Compare the ways in which crime is presented in Moll Flanders and Roxana?Assess how far these criminal episodes have a continuing appeal

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Oladayo Shomuyiwa St Thomas More R.School

Candidate no. 7160 Center Number: 12632

Compare the ways in which crime is presented in Moll Flanders and Roxana? Assess how far these criminal episodes have a continuing appeal

The eponymous titles Roxana and Moll Flanders, are two of a collection of novels written by Daniel Defoe. Coleridge described these novels as one of 'the few great novels, which we can call indisputably great'1. This 'greatness' that Coleridge speaks of is displayed through the way Defoe presents crime in these novels. He explores the lives of women in the early 18th century and how crime was often a woman's key to survival. The novels are set and centred in different locations in the world of the 1720's. The geographical settings and mobility of the characters expresses their personal ambition to be known, respected and to have the finer things in life.

First and foremost, before looking into the criminal lives Moll Flanders and Roxana both led, their reasons for engaging into crime have to be considered. Moll was born into poverty, and ironically she was 'born into a jail cell' in Newgate prison. From this it seems as