Much of the critical debate surrounding Daniel Defoe's novel Moll Flanders centers on whether the author lives up to the promise made in the preface that the story will be morally instructive. For example, Ira Konigsberg writes that "One of the contradictions of the book that Defoe never resolves is in the conflicting arguments between necessity and morality." Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay It appears to be a misconception; for Defoe necessity is part of morality and vice versa. It is certainly tempting to take that perspective as an indication of irony, but Defoe, contrary to popular opinion, was not writing an ironic novel. In reality, he was writing a very realistic novel that expressed not only his own vision, but also that of society that the 16th century had seen a change of tone in morality, moving away from the religious values ​​rooted in the Middle Ages towards a value system based on a religious suspicion of poverty and laziness. The moral lesson contained in Moll Flanders is that she is a virtuous example of the new paradigm of the individual that Defoe imagined as crucial to maintaining the growth of England promised by the emerging economic structure of the eighteenth century. intended to be seen portrayed as a realistic and moral heroine can be deduced by comparing her economic worldview with that of her creator. In doing so it becomes obvious that Defoe was creating a fully realized spokesperson for his personal theories on the necessity of economic aspiration as a means of moral salvation. Moll says at one point that "marriages were here the consequence of political schemes, to form interests, to carry on business, and that love had nothing or very little to do with it." Moll learns this lesson early, and it is a guiding force throughout the rest of her life. Defoe himself “defended commercial marriages on the grounds that starting a business was worthier than marrying out of lust” (Grassby 305). Many of Moll's beliefs – and in particular her view on the economic importance of marriage – coincide with Defoe's views. Robert Allan Donovan dances around this concept when he writes that "it is possible to regard every detail as relevant to Moll's characterization and at the same time conforming to Defoe's ordinary mental processes." Ian Watt, however, is much more explicit, and much closer to the mark: "Defoe's identification with Moll Flanders was so complete that, despite some feminine traits, he created a personality that was essentially his own" (115). In Moll, Defoe creates an engaging character who personifies almost every socioeconomic theory he expresses in his numerous nonfiction writings on the topics of trade and commerce. It seems inconceivable that Defoe would have created a character so clearly conceived to be a spokesperson for his economic theories who was not a heroic, admirable and entirely moral figure. The moral that Defoe provides in Moll Flanders is not that capitalism and trade are bad for England, quite the opposite; that, in fact, the pursuit of upward mobility by the middle class is a moral imperative and, further, that the ways to achieve upward mobility are not limited to the “virtuous.” Defoe's economic morality may seem somewhat distorted to 20th-century readers, making them more likely to interpret the novel ironically, but Defoe was, in fact, not at odds with his contemporaries. Twentieth-century readers were conditioned to read novels about business and commerce as cautionary tales of the unscrupulous behavior of those who would do anything for money, to the detrimentof anyone who gets in their way. It may be difficult for these readers to understand the mentality that produced Restoration and 18th-century writers who were "favorable toward business, seeing it as a great civilizing force and as a means of achieving both widespread material prosperity and world peace" (Meier 11) . The world moral order had gone topsy-turvy between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: money was now "good", and poverty was "bad". “As a result of a new emphasis on economic achievement…destitution was both shameful in itself and supposed evidence of present wickedness and future damnation” (Watt 95) is representative of the new mentality Watt describes.Moll reflects the concept of Defoe that pursuing upward social mobility is equivalent to living morally. “Defoe saw economic success as a special kind of election and was willing to care less about the moral value of the actions that lead to that success” (Konigsberg). 43). Marry not for love, but for money; earning money as a whore when her attraction to men begins to fade… all of this is justifiable to both Defoe and Moll because there is nothing worse than ending up in prison; Newgate or become a beggar. This attitude is exemplified in the text when Moll, having finally ended up in Newgate, becomes so distraught that she seeks penance, and when she considers herself physically and spiritually incapable of going out in beggar's clothes during her career as a thief. he points out, Defoe's heroes "would rather steal than beg, and would lose their self-respect - and that of the reader - if they did not display this characteristic arrogance of the economic man" (95). The pride Watt speaks of attaches itself to every action Moll takes. Throughout the novel, Moll considers herself a gentlewoman, whether