The Mirror and the Mask: Two Versions of Alexander Selkirk in Jorge Luis Borges and William Cowper

Abstract

In 1963, Jorge Luis Borges published a sonnet titled “Robinson Crusoe”. He later changed the title to “Alexander Selkirk”. The present paper explains such a change as an attempt on the part of Borges to subvert the iconic figure of the resourceful castaway, as represented not only by Defoe’s Crusoe but also by Selkirk, one of Defoe’s inspirations, as he was depicted by contemporary chronicles. This paper also compares Borges’s Selkirk with the one depicted by the XVIII-century poet William Cowper, and suggests that the latter’s may have been a possible inspiration for Borges. Since in both compositions the poetic voice is to be identified with Selkirk, it is possible to study both poems as instances of dramatic monologues.