# Moll Flanders — Moll Flanders character guide

> Moll Flanders in Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe.

**Role:** 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

**First appearance:** 0001-moll-flanders

## Snapshot

A woman born to Newgate who reinvents herself through marriages, disguises, and theft, narrating her own scandalous life with unsettling candor and wit.

## Who they are

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.

## Relationships

### [The Bank Clerk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/the_bank_clerk)

_romantic_

Moll eventually marries the Bank Clerk, viewing him as a stable and kind partner after a life of turmoil.

### [The Gentleman at Bath](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/the_gentleman_at_bath)

_romantic_

Moll has a long-term, passionate but ultimately doomed affair with the Gentleman at Bath, who is married.

### [Robin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/robin)

_romantic_

Moll marries Robin (the younger brother) after being seduced by his elder brother, though she does not love him.

### [The Elder Brother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/the_elder_brother)

_romantic_

Moll is seduced by the Elder Brother in her youth, an affair that sets her on a path of deception and survival.

### [Robin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/robin)

_romantic_

Moll marries Robin (the younger brother) after being seduced by his elder brother, though she does not love him.

### [The Bank Clerk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/the_bank_clerk)

_romantic_

Moll eventually marries the Bank Clerk, viewing him as a stable and kind partner after a life of turmoil.

### [The Elder Brother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/the_elder_brother)

_romantic_

Moll is seduced by the Elder Brother in her youth, an affair that sets her on a path of deception and survival.

### [The Gentleman at Bath](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/the_gentleman_at_bath)

_romantic_

Moll has a long-term, passionate but ultimately doomed affair with the Gentleman at Bath, who is married.

### [The Gentleman at Bath](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/the_gentleman_at_bath)

_romantic_

Moll has a long-term, passionate but ultimately doomed affair with the Gentleman at Bath, who is married.

## In the story

### [Author's Preface](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/chapters/author-s-preface)

The subject of the history, whose life story is presented as a moral example.

### [Moll Flanders](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/chapters/moll-flanders)

Narrator; reflects on her role in the wrongful conviction of a woman, resumes thievery, and advises a young lady on marriage negotiations.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters/moll_flanders
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/moll_flanders_se/characters