Studieguide til The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

Moll Flanders

Moll Flanders narrates her struggle to earn money and her pleasure in a wealthy young man's attention. Her fears for her baby, followed by conviction and repentance, show a life shaped by vulnerability and responsibility.

Vigtige parts: 1, 3, 4

Moll's mother

Moll's mother leaves her behind when she is transported after a theft conviction. Her history later threatens Moll's marriage, while her will provides a plantation, making her both a source of danger and material security.

Vigtige parts: 1, 4

The captain

The captain unknowingly helps spread a false account of Moll's wealth, showing how reputation travels through other people's words. Later, he gives Moll and her husband practical help, advising their preparations and arranging their discharge.

Vigtige parts: 1, 4

Moll's brother

Moll's brother is also her former husband, and their separation involves goods from Virginia and a release she delays signing. His eventual death removes her fear of revealing her current marriage, showing the continuing force of secrecy.

Vigtige parts: 4

The gentleman

The gentleman is a wealthy married visitor who initially gives Moll money without demanding sexual intimacy. His later paid visits end in remorse and withdrawal, showing how apparent generosity can become an unstable form of dependence.

Vigtige parts: 2, 3

The governess

The governess helps Moll commit crimes, shares the profits, and protects her from discovery. She later proposes retirement from crime and helps prepare Moll and her husband for departure, combining dangerous assistance with practical care.

Vigtige parts: 3, 4

The constable

The constable stops a search after accepting Moll's assurance about the gentlemen, showing how authority can depend on persuasive appearances. Later, he resists the mercer's orders and brings witnessed mistreatment before a justice.

Vigtige parts: 3, 4

Money and security

Moll's earnings and wealthy protectors show how closely independence depends on access to money, even when protection seems generous. Her negotiation with a departing lover and eventual plantation wealth suggest that security remains a material problem rather than simply a matter of affection.

Hvor det optræder: parts 1, 2, 4

Secrecy and reputation

The governess's presentation of the couple as cousins suggests that secrecy continues to offer practical protection rather than disappearing when circumstances change.

Hvor det optræder: parts 1, 2, 4

Care and dependence

The nurse's honest management shows that dependence can provide real protection and help Moll develop her abilities. Her later fears about paid nursing suggest that care becomes troubling when a vulnerable person's safety depends on arrangements that may reward something other than their welfare.

Hvor det optræder: parts 1, 3

Deception and vulnerability

Moll's early romantic mistake shows how trust becomes dangerous when two people understand the same encounter differently. Her later theft from a trusting heiress suggests a reversal of position: the person once exposed to misleading appearances learns to exploit them.

Hvor det optræder: parts 1, 4

Needlework

Needlework works as an image of modest, learned independence. Alongside the nurse's honest management, it suggests a way of earning that depends on skill and care rather than deception.

Part 1

Gold watches

Gold watches work as portable signs of wealth exposed to theft. The heiress's loss suggests that valuable possessions become vulnerable when apparent familiarity wins trust.

Parts 3, 4

Clothes

Their recurrence suggests the continuing importance of material provision, connecting everyday possessions with her search for security.

Parts 1, 2

Moll Flanders, Part 1. Moll reflects on the mismatch between her sincerity and the elder son's intentions. The line shows how unequal expectations make romantic attention dangerous.

The narrator's mother, Part 2. Moll's mother speaks as her history threatens to expose the marriage's hidden relationship. Her warning shows disclosure as a shared danger, not simply a release from secrecy.

The narrator, Part 3. Moll speaks while considering the dangers of paid nursing for her baby.

The narrator, Part 4. Moll comments on stealing a horse that brings her no profit. The paradox shows the gap between committing a crime and gaining any practical advantage.