ABSTRACT:
Defoe’s novels depict adventure primarily as a pecuniary venture. Published at the time when England was launching upon its destiny as an imperialist trading nation, they used the ideological apparatus of the Enlightenment in support of this trend. Placed at the crossroads of different types of investment, they depict a vivid picture of men and women caught in the contradiction between market relations and the moral and human values upheld by their society. But, while adventure lies at the root of the myth of the resourceful man in these works, it is itself based on the category of possibility, the very foundation of dream and fiction. While they tell stories of survival, Defoe’s narratives go beyond ideological limits, as an oniric dimension underlies their ludic effects.
