Moll Flanders - Final Set of Prompts

1. To what extent is Moll responsible for her crimes? How much of what she has done can be related to More's ideas in Utopia, namely that society makes criminals and then punishes them? How much blame do we have to put on Moll herself? In other words, how much of her behavior is a product of her environment, how much of it her own nature?

2. Last week we discussed a seeming disconnect between the moralizing commentary in the novel and the relish with which Defoe seems to portray the character of Moll Flanders. Do you see more of that in the last 1/3 of the novel? Are there places where Defoe puts a "bad" or a "naughty" tag on something that he portrays in an exciting or sympathetic manner?

3. What do you make of Moll's experience in prison? What do you make of her penitence and reformation? What stands out to you in the prison section as being important to the novel as a whole?

4. When Moll sees her son in Virginia, she is overtaken with emotion and describes the moment in very sentimental terms. This seems inconsistent with the very unsentimental way she has separated herself--both emotionally and physically--from children throughout the novel. Why do you think she reacts differently this time?

5. When you compare Moll on page 1 to Moll at the end of the novel, what stands out to you as being the most distinct difference? What is the single biggest change in her character?