Moll Essays - Films, Picaresque Novels, Moll Flanders, Moll

Moll Flanders By Daniel Defoe Moll Flanders: A woman in the 17th century who was born in Newgate ( a prison) and spent twelve years as a whore, twelve years as a thief, was married five times, committed incest, was sentenced to death, but given a reprieve, and was transported to Virginia were she finally prospered. As a child Moll was raved upon for her beauty and her ability to carry herself even as a orphan. Even as she got older her great beauty remained as well as her shape. She had the character of a very calm, modest, and virtuous young woman. Moll was a very strong-willed woman. Through out her life, the good times and the bad, she never gave up. She was determined to have all that she wanted, and at any expense. This part of her was what led her to do some of the many wicked things she did. Robert: He was the first man Moll slept with, and then fell in love with. There was no physical description of him. This young man was the eldest of the four children Moll grew up with. He was more experienced in his age than Moll was in hers. He was charming, and he was a user. He knew how to charm Moll to get what he wanted. Husband 1: His name was Robin. He was the younger brother of the four children Moll grew up with. He also professed his love to Moll on many occasions, and she did finally marry him. She had two children with him. There was no physical description of him. He was an earnest husband; tender, kind, good-humored, and he loved Moll dearly. He died five years after they were married. Husband 2: This man Moll chose for herself. He was a linen draper. No physical description was given for him. They were not married long when his fortune had been wasted away, and he was arrested for a crime too big for him to get bail. Husband 3: A sea captain that Moll trapped into marriage by pretending that she had a fortune, but was actually fairly poor. They were very happy together. He brought her to Virginia, where he had a plantation. They lived in Virginia with his mother, and Moll discovered, during a conversation with her mother-in-law that the man she had married was actually her brother. There was no physical description of this man. the man from Bath: Moll met him at Bath. She became his mistress for five years after they had been just friends for some time. He maintained her quite well, and she had two children with him. He was a strong, vigorous, and busy person. There was no physical description of this man. Husband 4: He was reported to be a brother of Moll's friend. He actually was an infamous robber and con man. This is the man the story ends with. There was no physical description given of him. Husband 5: A banker from London who Moll enlisted to help her manage her money. He was quite in love with her. He obtained a divorce from his wife who had run off with an English captain so that he could be free to marry Moll. He died after five wonderful years. There was no physical description of this man except to say he was of good reputation and honest in his dealings. The Governess: The governess pushed Moll to her thieving ways, and kept her at it for twelve years. The governess was Moll's only friend after the incident with the man from Bath, and remained her friend until the end. The governess finally repented her rather shady ways when Moll was sentenced to death for stealing some silk. PLOT SUMMARY Moll was born in Newgate prison to a woman who dodged a hanging by becoming pregnant by a prison guard. Moll was left with some relatives of her mother. Her first memories are of herself being with some gypsy-type people who she somehow got separated from in Colchester. She found herself a ward of the town magistrates who felt compelled to provide care for her in some manner. She was placed in a home of a nurse who cared for her and educated her. Upon her eighth year, the town magistrates wanted her to go into the service but Moll talked her caretaker into hiring her instead. When Moll was fourteen years old, the nurse, whom she had come to call mother, died. A compassionate