After finishing Moll Flanders, the one overt theme that
really stuck with me throughout the novel and until the very end was the
British class system. Although not overtly addressed by Moll herself, the
constraints and confinements of existing in this class system is inevitably a
large force that plays a huge role in the way her story is shaped. First, I
wanted to note that the class system one is born into, in this case Moll's
mother being a thief and having to have a gentlewoman care for her as a young girl
defines her as in a low, not even middle class, system. This early definition
seems to shape the way that one views their identity and their own way of
maintaining a state of survival within the society. Secondly, the ability to
rise above the class one is born into seems unlikely through the tenants of
hard work and dedication, as is our American ideal. Instead, whether one is
born a man or a woman, if born to a lower class it seems that to survive, you
must break legal and moral codes and use means such as prostitution and
stealing in order to maintain stability. Although this seems to be a more
prominent theme with women, Moll’s Lancashire husband makes a good case for
this being necessary for both genders of lower classes. Thirdly, the means by
which one is able to achieve a higher class are never truly effective. For
example, when Moll becomes the mistress of the gentleman at Bath, he pays for
her and is able provide her a comfortable living but upon ‘religious revelation’
is unable to continue this affair with her thereby revoking her somewhat
elevated status. Another good example of this is the multiple occurrences of
Moll almost getting caught stealing and when she does eventually get tried for
attempting stealing. Although she does go above and beyond necessity with her
stealing, her motive, unlike those of the abortion/infanticide cases I looked
at, is not considered in assigning a verdict and punishment for her crime. So
therefore, only socially unacceptable forms are available to attempt to shift
to a higher class system and will be punished therefore making it impossible to
not only surpass the class system but surpass the labels and definitions of
said class system. In a modern context, this has shifted drastically in a socioeconomic context and in a literary context. We as a culture value the
ability of hard work to help a person move from ‘rags to riches’ and that is often
the case with sports, music and acting professions who have many ‘success’
stories of this kind, especially for those of a lower class. However, our separation
of socioeconomic status seems to have shifted from a ‘class system’ to a ‘race
system’ in which the poor are often portrayed as being from an ethnic
background, although there is also a large proportion of Caucasians who are
also in the poor category. Overall, several centuries later, this problem still
exists, just taking a different mask. What this says about the structure of
society seems to be a power divide that has not been overcome.
So totally true Lauren! So much of the writing of the early days of novels right up through the early 20th century was focused upon class issues, and with good cause. As miserable as life was as a poor farmer, often bound to the land by a contract to some "Lord" at least then the people usually had food to eat and means whereby to make something to cover themselves with. Once theses same poor people migrated to the cities (either because they hoped for a better life or more often because they were forced off the land by mercantile farms co-ops)their lives became living hell. The lot of women was the worst of all, because women had very few rights, and were chattels more often than not. Moll Flanders does a good job of pointing up the perils of being a woman in the 18th c. while also giving a nod to the overall despair and destitution which the working poor had to endure in British and other European cities. Though the term "class" didn't come into ready usage until the mid to late 18th century it is clear that the stratification which we equate with class distinctions was already firmly in place. It is particularly tragic to concede that as you say at the end of this post, "the problem still exists." Perhaps your generation will be the ones to finally put an end to entitlement and class, one can certainly hope so.
ReplyDeleteTo comment on Ross' comment first... I like your observation about the focus on class in novels through the early 20th century. As a reader steeped in old timey novels, I have a hard time letting go of class issues when I read contemporary fiction. Which is to say that I tend to read too much into poverty and its importance and have to remind myself that class might not be a huge concern for the author.
ReplyDeleteLauryn... You make some great points about the way Defoe tackles class issues in this novel. It's bleak, but he really does seem to be suggesting that there's no honest way for the lower classes to really improve their stations, so turning to crime almost becomes a logical step.
I'm struck by the way Moll just seems sort of confused or clueless about class in this novel. Clearly, as a child, she didn't understand her lower-class status or see herself defined by it. It was simple for her to aspire to life as a "gentlewoman," even if she didn't really know what that meant. She spends the whole novel, pretty much, trying to move up, but she never seems to really grasp that class involves more than just having money (money that comes, ideally, from a husband rather than work), and I wonder if her failure to see this is part of the reason that she continues to struggle to maintain her economic standing throughout the novel.