MOLL FLANDERS

A PRIVATE HISTORY
As a literary genre autobiography signifies a retrospective narrative that undertakes to tell the author’s
own life, or a substantial part of it, seeking (at least in its classic version) to reconstruct his/her personal
development within a given historical, social and cultural framework.
But while factual autobiography tends to emphasize the narrating self of the first-person narrator
autobiographical fiction shows a tendency towards emphasizing his/her experiencing self.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MODE
- A key point of contemporary narrative theory concerning the first-person novel in the
autobiographical mode is that the movement of the fiction is towards a convergence of protagonist
and narrator.
- According to French critic Gerard genette this

DANIEL DEFOE 1660??-1731, we are not sure about his years of birth but it is around 1660. He is
remembered primarily for works written late in his life and over a period of only five years
His first novel, Robinson Crusoe,was published in 1719, and his last Roxana 1724. His life was very much
varied, among other things, he was satirist, journalist, businessman and political agent. A prolific writer on
trade, religion and politics for decades. Before Robinson Crusoe he was known above all as a journalist and
agitator with ideological roots in the revolutionary Puritanism of the civil war Educated at a prominent
academy for Dissenters. Defoe was a lifelong campaigner against the claims of divine-right absolutism in
church and state, though also something of a loose cannon at a time when categories of party allegiance
were beginning to harden. As a young man he look arms against James II in the Duke of Monmouth’s
disastrous west-country rebellion of 1685, and was lucky to escape the “Bloody Assizes” that autumn,
when several of his former schoolfellows were hanged or transported. When James was successfully
deposed at the “Gloroius Revolution” of 1688-89, Defoe became a zealous propagandist for the incoming
monarch, William III, who claimed to have inaugurated a newly benign and consensual mode of
government based on contractual relations between ruler and ruled.

MOLL was born in New Gate Prison, the mother was sent to death, but she was pregnant so she wasn’t
been send to death, and after the birth of Moll she was deported. Moll has been raised as a thief, she went
to prison and sent to death but then a sentence of transportation saved her and she was deported to
Virginia. In Virginia she became rich both for her career as a thief and for some investments she made in
colonies, so she will be back to Britain. Moll got married 5 times. It is a story through the life of Moll and a
old Moll whose look back to the young Moll. The book is written from her own memorandums.

THE PLOT of Moll Flanders can be apprehended into two ways:

1. Through the technique of the point of view;
2. Through Defoe’s dramatization of the influence upon Moll of the values of security, love and
money.
The narrative tension in the novel is generated by the strain between what Moll emphasizes and what she
effaces, between Moll’s particular and peculiar perception of the world and the world as it is. Furthermore,
the novel is purportedly autobiographical, in it Moll tells her story near the end of her life, thus creating a
double point of view: two women are kept in balance (or possibly imbalance) not one.

ROBINSON CRUSOE: THE PREFACE

He wrote it in 1790 by himself.
Comparison the two preface we can appreciate many differences. One is the fact that Robinson Crusoe is a
man and Moll Flanders is a woman. MF preface is small, instead RC the preface is smaller, just a couple of
lines.

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 ROBINSON CRUSOE’S preface: “if ever the story of any private man’s adventures in the world were worth
making public, and were acceptable when published, the editor of this account thinks will be so.
The wonders of this man’s life exceed all that (he thinks) is to be found extant; the life of one man being
scarce capable of a greater variety.
The story is told with modesty, with seriousness, and with a religious application of events to the uses to
which wise men always apply them – namely, to the instruction of others by this example, and to justify and
honour the wisdom of Providence in all the variety of our circumstances, let them happen how they will.
The editor believes the thing to be a just history of fact; neither is there any appearance of fiction in it; and
however thinks, because all such things are dispatched, that the improvement of it, as well to the diversion
as to the instruction of the reader, will be the same; and as such, he thinks, without further compliment to
the world, he does them a great service in the publication.”

RC is the editor (curatore, colui che mette insieme e da uniformità alla storia). He also talk about the story,
and he feel inspired by this story. RC published the text as he had founded.

