavor which in tandem with developments in industry and politics witnessed the emergence of the modern world.
In the 18^th century in England ,as in other European countries ,there sprang into life a public movement known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment ,on the whole was an expression of struggle of the ten progressive class of bourgeoise against feudalism. The Enlighteners fought against class inequality ,prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempted to place all branched of science at the service of mankind by connecting them with the actual needs and requirements of people. The problem of men comes to the fore superseding all other problems in literature. The enlighteners prove that man is born kind and honest and if he becomes depraved ,it is only due to the influence of corrupted social environment. Fighting the survivals of feudalism ,the enlighteners at the same time were prone to accept bourgeois relationships as rightful and reasonable relationships among people .The English writers of the time formed two groups. The first-hoped to better the world simply by teaching (Defoe).The Other -openly protested against the vicious social order (Swift, Fielding, Sheridan, Burns).
The outcomes of the Enlightenment were thus far-reaching and indeed,revolutionary. By the early 1800s a new public sphere of political debate was evident in Europian society ,having emerged first in culture of coffee houses and later fulled by an explosion of books, magazines ,pamphlets and newspapers .Secular science and invention ,fertilized by a spitit of enquiryand discovery,also became the hallmark of modern society,which in turn propelled the pace of 18^th century industrialisation and economic growth.
Induvidualism -the personal freedoms celebrated by Locke ,Aam smith ,Voltaire and Kant-became part of the web of modern society that trickled down into 19^th century notions of independence ,self help and liberalism.Representative government on behalf of the people was enshrined in new constitutional arrngements ,charactirised by the slow march towards universal suffrage in 1900s.
Evidence of the Enlightenment thus remains with us today:in our notions of free speech ,our secular yetreligiously tolerant socities ,in science ,the arts and literature : all legacies of proud moment for change that transformed the nature of society forever.
English literature is often described as beginning with Chaucer .This would give England 6 centuries of literature.Actually there were more 6 centuries of literature before Chaucer was born.The modern reader can make out the general meaning of a passage of Chaucer without difficulty.,but if he looks at the earliest English literature he finds that it doesn’t read like English.
The two most important events in the history of England took place before the Norman Conquest.One of them was the period when Angels ,Saxons and Jutes came to England.Literature in the Anglo-Saxon period was recorded in manuscripts ,among which is ‘’The song of Beowulf’’.