Moll Flanders is considered to be one of the earliest English novels. This is ironic because, back when the book was published, it was believed to be Moll Flanders’s actual autobiography. Defoe—who published his books under a plethora of pseudonyms—chose to leave his name off of the book altogether, likely in the hopes of tricking readers into believing Moll’s story to be real. Defoe’s mischievous intentions come across in the Preface of the novel:
The World is so taken up of late with Novels and Romances that it will be hard for a private History to be taken for Genuine where the Names and other Circumstances of the Person are concealed, and on this Account we must be content to leave the Reader to pass his own Opinion upon the ensuing Sheets, and take it just as he pleases. The Author is here suppos’d to be writing her own History.
Via Moll’s narratorial voice, Defoe openly criticizes “Novels and Romances” and begs readers to believe that the author is “writing her own History.” This passionate plea is, of course, based in fiction as Defoe is the one writing Moll’s story. Moments like this show how Defoe is parodying a certain type of seriousness surrounding autobiographies, playing with the boundaries between fact and fiction. It wasn’t until 50 years after the book was published that Defoe was finally credited as the true author of the novel.
There is still some debate amongst scholars surrounding the relationship between Defoe and the character of Moll Flanders. While some believe that the entire novel is fabricated, others argue that it was based on the life of Moll King, a well-known criminal in London who Defoe met during a short stay in Newgate Prison. As the novel was written over 300 years ago, it’s difficult to determine today how much of Moll's story is based in fact.
Moll Flanders is also considered to be a picaresque in that it is a novel that centers a rough-around-the-edges yet lovable protagonist. Despite the fact that Moll engages in many acts that readers at the time considered to be scandalous and immoral (such as thievery and prostitution), Defoe presents her in such a way that readers also understand why she makes the choices she does. This is because he takes pains to show how Moll wants to be moral, she just does not have the choice to be, given that she has no financial stability and does what she has to do in order to survive.
