Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.
Moll Flanders: Introduction
Moll Flanders: Plot Summary
Moll Flanders: Detailed Summary & Analysis
Moll Flanders: Themes
Moll Flanders: Quotes
Moll Flanders: Characters
Moll Flanders: Symbols
Moll Flanders: Literary Devices
Moll Flanders: Theme Wheel
Brief Biography of Daniel Defoe
Historical Context of Moll Flanders
Other Books Related to Moll Flanders
- Full Title: The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc.
- When Written: 1722
- Where Written: London, England
- When Published: 1722
- Literary Period: Enlightenment or Neoclassical
- Genre: Novel
- Setting: England and the American colonies during the 17th century
- Climax: Moll is arrested and sent to Newgate Prison
- Antagonist: 17th-century society
- Point of View: First-person
Extra Credit for Moll Flanders
Great Balls of Fire. Defoe was just a boy during the Great Fire of London, which started at a bakery on Pudding Lane and burned through most of London from September 2 to September 6, 1666. The Fire was devastating, and of the 80,000 people living in London, 70,000 were left homeless. When the fire was finally out, Defoe’s house and two others were the only homes left standing in Defoe’s neighborhood.
Multiple Identities. During Defoe’s career, in which he wrote hundreds of essays, pamphlets, and novels, he was known to have used at least 198 pen names, including T. Taylor, Andrew Morton, and Heliostrapolis, secretary to the Emperor of the Moon.