Moll Flanders

by

Daniel Defoe

The Male Comrade Character Analysis

The male comrade is one of Moll’s partners in crime. Fearing her identity has been compromised, Moll begins dressing as a man and takes to working with the male comrade. Moll and the male comrade pull off several robberies together—their specialty is relieving distracted shopkeepers of their goods—but he never suspects Moll isn’t a man. The male comrade is arrested for a botched robbery, but Moll manages to get away. He is sent to Newgate Prison, where he attempts to turn Moll in for a reduced sentence; however, he tells authorities that his partner’s name is Gabriel Spencer, and when the police are unable to find a man by that name, the male comrade is punished severely and presumably hanged. Like the couple, the male comrade serves to underscore the extreme danger involved in Moll’s life of crime.
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The Male Comrade Character Timeline in Moll Flanders

The timeline below shows where the character The Male Comrade appears in Moll Flanders. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Moll’s Life of Crime
Poverty and Morality Theme Icon
Gender and Society Theme Icon
Identity Theme Icon
Sex and Money Theme Icon
...midwife helps Moll to disguise herself as a man and introduces her to a new male comrade(full context)
Poverty and Morality Theme Icon
Identity Theme Icon
Moll and the male comrade work several jobs together. They stick mostly to robbing distracted shopkeepers, and Moll’s comrade never... (full context)
Poverty and Morality Theme Icon
...the constable, Moll refuses to let the midwife dress her up as man again. The male comrade is arrested and agrees to inform on Moll for a reduced sentence. He tells the... (full context)
Poverty and Morality Theme Icon
Gender and Society Theme Icon
The male comrade ’s arrest makes Moll increasingly uneasy, so she decides to leave town for a while.... (full context)