365 Day Project: Day 56

Punished for Too Sharp a Wit

Daniel Defoe

[Vol. 27, pp. 133-147 of The Harvard Classics]

The brilliant wit and cutting satire of Defoe made for his friends and enemies - but mostly enemies. So piercing and two-edged was "The Shortest-Way with Dissenters" that he was fined, imprisoned and pilloried. ("The Shortest-Way with Dissenters" censored, Feb. 25. 1703.)

Today’s reading is an excerpt from Daniel Defoe's essay, The Shortest-Way with the Dissenters. In this piece, Defoe satirizes the religious beliefs of the “Dissenters”, a group of English Protestants who separated from the Church of England. Defoe was himself a Dissenter, but while writing the essay, he assumes the role of an overly zealous Anglican apologist and argues that the only way to deal with the Dissenters is to kill them.

Readers at the time misunderstood the satirical nature of the essay and the Dissenters were upset by the text.?This essay was originally published anonymously.?However, angry Dissenters, church and government leaders eventually identified Defoe as the author and had him fined, pilloried in public for 3 days and imprisoned.?

Defoe’s act of non-conformity in writing and publishing this essay stands the test of time, as it is still read and studied today.?The massive negative reaction he initially received from his fellow Dissenters shows how quickly and defensively people can act when they believe their ideas are being challenged.?

Defoe recovered and wrote the beloved classic and still very popular, Robinson Crusoe.

Best,

Matt

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Resources

Kindle version of The Harvard Classics ($1.99):?https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089K4RP1F/