Moll Flanders: Moll and the Drunk Man Summary & Analysis

Much later, during the Bartholomew Fair, Moll meets a drunk man, and he is clearly very rich. Since the man is so intoxicated, he talks freely and flirts with Moll, offering her drinks. Moll refuses the man’s drinks, but he says he is an honorable man, and he convinces Moll to return to his room with him. There, the drunk man has his way with Moll, and she lets him do what he wants. Then, after he passes out, Moll takes his watch and his purse of gold and slips out the door. 

Now, Moll says, she certainly didn’t go out looking to do what she has done, but the drunk man seemed like a nice enough guy. As for taking his money, Moll feels bad about that, too, since she thinks he probably has a nice wife and family. Moll goes home to the midwife and tells her the story. The midwife is very pleased to hear the story and laughs so hard, she nearly cries. The next day, the midwife tells Moll that she thinks she knows who the drunk man is. Moll begs her not to look for him—after all, Moll has caused him enough pain already—but the midwife promises not to do him harm. 

The midwife goes to a friend and asks about the drunk man, and the next day, the midwife’s friend finds him. The friend says the man is very ill and has recently been violently robbed. He has been beaten up, too, she says, and he suffered several injuries. The midwife says she is sure the man just got drunk and found a whore, who probably took advantage of him, but the friend claims that is unlikely. The man, she says, is an aristocrat and of the finest moral standing. The midwife takes word of the drunk man’s condition back to Moll, who assures her that he was just fine when she left him.  

Ten days later, the midwife goes to visit the drunk man. Even though she is a stranger, the midwife says to him, she has come to do him a service. She promises that their dealings will remain a secret, and he is at first shy and says he knows nothing that requires such secrecy. The midwife tells him that she knows all about the misfortune that befell him recently, and he looks suddenly angry, claiming not to know what she is talking about. The midwife promises that she wants nothing from him and did not come to bribe him or reveal his secret.

The drunk man tells the midwife it is very unfortunate that a stranger should know all about the worst day of his life. As for the woman, the man says, whoever she may be, he takes full responsibility for what transpired between them. “She prompted me to nothing,” he adds. He doesn’t know for sure if the woman is the one who stole from him, but what he lost is the least of his present concerns. The midwife begins to understand what the man is hinting at and assures him the woman is a “Gentlewoman,” and she has been with no man since the death of her husband eight years ago. 

The drunk man looks immediately relieved and again tells the midwife that he doesn’t care about his money. Perhaps the woman is poor, he says, and she needed the money. The midwife interrupts him. Yes, yes, she says. The woman would have never dreamed of robbing him had she not been in terrible poverty and in desperate need of money. The drunk man is pleased to hear it, and he hopes the woman was able to put the money to good use. He then asks the midwife if she can arrange a meeting between him and the woman who robbed him, but the midwife says such a meeting might be tricky.

The drunk man tells the midwife that he very much wants to the see the woman, as he would like his gold watch back. If the midwife can’t arrange a meeting for him, he asks if she might be able to get his watch back for him, at which point he will pay her what the watch is worth. The midwife promises to try and leaves. She returns the next day with the watch, and he pays her 30 Guineas, which is much more than they would have been able to sell it for. He asks the midwife how it is that she knows so much about his misfortune, and she tells him a long story about being a pawn broker and coming into possession of his watch, which she resolved to return to him as she has.

Moll has serious reservations about seeing the drunk man again, but the midwife goes to see him often. Each time she sees him, he is exceedingly kind and gives her money. On one occasion, he again asks the midwife to arrange a meeting between him and the woman who robbed him, and she promises to try. The midwife goes home and tells Moll all about her visit with the man, and Moll finally agrees to meet him. On the day of the meeting, Moll takes great care in readying herself, and when the drunk man arrives, she can tell he has again been drinking.

The drunk man is very happy to see Moll. He apologizes for their last meeting and tells her that had it not been for the wine, he would have never taken such freedoms with her. He has been long married, the man says, and has not been with another woman since he met his wife. Moll tells him not to worry. She hasn’t suffered any from their first meeting, and she, too, has not been with another man since her husband died some eight years ago. Yes, the man says, the midwife has already told him that Moll is a widow. Finally, the man tells Moll that since they have already committed the sin once, he doesn’t see the harm in doing it again.

The midwife suspected the visit would come to this, as did Moll, so they had readied a room. Moll leads the drunk man to a chamber with an inner bedroom, and they spend the night there together. After committing a crime once, Moll explains, the regret wears off and makes it easier to do the thing a second time. When the drunk man goes to leave, Moll promises that she did not rob him this time, and he gives her five Guineas. Moll has not made money in such a way in many years, and she has several more visits with him that go the same way. One day, he asks Moll exactly how she makes her living, and she tells him that she works with embroidery and quilting. It is a tough life, Moll says, but she manages. 

Several months pass, and Moll continues to see the drunk man. He doesn’t keep her as a mistress, but he pays her more than enough money, and she does not have to return to stealing. After about a year, the drunk man stops calling on Moll as often, and then he quits coming all together, without so much as a word. Moll lives on her savings for a few months, and when she begins to run out of money, she knows she must go back to work. Moll dresses herself up in various disguises—a widow, a woman in an apron and straw hat, a beggar, etc.—and goes out looking for opportunities to steal.