Paper Summary:

The paper compares De La Fayette's "The Princess of Cleves" and Defoe's "The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" and points out that "The Princess of Cleves" was written from a woman's point of view while "The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe" is from a man's point of view. The paper further notes that De La Fayette's environ is based on mainland Europe and the lives of the landed gentries and the aristocrats, while Defoe's work contains few scenes on Europe. The paper adds that Defoe's work is a first-person point of view writing while De La Fayette's - as a result of how women were during the time - can only be surmised as a second-person point of view. The paper also discusses how these works' images are mainly of the personalities in Europe and their intrigues and counter intrigues. The paper concludes by highlighting these works' differences and how they both portray different pictures of Europe at the time.

From the Paper:

"The point view therein the two books as coming from a man and a woman is quite important because during that time women are considered property and are subservient to men. Wives and daughters are considered under the supreme authority of the husband/father. As a result of these, it could be possible that the image of early modern Europe portrayed by De La Fayette may be not from a first person account but gathered from stories and tales of people she has had dealings with. Unlike Defoe's Crusoe, since he is a man it is highly likely that what he has written came from actual observations from someone who has been there and done that - so to speak. Take for instance some lines in Defoe's Crusoe: "I went down to my farm, settled my family, bought ploughs, harrows, a cart, wagon-horses, cows, and sheep, and, setting seriously to work, became in one half-year a mere country gentleman. My thoughts were entirely taken up in managing my servants, cultivating the ground, enclosing, planting, etc." This was a scene in a country farm estate and chances are Defoe has indeed had experience owning a farmland in the country and doing the matters that needed to be done to properly manage the place."

Sample of Sources Used:

• De La Fayette, Marie de la Vergne. The Princess of Cleves. France: The Author, 1678. The Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/467/467-h/467-h.htm (accessed July 31, 2009).
• Defoe, Daniel. The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. England: The Author, 1719. The Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/561/561-h/561-h.htm (accessed July 31, 2009).

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