Moll Flanders is a novel written by Daniel Defoe in 1722. It tells the story of the eponymous Moll, a woman who is born into poverty and must resort to a life of crime in order to survive.
One of the main themes of the novel is the role of societal expectations and the ways in which they can shape an individual's actions. Moll is a product of her environment, and she is constantly forced to navigate the expectations placed upon her as a woman in order to survive. At the beginning of the novel, she is married off to a man who is abusive and neglectful, and she is forced to turn to thievery in order to provide for herself and her children.
Another theme of the novel is the role of redemption. Moll is a complex character, and although she is forced to engage in criminal activity in order to survive, she is also capable of love and compassion. Throughout the novel, she grapples with the weight of her actions and the guilt that comes with them. Despite the challenges she faces, Moll is ultimately able to find redemption and a sense of peace through her relationships with others and her own self-reflection.
Overall, Moll Flanders is a thought-provoking and poignant tale that explores the ways in which society shapes our actions and the power of redemption. Through the character of Moll, Defoe presents a nuanced and multidimensional portrayal of a woman who is forced to navigate the expectations placed upon her and ultimately finds a sense of agency and redemption in the face of adversity.
Moll Flanders
Moll claims her story is most useful to honest people, as it reminds them to guard themselves against the dishonesty of others. Moll was devastated and condemned his inconstancy, then fell very ill. Moll also learns that her brother still lives on his plantation with Humphry, his son with Moll, and the entire town knows about their scandalous history. The shopkeeper tells the constable that Moll is not the offender in question, and he apologizes for any inconvenience. Kenneth Rexroth notes, "Moll Flanders has no interior life at all, and the material facts with which her character is constructed do not increase her individuality.
Her Nurse a pious lady, poor but refined, who takes care of Moll in her extreme youth. Indeed, this study seeks to demystify the male-centric mindset to promote the visibility of women in the contemporary interpretation of literary works demonstrating that women play a greater role in the literature despite the proximity given to male protagonist. Now it remains for me to show that Moll Flanders is not a moral work. He eventually leaves her after a religious experience. And perhaps even then Moll is really worried about being hanged. Her mother was convicted of having stolen some cloth, for which she was sentenced to death.
This widow, too, had taken refuge in the Mint in an attempt to escape her creditors. Buy Study Guide Preface: Summary Defoe hopes that He explains that he has altered do not commit adultery. She is willing to sacrifice moral principles in order to prosper, but does not appear to be extraordinarily wicked: when her continued prosperity seems secure, she can be an exemplary wife, sober and virtuous. Part 3: Husband Number Two, the Gentleman-Tradesman A young, pretty, and quite wealthy widow, Moll was courted by many tradesmen. However, it is worth mentioning since it also correlates with the themes of poverty and greed. Frequently Moll feels remorse — but it is a hollow remorse, for it neither leads her to curtail the particular crime she is bemoaning, nor does it prompt her to offer restitution.
She leaves her children with the lady and, with a bank of about £1,200, goes out into the world. We have seen that, motivated by greed, she has been able to commit the crassest of criminal acts. In fact the moral message is quite different from what Defoe claims it to be, as we shall see. . This is shown in her robbery of a woman whose house is on fire: "This was the greatest and the worst prize that ever I was concerned in; for indeed, though, as I have said above, I was hardened now beyond the power of all reflection in other cases, yet it really touched me to the very soul when I looked into this treasure, to think of the poor disconsolate gentlewoman who had lost so much by the fire. This depiction destroys the myth of the house as a haven sanctified by a loving marriage which complicates the glowing recommendation of marriage that Opie puts forward. Greed The major recurrent theme in the novel is that of greed — a greed which leads Moll to prostitution, thievery, and moral disintegration.
Moll is shown as a capitalist who must barter goods and services in order to gain wealth since she does not have the option of inheritance like a woman who is born into a wealthy family would Moll Flanders Character Analysis article, Moll Flanders and the Bastard Birth of a Realist Character, he approaches the conflicting question about how the audience is meant to feel about the main protagonist, Moll, and whether we are meant to respect her or not. If Moll Flanders is surprisingly unmoralizing, Defoe's indulgent attitude toward his heroine accords with the reaction of most readers. Love had no share, or but very little, in the matter. She: I'm poor: let's see how kind you'll prove. Then the old woman made a personal revelation: she herself had been transported, and had a brand on her arm to prove it. Defoe uses irony ingeniously in the passages telling us of Moll's thoughts during her various crimes. Finally they decided that she would go to England, that he would continue to support her as a sister, and would "receive news" that she had died, allowing him to marry again.
She steals from children and from people in distress. Marrying him was not as good an idea as she had thought, however, for he turned out to be a "rake, gentleman, shopkeeper, and beggar, all together. Despite this, readers recognise her as a person that went through her ups and downs, loved and lost, had many positive character traits but was capable of committing crime because of her moral weakness. It is only after American independence that Britain began to transport criminals to Australia instead apparently the loss of a convenient sink for undesirables caused enough crowding in Newgate to justify shipping them halfway around the world. Robin's brother got him drunk on his wedding night so he wouldn't notice that Moll wasn't a virgin. Moll shows that she is willing to take substantial risks, repeatedly telling him that she is poor, relying entirely on his tendency to take men's words more seriously than those of women.
The men have no reason to suspect Moll, other than her gender, and like Moll says, they have no right to detain her. While fictitious, this story does show one bit of truth, the way women were being treated during this era. Jemy leaves to seek out his fortune elsewhere and Moll admits to herself she has true feelings for him. Moll planned a campaign to get him back. Frightened by the prospect of being "turned out to the wide world as a cast-off whore," Moll finally agreed to marry Robin.
They both manage to have their sentences reduced, and they are transported to the colonies, where they begin a new life as plantation owners. Then, luckily for her, she was transported to the Virginian plantations, leaving Moll in England. He ultimately leaves her, and Moll is forced to marry his younger brother who has also fallen in love with Moll despite her social status or she will be put out in the street. Once Moll was taken in, her troubles had not come to end. He made a good and agreeable husband for Moll, but she was never in love with him.
Again Moll was lucky to escape with a broken heart, and a profitable marriage. The result of the acts she performed to achieve these goals was the transformation of a beautiful innocent young girl into a hardened middle-aged criminal who was finally captured and sent to Newgate Prison. Moll discovered that in London one married for money and position, not love. He is her fifth and final husband, and the two of them set up a successful plantation in Maryland and eventually return to England to retire. Her mother's reaction to the news is to want to keep it quiet. After discovering that Moll was not a criminal, the widow invited Moll to live with her, suggesting that one of the ship captains might like her.
