Meaning of "what he forsaw was my design"?

Question

My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious and excellent counsel against what he forsaw was my design.

From Robinson Crusoe.

I don't quite understand last part: what he forsaw was my design. What does that mean? And how do you connect it with the main clause? I mean, there should be 'one main verb per clause and 1 pronoun/coordinating conjunction to connect two clauses'. I can see 3 main verbs in this sentence. The first one is 'gave', the second one is 'forsaw' and the third one is 'was'. So it means there are three clauses in the sentence. But I only count 1 connecting word which is 'what' to connect a noun clause.

So, here are my three presumptions to understand the sentence:

1. (That) My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious and excellent counsel against what he forsaw was my design.
2. My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious and excellent counsel against (that) what he forsaw was my design.
3. My father, a wise and grave man, gave me serious and excellent counsel against what he forsaw (and what) was my design.

Answer 1

Crusoe senior foresaw (predicted) that Robinson had a certain design (plan) in mind, and seriously advised him against it.

What here means the thing which.

Answer 2

I'm not sure of the exact context here, but it may be helpful to know that design has several meanings. In older texts, it can mean:

a deliberate undercover project or scheme : plot

designs plural : aggressive or evil intent

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/design

So, "...what he forsaw was my design" could mean:

what he suspected I was planning

Answer 3

It may help if you realize that, in this context, "my design" means "my plan" or "my intent", not a design of some object. So, "what he foresaw was my design" means "that plan he could tell I was making."

Answer 4

Let's break down a shorter version with the same complexity of structure:

My father gave me counsel against what he forsaw was my design.

The first subject-verb pair is "My father" + "gave". It's the main clause.

"Against" is a preposition that connects the noun "counsel" to "what he forsaw was my design". This is one of the connecting words.

The deeper structure of this phrase is:

he forsaw what my design was

By fronting the wh-pronoun "what", the sentence became a noun phrase, the object of "against".

In this sentence, "he forsaw" is the next subject-verb pair, and "what my design was" is the direct object of "forsaw", so no connecting word is required.

Again, the deep version of this noun phrase is the clause:

my design was what.

And again, fronting "what" makes it a noun phrase, in this case, the direct object of "forsaw".