Robinson Crusoe vs Pride and Prejudice - 2573 Words

Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) is one of the most important novels of the eighteenth century, and of the English literature. It is certainly the first novel in the sense that it is the first fictional narrative in which the ordinary person’s activities are the centre of continuous literary attention. Before that, in the early eighteenth century, authors like Pope, Swift, Addison and Steele looked back to the Rome of Caesar Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD) as a golden age. That period is called the Augustan age. Literature was very different since it focused on mythology and epic heroes. However, to what extent can Robinson Crusoe be called the â€Å"first novel† and how is it different from all that have been done so far?†¦show more content†¦The shifts of interests are mainly caused by a change in society and a transformation in people’s minds. In Austen’s times, the most important thing is not the individual in itself but far more, the individual living in a society strongly hierarchical, and based on a strong and deeply rooted system of class. That difference can be pointed by the two openings of Pride and Prejudice on the one hand, and Robinson Crusoe on the other hand. â€Å"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters. [†¦]† â€Å"I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen who settled first at Hull. [†¦]† The choice of words clearly shows that the two books are about to tackle different perspectives: the individual in Robinson Crusoe and the relation of the individual and the society in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. To carry on with Pride and Prejudice, marriage and money were two recurrent themes in Victorian people’s minds, as shown with Mrs Bennet, who in the very first chapter claims, â€Å"the business of her life was to get her daughters married.† In Austen’s plot, theShow MoreRelatedFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagesprovides tools/ supplies, etc.) Are there written contracts or employee-type benefits (i.e., pension plan, insurance, vacation pay, etc.)? Will the relationship continue, and is the work performed a key aspect of the business? Exhibit 1-5 Employee vs. Independent Contractor The difference between employees and independent contractors is an important yet frequently difficult distinction to make. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published guidelines for employers. Type of Relationship Businesses