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The Linen-Draper
The gentleman is a married man and Moll’s lover. The gentleman is introduced to Moll by her landlady when Moll lives in Bath, and he first claims to have the utmost respect for Moll and her virtue. He offers Moll money with no strings attached and seems to be sincerely concerned for her wellbeing. He even tells Moll that he can be trusted with her virtue “naked in Bed,” but the moment Moll offers to have sex with him, the gentleman jumps at the chance. Like most of the men in Moll’s life, the gentleman is chiefly interested in her for sex, and his claims to respect her are presumably just a ploy to get close to her. Moll and the gentleman have a longstanding affair, and they have three children together. He eventually falls ill and has an attack of conscience, after which he refuses to continue seeing Moll. He gives her £100 and leaves her. The affair between Moll and the gentleman serves as an example of the moral instruction Defoe mentions in the novel’s preface, and it illustrates the immorality of adultery.
The Gentleman Quotes in Moll Flanders
The Moll Flanders quotes below are all either spoken by The Gentleman or refer to The Gentleman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Moll and the Gentleman
Quotes
This was evidently my Case, for I was now a loose unguided Creature, and had no Help, no Assistance, no Guide for my Conduct: I knew what I aim’d at, and what I wanted, but knew nothing how to pursue the End by direct means; I wanted to be plac’d in a settled State of Living, and had I happen’d to meet with a sober good Husband, I should have been as faithful and true a Wife to him as Virtue it self could have form’d: If I had been otherwise, the Vice came in always at the Door of Necessity, not at the Door of Inclination […].
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The Gentleman Quotes in Moll Flanders
The Moll Flanders quotes below are all either spoken by The Gentleman or refer to The Gentleman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Moll and the Gentleman
Quotes
This was evidently my Case, for I was now a loose unguided Creature, and had no Help, no Assistance, no Guide for my Conduct: I knew what I aim’d at, and what I wanted, but knew nothing how to pursue the End by direct means; I wanted to be plac’d in a settled State of Living, and had I happen’d to meet with a sober good Husband, I should have been as faithful and true a Wife to him as Virtue it self could have form’d: If I had been otherwise, the Vice came in always at the Door of Necessity, not at the Door of Inclination […].
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
