Moll Flanders
What is Moll Flanders about?
Moll Flanders (1722) is Daniel Defoe’s picaresque novel about a woman born in Newgate Prison who survives by her wits through a life of marriages, affairs, crime, and eventual redemption. Moll’s frank first-person narrative of her adventures—five marriages, numerous lovers, a career as a thief, transportation to Virginia, and a prosperous old age—makes her one of the most memorable protagonists in English fiction. Defoe’s matter-of-fact prose gives Moll’s extraordinary life a compelling realism that anticipates the modern novel.
Main themes in Moll Flanders
Picaresque fiction
Moll Flanders thoughtfully explores picaresque fiction through its central conflicts.
Women's survival
In Moll Flanders, women's survival provides a lens for understanding the story's core message.
Crime and redemption
In Moll Flanders, crime and redemption provides a lens for understanding the story's core message.
Eighteenth-century England
In Moll Flanders, eighteenth-century england provides a lens for understanding the story's core message.
Why Moll Flanders is still relevant today
Moll Flanders is a landmark of English fiction whose resourceful, morally complex heroine continues to fascinate readers. Read it free online on TextStack.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Moll Flanders about?
A woman born in prison navigates life through multiple marriages, affairs, and a career as a thief before finding redemption, in this pioneering English novel.
Where can I read Moll Flanders online?
You can read Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe free online on TextStack.