In Moll Flanders, Daniel Defoe constructs the image of an ingenious, autonomous, astute and independent woman. His Moll was born from nothing, born to a mother imprisoned in Newgate, born into this underworld of contained vice and criminality, within but on the fringes of acceptable society. From these humble beginnings, Moll is able to work her way through the ranks of British society, a figure of liminality who both traverses and embodies the fluidity of class distinction in an emerging commercial economy. By exploiting sexual and martial relationships in order to serve Moll's quest for social ascension, the text reduces the people and encounters that are the romantic focal point of earlier libertine works to an economic or market status that highlights the pragmatism and efficiency of Moll. Therefore, Defoe portrays Moll as a proto-feminist character, a person with ambitious desires who relies on her own abilities to stand out and achieve her goals. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay. This independence and ingenuity comes at a cost, however, a cost that complicates the first type of feminist thought that Defoe is shaping. By demonstrating the qualities that make her a mobile, free-spirited, quick-witted character capable of evolving with changing circumstances and necessities, Moll contradicts what Nancy Armstrong identifies as "the ideal of femininity” promoted by popular conduct books of the 18th century. century: that of the domesticated woman. Armstrong argues that this idealized servant "must have been devoid of the competitive desires and worldly ambitions which therefore belonged – as by a natural principle – to the male." This challenge to tradition denotes his bold and courageous individualism, but it is also the source of the novel's most acute moralizing (or morally ambiguous) moments. It is these moments that suggest that there is something suspicious or disturbing about Moll's "feminism." something in her character that is at odds with the dominant 18th century paradigm of femininity and correct morality. An analysis of how Moll's feminism is constructed, and a comparison of how these character or plot developments both foster but also problematize Moll's independence and individualism, such as her ability to recovering from calamitous situations or marital failures, her treatment of her children and her entry into the hardened world of a street thief will bear witness to Moll Flanders' restless feminism. Ultimately, it is this important conflict within the narrative that will suggest that Defoe's novel offers a new model of morality, suitable for the era of an emerging commercial economy in England. One of the ways in which Moll's feminism is thematized in Moll Flanders. , is due to his characterization as a level-headed pragmatist, fully aware of financial results and operating in accordance with them. Moll recognizes the importance of money as the key to success, happiness, and stability in life, and uses her cunning and understanding of these economic truths to advance her particular situation. She climbs the ranks in order to achieve the kind of elite, glamorous, or ultimately comfortable life she desires. For Moll, sexual pleasure is commensurate with, if not slightly subordinate to, her desire for material wealth. For example, during her first affair with the older brother in Colchester, although she is attracted to him for his libertine qualities (i.e. his good looks and libertine charms), Moll is equally attracted to his money. When hemakes her a (false) proposal to obtain her consent to the affair, he completes his commitment by offering Moll a silk purse of one hundred guineas, assuring her that he will continue to provide in this way every year until their marriage. . Moll remembers that in response, she: The color came and went, at the sight of the purse, and with the fire of its proposition together; so that I could not say a word, and he perceived it easily; then, putting the purse in my bosom, I no longer resisted him, but I let him do what he wanted (68). The money excites Moll, causing a blush of “color” that assaults her cheeks, violent and intense in the heart. the way he appeared and disappeared so quickly (the lack of syntactic space between “came” and “left” emphasizes the speed of the physical reaction). The purse (money) is used as a point of sexual contact and appears to be the factor that prompts Moll to submit or accept the "proposal", plus (or in addition to) her desire for the older brother. Moll is also seduced by the glamor of class status, as evidenced by her decision to marry the French draper after the death of her first husband (the romantic and honorable, but boring and unexciting Robin). Moll admits that at that time she loved the spectacle and fame of a lavish lifestyle: "I really loved the company of men of gaiety and wit, men of gallantry and figure, and I I was often entertained with them” (104). She most desires a "gallant" man for the distinction he bears, seeking a husband who is a "gentleman" and who carries a "sword" (the ultimate mark of the gallant figure) (104). Her need for a man, therefore, is only partially driven by her sexual desires, and her need for men only extends to the extent that they can serve her specific money-seeking goals. She constructs ruses to deceive men into believing that she has a fortune, this dowry fabrication being a necessary manipulation of (and therefore justified by) her particular marriage and personal goals. Before embarking on the conquest that will end in her incestuous marriage to her sea captain brother, Moll remembers that she “resolved therefore; as to the state of my current situation; that it was absolutely necessary to change stations and make a new appearance in another place where I was not known, and even to go under another name if I found the opportunity” (122). For the feminist Moll, men are therefore (for the most part) mere pawns in the “subtle” “game” of social ascension that she