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Is Moll Flanders a true story?
What is the plot of Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe?
What does Defoe say about Moll Flanders?
What motivates Moll Flanders?
Moll Flanders[a] is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age. By 1721, Defoe had become a recognised novelist, with the success of Robinson Crusoe in 1719.
- Daniel Defoe
- 1931
A short summary of Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders. This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of Moll Flanders.
- Daniel Defoe
- 1931
In the preface of Moll Flanders, Defoe claims Moll’s story—which is full of “Debauchery and Vice”—is useful instruction for the modest reader looking to live an honest life. He references “the Advocates of the Stage,” who have argued through the ages for the usefulness of plays when “applied to virtuous Purposes.”
Moll Flanders, picaresque novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1722. The novel recounts the adventures of a lusty and strong-willed woman who is compelled, from earliest childhood, to make her own way in 17th-century England.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Moll is born to a convict mother in Newgate Prison, where, after stealing a few pieces of fabric, her mother was sentenced to death. However, Moll’s mother “pleaded her belly” (that is, asked to be spared due to her pregnancy) and her sentence was commuted to transportation to the American colonies.
Moll Flanders is a story about the fall and rise of a beautiful woman who was born in Newgate Prison. Because of her determination to be someone other than a servant, and because of her great greed, she sought to marry a wealthy man.
Moll Flanders illustrates unflinchingly the kinds of motives that rise to the surface in human life under hardship and duress, and the frankness with which Moll discusses her own motivations is an appeal to their universality.
