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The Older Brother and Moll’s First Marriage
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Moll Flanders, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Poverty and Morality
Gender and Society
Identity
Sex and Money
Summary
Analysis
Moll is still young and attractive, and she has many suitors, including a linen-draper, the brother of her landlady. Still, Moll isn’t impressed with any of the men she dates. She isn’t concerned with love at all—not after losing so badly in love with the older brother—and she resolves “to be well Married or not at all.” Still, it isn’t long before she is caught in the “Snare” of the linen-draper, a “Land-water-thing call’d, a Gentleman-Tradesman,” and she marries him. The linen-draper quickly takes to spending all the money Moll saved, and within two years, he is bankrupt.
In short, Moll is looking for a wealthy husband; she isn’t looking for love after her experiences with the older brother. At first she obviously thinks the linen-draper has money, but the fact that he spends all her money implies he isn’t wealthy at all. Moll is caught in the trap of a “Gentleman-Tradesman,” a man she thinks is wealthy but who is just a poor tradesman. Moll’s amphibious description of him reflects his slippery identity and ability to deceive her.
Themes
Literary Devices
The linen-draper is arrested for his sizable debts, and Moll goes to see him at the Bailiff’s House where he is being held. He apologizes for the state he is leaving Moll in and tells her to take whatever money and valuables are left and run. He wishes her well, and Moll leaves, never seeing him again. Later, the linen-draper breaks out of the Bailiff’s House and flees to France. Moll is left with only £500 in her bank and nowhere to go. The only child she had with the linen-draper died in infancy, but since she is still legally married, Moll’s options are limited.
According to the law, the linen-draper’s debt are legally Moll’s debts since she is his wife, and she could be thrown into debtors’ prison because of him. Moll keeps her personal bank throughout the book, and the hidden stash of money is symbolic of security and Moll’s ability to care for herself. 500 pounds is a lot of money, but it must last Moll her whole life. The only way for Moll to increase her wealth is to marry again or go into Service, and since Moll doesn't have a way to divorce the linen-draper, it will be hard for her to marry again.
Themes
Literary Devices
Fearing creditors, Moll goes to the Mint, poses as a widow, and changes her name to Mrs. Flanders. She has little money, no friends or family, and no idea what she will do. Moll sees nothing but “Misery and Starving” before her, and she vows to get out of the Mint, where the people and conditions are terrible. Moll leaves the Mint and lives for a time with a kind widow, but the widow soon remarries, and Moll is again on her own.
The Mint was a district in London so named because coins were once manufactured there. The actual mint was closed in the 1500s, but the area remained a jurisdictional interzone, meaning it was ruled over by a lord and the established law didn’t have jurisdiction there. Criminals can’t be arrested at the Mint, so it is a sort of sanctuary for wanted debtors like Moll. Moll’s circumstances are bleak—she has only “Misery and Starving” ahead of her—and she is desperate to get out. Moll’s assumed name, Mrs. Flanders, connotes sex and prostitution. At the time, it was said that London’s best prostitutes were Flemish women (that is, women from Flanders), and by calling herself Mrs. Flanders, Moll implies she is willing to resort to prostitution to improve her circumstances.
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Literary Devices
Living in London, Moll discovers that marriage is “the Consequence of politick Schemes for forming Interests, and carrying on Business,” and it has nothing at all to do with love. She also learns that women don’t have “the Privilege” to turn down marriage proposals and should consider themselves lucky just for being asked. Women can’t question a man’s character or fortune before agreeing to marriage, but men enjoy this right. The men go “Fortune Hunting” without “Fortune themselves to Demand it, or Merit to deserve it.”
This passage reflects the sexist and classist nature of Moll’s society. Marriage isn’t an expression of love; it is an expression of one’s wealth and place in society. Women are considered another piece of property owned by men, only it is the women who must pay, either in the form of a dowry or with their virtue, and always with the expectation of sex. A man can be poor and of little character, but a woman has no right to question him.
Themes
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Women have much to gain, Moll explains, by holding their ground and saying no. There are few good men available these days, and women have good reason to be cautious. Those women who easily give themselves to marriage without questioning the fortune or character of their husbands place their entire lives in “a Lottery” with 1,000 to one odds. No good man will condemn a woman for enquiring about his character and wealth upon a proposal, Moll claims, and any man who does has a “very contemptible Opinion” of the woman he expects to take marriage on like a leap of faith.
Moll is practical and reasonable in her approach to marriage, and her opinion here implies she respects herself, since she doesn’t want to settle for just any husband; however, Moll’s sexist society doesn’t allow Moll such control, not even over her own life and future. Moll has a better chance of winning the lottery than finding a good man, but she is expected to take whoever will have her, which reflects the “contemptible Opinion” of women in Moll’s society.
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