desired and deemed necessary to “play” (124). Backed by considerable wealth, what Moll expects from her husband for her and for her varies with age, a sign that she recognizes the value of his marketable products (i.e., her beauty and youth). After a series of marriages spanning twenty years, the older (wiser) Moll reflected that at that moment, "she was no longer the same woman" as in her past, because she "hadn't not look better for [her]. ] age” (181). With his physical value decreasing, it appears that Moll's ambitions are also softening slightly, in a realistic reaction to his economic situation. It is at this point in the novel that she expresses a desire "to be placed in a settled state of life, and if [she] had met a good sober husband, [she] should have been as faithful and a true wife for him as Virtue itself could have formed it” (182). It should also be kept in mind that at this point in the text Moll is without a husband or prospects of marriage, so she is faced with the imminence of the future. the exhaustion of his security and the “Terror of his approach to poverty” (182). Its more modest aspirations could therefore also constitute a tactical and sensible response tohis change of situation. That Moll can adjust her ambitions to match the practical demands of her situation demonstrates an ingenuity and robustness that is another element of her “feminism.” This flexibility (without totally compromising her core belief in the importance of money) marks her as a person with agency and rationality, rarely one so hysterical or emotional that she cannot recover from tragedy personal. It is Moll's resilience that allows her to withstand the trials of her uncertain situation between husbands, or to bounce back from some of the truly horrific and potentially ruinous events in her life. One of these events is his already mentioned incestuous marriage; that is, her union with her husband/brother, Captain Virginia. Once settled into a comfortable life on the plantation, Moll discovers that her stepmother is in fact the biological mother from whom she was born in Newgate and from whom she was separated. Although this news was shocking to Moll and caused “anguish in [her] mind” (136), she does not descend into hysteria. On the contrary, it undertakes to reflect, evaluate and resolve, “according to the calmest consideration”. » (137), how best to remedy this terrible error of marital union. The same tactical and astute approach that Moll brings to her understanding and conduct of the marriage market is reflected in her ability to rationally approach and resolve a truly ridiculous, catastrophic and potentially irreconcilable situation. Her "feminist" qualities, this pragmatism and this firm resolve (first hiding the revelation from her husband/brother, then confessing when it became too difficult to maintain the semblance of marriage), endowed Moll with the capacity to survive a incredible ordeal, and rebound from the taint of incest. These positive connotations of feminism that Defoe constructs around his heroine, this ability to easily forget and bounce back after a tragedy (that is, not to let oneself be undone by unmanageable emotions), while being productive to the extent that they ensure Moll's survival as she climbs the social ladder, at a "morally questionable price." Specifically, Moll's individual survival comes at the expense of her traditional domestic life, as illustrated by her treatment and respect for her children. There are several moments in Moll Flanders where Moll simply abandons her children -- for example, when she finally leaves her incest bed in Virginia. After Robin's death, Moll is perfectly content, even relieved, that her children are taken "joyfully out of [her] hands" (102). The language used here, "out of her hands", implies that at least these children (if not all of her) were a burden on Moll, anchoring her to a particular location (Colchester), thus prohibiting her from moving freely around town. in town, from man to man, in pursuit of his fortune. “Out of Her Hands” also suggests that Moll's hands, a mother's instruments of care, are somehow defective, unable to support the weight and responsibility of her children. The practical demands and independence (and solipsism) of individualism would dictate that indeed, abandoning her children was for Moll a necessary step, a sort of survival tactic, in order to sustain or maintain her spirit business. However, the narrative (or Defoe) calls into question the "morality" of the compromised "maid" by including passages where Moll, curiously, demonstrates a certain maternal instinct or regret. After her relationship with the gentleman from Bath ends, Moll wonders what will happen to her son, saying: “I was very perplexed about my little boy; it was death for me to separate from the child, andyet when I considered the danger of one day or other being left with him without maintenance to feed him, I then resolved to leave him where he was” (178). . This conflict betrays both an innate affection for the child and an understanding of the circumstances that allows Moll's "moral" choice to be dictated by a sober realism. But, in this case, this necessary choice does not seem to fully forgive or justify the blows to domesticity that it entails. At St. Jones Hospital, Moll's pregnancy before marrying the banker is seen as an inconvenience that must be avoided. But at the same time, Moll expresses a strong aversion to abortion, which the governess suggests she might bring about (228). A little earlier in the text, Moll admits that she would have been "happy to have a miscarriage", but that she could never have "entertained even a thought". miscarriage, or to take anything for [her] miscarriage” (219). And when she contemplates her imminent separation from her newborn, Moll cannot imagine this scenario "without horror" and says: "I wish all women who consent to their children being put aside, as we calls him out of decency. , would consider that it