In much Western literature, what often identifies female characters is a turbulent, compulsive sexuality. She tells the reader, ‘I…was to be discourag’d with nothing'(p.414). With the help of her female friend, a sea captain's wife, the first in a series of crucial female accomplices for Moll, she passes for a woman of fortune and attracts a number of suitors: "I who had a subtile game to play, had nothing now to do but to single out from them all the properest man that might be for my purpose; that is to say, the man who was most likely to depend upon the hear say of a fortune, and not enquire too far into the particulars; and unless I did this, I did nothing, for my case would not bear much enquiry." In Moll Flanders, Defoe makes it clear from the outset that his heroine will not be a model of virtue. The definition of feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies set at defining and defending equal economic, social and political rights for woman [1]. The authors provide insights into food shortages, changes in poor relief, use of the criminal law, and the shifts in social power caused by industrialization that would bring about the birth of working-class radicalism. The reader is granted access to Moll’s private life, which elicits sympathy and allows the reader to build a visual image of who she is. Burglary presupposed breaking and entering – this didn’t have to be violent and could simply involve ‘lifting up the latch of a door’ but Moll knows they can’t prove she did this: her plea is calculated according to precise knowledge of law: ‘I knew very well they could not pretend to prove I had broken up the Doors, or so much as lifted up a Latch'(p.361). Those of us inclined to cynicism may doubt Moll’s repentance but Defoe recognises that as far as the law is concerned, whether or not Moll’s repentance is genuine is in one sense irrelevant. Up until this point Moll appears to have regarded the trial as part of her long running ‘cat and mouse’ game with the law. In this instance, at least, transportation serves the ideals of justice more effectively than the death penalty would. There, after bearing him three children, Moll discovers that she is her husband's sister through conversations with his mother. Emerged in the 16th century in Spain: picaresque narratives provided a realistic account of the life of a rogue (picaro) who survives various adventures by his wits, often satirising society. Even when she becomes the richest thief in all of England and her fame threatens her ability to continue stealing, she cannot stop her hunt for more money. She is forever seeking a rich husband and thinking up ways to acquire money. Moll’s world is very different to our own – cohabitation and having numerous partners simply wasn’t an option for a woman unless she was a prostitute. Moll Flanders, the heroine and first-person narrator of the novel, was born in Newgate Prison to a thief who would have been hung had she not been pregnant with Moll. They end up sleeping together, and Moll steals from him after he passes out. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. It is vanity that determines Moll's behavior in the first part of the book. Here we see that Moll had to appear before a judge and give her name. However, her suffering is short-lived: the Boatswain gives ‘so good a Character of’ Moll and her husband that ‘for fifteen Guineas we had our whole Passage and Provisions, and Cabbin, eat at the Captain’s Table, and were very handsomely Entertain’d'(p.397). A girlfriend of a gunman or gangster. Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. 3 Mar. There is some debate as to whether or not the character of Flanders can truly be referred to as one of noble character. Jemy leaves, but he and Moll promise that they will someday meet up again. Probably the most versatile journalist of his time and a prolific writer – over 500 publications. Frustrated at the difficulties society puts in her way and determined to gain money and thus status and power, Moll turns to a different market and sells herself, initially by marrying for money and ultimately in prostitution. We may like to feel that we are given privileged access to Moll’s feelings but ultimately we cannot be sure that she is not simply providing us with different versions of reality, without ever giving us access to the ‘truth’. (Placename) a powerful medieval principality in the SW part of the Low Countries, now in the Belgian provinces of East and West Flanders, the Netherlands province of Zeeland, and the French department of the Nord; scene of battles in many wars Sources By itself, this is convincing, especially in the care with which Moll disguises herself and hides her intense emotions, preserving something of her old cunning at self-concealment even as she reveals herself to the reader. After planting gossip to make Moll's suitors believe that she is wealthy, Moll and a friend successfully attract a man of means. 89-97. In much of what follows, Defoe displays his characteristic fascination with duplicity and manipulation of others. When she and the elder brother are discussing their future, he shows her a purse full of coins that he claims he will give her every year until they are married, in essence for remaining his mistress. Moll reflects popular opinion: not having heard from the linen draper for fifteen years, she comments, ‘no Body could blame me for thinking my self entirely freed from’ him, since he had said ‘if I did not hear frequently from him, I should conclude he was dead, and I might freely marry again'(p.180), although she admitted 3 pages earlier, ‘I was all this while a marry’d Woman’, whose husband ‘had no power to Discharge [her] from the Marriage Contract’ or to give her ‘a legal liberty to marry again'(p.177). The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. Indeed she is sometimes viewed as a kind of early capitalist woman. We’re not party to