Moll Flanders - Softcover

Defoe, Daniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140620257 ISBN 13: 9780140620252

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 1994

Synopsis

Born and abandoned in Newgate Prison, Moll Flanders is forced to make her own way in life. She duly embarks on a career that includes husband-hunting, incest, bigamy, prostitution and pick-pocketing, until her crimes eventually catch up with her. One of the earliest and most vivid female narrators in the history of the English novel, Moll recounts her adventures with irresistible wit and candour―and enough guile that the reader is left uncertain whether she is ultimately a redeemed sinner or a successful opportunist.

Based on the first edition of 1722, this volume includes a chronology, notes on currency and maps of London and Virginia in the late seventeenth century.

About this title

Review:

"The brilliance of "Moll Flanders," and of the best of Defoe's other novels, is that they dramatize the uncertainty that goes with the opportunism, and show us a world in which, if you can make yourself, you can lose yourself too." -from the Introduction by John Mullan

The brilliance of "Moll Flanders," and of the best of Defoe s other novels, is that they dramatize the uncertainty that goes with the opportunism, and show us a world in which, if you can make yourself, you can lose yourself too. from the Introduction by John Mullan"

The brilliance of Moll Flanders, and of the best of Defoe s other novels, is that they dramatize the uncertainty that goes with the opportunism, and show us a world in which, if you can make yourself, you can lose yourself too. from the Introduction by John Mullan"

"The brilliance of Moll Flanders, and of the best of Defoe's other novels, is that they dramatize the uncertainty that goes with the opportunism, and show us a world in which, if you can make yourself, you can lose yourself too." -from the Introduction by John Mullan

From the Back Cover:

Born to a petty thief in London's notorious Newgate prison and determined to make her way in a rapacious and materialistic society, Moll Flanders recounts the "fortunes and misfortunes" of her turbulent life in this 1722 novel. Though Moll Flanders was shaped by the conventions of criminal biography, Defoe also drew on other literary traditions and his own rich background to create a remarkably original--and still controversial--work.

In addition to a critical introduction and substantial footnotes, this Broadview edition provides a wide range of writings by Defoe as well as contemporary responses to Moll Flanders. Other appendices include a selection of eighteenth-century writings on crime, prisons, and the Virginia colony.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0140620257
• ISBN 13: 9780140620252
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384