The banker is Moll’s fifth husband. Moll meets the banker in London, when she hires him to advise her and manage her bank, and he is immediately interested in her. Because his wife has been unfaithful to him, the banker petitions for a divorce and asks Moll to marry him. She declines and goes to Lancashire, but she leaves her money with him, and they keep up a correspondence. The banker obtains a divorce from his wife, after which she commits suicide, and he again asks Moll to marry him. While the banker doesn’t know it, Moll is already married to James. They have already separated, but Moll is pregnant with his child. After Moll gives birth, she gives her child up and marries the banker. They have two children and are married for a handful of years, until the banker grows lethargic and dies after a dishonest business associate tricks him out of most his fortune. Until his death, the banker is a “safe harbour” for Moll, and he provides her with a stable and happy life. Moll wishes she had married a man like the banker from the beginning. That way, perhaps her life wouldn’t have come to crime, vice, and sin. The banker underscores the connection between poverty and immorality in the novel. While Moll is married to the banker and is not faced with poverty and starvation, she has no need to break the law or behave in immoral ways.
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The Banker Character Timeline in Moll Flanders
The timeline below shows where the character The Banker appears in Moll Flanders. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Moll and the Gentleman
...tells the man at the bank her situation, and he directs her to a second banker, who he is sure will be able to help Moll manage her money and affairs.
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Moll Meets the Banker
The banker is a kind man. Moll tells him she is a widow from America, and he...
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The banker’s wife ran off and had two children with a linen-draper’s apprentice. The banker tells Moll...
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The banker takes to flattering Moll, which she rather enjoys, but she knows the best way to...
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Moll tells the banker that she will leave her money in his hands while she travels, and he agrees....
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Moll Marries the Irishman
Moll thinks often of the banker and feels bad for disregarding him, but she soon marries the Irishman, and Moll’s new...
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...quite sure how to handle her lying in. She has kept up correspondence with the banker during her time away, but she hasn’t had the need to remove any money from...
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Moll Meets the Midwife and Marries the Banker
Moll knows she isn’t in any condition to see the banker. She isn’t foolish enough to marry one man while pregnant with the child of another,...
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...never sees anything indecent take place there. Before long, Moll receives a letter from the banker. He has divorced his wife, and Moll is pleased, but she writes back and claims...
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...Moll gives birth to another son. Soon after, she again receives a letter from the banker. He has obtained a divorce from his wife, and after she was served with the...
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Afterward, Moll begins to write the banker in a more friendly tone, and she tells him that she will be in London...
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The banker presents Moll with documentation of his divorce from his wife and proof of her crime...
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The banker is so happy that Moll has accepted him, there are tears in his eyes as...
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Before long, a minister arrives, and the banker presents him with the marriage license. Satisfied, the minister asks where the bride is, and...
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Moll and the banker’s marriage is kept completely secret, and they return to their room as husband and wife,...
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The next day, as Moll and the banker are getting ready to return to London, excitement breaks out all over town. Three highwaymen...
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Moll returns to London a married woman and she moves directly into the banker’s house, which she finds well-furnished and more than adequate. There, Moll lives a very happy...
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After the death of the banker, Moll isn’t left in debt, but she doesn’t have enough money to support herself either....
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Moll in Newgate Prison
...saw the letters, but she never read them or responded for fear her husband, the banker, would find out. James then tells Moll about his case. They only have one witness...
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