Moll’s thoughts so we simply don’t know but what is clear is that Moll’s new crime-free lifestyle testifies to the positive potential of transportation. What we are reading is not simply a record of a character in action but a process of remembering and interpreting that action whereby character is revealed and developed in complex ways through the act of narration itself. Moll's vanity facilitates her seduction by the elder brother. Moll reports that she changes her name a number of times (but usually does not indicate to what name), usually to protect her identity. In Virginia, Moll's mother serves first as a slave, then eventually marries her master and bears him two children—one of whom becomes Moll's third husband. Theft from a shop building which was not inhabited was not burglary. Although she and the gentleman she meets in Bath both insist on remaining platonic companions, she eventually initiates sex one night after they have shared a large amount of wine: "Thus the government of our virtue was broken, and I exchang'd the place of friend for that unmusical harsh-sounding title of whore." These novels usually employ a first-person narrator recounting the adventures of a scoundrel or low-class adventurer who moves from place to place and from one social environment to another in an effort to survive. The title page indicates how we should read the novel: Defoe claims that the narrative is based on Moll’s ‘memorandums’. In Puritan tradition, life is understood in biblical terms of sin, repentance and redemption. Characteristically, Moll is a sort of ironic chorus on the foolishness she has seen in her time, and her discourse is peppered with wry reflections. In a gambling house she pretends to be an innocent bystander who knows nothing about wagering and comes out of the afternoon a bit richer. Before the Transportation Act (1718) grand larceny, Moll’s crime, was regularly punished by death. In all his work, fiction and factual journalism, Defoe is powerfully drawn to precisely how trades and crafts operate. To ignore this position is to ill-define these ideals and one could argue-to forego Defoe’s intended meaning of sexuality within his British novel. Defoe suggests it’s easy to dismiss criminals and want to hang them all until we get to know one, in this case Moll. Very often her actions are morally reprehensible and open to condemnation. Moll is also a variant of Molly (Irish, Latin). And yet Defoe's own published opinions about marriage were very far from Moll's calculating materialism. Defoe continued writing almost up to his death at the approximate age of seventy on April 26, 1731, in London. A north-country woman claiming to be Jemy's sister introduces them to each other, representing Jemy as a gentleman with land and money and believing rumors that Moll is also fabulously wealthy. Characters She uses her beauty and cleverness to avoid servitude and poverty. This is a story people have loved to hear throughout the ages, one much more powerful than a tale of sin and punishment and failure. Moll's minister somehow secures a reprieve of her death sentence, and Moll is condemned to "transportation"; she must board a ship to America and become a slave for five years. https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/moll-flanders, "Moll Flanders Historical Context She moves to a house run by a midwife of questionable background. Her looks are gone and, in a daze, she steals a bundle of silver goods. Responding to his prayers and entreaties, Moll repents out of concern for having offended God, conscious as never before of her eternal welfare. Moll provides a human face to crime. Eventually, through discussions with her mother-in-law, Moll comes to the horrible realization that the woman is her mother, thus making her husband her brother. When the nurse expresses doubt that Moll can really earn her keep, Moll responds, "I will work harder, says I, and you shall have it all.". We don’t have time to deal with the legal aspects of the novel here properly but if you’re interested, you can read sections of my book, , which gives an introduction to 18th century society and its laws and explains legal situations in different novels, including. 20th century readers tend to regard incest simply as a convention of romance, a natural extension of the convention of confused identities. She receives quite a few suitors and is able to choose one based upon how much he loves her. During her marriage to him, Moll says she "had the pleasure of seeing a great deal of my money spent upon myself." Hobbes felt England had come close to this during the Civil War of 1642-8. Therefore, it’s best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publication’s requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. At first glance, Moll Flanders (1722) looks like the most formlessly episodic of Defoe's books, with over a hundred separate scenes tied together by rapid synopses of other events. After this relationship ends, Moll begins stealing again. In this highly regarded biography of Defoe, Backscheider reveals new information about Defoe's secret career as a double agent, his daring business ventures, and his cat-and-mouse games with those who wanted to control the press. William Smith, who campaigned for prison reform, commented of the Fleet prison: ‘Men and women, felons and disorderly people, are crammed together in one ward in the day, and at night lie on dirty boards in filthy holes, almost unfit for swine. Moll Flanders is the pseudonym of the heroine of this novel: since she is wanted by the law, she does not wish to reveal her true identity.. She was born in Newgate Prison to a mother who was transported to Virginia shortly afterwards for theft, leaving her helpless. They must keep their relationship a secret. Style Anonymous, Review in The Flying Post; or, Weekly Medley, March 1, 1729. Moll always comes out safe, but her accomplices are usually