Defoe Moll Flanders as a Picaresque Novel

Moll Flanders (1722), written by Daniel Defoe is a picaresque novel that deals
with the rogue protagonist female character named Moll Flanders. It is
considered to be a Newgate Prison novel because Defoe got his materials and
life biographical sketch if a woman prisoner in Newgate Prison. The novel has
many picaresque elements such as the rogue and dishonest behaviour of the
main character, sexual liberation, fortune and misfortune of the main character,
emotional detachment of the character and the character appearing to be
dangerous to the society or towards others.

As a picaresque novel, the main protagonist is a rogue and dishonest character.

Moll is a female who was born to a convict mother. She has been declared by
Defoe in the preface as “debauchery” and a criminal. For so many years of her
life, she breaks many social codes and traditional norms of the society. She gets
engaged to many marriages including incestuous marriage unconsciously. She
also lived as a criminal for some time. This clearly reflects that Moll is a rogue
and dishonest character which is a typical trait of a picaresque novel.

Another picaresque element in the novel is the adventure of the main character.
The main character goes through many adventures experiencing many fortunes
and misfortunes in their lives. Moll goes through an adventure of many
marriages where she decides to raise her social status by marrying off to a
wealthy rich man. When she lives with the lady, she gets married to the younger
brother despite having feelings for the eldest brother. Though she enjoyed
privileges, she also falls into a misfortune after her husband dies. She married a
linen draper but he leaves her using her money to France eventually reducing
her money and a failure in marriage.

In addition to this, she then goes on to marry a rich plantation owner who
actually is her own half brother. She realises later and she already has children
with him. He goes mad after realising the truth about Moll and her relationship
with him. So, she was sent back to London where she meets the banker but she
goes to Lancashire and she gets married to James. The misfortune happens here
again where both realises that they are penniless. Moll marries the banker but he
dies after some years and she falls into poverty. This also reflects the fortune
and misfortune of the main character who goes on an adventure falling into
many fortunes and eventual downfall or misfortunes in life.

Moreover, the picaresque novel also projects the main character to be

dangerous. The main protagonist seems to be emotionally detached while
committing a crime. After falling into poverty, Moll commits crime and
thievery. She indulges in pickpockets and steals money from other woman. She
even steals a horse and she doesn’t know what she should do with it. These
reflect that Moll is a dangerous character who has the potential to be a criminal
with no regrets.

The most important aspect of the picaresque novel is the sexual liberation. The
sexual liberation is a common theme in many of the picaresque novels. The
main protagonist has many sexual affairs and many marriages in the novel. Moll
as a character challenges the societal norms of the early English society. She
gets into many marriages to raise her social status in the society and she uses
her personality and charm as a way to attract man. She indulges in many sexual
partners that highlight the sexual liberation the main protagonist indulges in.

Q. Discuss Moll Flanders as a realistic novel

Answer: Literary realism broke from the Romantic Period by trying to depict
the world and people as objectively and openly as possible. In Moll Flanders,
the protagonist's life is one of mixed fortune but is not typical of the literature of
preceding times because of its focus on characters. Moll Flanders is a realistic
novel in the sense that it shows the everyday struggles of a disadvantaged
woman trying to make it in the world.

In this novel we find Moll's mother as a convict in Newgate Prison in London.

She is given a reprieve by "pleading her belly," a reference to the custom of
staying the executions of pregnant criminals. Her mother is eventually
transported to Colonial United States, and Moll Flanders (not her birth name,
she emphasizes, taking care to not reveal it) is raised from the age of three until
adolescence by a kindly foster mother. Thereafter she gets attached to a
household as a servant where she is loved by both sons, the elder of whom
convinces her to "act like they were married" in bed. Unwilling to marry her, he
persuades her to marry his younger brother. After five years of marriage, she
then is widowed, leaves her children in the care of in-laws, and begins honing
the skill of passing herself off as a fortune widow to attract a man who will
marry her and provide her with security.
The first time she does this, her "gentleman-tradesman" spendthrift husband
goes bankrupt and flees to the Continent, leaving her on her own with his
blessing to do the best she can to forget him. (They had one child together, but
"it was buried.") The second time, she makes a match that leads her to Virginia
Colony with a kindly man who introduces her to his mother. After three
children (one dies), Moll learns that her mother-in-law is really her biological
mother, which makes her husband her half-brother. She dissolves their marriage
and after continuing to live with her brother for three years, travels back to
England, leaving her two children behind, and go to live in Bath to seek a new
husband.

