Chapter Characters of Moll Flanders - Study Guide by Daniel Defoe

Characters

As the title suggests, the story of Moll Flanders belongs very much to the narrator. We are, supposedly, reading the memoirs of an elderly woman, looking back upon her life. Yet the people that she is closest to feature no more than necessary. She even refuses to tell the story of her beloved Lancashire husband, Jemmy, "I consider this is my own Story, not his". The character of Moll is difficult to

Drama is created by tensions between what Moll emphasises and what she sidelines The use of persona not only allows the vitality of first-hand narrative, it gives the reader much more scope for interpretation. Moll is an inherently paradoxical character, inviting blame even as she draws blame. Defoe's use of persona is a step from earlier use of typology, as in the writing of Bunyan for example. The most important point to make, although it may seem obvious, is that Defoe writes about individuals. Moll may be a 'moll' (whore), as Roxana 's name is for a mistress, but neither is a type in the same way as, for example, Bunyan's Christian or Mr Badman. The wealth of detail which Moll provides about her life, whilst leaving out important facts such as the names of other characters and that of herself, is the key to Defoe's use of persona in the novel. Moll does not know who she is; she does not really understand to what she aspires; she does not understand her own nature to the extent that she really believes in her repentance without any substantial evidence of suffering or penitence.