Moll Flanders

Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe is a portrait of a woman 's life from birth to death. The novel is supposedly based in fact, and possibly even loosely based off the real life female criminal Moll King (Howson 167). Stylistically, it 's written as an autobiography of the vivacious Moll Flanders, detailing the adventures her extravagant, action-packed, and dramatic story. Defoe uses his title character to explore identity, morality, and ethics through the eyes of a sixteenth century woman. My focus will be on the characterization of Moll and the choices that Defoe made to illustrate her unique development and growth in the novel, particularly the slight gender ambiguity of the character. Identity is…

Theme of Morality in Moll Flanders Daniel Defoe’s novel, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders is a story about the life of a beautiful woman who was born in Newgate Prison. Moll was determined to rise from the lower class she was born into, therefore she used marriage several times in order to obtain financial security. In the story, she was willing to sacrifice moral principles in order to gain prosperity. Her fear of poverty led her to commit many crimes, including theft.…

Moll Flanders is a woman of great knowledge and drive, which she attempts to utilize to further herself in society and wealth. In the 18th century, there was a vast divide in the role that men and women have to play in society, both trying to gain advantages for themselves in their lives. Moll runs into the problem of marriage throughout her whole life, especially when it comes to her reflecting on society after her marriage to the linen draper who went bankrupt. In this scene, Moll depicts men…

potent when applied to Defoe’s Moll Flanders as he does not often describe setting or space in any great detail, almost viewing it as inconsequential to the actual story. This does not mean that space never has an effect on the character, however, it would be more accurate to say that the outcome of a situation lies on how successfully a character uses that space to their own advantage. The space itself does not have to have a huge effect on the character, it is more about how characters…

Bodily Currency: Money, Marriage and Beauty in Moll Flanders, Pride & Prejudice, & Jane Eyre Although the leading ladies of Moll Flanders, Pride & Prejudice, & Jane Eyre may seem very different at first, they do have one thing in common; these are women who understand the power of their beauty, whether it be physical or not. Having this understanding, and using it wisely, enables all three women to obtain the worldly goods, and marital partner(s) they desire. Starting with Moll, and moving in a…

Women and Her Role in the 18th Century Society in Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe It was and is always hard to be woman in this world. You need to know what you want, be strong and determined. Because everything you do will be talked by others. The year you live doesn’t matter, there are some dogmatic thoughts about women and whatever we do, we cannot change them. Virginia Woolf, one of the most important writers in English Literature, said: “For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” But the…

Since post WW1, the conflict between Walloon and Flemish people rose to a top. Racism in two different places will be comparing these by three stages: Background, the beginning, and the conflict. At the 1830s, Belgium is constructed by two ethnic groups: Flanders and Walloons. Same as Rwanda, Walloons as the minority group have got support from French troops to have majority power in Belgium government. Walloon’s living area—Southern Belgium is participated industrial revolution brings Belgium…

Hard Times is a novel written by Charles Dickens which judge the English society and tells us about the social and economic pressures of the 19th century. Hard Times is a Victorian novel and is very realistic. Victorian novels bring about realism in literature. Dickens novels are realistic depiction of Victorian society like class consciousness, rapid urbanization, poverty, child labor etc. Dickens talk about love, aspiration, human passion and Hard Times is a novel written by Charles Dickens…

Emma and Moll, Breaking the Mold The 18 and 19th centuries are remembered for the literal and art creations as depicted in the Daniel Defoe’s The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders of 1722 and Gustave Flaubert Madame Bovary of 1856. The two pieces are novels exploring the lives of heroines Moll Flanders and Emma Bovary respectively. Similar to other pieces of increasing critical thinking such as law and philosophy at the time, the two novels were based on societal changes…

In all four of the previously mentioned works, money is represented to be of the utmost importance. Whether it be through the utilization of wealth or the actions taken to accumulate more wealth, all of these books are related in their portrayal of money as the underlying necessity in the lives of their protagonists. Jay Gatsby, Ebeneezer Scrooge, Moll Flanders, and Nora Helmer all are motivated by either their pursuit for wealth or their need to spend in order to accomplish a goal. By placing…