Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Anderson, David R.

Abstract

In Daniel Defoe's Roxana and Moll Flanders, the title characters represent strong and independent women, who survive despite economic hardships. Moll, who seeks advantageous alliances, manipulates the marriage market to find good husbands, while Roxana, who rejects marriage, prefers to be a mistress. Because of these characterizations, many feminist scholars consider Defoe a proto-feminist. In doing so, however, they fail to consider the outcomes of both narratives. Although Moll and Roxana share many similarities, their fates are very different. Moll enters into a happy marriage and acquires a considerable estate, but Roxana's narrative concludes with her pain and misery. These different endings demonstrate that Defoe reinforces traditional roles for women, rather than advocating their independence from them. He rewards Moll for her decision to remain in the marriage market, but he punishes Roxana for her rejection of it.

Extent

66 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1997.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT15379

Format

pdf

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