He eventually marries her, in spite of his family's disapproval, but dies after five years. Daniel Craig as Jemmy, Moll's highwayman husband … "Moll Flanders" is the alias she adopts, or rather is given by the criminal public, during her years as an expert thief. There, Moll learns that he is actually her half-brother and leaves him to return to England. ‘I grew as impudent a Thief, and as dexterous as ever Moll Cut-Purse was’ Born and abandoned in Newgate Prison, Moll Flanders is forced to make her own way in life. Moll Flanders is flattered in a similar way, by the notions of her masters, two brothers of her ladies, but she has no mantinels like christian education to hold her vanity in reasonable measure. Sent to a convent, she stabs a priest with a knitting needle when he tries to fondle her, and is cast into the streets of 18th century London, where the “warm and pretty glow” of … She, practically, devotes her beauty to her purpose how to live better life with rich husband, better said, husbands. Moll Flanders: Themes Three recurring themes in Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe are greed, vanity, and repentance. Download books for free. Her most recent husband after moving to London, who is not mentioned by name, seems to be the closest Moll came to having an attachment to. She duly embarks on a career that includes husband-hunting, incest, bigamy, prostitution and pick-pocketing, until her crimes eventually catch up with her. They marry under a mutual deception and then part ways. Character Analysis Moll Flanders. They live happily for several years, but he then dies. “Moll Flanders” tells the story of a child born in prison to a mother who is hanged immediately afterward. When Moll found out that she was his sister and therefore wanted to leave him, he became ill and despondent. These three themes play an important role in the development of the story of Moll Flanders.The first theme, greed, is shown in Moll's acts of prostitution. Moll's mother is a convict in Newgate Prison in London who is given a reprieve by "pleading her belly," a reference to the custom of staying the executions of pregnant criminals. A man who marries Moll under the deception that she has a great fortune. © 2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Husband: The Banker. She meets him with an overwhelming affection on her return to America, and he very generously helps her get established there. Defoe deploys Moll's lovers in an assault on the eighteenth century gentility. from your Reading List will also remove any Moll's landlady and midwife, later her friend and confederate in crime. A prosperous man whom Moll agrees to marry if he will divorce his unfaithful wife. In 1722 he published Moll Flanders. The narrator and protagonist of the novel, who actually goes by a number of names during the course of her lifetime. Moll's real mother is less character, more plot device. Nevertheless, with the £500 which Moll had received from the elder brother as a bribe for her to marry Robin, other money which he had previously given her and which she had saved, and the amount which her husband had left, Moll began her widowhood with about £1200. Born an orphan, she lives a varied and exciting life, moving through an astonishing number of marriages and affairs and becoming a highly successful professional criminal before her eventual retirement and repentance. The themes of love and money and the economics of rising out of poverty by marriage are the focal point in Moll Flanders. She reappears as Moll's mother-in-law midway through the novel, when Moll travels to Virginia with the husband who turns out to be her half-brother. The sudden death of this nurse precipitates Moll's placement with a local wealthy family. and any corresponding bookmarks? Moll Flanders, from its outset, is distracted from such Christian intensity by an interest in secular variety and psychological plenitude, the excitement of extreme situations Defoe's audience clearly wanted. Her mother is eventually transported to America, and Moll Flanders (not her birth name, she emphasises, taking care not to reveal it) is raised until adolescence by a goodly foster mother. One of the two brothers in the family with which Moll spends her teenage years, he falls in love with her. In many ways, her story offers the most complete account of the life of a transported convict, even if she is only a fictional character and her experience was far from the norm of most transported felons. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Defoe certinaly channels this belief into the plot of Moll Flanders. Plot summary. They marry under a mutual deception and then part ways. Husband: The Captain/Her Brother. She has had five husbands and three lovers that the reader is aware of. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age. At first Moll's relationship with this guy starts out really well. Eventually they are reunited in prison and begin a new life together in America. The Preface Moll’s Childhood The Older Brother and Moll’s First Marriage Moll Marries the Linen-Draper Moll Marries the Plantation Owner Moll and the Gentleman Moll Meets the Banker Moll Marries the Irishman Moll Meets the Midwife and Marries the Banker Moll’s Life of Crime Moll and the Drunk Man Moll’s Crimes Escalate Moll in Newgate Prison Moll and James in America Conclusion Moll's son by the husband who was also her brother. Moll Flanders tells the story of a beautiful, smart, and self-interested woman who strives to escape the poverty and servitude dictated by the lowly circumstances of … In the end, Moll and her husband (Jemmy) return to London to live out their final years, using the inheritance which Moll's mother left her and the