Moll Flanders, First Set of Prompts

1. In her introduction to our edition of Moll Flanders, Virginia Woolf, who knew something about female protagonists, argues that Defoe is breaking new ground with the character of Moll, whom he "places in circumstances where [her] particular hardships are displayed in such a way as to elicit our sympathy" (xvi). In this way, Woolf paints the novel as a kind of early feminist text because it absorbs us in the world of a woman who is making it on her own, and sometimes doing so defiantly. And yet, when we flip the page, we find that Defoe, in his Preface, goes to great lengths to cast Moll Flanders as a morality story, a cautionary tale, one that is meant to warn the reader about vice. What do you make of this seeming contradiction? Use examples.

2. Defoe's Preface creates a narrative framework for the novel. What, if anything, does that framework have in common with other works we have read this semester? Use specific examples.

3. After reading the first 100 pages of the novel, choose one adjective to describe your impression of Moll, and then elaborate using at least one example from the first 100 pages.

Thanks. See you Tuesday.