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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Crime and punishment across the period; robbery and its consequences depicted realistically
Language
Some
Period prose with occasionally bawdy language
Sexual Content
A lot
Multiple marriages, adultery, and a discovered incestuous relationship are among Moll's experiences; frank by the period's standards
Substance Use
Some
Drinking in the period setting
Emotional Intensity
Some
The psychological portrait of a woman surviving by wit and audacity — and the moral tension between Moll's conscience and her actions — is the novel's enduring complexity
What this book is about
Daniel Defoe's picaresque novel follows Moll, who narrates her life from poverty through multiple marriages, adultery, incest (unknowing), theft, transportation to Virginia, and eventual prosperity. Defoe writes in the first person with extraordinary voice; the novel is both a moral tale (officially) and a celebration of a woman's survival by any means available. The sexual content is frank for the period; the criminal life is depicted with detail. A foundational English novel.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
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