Daniel Defoe, The Family Instructor

Penny Pritchard (University of Hertfordshire)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1715

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Instructional / reference
Religion and Spirituality (any)
- Religious writing

Resources

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We live in an age that does not want so much to know their duty as to practice it; not so much to be taught, as to be made obedient to what they have already learnt. The Introduction to Volume One of Defoe's

Family Instructor

(1715) makes clear that the purpose of these volumes will be didactic, offering sage advice to readers as to how to conduct their religious duties within the domestic sphere. Although conduct works were generally popular during this period, Defoe's

Family Instructor

was particularly successful: Volume One reached its eighth edition by 1720 and its seventeenth English edition by 1794. One reason for this success was Defoe's use of a lively format of brief dialogues between fictional characters in order to illustrate particular problems in family conduct and how…

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1590 words

Citation: Pritchard, Penny. "The Family Instructor". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=899, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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Daniel Defoe, The Family Instructor

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