Moll Flanders - Softcover

Defoe, Daniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451529855 ISBN 13: 9780451529855

Publisher: Signet Classics, 2001

Synopsis

Recounts the story of a young English woman who is born in poverty in Newgate Prison and later becomes, by turn, a prostitute, a thief, a wife, and, finally, a wealthy penitent. Reissue.

About this title

Review

"This is a series in which the editing is something of an art form."

"With this new edition of Moll Flanders, instructors are at last well-equipped to teach Defoe's challenging and enigmatic novel. Scanlon has carefully edited and helpfully annotated the most authoritative text of Moll and supplied readers with a wealth of contemporary texts, including Defoe's comments on women's roles in urban life, that illuminate the complex cultural context into which Defoe launched his novel. These glimpses of Defoe's other writings in combination with excerpts from literary contemporaries give students and general readers an unprecedentedly rich context in which to understand Moll Flanders."--Melissa Mowry

“With this new edition of Moll Flanders, instructors are at last well-equipped to teach Defoe’s challenging and enigmatic novel. Scanlon has carefully edited and helpfully annotated the most authoritative text of Moll and supplied readers with a wealth of contemporary texts, including Defoe’s comments on women’s roles in urban life, that illuminate the complex cultural context into which Defoe launched his novel. These glimpses of Defoe’s other writings in combination with excerpts from literary contemporaries give students and general readers an unprecedentedly rich context in which to understand Moll Flanders.” — Melissa Mowry, St. John’s University, New York

"With this new edition of Moll Flanders, instructors are at last well-equipped to teach Defoe's challenging and enigmatic novel. Scanlon has carefully edited and helpfully annotated the most authoritative text of Moll and supplied readers with a wealth of contemporary texts, including Defoe's comments on women's roles in urban life, that illuminate the complex cultural context into which Defoe launched his novel. These glimpses of Defoe's other writings in combination with excerpts from literary contemporaries give students and general readers an unprecedentedly rich context in which to understand Moll Flanders." -- Melissa Mowry, St. John's University, New York

"With this new edition of Moll Flanders, instructors are at last well-equipped to teach Defoe's challenging and enigmatic novel. Scanlon has carefully edited and helpfully annotated the most authoritative text of Moll and supplied readers with a wealth of contemporary texts, including Defoe's comments on women's roles in urban life, that illuminate the complex cultural context into which Defoe launched his novel. These glimpses of Defoe's other writings in combination with excerpts from literary contemporaries give students and general readers an unprecedentedly rich context in which to understand Moll Flanders." -- Melissa Mowry, St. John's University, New York

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: Signet Classics
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0451529855
• ISBN 13: 9780451529855
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 336