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Moll keeps a secret “Bank of Money” throughout most of Moll Flanders, and it symbolizes security and Moll’s ability to care for herself. The bank of money shrinks and grows during Moll’s long life, and it keeps her from starving and having to work as a servant. Moll’s bank is closely associated with sex, and it begins to build during her relationship with the older brother, who gives Moll money before they have sex. When the older brother leaves Moll, he pays her £500 for her virtue, and Moll has a significant amount of her own money for the first time. When Moll’s marriages and affairs fail, she stops each time to take stock of her bank, which is sometimes modest, and sometimes nearly dry. After Moll’s fifth and final husband, the banker, dies, Moll has less than £200 in her bank. She lives on her money until it runs out, and when Moll is faced with starvation, she turns to a life of crime. She works as a pickpocket, a shoplifter, and a prostitute, and her bank quickly expands to include over £700 and various items of value. When Moll is arrested and sentenced to transportation to the American colonies, she brings her bank with her, but she leaves £300 with the midwife in London. Moll goes to Virginia with her fourth and favorite husband, James, where they build a happy and prosperous life after buying their freedom. Safe and secure in her life with James, Moll no longer fears homelessness or starvation, and she sends for the midwife to spend her remaining bank on supplies for the plantation Moll shares with James. In her happiness and newfound wealth, Moll is finally secure enough to let her bank go and set aside her criminal past for good, suggesting that wealth brings not only material security but also emotional freedom and the ability to live a moral life.
Moll’s Bank of Money Quotes in Moll Flanders
The Moll Flanders quotes below all refer to the symbol of Moll’s Bank of Money. 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:
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The Older Brother and Moll’s First Marriage
Quotes
My Colour came and went, at the Sight of the Purse, and with the fire of his Proposal together; so that I could not say a Word, and he easily perceiv’d it; so putting the Purse into my Bosom, I made no more Resistance to him, but let him do just what he pleas’d; and as often as he pleas’d; and thus I finish’d my own Destruction at once, for from this Day, being forsaken of my Virtue, and my Modesty, I had nothing of Value left to recommend me, either to God’s Blessing, or Man’s Assistance.
Related Characters:
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Moll’s Bank of Money Symbol Timeline in Moll Flanders
The timeline below shows where the symbol Moll’s Bank of Money appears in Moll Flanders. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Older Brother and Moll’s First Marriage
...a good husband, but Moll’s finances have not improved by much. Hidden in her private bank, Moll still has most of the money given to her by the older brother, about...
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Moll Marries the Linen-Draper
...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,...
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Moll Marries the Plantation Owner
...is a husband. Of course, she has next to nothing of value—only £460 in her bank, some expensive clothes, a gold watch and some jewelry, and £40 worth of linen. She...
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...and £60 in linen. At last, Moll tells him that is all she has—her entire bank. The plantation owner is so relieved that Moll has any money at all that he...
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Moll and the Gentleman
...much of its cargo. Without her belongings, Moll is reduced to around £300 in her bank with no hope for more.
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...only keep mistresses for so long, so she continues to hide money away in her bank whenever she can. Moll admits that from the moment she met the gentleman, she vowed...
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...herself alone. With the additional £50 from the gentleman, she has nearly £400 in her bank, including some silver, clothes, and linen.
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Moll’s Life of Crime
...her comrades have 120 gold watches between them. Moll has over £200 saved in her bank, but she continues to steal. “As Poverty brought me into the Mire,” Moll says, “so...
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Moll has almost £500 in her bank, which she could live on for quite some time, but she has no intention of...
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Moll’s Crimes Escalate
...home happy. She is in good financial shape indeed. She has over £700 in her bank, plus a good deal of valuable clothing, silver, and gold jewelry.
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Moll and James in America
...be useful and needed when Moll arrives in America, along with a portion of Moll’s “Bank of Money.” Once Moll is established in America, she will send for the rest of...
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...she has on board—£246 and a few shillings—but she doesn’t tell him about the £300 bank she left safe with the midwife in London. Their main problem at present is that...
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Conclusion
...more servants, and then Moll writes the midwife and asks her to take Moll’s remaining bank in England—£250 or so—and spend it on supplies and send them to Moll and James’s...
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