Volume 1 -- No Spoilers, Please!

[ConnieAnnKirk]

If you would like to discuss the book as you read, please confine your comments in this thread to Volume 1. In the B&N Classics edition, this would include anything up through page 176, but not beyond.

[GrandmaJean]

confine your comments in this thread to Volume 1. In the B&N Classics edition,

Good, cause I haven't finished Vol I yet and am wondering what's happened to everyone else that are just viewing.  I'm on jpage 100 and struggleing.  I find the part of her marring her brother quite improbable.  And what about all the children she does have?  She just picks up and leaves them!

A Good Mother she isn't.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Hi, GrandmaJean!  Do you think Moll Flanders could be an early "feminist?"  Motherhood does not seem to be a particular goal of hers.  Or do you think Defoe underestimates the bond between a mother and her children?  In other words, some women may have had children when they didn't particularly plan or wish to have them, but they come around to love them through the intensity of the physical and emotional bond that develops during motherhood --or something like that!

~ConnieK

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GrandmaJean wrote:

confine your comments in this thread to Volume 1. In the B&N Classics edition,

Good, cause I haven't finished Vol I yet and am wondering what's happened to everyone else that are just viewing.  I'm on jpage 100 and struggleing.  I find the part of her marring her brother quite improbable.  And what about all the children she does have?  She just picks up and leaves them!

A Good Mother she isn't.

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[GrandmaJean]

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ConnieK wrote:

Hi, GrandmaJean!  Do you think Moll Flanders could be an early "feminist?"  Motherhood does not seem to be a particular goal of hers.  Or do you think Defoe underestimates the bond between a mother and her children?  In other words, some women may have had children when they didn't particularly plan or wish to have them, but they come around to love them through the intensity of the physical and emotional bond that develops during motherhood --or something like that!

~ConnieK

I'm not sure about Defoe underestimating mother/child bond. Moll's agenda doesn't seem to be family oriented as much as she is looking out for her own security.  Moll doesn't tell if she really wanted the children or not.  The first two she just up and left with no regrets or contact at this part of the book.  The next two (born in VA) she was a little fuzzy in her desire to have them with her but she left them too.  The  one she had as a mistress she seemed more attached to and worried about financially,,,,haven't read if she takes him to VA or not but she has no one to leave him with.  She describes him in more detail than any of the others, even had a wet nurse for him.  Not uncommon. 

Then again I am reminded about reading the Tudor era (Henry and his wiomen) and how the children were kept away and raised by a wet nurse and it just seems so foreign to me.  Two of them really wanted more of a relationship with their children.

An interesting point would be how she felt toward her own mother.  In the beginning of her "story" she is somewhat unattached to her mother but after finding her, grows closer.  One would think that could play a part in her relationship with her own children.  But I'm rambling.

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[ConnieAnnKirk]

I don't think you're "rambling" at all, GrandmaJean!  There are probably many psychological studies related to what you say about a woman's relationship with her mother affecting her own capabilities and interests as a mother herself.

I agree that motherhood doesn't seem to be high on Moll's priority list!

~ConnieK 

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GrandmaJean wrote:

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ConnieK wrote:

Hi, GrandmaJean!  Do you think Moll Flanders could be an early "feminist?"  Motherhood does not seem to be a particular goal of hers.  Or do you think Defoe underestimates the bond between a mother and her children?  In other words, some women may have had children when they didn't particularly plan or wish to have them, but they come around to love them through the intensity of the physical and emotional bond that develops during motherhood --or something like that!

~ConnieK

I'm not sure about Defoe underestimating mother/child bond. Moll's agenda doesn't seem to be family oriented as much as she is looking out for her own security.  Moll doesn't tell if she really wanted the children or not.  The first two she just up and left with no regrets or contact at this part of the book.  The next two (born in VA) she was a little fuzzy in her desire to have them with her but she left them too.  The  one she had as a mistress she seemed more attached to and worried about financially,,,,haven't read if she takes him to VA or not but she has no one to leave him with.  She describes him in more detail than any of the others, even had a wet nurse for him.  Not uncommon. 

Then again I am reminded about reading the Tudor era (Henry and his wiomen) and how the children were kept away and raised by a wet nurse and it just seems so foreign to me.  Two of them really wanted more of a relationship with their children.

An interesting point would be how she felt toward her own mother.  In the beginning of her "story" she is somewhat unattached to her mother but after finding her, grows closer.  One would think that could play a part in her relationship with her own children.  But I'm rambling.

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[GrandmaJean]

Thank you Connie for being present and posing your questions.  I finished the book yesterday and must say that the first half of the book presents a different Moll than the last half.  The second half is where you can really talk about her morality.  I'm glad I finished it and am now on to another reading.

[GrandmaJean]

I forgot to add that I felt I should have kept a list of all her husbands and children.  I seemed to loose track of them all after she came back from VA.  Defoe does address the nurturing mother angle so I can't say he ignored it.

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Glad to have you in the club, GrandmaJean.  Thanks for your contributions!  I'm glad you finished the book.  Moll is very different at the end from the beginning--she makes quite a journey.

~ConnieK