Moll Flanders (Norton Critical Editions)

Rating:
Summary: Dust off this musty book for some good social critique
Review: Moll Flanders is a typical 18th Century book that one would read in a class about early English novels. Daniel Defoe's so-called `masterpiece' gets labeled sometimes as one of the first novels ever written, and sometimes the prose shows. Written from the first-person perspective of the title character, Moll
Flanders tells the tale of a poor social low-life who has to turn to a life of crime after five failed marriages. Readers receive a rambling narrative of colorful characters that reside in the underbelly of 18th Century London. Moll Flanders was written originally as a sordid account that was to be taken as
`fact,' because of the way that Defoe mimicked the book after a popular form at the time that interviewed criminals on their deathbed. Defoe and his contemporaries used to compile these tales of redemption or non-repentance into what was called the Newgate Records. As the reader feels bad for Moll throughout the text, readers will see her go from a life of barely getting by to marrying her brother by accident to living a life of crime
through her own agency. A sophisticated critique of the prison system and class economics of England, Defoe's work stands the test of time for fresh commentary and readability. While most people might find Defoe's writing style to be a bit antiquated, the story is not, and will most likely reach its intended
audience. It's still true today that those criminals who become public examples are the ones from most of the lower castes, as are most criminals in general. The biggest question in Defoe's Moll Flanders still remains unanswered: How can one move up in a society that benefits those without any sort of inherited wealth or the means to further their position?