caught and sent to prison or executed. my very blood chills at the mention of its name; the place, where so many of my comrades had been lock'd up, and from whence they went to the fatal tree [i.e., the gallows]; the place where my mother suffered so deeply, where I was brought into the world, and from whence I expected no redemption, but by an infamous death: To conclude, the place that had so long expected me, and which with so much art and success I had so long avoided. Syphilis and other venereal diseases were common in London during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. While she lived with her first husband, the younger brother of her seducer, 'I never was in bed with my husband, but I wish'd my self in the arms of his brother … I committed adultery and incest with him every day in my desires." Moll Flanders is a nickname given to Moll by the inmates of Newgate; nicknames indicate aspects of character or one’s place in society. , which capitalises on public interest in crime and court procedure, while addressing issues of contemporary concern such as imprisonment and transportation. In this prison riot, drunkenness, blasphemy, and debauchery, echo from the walls; sickness and misery are confined within them.’ State of the Gaols in London, Westminster, and the Borough of Southwark, 1776. The word ‘Moll’ refers to a woman of morally dubious reputation, often associated with criminals. Marries Jemy; they each con the other by pretending to have money. In 1700, he published a poem entitled "A True-Born Englishman", a satire on those who mocked King William because he was Dutch. He dies and she marries the linen draper. In the light of the emergent values of capitalism, Mitchell views Moll as ‘the new small time capitalist…progressing to what…she rightly takes to be the capitalist definition of a gentlewoman – the wife of a prosperous businessman or a self-made woman in her own right'(pp.11-12). The Transportation Act enabled courts to transport criminals if they believed the death penalty to be too harsh. Defoe definition, English novelist and political journalist. Defoe grants Moll extensive narrative space to present her feelings to the reader which encourages an emotional connection to be made between the reader and Moll. "I began to think, and to think is one real advance from hell to heaven; all that hellish harden'd state and temper of soul … is but a deprivation of thought; he that is restor'd to his power of thinking is restor'd to himself". For example, after her marriage to the draper ends, Moll realizes that being the former wife of an escaped debtor has its problems. Moll complains after the death of her first husband that no one in the city appreciates a beautiful, well-mannered woman, and that the only thing a man is looking for in a wife is her ability to bring money into the relationship. Eighteenth-century readers were fascinated by criminal law and those who infringed its code. As a novelist, he was primarily interested in man as a social being, not in individual psychology (this became the focus of attention in the Romantic era). Moll is a poster child for a sort of soap-opera-type heroine who, through grit and determination, pulls herself up by her own bootstraps and offers her life as a lesson in how to "begin the world upon a new foundation; … [and] live as new people in a new world." there is not a wicked action in any part of it, but is first or last rendered unhappy and unfortunate; there is not a superlative villain brought upon the stage, but either he is brought to an unhappy end, or brought to be a penitent. Hardly a page goes by in the novel without a mention of money. Hobbes constructed a philosophical myth of the origins of society, arguing that man had decided to exchange natural freedom for the benefits of peace and profit. It’s available from the English Dept web site under ‘resources’ and the IBIS page for EN3101. The two brothers in the new family begin to take notice of her because she is becoming a woman. Moll, who, “even now [doesn’t have] the Grace of Repentance” (323) fails, throughout this novel to accept or enact her own agency. Underlying this is the sub text of providence and thus the assurance of ultimate meaning in a divinely ordered universe: Moll seeks meaning through increasingly desperate acts to obtain wealth and social position, things society teaches us give our lives meaning. 380-410. Interestingly enough, though, when she does face the actual prospect of dying for her crime, she then believes she has truly succeeded in producing a real sense of repentance, although she is incapable of saying exactly what that is. But within the context of Moll's career as a mother in which she has more or less abandoned or carelessly disposed of a string of children such intensity may seem strangely inconsistent at best. The episodic nature of Moll’s adventures reflects the fragmented and often confused experiences of human life as we struggle to find meaning. His own life was pretty colourful: he was a spy from 1697 to 1714, initially for William III and then for various ministers. Source: John J. Richetti, "Daniel Defoe," in Twayne's English Author's Series Online, G. K. Hall & Co., 1999. This man becomes Moll's third husband and, upon discovering that Moll has no wealth, he insists they move to Virginia to live more cheaply. And yet, Moll Flanders is hardly schematic. The form originated in 12th century France, characteristically recounting the story of a knight and his adventures and concerned with courtly values in all aspects of society, love and battle. Moll is not quite in this category: she admits that she could earn a living from sewing but she wants to do more than earn a living – she is desperate to climb the social ladder. Sound familiar? It thus useful to apply a critical lens to the analysis of literary works in order to acquire a better understanding of social or other types of historical phenomena. Moll's "colour came and went, at the sight of the purse," and at the thought of the money he had promised her. In such an environment, society looked upon individuals who lived outside of a family unit with suspicion and assumed they were probably criminals, beggars, or prostitutes. Moll flanders definition, (The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders) a novel (1722) by Daniel Defoe. She and Moll work together until Moll is caught and sent to Newgate Prison. 