Moll's Relationship to Mother Midnight - Assignment Example

Examine Molls relationship to "Mother Midnight", her primary female friendship. What kind of business does Mother Midnight run? Describe their relationship, both emotionally and materially. What issues are raised? Why is she so important to Moll? Most women in the 17th century were dependent on a male provider for their very survival. That role could be fulfilled by their father or by another male relative, but in most circumstances women would try to marry as best as they could so that they would then be ‘looked after’ by their husbands. Education and most professions were firmly closed to females, and if for any reason neither a father nor a husband was present in a woman’s life, there were often only two stark choices: life as a servant – just on the right side of ‘respectability’ but with no rights and no independence and very little money – or the move beyond the invisible line of respectability to become a courtesan or prostitute. From when she was a little girl, and despite her very inauspicious beginnings as the daughter of a female prisoner in Newgate prison, Moll protested at being destined for a life as a domestic servant, her ambition was always to be a ‘gentlewoman’. She tried to escape her poor beginnings with energy and much imagination and ‘escaped’ time and again by marrying well only to find that her husbands either died, turned out to be a half-brother or left her bankrupt and destitute. Moll finds herself in dire straits when she is introduced to Mother Midnight. Married to her fourth husband but left penniless as he turned out to be a fortune hunter, she found accommodation with a ‘gentlewoman’ and tries to maintain the genteel veneer that is necessary if she hopes to make another match that will lead her out of her predicament. Worse is to come in that Moll finds that she is pregnant by her fourth husband: she has a husband – necessary in the 17th century when single motherhood spelled social death – yet she does not know of his whereabouts. At the same time, there is hope for another match, a banker she had met previously, proposes to her after his divorce and the subsequent suicide of his wife. Moll finds her situation too complex to handle on her own, she does not have much money, she is without any friends and without the support of a loving family who could support and advise her. When Moll’s landlady sends for a midwife to help her address the problem, she finds for her a ‘Midwife of the right sort, that is to say, the right sort for me’ (p. 220). In Defoe’s times, the term ‘Mother Midnight’ was a euphemism often used to describe a madam or brothel keeper. Moll’s Mother Midnight turns out to be well versed in helping ladies with child but without a husband through their difficult times and a discreet offer is made to Moll whether she would like her assistance in getting rid of the problem, i.e. whether she would need assistance in aborting the child. Illegitimate children proved a great problem at a time when a strict code of moral conduct governed the lives of women. Children born out of wedlock were often fostered discreetly after their birth and more often than not did not live to see their first birthday. Moll displays some scruples in that she wants her child well cared for and also in that she worries about all the lies she has to tell her husband to be, but, ever pragmatic, she must do what is best to ensure her and her child’s survival. The necessity to keep a respectable façade to the outside world binds both women together and makes them understand each other perfectly. The world could be a harsh environment for a single woman, but Moll feels that it is important to tell Mother Midnight as much of her circumstances as possible so that she is in a better position to help her. Mother Midnight proves a very adept manager for all kinds of difficulties: to Moll she is a confidante and an ally in a hostile world that leaves her with few choices. When Moll moves into Mother Midnight’s house for her lying-in, she has in fact made a pact which has far-reaching consequences she is not yet fully aware of: she has embraced a life she instinctively feels to be wrong, yet her survival instinct is stronger than any doubt or moral scruples and she is glad that all problems that a hidden pregnancy and a secret birth include, are taken care of. She also manages to overcome the scruples she feels at having to lie to an honest man, and follows Mother Midnight’s advice to accept the offer of marriage from the newly widowed banker. But this marriage did not provide a happy end – her husband dies and leaves her bankrupt once again. Moll turns to her old confidante once more only to find her also reduced in her circumstances: she now owns a pawnbroker shop but Moll soon discovers that this is a front to the real business of handling stolen goods. At this point it is important that Moll already knows about Mother Midnight’s shady business deals from her earlier experience: she is no longer shocked by anything she discovers about her friend and is therefore easily seduced into a life of crime. When Moll one day more or less finds a bundle of silver goods and, on the spur of the moment, takes it away and asks Mother Midnight for help in handling it, her path is set for a life of crime. Moll is terrified of being poor and will do anything to escape that fate even if it means risking her life. Mother Midnight’s more than flexible morals facilitate Moll’s move into a life a crime and make it seem normal to her. Both women understand the importance of secrecy and the need to disguise their real business from the outside world; both have chosen to adapt their actions and to justify how they make a living by the circumstances they find themselves in. The fact that both could ruin the other because they know each other’s worst secrets only serves to deepen their bond and mutual trust. Moll becomes hardened through her life of crime, she comes quite close to killing a child she has stolen from but is horrified at her own thoughts. Even so she cannot stop stealing even when she has grown rich from the proceeds of her crimes and is eventually caught and imprisoned. Due to the moral code and double standards of her time, Moll was forced almost throughout her entire life to keep secrets and to edit and disguise the truth, in particular from men so that they might view her as marriageable and not judge her conduct. Although this was a necessity to her survival and welfare, she did not even tell her beloved Jem that she had been married (of course without her knowledge of the fact) to her half brother and she was torn whether she should accept an inheritance that would bring out the truth. Moll had to always be on her guard, and even during her criminal career, she was unable to trust her companions fully for fear that they might betray her to the police out of jealousy of her success or to save their own lives to offset information about her as a bargaining tool. The only person she could fully confide in and who would not judge her was indeed Mother Midnight, which made that friendship unique and extremely important to her – it fulfilled Moll’s profound human need to be allowed to be herself and to be accepted without judgment. Defoe makes no moral judgment, his view is that people must get on as best they can if faced with difficult circumstances. His heroine is full of courage, wit and humor and she refuses to accept defeat whatever her circumstances. He seems to sympathize with this colorful character he has created and allows Moll a happy ending to her story when she repents her ways and is able to lead a happy and contented life at last – when another ending of her life would have been more likely. Sources Defoe, D., Moll Flanders, with and Introduction and Notes by Michael Seidel, Barnes & Noble, New York, 2005 Read More