money her son makes on the plantation. When Moll found out that she was his sister and therefore wanted to leave him, he became ill and despondent. She helps Moll manage an inconvenient pregnancy and initiates her into the criminal underworld. Moll Flanders is no stranger to getting married. Find books Moll, the heroine of the book, was born in Newgate Prison and abandoned at about a year-and-a-half. But her husband's life, being written by a third hand, gives a full account of them both, how long they lived together in that country, and how He had been led to believe that Moll had a fortune; on discovering that she had no money, he suggested they go to Virginia to live on his plantation with his mother. She really toys with the... Moll's Mother. She was a forceful, persistent, resolute young girl who obtained her way in most things. Jemy. A fictional version of Defoe explains that the story about to unfold is not a novel, but a true story told by the person who lived it. Daniel Defoe. His financial indiscretions sink them into poverty, and he eventually escapes to France as a fugitive from the law. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Moll's third husband, her brother, she married by mistake. Moll Flanders Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) “Robinson Crusoe” published in 1719 brought Daniel Defoe instant fame. You can view our. Moll Flanders is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. All rights reserved. Also left upon the shoulders of the reader is the opportunity to find useful morality between the covers of Moll Flanders. The daughter of a thief, young Moll is placed in the care of a nunnery after the execution of her mother. Also called James and "my Lancashire husband," he is the only man that Moll has any real affection for. He made a good and agreeable husband for Moll, but she was never in love with him. Moll Flanders certainly supports this judgment. She marries and re-marries many times throughout the course of the novel. Given this person, Moll Flanders, is of questionable moral standing, and the story contains morally questionable behavior, the author claims he merely edited the story to make it acceptable to the upstanding citizens who it was intended for. A widow in Colchester who takes care of the child Moll from the age of three through her teenage years. This lands her 4 more husbands over the course of her life. Next CliffsNotes study guides are written by real teachers and professors, so no matter what you're studying, CliffsNotes can ease your homework headaches and help you score high on exams. Her mother is eventually transported to America, and Moll Flanders was raised by a foster mother until her teen years. Section 2 (Moll's first lover and first marriage), Section 3 (Moll marries the draper, and then her half-brother), Section 4 (Moll has an affair with a married man), Section 5 (The banker, and Moll's Lancashire husband), Section 9 (Moll and Jemy in America, and conclusion). bookmarked pages associated with this title. Directed by Pen Densham. She is a naïve and vulnerable character as portrayed by Defoe in the novel. A well-to-do man who befriends Moll and eventually makes her his mistress. He stubbornly insists on marrying Moll, a servant girl, and obtains the consent of his mother. Five years after he wrote Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe wrote in his essay “Conjugal Lewdness or, Matrimonial Whoredom” (1727) that “He or She who, with that slight and superficial Affection, Ventures into the Matrimonial Vow, are to me little more than legal Prostitutes” (p. 32). She leaves her daughter a sizable inheritance when she dies, which Moll reclaims in America at the end of the novel. a "plain and honest" young gentleman who makes "good honest professions of being in love with" Moll and "proposes fairly and honorably to marry" her. This sets Moll up as a very independent female character because she and her husband profit off of what comes from Moll's side and her inheritance. The banker is probably the most stand-up guy Moll gets involved with. A convicted felon, Moll's mother was transported to the American colonies soon after her daughter was born. Moll Flanders is the most well-known character in literature to have been transported to America. When, near the end of the book, Moll went back to Virginia, her brother was sick and nearly blind. He broke out of jail and left the country, leaving Moll free to marry again, though perhaps not legally. 1 likes. He had been led to believe that Moll had a fortune; on discovering that she had no money, he suggested they go to Virginia to live on his plantation with his mother. However, the actions of an abusive Priest lead Moll to rebel as a teenager, escaping to the dangerous streets of London. Moll's third husband, her brother, she married by mistake. Moll's second husband, a tradesman with the manners of a gentleman. Together they move to Virginia, where he has his plantations. His wife is mad, but he keeps Moll for six years before an illness and religious experience prompt him to break off the affair. 25 quotes from Moll Flanders: ‘I saw the Cloud, though I did not foresee the Storm.’ ... “She is always Married too soon, who gets a bad Husband, and she is never Married too late, who gets a good one.” ― Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders. The Preface Moll’s Childhood The Older Brother and Moll’s First Marriage Moll Marries the Linen-Draper Moll Marries the Plantation Owner Moll and the Gentleman Moll Meets the Banker Moll Marries the Irishman Moll Meets the Midwife and Marries the Banker Moll’s Life of Crime Moll and the Drunk Man Moll’s Crimes Escalate Moll in Newgate Prison Moll and James in America Conclusion