Robinson Crusoe: A Product of Elective Affinity of the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Abstract

Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe takes a sailor named Alexander Selkirk as its prototype, telling a story of the protagonist Robinson Crusoe’s life and adventure, especially his experience on an island for 28 years. Critics argue that there are two major themes in the novel: economic individualism and religious belief, and more or less believe that making a good fortune and spiritual pursuit are opposite. However, analysis of the protagonist from a single perspective--economics or religion--inevitably leads to contradiction of understanding the character. This paper analyzes Robinson Crusoe from the theoretical perspective of Max Weber’s Protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism, seeking the “elective affinity” of the two. Crusoe is an ambitious adventurer, a diligent laborer and a lonely ascetic, all of which has an elective affinity with the Protestant ethic. Meanwhile, Robinson Crusoe converts to religion to guide his life. His seemingly contradictory behaviors reflects that he is in fact a product of the elective affinity of the economic ideology and the religious consciousness.