Again she returns to her con skills and develops a relationship with a man in
Bath whose wife is elsewhere confined due to insanity. Their relationship is
initially platonic, but eventually develops into Moll becoming something of a
"kept woman" in Hammer-smith, London. They have three children (one lives),
but after a severe illness he repents, breaks off the arrangement, and commits to
his wife. However, he assures Moll that their son is going to be well cared for,
so she leaves yet another child behind.

Moll, now 42, resorts to a different beau, a bank clerk, who while still married
to an adulterous wife (a "whore"), proposes to Moll after she entrusts him with
her financial holdings. While expecting the banker to divorce, Moll pretends to
possess an excellent fortune to draw in another wealthy husband Lancashire,
assisted by a replacement female acquaintance who attests to Moll's (erroneous)
social standing. The ruse is successful and she marries a supposedly rich man
who claims to own property in Ireland. They each quickly realize that they were
both conned and manipulated by the before mentioned new acquaintance. He
discharges her from the marriage, telling her nevertheless that she should inherit
any money he might ever get. After enjoying each other's company for a few
months, they part ways, but Moll soon discovers that she is pregnant. She gives
birth and the midwife gives a tripartite scale of the prices of bearing a child,
with one value level per social class. She continues to correspond with the bank
clerk, hoping he will still have her.
Moll leaves her newborn in the care of a countrywoman in exchange for the
sum of £5 a year. Moll marries the banker, but realizes "what an abominable
creature I am! and how this innocent gentleman is going to be abused by me!"
They live in happiness for five years before he becomes bankrupt and dies of
despair, the fate of their two children left unstated.

Truly desperate now, Moll begins a career of artful thievery, which, by

employing her wits, beauty, charm, and femininity, also as hard-
hardheartedness and wickedness, brings her the financial security she has
always sought. She becomes well known among those "in the trade," and is
given the name Moll Flanders. She is helped throughout her career as a thief by
her Governess, who also acts as receiver. (During this time she briefly becomes
the mistress of a man she robbed.) Moll is finally caught by two maids whilst
trying to steal from a house.

The Treatment of Marriage In Daniel Defoe

Moll Flanders and Roxana are two novels by Daniel Defoe which deal with the
subject of marriage. Although living in very different conditions, both women
see the connection between men and money, but exploit this connection in
different ways. A few years after he wrote these novels, Defoe wrote Conjugal
Lewdness, later called A Treatise Concerning the Use and Abuse of the
Marriage Bed. This essay will look at Roxana and Moll Flanders, and the
relations between sex, marriage, love, and wealth, while also comparing the
actions of the novel's protagonists to what Defoe calls 'Matrimonial Whoredom'.

In Moll Flanders, marriage, money, love, and sex are approached early on in the
novel, at the house in Colchester, where Moll is seduced by the elder brother,
naively believing that he will marry her. After a meeting, she says 'he put five
Guineas into my hand, and went away down Stairs. I Was more confounded
with the money than I was before with the Love' (Defoe, Moll Flanders 20). The
elder brother continues to present her with money after each of their encounters,
but explicitly proclaims to Moll that he 'resolved to marry [her] as soon as he
came to his Estate' (Defoe 24), and eventually, Moll's affection for the brother,
and her newly found delight with money, lead her to 'let him do just what he
pleas'd' (Defoe 25). Moll hereby commits 'Matrimonial Whoredom'. Defoe
writes in his Treatise; no pre-existing engagement or promise between the man
and woman no nor any subsequent performance of the promise can be
substituted in the room of marriage, or make the coming together (which is so,
as above, forbidden) be lawful or justifiable. (Defoe, Conjugal Lewdness. Pp
28)

Defoe clearly sees her actions as already unlawful and unjustifiable, Moll's path
is therefore predestined to be one of 'want and misery'.

When Moll later learns that the elder Brother is not going to marry her, and
instead the younger Brother; Robin proposes, afraid that she'll be 'drop'd by both
of them' (Defoe, MF, 48); she marries Robin, and commits another act of
Matrimonial Whoredom; To marry one Man and be in love with another.. is a
meer piece of Witchcraft; it is a kind of civil, legal Adultery, nay it makes the
Man or Woman be committing adultery in their hearts every day. (Defoe, CL,
181)

Defoe's strong opinions on this matter show that he believes Moll is commiting
a great sin. Moll's own words are very similar to Defoe's when she states; 'I
commited Adultery and Incest with him every Day in my Desires.' (Defoe, MF,
50). By having Moll narrate almost exactly what he deems as 'witchcraft', Defoe
discredits her word, and supports Dorothy Van Ghent's theory that Defoe has
put together 'a complex series of ironies'(Ghent 16) that expose the moral
blindness of his protagonist. If Defoe believed Moll's sins evil enough to be
witchcraft, it is unlikely that he would endorse her tentative repentance.

