The Economies of the Self: Puritan Symbolism and Bourgeois Individualism in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders

Abstract

This article argues that Daniel Defoe's celebrated novels, Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722), use a complex system of Puritan-derived symbolism to morally and spiritually validate the radical bourgeois individualism of the protagonists. This analysis reveals how the author alters acts deemed improper by society, such as Crusoe's colonialist greed and Moll's criminality, into stories of spiritual trial and redemption. By closely analyzing key symbolic elements, this paper argues that Defoe's novels construct a new archetype of the self. With this framework, economic priorities are framed as sacred through a symbolic structure that aligns Puritan introspection with the emerging capitalist ethos of eighteenth-century England. This produces a powerful and enduring myth of the self-made individual whose material pursuits are evidence of divine providence.