1, rev. Newgate is Defoe’s equivalent to the pigsty. "It was you that saved my life at that time, and I am glad I owe my life to you, for I will pay my debt to you now," Jemy promises. The episodic nature of Moll’s adventures reflects the fragmented and often confused experiences of human life as we struggle to find meaning. Legal theory determines that language is studied in relation to evidence and the evidence is that Moll is a first time offender who is repenting. For example, she marries her first husband because she must lie about her relation-ship with his brother, and she catches her third husband because she and a friend spread gossip around town that she is a wealthy widow. We are reading Moll’s memoirs, a narrative which functions as an appeal to the reader to like and forgive her and, ostensibly at least, a moral directive to follow the good example of her repentant old age, not the bad example of her criminal youth. Many critics and historians argue that a woman named Elizabeth Atkins, a notorious thief who died in prison in 1723, was one of Defoe's inspirations for the character of Moll Flanders. When someone points Humphry out to her, Moll is deeply affected: you may guess, if you can, what a confus'd mixture of joy and fright possest my thoughts upon this occasion, for I immediately knew that this was no body else, but my own son … let any mother of children that reads this, consider it, and but think with what anguish of mind I restrain'd myself; what yearnings of soul I had in me to embrace him, and weep over him; and how I thought all my entrails turn'd within me, that my very bowels mov'd, and I knew not what to do; as I now know not how to express those agonies: When he went from me I stood gazing and trembling, and looking after him as long as I could see him; then sitting down on the grass, just at a place I had mark'd, I made as if I lay down to rest me, but turn'd from her [the woman who has identified Moll's son], and lying on my face wept, and kiss'd the ground that he had set his foot on. Roscoe, W. C., "Defoe as a Novelist," in National Review, Vol. Overwhelmed with grief for him, she tells us, Moll blames herself for his taking to a life of crime, and the result is a return to self-consciousness: "I bewail'd his misfortunes, and the ruin he was now come to, at such a rate, that I relish'd nothing now, as I did before, and the first reflections I made upon the horrid detestable life I had liv'd, began to return upon me, and as these things return'd my abhorrance of the place I was in, and of the way of living in it, return'd also; in a word, I was perfectly chang'd, and became another body." Even though Moll spends much of her time in the book pursuing marriage, she is adamant that women should not have to settle for just any man. Moll Flanders is the story of a very resourceful woman whom despite being born destitute with no parents in Newgate Prison uses all of her street smarts, and … She marries not one or two men, but five, one of whom—almost beyond belief—just happens to be her long-lost brother. To combat this she moves to a different neighborhood, changes her name and, with the help of a friend, spreads gossip that she is a wealthy widow. Firstly, Moll is seduced by the elder brother in the Colchester family where she grows up, 2. In 1722 he published Moll Flanders. Experience soon teaches her that in London marriages were "the consequences of politick schemes, for forming interests, and carrying on business, and that LOVE had no share, or but very little in the matter." Robinson Crusoe (1719), for eg, is, among other things, the narrative of a self-reliant, rather proud man, who comes to recognise his sin and submit to God. It has elements of romance such as finding long lost relatives, the rise to gentility, the incest theme (often only implied in romance due to confused identities eg Fielding’s Joseph Andrews thinks at one point that Fanny is his sister – disaster is averted and we find out that she isn’t). She remembers with some distaste two thieves, a man and a woman, with whom she worked briefly. Moll Flanders Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) “Robinson Crusoe” published in 1719 brought Daniel Defoe instant fame. As so often before, she has a secret and acquires a confidant to manipulate the secret to advantage. Working-class women were expected to participate in the labor force as early as their sixth birthday. Moll's psychological underpinnings are of continuing concern for the contemporary critic, and increasingly most do not charge Defoe with being deficient in how he portrays his heroine. Critical Overview Much of the critical debate surrounding Daniel Defoe’s novel Moll Flanders centers around whether the author makes good on the promise he makes in the preface that the story will be morally instructive. See gun moll. Moll spends her childhood living first with gypsies, then with a woman who takes in orphans, and finally with a family who enjoys her company. She puts an editorial gloss as it were on the narrative of her life, interpreting the experience or text of her youth through the wisdom of age and repentance. When Moll, by her own reckoning, is forced into a life of crime, she becomes the best-known and richest thief in England. In all cases this notice must remain intact. When she reaches middle-age and realizes that her beauty has faded, she finds herself in dire financial straights.