"I fell fast asleep." — illustration for Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1891)

I fell fast asleep

Wal Paget (1863-1935)

full-page lithograph

14 cm high by 12 cm wide, vignetted.

1891

Robinson Crusoe, embedded on page 36.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

[You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Passage Illustrated: Out of Reach of Potential Predators

All the remedy that offered to my thoughts at that time was to get up into a thick bushy tree like a fir, but thorny, which grew near me, and where I resolved to sit all night, and consider the next day what death I should die, for as yet I saw no prospect of life. I walked about a furlong from the shore, to see if I could find any fresh water to drink, which I did, to my great joy; and having drank, and put a little tobacco into my mouth to prevent hunger, I went to the tree, and getting up into it, endeavoured to place myself so that if I should sleep I might not fall. And having cut me a short stick, like a truncheon, for my defence, I took up my lodging; and having been excessively fatigued, I fell fast asleep, and slept as comfortably as, I believe, few could have done in my condition, and found myself more refreshed with it than, I think, I ever was on such an occasion.[Chapter IV, "First Weeks on the Island," page 34]

Commentary: Crusoe interacts with the Nature of the Island

Heretofore, Crusoe has been reacting with other people, in camaraderie and conflict. Now, Paget depicts him by himself in long series of illustrations interacting with the natural environment: sleeping in a tree within sight of the ocean, hunting birds and goats, interacting with the ship's dog, discovering barley growing on the island, sharpening tools salvaged from the wreck, catching turtles and dolphins, and broiling meat over hot coals.He has become the embodiment of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Noble Savage, but without any society but that of animals. Paget delights in these scenes, representing the multiple species and tropical foliage of theCaribbeanisland.And Paget sees the mature protagonist as a keen observer and problem-solver whose biggest struggle is not with the elements, but with the loneliness of living in a previously uninhabited tropical paradise.Until he becomes familiar with the creatures of the place, however, he thinks it less conducive to anxiety to sleep in a tree rather than on the ground.

Related Material

Reference

Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Of York, Mariner. As Related by Himself. With upwards of One Hundred and Twenty Original Illustrations by Walter Paget. London, Paris, and Melbourne: Cassell, 1891.

Last modified 25 April 2018