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• 1 media/First-edition-of-Daniel-c_30_f_6_fp_tp-2.jpg 2019-05-27T01:55:07-07:00 Illustrations and Depictions of Robinson Crusoe 58 plain 2019-10-13T14:24:18-07:00

  Since the first publication of Robinson Crusoe, most editions of the novel feature engravings and illustrations from various artists that depict Robinson Crusoe as a character. These images—particularly of Crusoe's physical appearance while living on the island—have been adapted in various iterations since the frontispiece and engravings included in the 1719 first edition of the novel. Crusoe describes his garments (and lack thereof) while upon the island at several points of the text. Soon after landing on the island, Crusoe focuses in particular on his lack of clothing:

  After I had solaced my mind with the comfortable part of my condition, I began to look round me, to see what kind of place I was in, and what was next to be done: and I soon found my comforts abate, and that, in a word, I had a dreadful deliverance: for I was wet, had no clothes to shift me, nor anything either to eat or drink to comfort me; neither did I see any prospect before me but that of perishing with hunger or being devoured by wild beasts: and that which was particularly afflicting to me was, that I had no weapon, either to hunt and kill any creature for my sustenance, or to defend myself against any other creature that might desire to kill me for theirs.  In a word, I had nothing about me but a knife, a tobacco-pipe, and a little tobacco in a box. This was all my provision; and thus threw me into terrible agonies of mind, that for awhile I run about like a madman. Night coming upon me, I began with a heavy heart to consider what would be my lot if there were any ravenous beasts in that country, seeing at night they always come abroad for their prey.

  He also describes the condition of his linen breeches and stockings when he swims to the shipwrecked boat to collect provisions:

  While I was doing this, I found the tide began to flow, though very calm; and I had the mortification to see my coat, shirt, and waistcoat, which I had left on the shore, upon the sand, swim away. As for my breeches, which were only linen, and open-kneed, I swam on board in them and my stockings. However, this put me upon rummaging for clothes, of which I found enough, but took no more than I wanted for present use, for I had others things which my eye was more upon; as, first, tools to work with on shore;...

  Though Crusoe originally approaches his lack of clothing as a symbol of scarcity in his early life on the island—which is part of his larger scarcity mindset when we first steps foot upon the island—he begins to reevaluate this perspective when he draws up his "evil and good list", in which he lists on the evil side, "I have no clothes to cover me," and on the good side, "But I am in a hot climate, where if I had clothes, I could hardly wear them." Crusoe’s lack of clothing first serves as a metaphor for his lack of resources and daily comforts so far away from home, but the articles of clothing that Crusoe later fashions for himself come to symbolize his resourcefulness and adaptation to the island. Just as Crusoe realizes money has no value to him while living on the island, away from traditional economic markets, he begins to reassess what is useful and valuable to him, which are basic goods necessary for survival—food, water, shelter, and clothing. 

  As time goes on, however, Crusoe details the gradual decay, degradation, and dwindling of his supplies and stores, including his ink, biscuits, and clothing. He states:

  My clothes, too, began to decay mightily; as to linen, I had had none a good while, except some chequered shirts which I found in the chests of the other seamen, and which I carefully preserved; because many times I could bear no other clothes on but a shirt; and it was a very great help to me that I had, among all the men’s clothes of the ship, almost three dozen of shirts.  There were also several thick watch-coats of the seamen’s which were left behind, but they were too hot to wear: and though it is true that the weather was so violently hot that there was no need of clothes, yet I could not go quite naked—no, though I had been inclined to it, which I was not; nor could I abide the thoughts of it, though I was all alone.  One reason why I could not go naked was, I could not bear the heat of the sun so well when quite naked as with some clothes on; nay, the very heat frequently blistered my skin; whereas, with a shirt on, the air itself made some motion, and whistling under the shirt, was twofold cooler than without it.  No more could I ever bring myself to go out in the heat of the sun without a cap or a hat; the heat of the sun, beating with such violence as it does in that place, would give me the headache presently, by darting so directly on my head, without a cap or hat on, so that I could not bear it; whereas, if I put on my hat, it would presently go away.