After Robin's death, The men Moll meet are known to us purely by their
occupation, and each one is a symbol of money and trade. Moll tells us; 'I had
been tricked once by that Cheat called LOVE, but the Game was over; I was
resolv'd now to be Married, or Nothing, and to be well Married' (Defoe, MF,
51) She has learnt from her time with the two brothers, that love doesn't always
mean marriage, and marriage doesn't always mean love, and her short marriage
to the 'Linnen-Draper' complies with this. Moll's character has now developed
so far into the cold schemer, that her third marriage is made by complete
trickery. As well as not legally being able to marry again(because she
technically still married to the linnen-draper), Moll sees this match as a business
scheme, stating 'I Pick'd out my Man without much difficulty' (Defoe, MF, 66).
She fools the 'Plantation Owner' into believing she has a fortune, but legitamises
her actions through flirtacious letters where she admits to being poor; 'I'm Poor.
Let's see how kind you'll prove.'(67). The Plantation Owner however believes
Moll to be testing his severity, and declares 'Be mine, with all your poverty'
(67). The marriage is based on capital, not love, Moll refers to the act of
winning her husband as a 'game' (66) and confesses she 'had him fast both ways'
(68). She speaks of the capital in great detail when telling what she gave to him
once she admitted she was poor; 'I brought him 180l. more, and about 60l. in
Linnen'(70). Ann Louise Kibbie notes; 'no name has loomed larger then Defoe`s
in discussions of the triumph of capitalism in the eighteenth century' (Kibbie
1024), and Defoe uses Moll to digress the link between capitalism and marriage,
his views on this come across quite clearly in Conjugal Lewdness; Ask the Men
why they Marry, it is for the Money... How little is regarded of that one
essential and absolutely necessary Part of the Composition, called Love, without
which the matrimonial State is, i think, hardly lawful, i am sure is not rational,
and, i think, can never be happy. (Defoe, CL, 28)

Defoe certinaly channels this belief into the plot of Moll Flanders. Firstly, on
the way to Virginia, there are 'Dreadful storms' (MF, 72) and a 'Pyrate' that
steals their provisions. As well as predicting the 'storms' to come, Moll and her
Husband are punished financially. In Virginia, Moll states 'I thought myself the
happiest creature alive'(72), but her happiness is short-lived. When it is revealed
that Moll has married her Brother, their happiness collapses, along with their
marriage and Moll's security. As they ventured into a matrimony without love,
and based on capital, Defoe does not allow them their contentment. Like when
she was paid for her affections by the elder Brother, Defoe believes Moll to be
'little more than a legal prositute'(CL, 101).

After time spent as a Mistress to a Gentleman that later repents and returns to
his Wife, Moll meets 'The Banker'. He is married to an adultress, and Moll tells
him they cannot be together until he has legally dealt with the situation,
subsequently fooling him into believing she is a virtuous woman. Moll leaves
and meets her fourth Husband, Jemy, and admits that 'The glittering show of a
great Estate, and of fine Things' (MF,120) persuade her to marry him, despite
the knowledge that the Banker is preparing to wed her also. Even though Moll
does appear to have feelings for Jemy, and we do learn his name, the marriage
is still treated as a business deal. When again the truth is outed that neither have
money, Jemy leaves, but returns shortly after claiming he heard her words 'O
Jemy! O Jemy! Come back.'(MF 128). Despite his return, and the fact that Moll
claims she will 'give him all she has, starve with him, and beg' (129), the
decision is still made for them to part. On top of this, Moll tells us she 'still
reserved the grand Secret, .not to let him ever know my true Name, who I was,
or where to be found'(133), discrediting her affection for him, and making this
marriage, like the others, more an act of business than of love.

Moll's marriage to the Banker is possibly the worst of all. Not only is she
already married, but she has just had a child by Jemy that she has conveniently
disposed of. The Banker has taken pains to fulfil Moll's wishes, and she
knowingly enters the marriage contract while she is far from a legal match.
Although Moll appears to have a moment of reproach shortly before, she
marries the Banker. Defoe punishes her anew by having the Banker die, leaving
Moll 'Friendless and Helpless'(159) with little money, sending her into a life of
crime. This complies to another notion set out in Conjugal Lewdness, Defoe
states; 'how long will they be afraid of crime, that are not afraid of
scandel?'(CL, 348).

