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Chapter 38 - Defoe and the Supernatural

from Part V - Social Structures and Social Life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2023

By
Geoffrey Sill
Edited by
Albert J. Rivero  and
George Justice
Albert J. Rivero
Affiliation:
Marquette University, Wisconsin
George Justice
Affiliation:
University of Tulsa
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Summary

Though he is now praised for the realism of his fiction, Defoe often introduced evidence of supernatural presences into his writings. From his satirical poem The Storm. An Essay (1704), which excoriates non-believers in the reality and power of the Divinity, to his Essay on the History and Reality of Apparitions (1727), which argues the necessity of belief in angels, spirits, and the Devil, Defoe warned that denial of the supernatural world inevitably ends in the denial of God and the damnation of the non-believer. At the same time, he rejected superstition, ghost stories, idolatry, and paganism as corruptions of the supernatural. Using the paradigm developed by Blaise Pascal, he showed that belief in angels, spirits, and the Devil brought no harm, except for the loss of some material comforts in life, while denial of the signs of Providence delivered through these supernatural messengers was a bad bet.

Keywords

Daniel Defoethe supernatural
Type
Chapter
Information
Daniel Defoe in Context , pp. 330 - 336
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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