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Jamie Koch
Dr. Robert McLaughlin
English 286
13 February 2014
To Have a Voice: The Narration of Moll Flanders and L.C.
In both Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe and L.C. by Susan Daitch, we have tales of
women who lead adventurous lives and are trying to make their way in a world that was not
necessarily made for them. In both novels, the titular characters narrate their own stories rather
than being talked about by a male narrator. But how much of their tales should we really believe
as true? Because there is someone editing the writing after the fact and narration styles are
fundamentally different (L.C. being a translation of a diary and Moll Flanders being a memoir),
the way that we read the two novels and what we believe is true is affected.
Moll Flanders and L.C. are similar in the sense that the titular characters are able to
narrate their own stories. So often, women are talked about and written about, but they are not
given agency in their stories to speak for themselves. In these novels, however, the story comes
directly from the women that these stories are about. Moll and Lucienne are able to tell their
stories in their own words and include or exclude anything they wish. Though this may make
their stories seem more one-sided than those with an omniscient third-person narrator, the first-
person narration gives the reader great insight into the lives, thoughts, and feelings of the
women.
Though Molls story is supposed to be one of penitence, through her narration, she is able
to slip into the story her truths and opinions. This idea is demonstrated when Moll says, a
woman should never be kept for a mistress that had money to keep herself (Defoe 38). She goes
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on to say, Thus my pride, not my principle, my money, not my virtue, kept me honest (38). At
first glance, the reader might think that this passage agrees with the penitent message of the
story, but if one pays attention, it is clear that Molls message is not exactly saintly. Rather than
condemning mistresshood for its sinful nature, she says it is not necessary for a woman who has
enough money to be independent. She admits that had she not enough money, she would have
(and eventually does) become a mistress as the situation so dictated. In her story, Moll tells the
most exciting parts of her life and is not extremely concerned with looking good or upholding a
reputation. Rather than hiding her wicked deeds, she comes right out and admits them,
sometimes even bragging. For example, she talks at great length about how good she is at petty
theft, and how clever she is as to trick people into leaving their possessions open to be stolen.
Lucienne uses the power of her voice to say the things in her diary that she does not dare
to say in real life. In her diary, Lucienne is bold and speaks her mind, something that she might
not be keen to do in her actual interactions with people. Lucienne seems to have a hard time
speaking up and telling those around her if she does not want to do something. She will not tell
Charles she does not want to move away, she does not protest when Eugne makes a move on
her, and she does not speak up when Jean insists on running away to Algiers. In her diary,
however, she is able to be honest and open about her opinions. For example, she thinks that life
in Algiers will be miserable, but she does not persist with her objections once Jean says no
(143-44). Lucienne does not seem to push the issue further with Jean, but in her diary, she
expresses her worries and discontent with the destination. The diary provides her an outlet for
her inner thoughts that she needs more and more as the novel goes on. At first she has Fabienne
to talk with, but soon, Lucienne is distanced from her friend, and the diary is her only outlet and
confidant.
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The forms that Moll Flanders and L.C. take are different, which affects the way the story
is told. Moll narrates her story while looking back on her life. She is temporally distant from the
events, which means she likely leaves out anything unimportant or trivial. Throughout the
course of the novel, Moll the character is becoming Moll the narrator. When she is telling her
story, she knows how everything turns out in the end, so she is able to pick and choose the events
that best summarize her life. She often alternates between summary and scene to cover years of
her life at a time. She glosses over the things that are less important to hersuch as her children
and years when she is happily marriedand goes into great detail about the things she finds
more importanther crimes and swindles. She usually mentions her children only in passing; for
example when one of her several husbands dies, she notes, I had had two children by him and
no more (Defoe 128), mentioning her children only as an afterthought.