MOLL FLANDER’S preface: the author is telling us that many novels and romantic and this goes back again
to the fact that the term novel was just one of the many labels with which prose narratives published pros
narratives were defined right and here we can appreciate the fact that novel and romance are on the same
level. The editor emphasizes the authenticity of the life of a real person. Even the names are even
concealed (=nascosto) or changed. We may hypothesized that the protagonist can seal her identity,
because she may be important, and need to protect her identity, she may have something to hide.
the author said that the original of this story need to be refreshed.
From the title we know many information. She is a vicious woman from her youth even being the offspring
of a convicted fellow in Newgate.
We should take the novel as a sort of cautionary tale, which gives a moral teaching by way of a negative
example, and usually gives an expression and not a genre.
The author tried to redress the text and if it still containing something which might sound offensive, we
must take as a cautionary tale. During her thief career she also kidnapped a child for the necklaces he has
on his neck.
There are also 2 character that are mentioned in the novel:
1. Governess: which is actually a foster mother and a thief
2. Lancashire husband: a highway man (=bandito)

We basically have two overlain in the story, one is Moll own account of her life, and the other is the
adaptation of that account to a moral standard.
Moll story is a successful story, she always resist discrimination.
Page 43: OLD-BAILY is the criminal court of London. she talks and decide that she would call herself MOLL
FLANDERS.
Page 44: she said she is kind force to follow the mother path. Since she is the daughter of a convicted
fellow she cannot being adopted. She would be abandoned by a family
She went to a woman which had also a school.
She may go to be a maide in a house but she doesn’t want to do that.
Her idea was that to became big you must work hard. Moll original sin was to work hard in order to be
independent, this means transgression of the male code of the time.
MY MAYOR
She becomes an exception out of a normal girls. The idea of becoming financially independent is truly and
fixed in her mind, and people misunderstand her
A gentlewoman is the woman that doesn’t need to work, for moll is to support herself.
She point put about a woman living in the house which I also a gentlewoman but called her madam.
She was modest utile someone made something against her modesty.
The family had both male and female.
Mrs betty: common name for the servant

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Difference between the eldest and younger brother
Elderst: look at the girl for fun
Junger

To be in earnest means seriousness, serious intention as opposed to jest or play. Earnest is also money
or a sum of money, paid as an instalment, especially for the purpose of securing a bargain or contract.
The security to marry a men is not a paramount for her, even if she have a relationship with him.
Be a gentle woman means being independent

She loves him also for the money he gives to her

Pag 62: she is confounding equally kisses …….
Pag 64: money are still important,
PAG67 The man promises to marry her, take care of her and the child she might will have.
Being in ernest is the opposite to be in jest
The relationship growes so the money too. Moll is genuali in love
Oag 68: Moll reaction in front of earnest.
She doesn’t know what to do because she is still in love with the eldest brother.

CRITIRIA OF MARRIAGE:
In the Renaissance there were 4 criteria:
- The advancement of the individual or the family;
- The ideal of parity;
- The character of the proposed partner;
- Personal affection or love

POWERPOINT
Daughter were considered anable to decide for themselves.
Most of the children leave home early.
A men and woman can legally married with an agreement.

P 70: the situation was difficult

She got sick and then recovered

Pag 79-98
Lui offer dei soldi a moll

Pag 102The marriage last 5 years, and she lives with her husband, and had 2 kids, now she is a widow but a
wealthy one.
She says just a few words to the love and about the kid she had through her life.
She is still young and pretty widow,
Pag 103: she has lovers. She want security from money and not from love. She has been tricked by love
one and this won’t happened again”

WHOREDOM: now chiefly archaic or used self-consciously for stylistic effect; is a fornication, adultery,
prostitution, sexual activity with prostitutes, sexual promincuity.

THE MARRIAGES
Between 1715 and 1727 alone Defoe produced six books dealing with various aspects of family
relationships-courtship, marriage, the bringing up of children, and the treatment of servants. In the 1727
he wrote Conjugal Lewdness or Matrimonial Whoredom in which he argued for the need for mutual
affection between marriage partners and the right of children to resist marriage when not in love with
their prospective spouses.

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From Conjugal Lewdness, Defoe complains that not only parents but the children themselves choose
financial security before love.
Not that love alone justifies a precipitous marriage, but sincere love must be founded on real Merit,
suitability and virtue, but without love, marriage is prostitution.
Everything moll has to say about marriage, either to us the readers, or to other characters in the novel, is
wholly at odds with Defoe’s teaching in his treatises on family life. All her own five marriages, with one
important exception, and quickly, or unhappily or both. In other words, Moll is the negative illustration of
Defoe’s advice about marriage.

LOVE AND MONEY

Throughout her affair with the eldest brother Moll’s genuine love is always inextricably associated with
money. The older brother confirms his “thousand protestations of his passion”, with “almost a handful of
gold”, and Moll “thought of nothing but the fine words and the gold”. The affair progresses consistently in
these terms and absorbed in her romance, Moll tells how she “was taken up only with the pride of my
beauty and of being belov’d by such a gentleman: as for the gold, I spent whole hours in looking upon it; I
told the guineas over a thousand times a day”. Money has become not so much the proof of love as the
object of it.

