Moll Flanders 323perfectly clear to the reader. During the episode in
which Moll marries her fifth husband, whom she
calls the “grave gentleman,” she reflects sadly on
her life up to this point. She regrets that in order to
marry, she must deceive her future husband by keep-
ing the truth of her previous nine assorted lovers
and four marriages, including one to her own half
brother, secret. Moll reconciles her self-disgust with
her deception by saying to herself that she will make
up for her past by being a good wife to him—if God
will give her the grace to do so. And Moll is as good
as her word until this husband dies and leaves her
with two children and no income, although she does
live on what he leaves her for two years.
However, at the beginning of her long period as
a thief, just after the death of this husband, she men-
tions her fear of poverty again and again. Clearly, to
Moll, that fear is as terrifying as actual deprivation.
As she begins her criminal career, she asserts that
“Poverty... is the sure Bane of Virtue,” “Poverty is,
I believe, the worst of all Snares,” and the wise man’s
prayer is, “Give me not Poverty lest I Steal.”
Up to this point in the novel, just a little beyond
halfway through the story and up to the last of
her marriages, Moll has merely played a series of
performances to entice various men into marrying
and supporting her. However, after the death of the
“grave gentleman,” Moll turns to a straightforward
life of crime as a thief and a prostitute, although
her adventures in both fields are primarily crimes of
opportunity.
Moll’s second criminal act, however, appears to
demonstrate that even she has scruples. Spotting a
young girl who is expensively dressed, Moll pretends
to lead her home safely and steals her gold necklace.
While they are alone together, she says, the Devil
tells her to kill the girl. Even Moll is horrified at the
thought, however, and sends the child away safely.
This event marks the third time in the novel that
she balks at doing something she believes is morally
repugnant. Earlier, she refuses to have an abortion
to hide a previous affair from the “grave gentleman.”
She prefers, instead, to pretend she is wealthy, have
the child, and send him out to be fostered in another
family, as readers must assume she has for at least a
few of her previous seven children. Previously, and
most famously, Moll is also so repulsed by her acci-
dental marriage to her own brother that she sticks
to her scruples and continues to look for escape
from it even when her brother/husband threatens to
have her committed to an asylum, and even as she
realizes that she would have no legal claim to any of
the family’s wealth if her marriage were to be found
invalid.
As much as Moll protests the occasional pang
of conscience, however, her narrative does not offer
very many clues as to the limits of her behavior. Her
actions do make clear, though, that Moll does what
is necessary—necessary not just to survive, but to
survive happily and comfortably. Defoe’s novel offers
no evidence that would lead the reader to believe
that Moll would not kill the girl with the gold neck-
lace, abort the baby she conceives before marrying
the “grave gentleman,” or even remain with her hus-
band/brother if she had not been able to find a way
out of those difficult situations. Indeed, Moll keeps
the secret of her incestuous marriage to herself for
three years before confiding it to her mother. Even
then the two of them scheme together for months
before finally revealing the truth of their relation-
ship to her husband/brother. Moll further remains
in the marriage and the house until she secures not
only his permission to leave but also enough money
and goods to return to England satisfied with her
prospects.
Daniel Defoe’s narrative in Moll Flanders
expounds on typical punishments for the types of
crimes Moll commits, such as being exiled overseas
(called “being transported”) or hanging for many
crimes. Combined with Moll’s ethics, which her
actions reveal are perfectly malleable, even dispos-
able, whenever she sees poverty looming, these harsh
punishments demonstrate to the reader that the
poor, and especially poor women, are disposable in
the England of Defoe’s time.
Carman CurtoninnOcence and experience in Moll
Flanders
The difference between innocence and experience
is all the difference in the world for Moll Flanders,
narrator and main character in the novel of the
same name. She learns quickly from experience, and
almost always profits from it. The few regrets she