  Upon these views, I began to consider about putting the few rags I had, which I called clothes, into some order; I had worn out all the waistcoats I had, and my business was now to try if I could not make jackets out of the great watch-coats which I had by me, and with such other materials as I had; so I set to work, tailoring, or rather, indeed, botching, for I made most piteous work of it.  However, I made shift to make two or three waistcoats, which I hoped would serve me a great while; as for breeches or drawers, I made but a very sorry shift indeed till afterwards.

  I have mentioned that I saved the skins of all the creatures that I killed, I mean four-footed ones, and I had them hung up stretched out with sticks in the sun, by which means some of them were so dry and hard that they were fit for little, but others, it seems, were very useful.  The first thing I made of these was a great cap for my head, with the hair on the outside, to shoot off the rain; and this I performed so well, that after, I made me a suit of clothes wholly of these skins—that is to say, a waistcoat, and breeches open at the knees, and both loose, for they were rather wanting to keep me cool than to keep me warm.  I must not omit to acknowledge that they were wretchedly made; for if I was a bad carpenter, I was a worse tailor.  However, they were such as I made very good shift with, and when I was abroad, if it happened to rain, the hair of the waistcoat and cap being outermost, I was kept very dry. 

  This animal skin outfit that Crusoe fashions for himself is the most iconic imagery of Crusoe that appears in illustrations and engravings in various illustrated editions of Robinson Crusoe, as well as other remediations of Robinson Crusoe. This outfit symbolizes Crusoe's inventiveness and mastery of his environment, two of the qualities Defoe celebrates in his depiction of his protagonist as homo economicus, which provides a compelling account for why Crusoe has been most persistently depicted in his crafted animal skin clothing. Crusoe likens his crafted outfit to a "cap," "waistcoat," and "breeches," but he also qualifies his description ("that is to say"; "they were wretchedly made"; "I was a worse tailor") to indicate that these comparisons to clothing that he would otherwise purchase in England are intended for his reader to have an understanding of the garments his fashioned clothing resembles, rather than exactly replicates. Crusoe creates comparisons to real-world referents to make things intelligible for his reader, all the while recognizing and signposting in the text that his life often deviates from normal conditions and items that one would otherwise not think much of back home in England. Crusoe's frustration while attempting to fashion a proper chair, for example, not only points to his lack of resources upon the island, but also how detached modern man has become from the skills that were required to craft everyday necessities and creature comforts.
  
  Below are some curated images of how Crusoe has been depicted in major illustrated editions of the text over time. Most of the illustrations and engravings depict Crusoe in his animal skin garments, though some of the illustrations (like the 1790 edition, 1820 edition, and 1863 edition) depict Crusoe in his shirt, linen breeches, and stockings as well. Crusoe's age also fluctuates in the depictions featured in different editions of the novel and in popular culture. Crusoe tells us in the first sentence of the narrative that he is born in 1632, making him 27 years old at the time he is shipwrecked upon the island. Crusoe lives on the island for 28 years and escapes the island in December 1686, when he is about 55 years old. Most illustrations depict Crusoe true-to-age—somewhere in middle age—though some editions (like the 1790 edition) depict him as more youthful.
  
  A conversation about depictions of Robinson Crusoe must also necessarily consider depictions of Friday. Crusoe names Friday after the day in which he first encounters him and subsequently keeps Friday as his servant, converting Friday to Christianity from his native religion and instructing him on the ostensible moral ills of cannibalism. Illustrated depictions of Friday—some of which are featured below—cannot be separated from racial biases and depictions of non-white characters. As revealed in some of the images below, Friday's physical position is always meant to convey his subservient status in relation to Crusoe—Friday is either kneeling before Crusoe, or sitting at Crusoe's feet, or trailing behind Crusoe. In the 1869 edition, Friday is depicted crouching among Crusoe's domesticated animals as yet another thing that Crusoe owns. In addition to the complicated depiction of racial and cultural differences in Robinson Crusoe, this troubling dynamic lives on in the visual history of Crusoe and Friday, as well as the legacy of the "man Friday" or "girl Friday" trope in popular culture. 
  
  See the media gallery on "Robinsonades" to see how imagery of Crusoe, Friday, and their lives on the island have been adapted and remediated in subsequent texts.