Toby Lane HIST236 Moll Flanders Essay: Question 1 During the 17thcentury and continuing into the 18th , Europe saw a single English town rise to become a central hub for fashion, finance, and industry, a metropolis in Europe. As cities grew, attracting more and more people, business flourished and a new society developed. Looking back on this period of success and change, a number of things are made clear. There were new movements that strayed from traditional thinking and new ideas that challenged established norms. As seen in Daniel Defoe’sMoll Flanders,these times saw new cultural trends that focused on fashion and luxury, increased economic opportunity brought about by the agricultural revolution and the new colonies, and the social transitions created through the emergence of a new middle class. In the Defoe’s work, the audience is introduced to Moll Flanders, an orphan born in Newgate Prison. Growing up, the child dreams of becoming a gentlewoman. When Moll first describes how she will act as a gentlewoman, her comments bring about laughter and pity, as the role of a gentle woman during her time was not to work hard and make money, but rather marry rich and settle down. Throughout Moll’s criminal autobiography, this principle is exemplified as she insists on finding a wealthy gentleman to marry. What is interesting to note however, is Moll’s determination to create her own wealth, even through criminal means. In a sort of gender role reversal, her intentions contradict the established, cultural norms of society where the woman is not her own person. Her character was neither rich nor poor, neither highly educated nor illiterate.
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