1.2 life &experience
In the early 1680s, Defoe was a commission merchant in Cornhill but went bankrupt in 1691.
Defoe was arrested and pilloried in May 1703.
the founders of the English novel
a pioneer of economic journalism a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than five hundred books, pamphlets, and journals on various topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology, and the supernatural.
1.1 birth &family
Son of a London butcher named Foe Forty, added the aristocratic prefix studied at Charles Morton’ s Academy, London Although his nonconformist father intended him for the ministry, Defoe plunged into politics and trade
E.g.: “…my native Country, where I might be well introduced, and had a Prospect of raising my Fortunes Application and Industry, with a Life of Ease and Pleasure…”