In the last three posts, we’ve reviewed the purpose of the preface as setting the reading of the book, Moll as a depiction of the ‘evil woman’, and finally the question of agency. We return now to the final events of the book to reconsider Moll’s character and motivations, as well as to return to the governing force that seemingly shapes the entire narrative: the preface. A brief recap of events so far
In Retrospect: The Author’s Preface
I am fascinated by how the introductions and/or prefaces to books authored either by the author or an editor shape the way I read the following story. Being directed in my reading of the story raises an interesting paradox wherein it is difficult to separate the originality of my own perceptions and thoughts from those carefully planted by the introduction/preface. Indeed, it begs the very question of how important the framing work done by the author or editor is to the understanding of the narrative. This held especially true in my reading of Defoe’s Moll Flanders where I felt myself in constant questioning of the image of Moll raised by the Author’s Preface. The Author’s Preface is not written by the author at all but rather by Moll’s editor. However, as the book itself is written by Defoe and not by Moll; in other words, it is not a biography though within the story world it may be. The preface can thus instead be seen as part of the fictional work and part of the actual fictional world. This immediately raises the question of whether the editor’s intention in “finishing her story and making it what you now see it to be, has had no little difficulty to put it into a dress fit to be seen, and to make it speak language fit to be read” is true at all. This creates two possibilities. The first possibility is that the Author’s Preface is merely a preface in the traditional sense of the word and contains useful guidance on how to read the novel. The editor recommends the book to people who “know how to read it, and how to make the good uses of it which the story all along recommends to them.” The second possibility is much more interesting. If the Author’s Preface is not a traditional preface and instead part of the story itself, that is, if the Preface is not authored by the supposed editor but written by Moll herself under the guise of an editor, this places the reader in a more complicated position where it is Moll who has artfully deceived us and taken hold of her story in an even mightier way then might otherwise be indicated.
I prefer the second possibility, and it is the possibility I found myself largely in conversation with throughout reading Moll Flanders. The Preface warns the reader that Moll is an immoral woman and that the novel poises the evil woman as its focal character. However, in her monologue, Moll is an attractive, witty, clever opportunist making the most of the hand she has been dealt. She participates in society within and against its rules. Her determination to survive and succeed financially are strong examples of her own agency and convictions. If indeed she authored her own preface and there is no editor retelling Moll’s story to the reader, she is as artful as can be given credit for. Although the preface promises a didactic moral tale, Moll goes largely unpunished by the law for the life of bigamy, incest, prostitution, and crime she lives. She is presented as an example of the worst possible behavior a woman can engage in according to 17th century patriarchal standards, yet she portrays herself (insofar as we permit ourselves to believe the censorship or lack thereof performed by Moll’s alleged editor) as a witty, cunning businesswoman who constantly furthers her own gains. She displays awareness that she is behaving dishonestly yet takes care to remind the reader of her destitution for she admits freely it is the need for financial security that drives her actions. When she begins her career as a thief, Moll asks the reader not to judge her “without seriously reflecting on the Circumstances of a desolate State.” And indeed, throughout the book, Moll admits that her choices are driven by ““the terrible prospect of Poverty and Starving.” Thus, she constantly justifies her actions as rendered necessary by necessity. The Business of Repentance
Towards the end of the book when Moll is facing the death sentence for thieving, Moll repents for her sins to gain a reprieve granting her deportation to the colonies instead of hanging. However, is Moll’s apparent repentance merely another cunning business decision? Moll says of her repentance that “this may be thought inconsistent in itself, and wide from the business of this book; particularly, I reflect that many of those who may be pleased and diverted with the relation of the wild and wicked part of my story may not relish this, which is really the best part of my life, the most advantageous to myself, and the most instructive to others.” Thus, as she has repeatedly done throughout the book, Moll anticipates the demands of the 17th century reader and appears to fulfill their expectations for “it would be a severe satire on such to say they do not relish the repentance as much as they do the crime.” It cannot be denied that by the conclusion of her tale, finds herself a rich and prosperous married woman. You're currently a free subscriber to Letters By Layla. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
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