FIRST HUSBAND: ROBIN, THE YOUNGER BROTHER pag 100-102

Moll’s first marriage is a clear case of what Defoe calls matrimonial whoredom.

SECOND HUSABND: THE GENTLEMAN DRAPER still young widow

She spent the money that the eldest brother gave her, She was grateful al first husband.
Moll’s subsequent marriage career is an extended matrimonial whoredom which exhibits her mistaken and
corrupt notion of marriage
Pag 103: she is on the market and looking for a husband since she is still young
Pag 104: description of the second husband
She is not in love of the second husband, but she marries him because he seems good enough, he gave her
stability.
pag 105: she realised that the man has not resources
pag 106: he manage to leave the country after he got arrested
pag 110: she has no money and only a marriage can let her survived
pag 112: she elaborated a strategies in order to find a husband, so she pretend to be a rich widow

THIRD HUSBAND: HER OWN BROTHER:  her mother had been deported to Virginia and had a
child.
She cheat the man, pretending to be a widow even if she is not. Then she realises that he has no money.
And they moved to Virginia
She found out that they are sibling when the man stats to tell her about his life in Britain. So she broke up
with him and came back to Britain.
FOURTH HUSBAND: JEMY, has no money
FIFTH HUSBAND: THE BAKER, she thinks he has money but he dies and she has been left alone. So she
decide she is not looking for a husband anymore because she is old. So she decide to embrace a career as a
thief. The result of each marriage (desertion, death and worst of all, the discovery of incest) makes it clear
that Moll is always punished for her matrimonial whoredom. As she says after her third marriage when she
discovers that she has married her own brother.

MONEY AND LOVE

In her youthful affair with the elder brother, Moll focuses upon the sexual involvement as well as upon the
monetary implications. Note the vigour and obvious delight in the telling of it. Constant use of active verbs
stresses the importance of the emotional involvement. After Moll has been cheated by love, however, the

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active and the sensuous verbs are reserved in the main for money. The erotic has lost its emotional
significance and financial discourse takes over in the narrative of a apparently amorous encounter.

LOVE AT LAST: what happened with the fourth husband Pag 205
Moll is shown as learning that marriages is the consequences of politick schemes, for forming interest and
carrying on business, and that love had no share, or but very little in the matter. One marriage is different
from all the rest. Although her marriage to Jemy is a typical piece of matrimonial scheming, by both
partners, Moll is genuinely attracted by Jemy and actually falls in love with him. This fact entirely alters the
nature of a marriage in which love was meant to have no share.
He alone of all Moll’s husbands represents the possibility of a true marriage, based on sincere mutual
affection, and yet both emotions love and material concert are absolutely sincere.
PAG ??? He decide to leave her, she got pregnant, he leave her with a letter

LACE= merletti
LACE FUNCTIONS is a reminder of a particular set of economic power relations based on gender. Lace
are produced only by woman, it was purchased, no matter who did the actual distinction between man and
woman, mainly by men.
Moll’s chosen alias is “FLANDERS”, is the shorthand term for usually contraband Flemish lace,
The hard-won knowledge she has acquired in the affair of the two brothers is a knowledge of the ultural
codes that define her social value as a woman. By these, she has discovered, she is reduced, as all woman
are, at once to nothingness and to a form of currency, a mere means to insure the patrilineal succession of
property.
As Moll’s Colchester sister had implied when she observed that on the marriagemarket a woman without
money is “no body”, a woman’s fortune merely substitutes for her intrinsic worthlessness. As Moll’s
experience with the elder brother has made clear, a poor woman is assumed to be a “Ware” that can be
transferred rather casually among men. Moll Flanders, then, also becomes the narrative of a woman’s
initiation into a specific cultural construction of womanhood.

Pag 280: she is a thief explain the name

RESTISTING VICTIMIZATIONA
In her second marriage she resist victimization, by cultural codes that define her as a piece of merchandise
whose worth is measurable only in relation to male desire.
Throughout the novel and especially after her second marriage, Moll resists her victimization by cultural
codes that define her as a piece of merchandise whose worth is measurable only in relation to male desire.
She learns not only how to read those codes correctly but how to use them to control the way others
construe her. Matrimony she has perceived, is a game of chance, a mere “lottery”, unless it is played with
proper skill. That proper skill is entrepreneurial a canny knowledge of how to market oneself profitably.
With her third husband, Moll resolves to establish herself as an exchanging subject by taking control of a
romantic dialogue