What's New with Robinson Crusoe?

In this ambitious study, Andrew O'Malley traces nearly 300 years of Robinson Crusoe's ubiquitous presence in western print, theater, and consumer culture. Recognizing that scholarship on Defoe's Robinson Crusoe has been a cottage industry in academia for the better part of a century, O'Malley asks, "What more can be said about a text so copiously and carefully parsed and analysed?" (1). O'Malley attempts to set his scholarship apart by claiming that, if one looks beyond the original text to derivatives such as chapbooks, theatrical performances, or merchandise, Robinson Crusoe reveals changing attitudes toward childhood and folk culture.

O'Malley begins by suggesting that Robinson Crusoe is emblematic of an eighteenth-century culture that sought to instill in children Crusoe's own self-sufficiency while at the same time, paradoxically, reinforcing the need for strict parental supervision. The middle-class children's book market attempted to domesticate Crusoe into an obedient child and mature adult, thereby setting an example child readers could emulate at home with their parents. However, hundreds of cheap chapbooks also represent a cultural tug-of-war between the ideas and values of elite, Enlightenment culture, and those of popular culture. Enlightenment ideals of order, labor, and self-determination, displayed in Defoe's meticulous cataloging of his character's day-to-day activities, are jettisoned in popular chapbooks in favor of episodes depicting leisure and good fortune. But by the Victorian era, many chapbooks had adapted Crusoe to conform to an emerging middle-class identity.

In chapter 4, O'Malley uncovers a nearly identical scenario of appropriation and cultural contestation in pantomimes of Robinson Crusoe. This is among O'Malley's finest chapters, as recent scholarship has not addressed the long-term impact of the Crusoe pantomime on the British stage. O'Malley argues that Richard Brinsley Sheridan's immensely popular Robinson Crusoe; or, the Harlequin Friday (1782) initiates a transition of pantomime from regularly performed popular entertainment to seasonal specials designed primarily for children. The pedagogical qualities of Robinson Crusoe are effectively erased, marking the beginning of "Crusoe as a product to be consumed" (130), from toys, sets, props, to even video games, as O'Malley shows in chapter 5. O'Malley observes that elements from the narrative have become so ubiquitous that we may not even realize that popular shows like Survivor or Lost are in some manner indebted to Defoe.

Followers of O'Malley's work will undoubtedly notice that the first half of the book is composed entirely of articles from previous publications that have been retooled for his larger thesis. For example, the third chapter, "Poaching on Crusoe's Island," originally appeared in this journal. Children's Literature, Popular Culture, and Robinson Crusoe is the accumulation of several years' work by O'Malley who, in this author's opinion, is making a significant contribution to Defoe scholarship. O'Malley's recognition of Robinson Crusoe as an enduring media event will, one hopes, spur other scholars to revisit the history of this western classic and consider that Crusoe's legacy may not be built upon the power of Defoe's prose or narration, but rather on derivatives and adaptations that were frequently revised to reflect the ideas and values of a rapidly evolving society.