Once reunited with Jemy in Newgate Prison, Moll apparently repents her sins.
This subject is certainly debatable, as she only fully repents when faced with a
death sentence, and still goes on to create a web of lies to protect herself once
she and Jemy relocate to Virginia. Defoe however does allow Moll happiness in
this final match, and she and Jemy go on to end their days in comfortable
circumstances. The litigiousness of Moll's repentance render this happy ending
somewhat disagreeable.

Although Defoe's other female protagonist and the namesake of his 1724 novel
Roxana has many simularities to Moll, she is also rather different. Roxana's men
are also named by their trade, and her marriage story begins with her first
Husband, 'The Brewer'. Roxana's marriage to the Brewer likens her to Moll by
immediately casting her as a 'Matrimonial Whore', Roxana tells us; At about
fifteen Years of Age, my Father gave me, as he call'd it in French, 2500 Livres,
that is to say, two Thousand Pounds Portion, and married me to an Eminent
Brewer in the City. (Defoe, Roxana, 7)

This line tells us that Roxana's marriage was set up by her father, in his treatise,
Defoe writes an entire chapter on arranged marriages, stating 'there is not one in
ten of those kinds of marriages that succeeds' (CL, 102). This means that even
though, unlike Moll, Roxana begins her married life as innocent, her marriage is
still predestined to fail. Roxana husband is a fool, and leaves her after failing all
of his buinesses. Defoe writes a chapter in The Complete English Tradesman
about why a Wife should be knowledgeable of her Husband's business, so
Roxana's character is also used to show his readership the importance of this.
Where Moll quickly learns from the two brothers that having a man means
having money, Roxana learns that men and marriage do not guarantee financial
security. Like when Moll talks to her female readers and encourages them not to
be vain, Roxana tells her female readership 'Never, Ladies, marry a
Fool'(Roxana,8).

Moll believes that her early sexual encounters are to result in a marriage, but
Roxana feels very different about her own. When she is left by the Brewer
Roxana finds herself courted by 'The Jeweller', who calls her his 'Wife by
Affection'(47). When Roxana succumbs to his advances, she quickly submerges
into a mind of constant self-reproach and darkness. Where Moll is always
excusing and justifying her actions of earlier years, Roxana is always aware of
her own sin. Once Roxana commits her first adultress act, she sees herself as
having forsaken 'all Sense of Religion, and Duty of God, all Regard to Virtue
and Honour' and calls herself and the Jeweller 'a Whore and a Rogue'(Roxana
p43). It is through this view that she has now subjected herself to evil that she
goes to to commit all further acts of sin. As Bell notes; 'It is the inflexibilty of
her moral position, which cannot distinguish between small offences and great
ones, which leads to the catastrophe'. (A.Bell 169) When the Dutch Merchant
asks Roxana to marry him, she gives many reasons as to why she refuses,
including that; The very Nature of the Marriage-Contract was, in short, nothing
but giving up Liberty, Estate, Authority, and every-thing, to the Man (Roxana,
148)

Roxana has learnt from her first marriage that men cannot always be trusted in
business, and she has already mananged to make her fortune without marriage.
She is however withchild by the Dutch Merchant, and he offers her every piece
of reasoning possible as to why they should marry. He loves her dearly, and
proposes to 'quit all Pretensions to [her] Estate'(158). He offers her 'an
Opportunity to have quitted a Life of Crime' (159) but still Roxana denies him.
Roxana is already hardened, and as her constant self-reproach shows, she
believes herself to be as one of the 'wickedest creatures on Earth'(158). Roxana
believes she is too low to wed the honest man, and therefore continues her
masochistict journey, not allowing herself any kind of way out. This act shows
the extremity with which Roxana loathes herself and her actions, and in some
ways makes her better to Moll, who claims repentance and takes her happy
ending. Although Roxana does eventually marry the Dutchmen, her ending is
far more tragic than Moll's, but she does not pretend to justify her actions,
admitting; 'Repentance seem'd to be the only Consequence of my Misery, as my
Misery was of my Crime'(330).

In both novels, marriage rarely means love. Moll learns early on that sex does
not always secure marriage, whereas Roxana learns that marriage does not
always secure wealth - and turns to sex. Where marriage in Moll can always be
compared to a capitalist transaction, Roxana manages her capital without the
need for marriage. Moll continues to marry again and again, unlawfully and
without love, and is punished throughout for her acts of matrimonial whoredom,
but in Roxana the chief punishments are those of her punishing herself.