Daniel Defoe's bawdy tale of a woman's struggle for independence and redemption Moll Flanders
is edited with an introduction and notes by David Blewett in Penguin Classics. Born in Newgate
prison and abandoned six months later Moll Flanders' drive to find and hold on to a secure
place in society propels her through incest adultery bigamy prostitution and a resourceful
career as a thief ('the greatest Artist of my time') before her crimes catch up with her and
she is transported to the colony of Virginia in the New World. If Moll Flanders is on one level
a Puritan's tale of sin and repentance through self-made self-reliant Moll Daniel Defoe's
rich subtext conveys all the paradoxes and amoralities of the struggle for property and power
in the newly individualistic society of Eighteenth-century England. Based on the first edition
of 1722 this volume includes a chronology suggestions for further reading notes on currency
and maps of London and Virginia in the late seventeenth century. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) had a
variety of careers including merchant soldier spy and political pamphleteer. Over the course
of his life Daniel Defoe wrote over two hundred and fifty books on economics history
biography and crime but is best remembered for the fiction he produced in late life which
includes Robinson Crusoe (1719) Moll Flanders (1722) and Roxana (1724). Defoe had a great
influence on the development of the English novel and many consider him to be the first true
novelist. If you enjoyed Moll Flanders you might like Samuel Richardson's Pamela also
available in Penguin Classics.
