Moll Flanders · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe.
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Moll Flanders
major
Also known as Mary Flanders, Mrs. Flanders, plain Moll Flanders, one Moll Flanders , who was a famous successful thief , that all of them had heard of , but none of them had ever seen
Moll moves through England as servant, wife, mistress, and finally thief, her identity shifting with each name she borrows. Her driving need is security — a woman without fortune must trade beauty, charm, or cunning to survive, and she learns to do all three. Her voice is the engine of the book: penitent yet proud, moralizing yet mercenary, she makes the reader complicit in every scheme.
The Governess
major
Also known as my governess, my old governess, My governess, My old governess
Having run through every disreputable trade available to a woman in London, the governess offers Moll both shelter and a professional education in theft. She is pragmatic where Moll is impulsive, and her maternal manner masks a cold business sense — she takes a cut of every stolen watch and silver spoon. Her presence turns Moll's petty pilfering into an organized career, making her the quiet architect of the novel's criminal middle act.
The Elder Brother
supporting
Also known as the elder brother, The elder brother
He is the first man to teach Moll that love and economics are inseparable, pressing gold into her hand while insisting she refuse his brother. His seduction is patient and calculated, exploiting her vanity and her precarious position as a dependent in his family's house. His betrayal — refusing to marry her after taking her virtue — sets the pattern of exploitation and self-preservation that shapes Moll's entire subsequent life.
Robin
supporting
Also known as brother Robin, Robert, Mr. Robert
Robin is decent, persistent, and oblivious to the affair between Moll and his elder brother, genuinely believing he has won her through his own merits. His marriage to Moll gives her brief respectability and entry into the gentry, but the union is shadowed by the secret she can never tell him. He matters as the road not taken — the possibility of honest love that Moll cannot fully inhabit because of what came before.
Jemmy
major
Also known as O Jemmy, Jemmy Cole
Jemmy enters Moll's life as a fellow prisoner and fellow criminal, and their mutual recognition — each seeing in the other a mirror of their own disreputable past — produces the novel's most genuine emotional bond. He is neither exploiter nor victim but equal, and their partnership offers Moll something she has never had: love without pretense. His fate and their eventual reunion anchor the book's final movement toward something like redemption.
The Gentleman at Bath
supporting
Also known as this gentleman, my gentleman, the gentleman, the gentleman who , as I said , singled me out for his companion the winter before ; and he came down again with another gentleman in his company and two servants , and lodged in the same house
He singles Moll out at Bath and installs her in lodgings, providing the material ease she craves while his wife remains conveniently distant. Their arrangement is tender but fundamentally unequal — he can abandon her at any moment, and his eventual illness and religious scruples force him to do exactly that. He represents the precarious luxury of the kept woman's life, a recurring temptation in Moll's world.
The Bank Clerk
supporting
Also known as the man you sent to Bristol, the man, my new spouse
He enters Moll's world as a man of figures and quiet routine, the opposite of the gamblers and rakes who have marked her past. His appeal lies less in passion than in the security he represents — a household, a name, a settled future — and Moll's wary tenderness toward him reveals how much she craves that calm even as she doubts she deserves it. His presence anchors the novel's middle stretch, testing whether a woman shaped by survival can finally rest inside ordinary domestic love.
Mrs. Betty
minor
Also known as Betty, Poor Mrs. Betty, Dear Betty, Lady Betty, the Lady Betty, Dear Lady Betty
A name Moll uses in her early life; also a separate gentlewoman acquaintance.
The Boatswain
minor
Also known as the boatswain
A ship's officer who helps Moll during her voyage to the colonies.
The Captain
minor
Also known as the captain, The captain, a captain, a young captain
Various ship captains Moll encounters, including one who transports her to Virginia.
The Customhouse Officer
minor
Also known as a customhouse officer, the customhouse officers
Officials who arrest Moll during her thieving career.
Mr. Alderman
minor
Also known as Mr. Alderman
A city official involved in Moll's legal troubles.
Mrs. Mayoress
minor
Also known as Mrs. Mayoress
A social acquaintance of Moll's during her prosperous period.
The Officer
minor
Also known as the officer
A prison or court official who interacts with Moll.
Mr. Mayor
minor
Also known as Mr. Mayor
A city official present during Moll's trial or imprisonment.