she actually is one or not, and pursues every endeavor with the goal of bettering herself; indeed, she seems to believe that she is somehow owed a better life. Thomas Keith Meier says Paul Dottin's description goes even further: "His scrupulosity was based on the old saying 'the ends justify the means.' Success, interpreted as material gain, was the keynote of his philosophy and, indeed, of his morality." To put it bluntly, Moll Flanders's prostitutes, financial marriages, and even her descent into theft are all perfectly acceptable means of achieving upward social mobility both for herself and, by extension, for Defoe. contrary: Konigsberg writes that "morality in the novel must be taken at face value." On the contrary, every single “immoral” act perpetrated by Moll is entirely consistent with the economic morality expressed by Defoe in his non-fiction work. Watt writes that Moll Flanders "is a characteristic product of modern individualism in assuming that she owes it to herself to obtain the highest economic and social rewards, and in using every available method to carry out her resolve... She is also morally pure in her prostitution since it occurs, as she assures us, out of necessity and not "for the sake of vice"" (114). Watt's reading is completely at odds with Konigsberg's thesis that there is a contradiction between necessity and morality. Watt links necessity to morality, rather than making them separate issues as Konigsberg does. Defoe expresses this perspective explicitly in The Complete English Tradesman, writing that "the needy prostitute is guiltless, and that her lustful client is entirely responsible for the sin. clerk" (Meier 87). The unnamed woman - and Moll - became prostitutes out of sheer necessity, and it is this necessity that is the crux of the novel. What exactly does Moll need? Moll clearly needs more than moneyenough to keep her off the streets and out of Newgate; she achieved this during her career as a thief, but still continued to ply her trade. Why? Because Moll clearly wanted to rise as high as possible in society, and for Defoe that meant getting as far as he wanted to go, because his economic success would ultimately contribute to the economic success of the country at large. Defoe felt that everyone should pursue economic individualism and "regard birth as irrelevant to the kind of individual one becomes in society" (Shinagel 123). Defoe even argued that “the son of a mean person, endowed from heaven with an original fund of wealth, wit, good sense, courage, virtue and good humour, and set apart by a liberal education for the service of his country. ..must be admitted…to the rank of gentleman” (Shinagel 225). Of course, Defoe was referring to males who sought upward mobility. The imprecisely ironic reading of Moll Flanders can be attributed in part to the fact that she is a woman attempting upward mobility, and her possibilities are therefore substantially different from those of a man. Because she is clearly intended to be perceived as a heroine by the novel's authors Ultimately, Daniel Defoe wants Moll to succeed in her pursuit of upward social mobility, and because those goals were in direct conflict with the attitudes of Defoe's era , the novel has been viewed with irony by those who cannot accept that Defoe could seriously have seen Moll. as a virtuous figure. For the most part, the men of Moll Flanders make a "respectable" living: they are gentlemen, merchants, plantation owners, bankers, ship captains, businessmen, and ministers. True, there are also the occasional thieves, but for the most part the men in Moll's orbit would be considered respectable even today. Not so, however, with women. Almost without exception, the women Moll encounters must earn a living through some form of humiliation: tricking men into marriage, prostitution, pickpocketing, or receiving stolen goods. Moll engages in many of these activities, yet she does not appear to be considered any worse from a moral standpoint. As G. A. Starr writes, "Moll's world is one in which things are not good or bad, but characteristically good and yet bad" (Richetti 104). It is important, however, to understand that while prostitution and theft may be traditionally "evil" actions, Moll's ultimate goal is to achieve the good that comes from gaining economic independence. Moll Flanders is often considered unrealistic because the means by which a reasonable woman made a career during Defoe's era are entirely anathema to readers whose view of the morality of economics does not coincide with Defoe's. Ian Watt explains this problem when he writes that "We cannot believe that so intelligent a man as Defoe should have regarded his heroine's economic attitudes or her pious protestations with anything other than derision. Defoe's other writings, however, do not support this belief." (127). Defoe's other writings reveal a man who is quite comfortable with the practice of slavery and who would resolutely take the side of trade if a dispute arose between trade and religion (Meier 82). In light of this fact, it would be quite surprising if Defoe expressed any discomfort with his heroine's desire to achieve economic independence. However, one cannot help but be disturbed that Moll Flanders is only allowed to pursue her dream of emerging into society through increasingly degrading and humiliating means. Start, 1957.