Luciennes story, on the other hand, comes to us in diary form. Rather than looking back
on her life, Lucienne is writing about her days shortly after they happen. She knows what
happened on a certain day, but she does not know what her future beholds or where her life will
take her. Lucienne acknowledges the nature of her storytelling in diary form: This is a story
which isnt about storytelling, has no characters, no unfolding over time. Time is a context, a
date scribbled on the page so as to endow the discourse on social theory a specific point in time
and, therefore, a specific point of view. The date says, This is when Im writing, not necessarily
This is when it happened (Daitch 148). Although Lucienne is writing closer to the time that
events actually happened, she is still, in a way, looking back on things.
As Moll includes only the most important things in her life, the things that Lucienne
chooses to write about are also indicative of the diary form. Unlike Moll, Lucienne does not take
the time to introduce characters, describe settings, or tell much about anything that is familiar to
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her. Willa Rehnfield says, [Lucienne] felt it necessary to describe only what struck her as
unusual, rather than what was familiar (Daitch 4). If the diary is truly for her personal use, it
would be pointless to explain who Fabienne is or what her parents look like. In her introduction,
Willa makes note of this, saying, we have no idea what Lucienne Crozier looked like (4).
Because of the things both women choose to include or exclude from their stories, we get a much
different story from Lucienne than we do from Moll.
Though Moll and Lucienne have the freedom to narrate their own stories, neither has the
final say of what actually ends up in her story. Both Moll Flanders and L.C. have editors who
change, omit, or even add content to their stories. In the preface to the story, the editor of Moll
Flanders states, some of the vicious part of her life, which could not be modestly told, is quite
left out, and several other parts are very much shortened (Defoe, Preface). Because of this
apparent editing, much of what Moll probably wanted to say about her life has been removed
from the story. This omission and shortening of Molls story greatly limits the full picture of her
life and what she was able to tell of it. Judging by how wicked Moll seems in the story as it is, it
is interesting to consider what else she had written down, only to be taken out by the editor.
In Luciennes case, her story was not only edited, but also translated by two separate
translators, Dr. Willa Rehnfield and Jane Amme. Though Lucienne could write what she wanted
in her diary without fear of judgment or peoples reactions, her words may have been translated
inaccurately. As Jane points out, this mistranslation can affect the meaning of the story
completely. Jane thinks that Willa altered Luciennes intentions and the actual outcome of the
story, so in her own translation she trie[s] to be true to the original (Daitch 262). In her
retranslation of the diary, Jane comes up with an entirely different ending for Lucienne than
Willa did. While in Willas version Lucienne ends up sick and dying at the end of her diary,
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Janes translation leaves Lucienne healthy and waiting to be arrested for her crimes. There were
other differences between the two diaries, such as
Both women use Lucienne as a reflection of themselves. Willa, unrevolutionary and
somewhat unadventurous, imagines Lucienne as an unwilling participant in Jeans grand
schemes. She sees Lucienne as more of a witness to the events happening around her. Jane, a
revolutionary herself, paints Lucienne as a daring rebel who remains brave and confident until
the end. Jane sees Lucienne as someone with agency. This is reflected in the final words of
Janes translation when Lucienne says, you must believe I did make up my own mind (Daitch
281). Janes Lucienne wants Fabienne to know that what happened in her life was her own
decision and she was not under someone elses influence entirely (281). While Willa tries to
live vicariously though Lucienne, Jane thinks Luciennes story and [hers] run in tandem, then
[hers] keeps going where [Luciennes] leaves off (220). This view of Lucienne and her diary
truly affects the way each woman translates the diary and its ultimate meaning.
Moll Flanders and L.C. are both stories of women trying to find agency and a voice in
worlds where women often have neither. Moll and Lucienne use their writing as an opportunity
to tell the story that they want to be told. Through the different forms that each narrator chooses,
Moll and Lucienne are able to tell very different stories about themselves. Although their stories
are heavily edited, our narrators have a voice in worlds where most women did not. Through
their writing, we can see the world through their eyes, rather than through the eyes of a male
narrator. For them, to have a voice meant telling their story, a chance that many women could
only dream of.


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Works Cited
Daitch, Susan. L.C. 1986. Normal: Dalkey Archive Press, 2002.
Defoe, Daniel. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders. N.p.: Amazon
Digital Services, 2012. Kindle file.