Moll Flanders: Financial Hardship and The Road to Vice

The transition from a societal mindset based on religion and faith to one based on practical needs was evident throughout history. England during the late 17th and early 18th century is a fair example of this transition. Daniel Defoe’s novel, Moll Flanders, outlined the story of a young woman who epitomized the struggle for avoiding poverty and replacing religious morale with practical needs. For the context of this essay, I will define the term enlightened as the philosophy that defined behavior on the basis of practical needs, such as financial circumstances and avoiding poverty, rather than religious observance and spirituality (rather than the application of science and reason that applies to the work of John Locke and his contemporaries). While Locke’s “enlightened” writings on using human reason and respecting the obligation of the government to the people applied to gentry and the well to do, it did not always apply to those like Moll who lived in the lower tier of society. Although Moll’s life was characterized by securing practical needs, there was still a certain level of religious influence in her life that was more cognitive and did not directly affect her behavior. 

During the lifetime of Moll, England fell into tough economic circumstances. With the transition to Hanoverian rule and the wars in question, financing was dependant on the taxing of landowners (Willcox and Arnstein 16). The wars of succession therefore caused a need for financing.  The Bank of England allowed the state to issue annuities and structured the banking system indefinitely. Alongside economic hardships, there were also issues of religious tolerance and the relationship between the Parliament and the King. The lower tier of the public sphere (men and women who were not gentry or aristocrats) mostly suffered from the inability to cultivate a living that was sufficient to survive. Moll epitomized these hardships during the longevity of her existence.

Defoe narrates Moll’s life through the lens of financial hardship. Early in the novel, she received money in exchange for her sexual favors from the son of the family she was living with. After leaving her marriage in Virginia and meeting a new man in London, “[she] could not arrive to that freedom which he desired, viz.,to tell him that [she] wanted money” (Defoe 101). Moll was accustomed to having a male companion who would support her, but faced situations like these where she needed to support herself, therefore placing money as a high priority. Another example was when Moll dated a man, Jemmy, with a supposed estate in Ireland for the purpose of having access to his wealth (Defoe 139). Unfortunately, Jemmy also had the intention of taking her wealth. This example testifies that not only females had this burden. Furthermore, Moll attested that the only way “[she] would have the prospect of a very happy life” would be if she married a wealthy individual (Defoe 173). Her whole livelihood therefore depended on her finding a husband who would ensure that she was financially taken care of. Moll’s behavior was enlightened in the sense that despite the cynical nature of using others for wealth, it was a practical need for survival and came first. Upon going to Newgate prison for her thievery, we began to see that religious intervention and spirituality played a role.

Despite her life of vice and whoredom, Moll’s thoughts were entangled with prayer and religious reflection. Early in Moll’s life, she engaged in performing sexual favors for money and being involved with multiple relationships. While living in a house of burlesque, Moll noted that “ this was strange testimony to the growing vice of the age, and as bad as I had been myself…” (Defoe 156). Moll did not behave as she did without the guilt of sin and debauchery but struggled to overcome the dichotomy of being a whore or gentlewoman on a cognitive level. In examples such as these, she heavily reflected that she had come to a low point in her life and she was a bad person in the eyes of God and Christ. However, it is important to understand that she acted so only to avoid poverty. Moll affirmed that “the vice came in always at the door of necessity, not at the door of inclination” (Defoe 118). Therefore, Moll behaved in sin because it was a way to overcome her practical needs, such as basic survival. Her actions culminated into a minister advising her to “repent all of [her] sins” (Defoe 265). It was evident that by the time she saw the wickedness of man in Newgate that she began to realize the life of sin she lived in. She was mentally tormented by the way she conducted herself in hindsight. Henceforth, religion and vice still played an integral role in Moll’s life because she looked to God and Christ to save her. Moll’s enlightened state was guided by actions of desperation to meet her practical needs while repenting and pleading to God to forgive her on a cognitive level. 

The totality of Moll’s life was characterized by living in vice and committing sin in the eyes of many in her time. Undoubtedly, England was going through economic hardship and war and this carried a financial burden on the common people who were not involved in government affairs. Her wickedness involved a life of being a whore, stealing and using others for the sake of financial security. While it is easy to label her as a corrupt human being, it is vital to understand that when she was driven to committing these crimes, she felt the utmost necessity to preserve her well being. Stealing was not an end but a means to a greater end of living a content life with a husband. It was only when she was in Newgate prison that she came to terms with her life and truly regretted and repented her actions, despite blaming her wicked life on her husband. While Moll’s deviant behavior lasted the longevity of her life, she was essentially a victim of her own and England’s financial disposition. Finally, Defoe most likely narrated Moll’s life through the lens of both sin and religious salvation to emphasize that religious purity and piety was important; however, basic human survival was the main priority in such times.

Works Cited

Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders. Book Jungle, 2007.

Willcox, William B., and Walter L. Arnstein. The Age of Aristocracy, 1688-1830. Houghton Mifflin College Division, 2001.