"I fell on my Knees" — illustration for Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" (1891)

I fell on my Knees (p. 101) contrasts the determined, almost obsessed Crusoe of the boat-building plates with the evangelical Christian who yields to the ways of Providence. Middle of page 105, vignetted: approximately 10.4 cm high by 11.2 cm wide, signed "Wal Paget" lower right.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Passage Illustrated: Crusoe thankful for his Preservation

About four o’clock in the evening, being then within a league of the island, I found the point of the rocks which occasioned this disaster stretching out, as is described before, to the southward, and casting off the current more southerly, had, of course, made another eddy to the north; and this I found very strong, but not directly setting the way my course lay, which was due west, but almost full north. However, having a fresh gale, I stretched across this eddy, slanting north-west; and in about an hour came within about a mile of the shore, where, it being smooth water, I soon got to land.

When I was on shore, God I fell on my knees and gave God thanks for my deliverance, resolving to lay aside all thoughts of my deliverance by my boat; and refreshing myself with such things as I had, I brought my boat close to the shore, in a little cove that I had spied under some trees, and laid me down to sleep, being quite spent with the labour and fatigue of the voyage. [ChapterX, "Tames Goats,"running head: "My Happy Deliverance,"page 101]

Commentary

Paget deals not with the circumnavigation of the island, but Crusoe's realisation that, with contrary currents, he has been lucky (or blessed) to return to the island alive. In his 1831 narrative-pictorial sequence Cruikshank had underscored Crusoe's elation at breaking free of the confines of the island in Crusoe circumnavigating the island; Paget, on the other hand, emphasizes how the voyage might have ended rather badly for the castaway, had not luck or Providence been with him. Instead of depicting the triumphant voyager, Paget shows us a Crusoe thankful for his preservation. His choice of moment realised involves his response not only to the Cruikshank illustration, but also to the 1863 Cassell wood-engraving Crusoe sails out of his Creek, which would seem to signal Crusoe's triumph over his environment. In terms of the compositional elements, Paget juxtaposes the the thankful castaway, gazing heavenward like a mediaeval saint, with the tentatively anchored boat and breakers in the background and its unbroken horizon-line. The linen shirt which Crusoe wears reminds us of his European home and his gradually exhausting materials from the wreck, whereas the goatskin cap and breeches imply his ability to adapt in order to survive.

Whereas Defoe is somewhat reflective in his development of the boat-launching narrative as he has his protagonist-narrator reflect on his past errors and upon the wisdom of providence in directing his efforts, Paget as the late nineteenth-century illustrator provides a linear development in the narrative. Exploring the island and assessing its resources in such pictures as I descended a little on the side of that delicious valley (facing page 74), he determines to build a boart, wit the initial objective of exploration, but the ultimate objective of escaping. Not always absolutely correct in his calculations, however, as What odd, misshapen, ugly things I made demonstrates, he persists, and seems to have arrived at the brink of success in I resolved to dig into the surface of the earth. Finally, as the present illustration affirms, he succeeds. The sequel is anything but expected, however, for the wind and currents combine to make his return to the island difficult. Thus, Paget converts over thirty pages of letterpress into an effective story-board into just five illustrations.

The visual progress from boat construction to successful second landing

Related Material

Parallel Scenes from Cruikshank (1831) and Cassell's (1863)

Theparallel scene from Cruikshank's illustrations for the 1831 John Major edition, Crusoe circumnavigating the island. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Theparallel scene from the Cassell illustrations for the 1863-64, Crusoe sails out of his Creek.

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 30 April 2018