is only an artificial method of killing; that is, to kill their children safely” (233). She then continues for almost a page about the importance of affection for a child “placed by nature” in a mother (234). These incongruities, the moments where the text sometimes permits Moll's contempt for her children, and then the passages where moral conflict or regret is expressed, deserve attention, because they speak to the new concerns (and Defoe's) surrounding feminism and Moll's ardent individualism. It is almost as if the text, or Defoe as author and the particular period in which he writes, demands a conscious recognition of the novel's questionable moral content. The story must critique its own feminist impulses. The individualism that encourages flexibility to move from one circumstance to another might also lead to a superficial disregard for the duties of one's children and one's mother, a disregard that the practical demands of upward mobility cannot entirely excuse . Moll's entry into the world of the London underground, that is, her career as a thief, is another focal point or source of the novel's ambivalence towards feminism. On the one hand, flying offers Moll a kind of profession in which she delights and from which she derives a sense of pride. She is a rather intelligent, skillful and cunning pickpocket. I became the greatest artist of my time, and managed to extricate myself from every danger with such dexterity that when several more of my comrades rushed to Newgate, and by that time they had been After six months of work, I now had more than five years of practice, and the people of Newgate did not know me that much; they had indeed heard a lot about me and often waited for me there, but I always escaped, although several times in the greatest danger. (280) Within this criminal community, Moll is the best (of the worst). She attributes her success to “dexterity,” which implies artisanal elegance. Likewise, the fact that she mentions the number of years (five) that she remained out of prison, compared to the relatively narrow period of freedom that her minor thieving peers enjoyed (a year and a half), suggests that she believes she possesses a strange ability that sets her apart from others (and guaranteed her protection). She works best alone, which proves that she does not need to depend on a man for her livelihood. In fact, when Moll is in a relationship with a male partner, he is the one who acts carelessly andwith too much emotion. After spotting silks on display through a window, Moll remembers that "this [view] which the young man was so delighted with that he could not restrain himself... he swore violently to me that he would have it... I I dissuaded him a little, but seeing that there was no remedy, so he rushed at it” (282). Here it seems that the male partner embodies more feminized qualities, such as impulsiveness and bouts of excitement, while Moll again gives the image of someone rational, careful and practical. Due to the hysteria influencing her, the male partner is caught stealing and while he and Moll are chased, he is captured while Moll escapes thanks to her intelligence and quick thinking (she dressed a man during this time). flight, she quickly rushes to her governess's house, sheds her disguise, puts on her usual clothes and is able to confuse her pursuers). Moll's success as a pickpocket highlights her ability to stand on her own two feet and "own" money. However, it is important to note that this profession, this profession that she does so well, is criminal and therefore morally questionable. It is an independent career that makes optimal use of Moll's independence and mobility, but it is a career that keeps her out of the house, throws her into the streets and thus exposes her to vice and immorality . Her theft again calls into question Moll's "maternal" nature, suggesting her dangerous absence in Moll (a void that immoral self-interest can thus fill) when Moll steals a necklace directly from the person of a young dancer. At this point, Moll admits that she briefly considered killing the child, but was actually "frightened" by her own momentary thought (257) (a moment of moral recognition that might, once again times, being the text criticizing the blow to domesticity, a nascent phenomenon feminism/individualism could demand). To say that Defoe constructed a text that positions feminism as “good” and the loss of domestic life as “bad” is too simple a binary that ignores the dialectical relationship between individualism and kinship roles. Although Moll initially manifests or realizes these individualistic impulses through morally questionable activities – theft, deception, etc. – this is not to say that Moll Flanders imagines feminism (or compromised domesticity) as leading to bad behavior. Instead, Defoe may be asking whether, in 17th or 18th century England, a woman could be considered "moral" or "good" if she existed outside the domestic sphere (which Moll made by birth, born of a mother and without a mother). Does the 18th-century English woman have courage, tenacity, and self-interest, and is she still a kind servant? This question highlights or, in some ways, predicts a common criticism of capitalism: that it disrupts the family and promotes, even demands, a kind of freedom, mobility and flexibility that conflicts with the qualities of life traditional domestic family. The question then would be how could a woman embody the individualistic, mobile and upwardly mobile traits associated with capitalism, in a patriarchal society structured around the role of women as wife and mother? How can an individual like Moll, who possesses this entrepreneurial spirit, direct his ambitions towards productive ends in a society which has not yet defined a productive role for "anti-domestics"? In earlier libertine texts, the options offered to women in a sexual context of commercial society were limited: either she was sold on the marriage market, or she prostituted herself, or she.