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Prof. Dr. Anton Kirchhofer Hauptseminar: (Auto)biography and Fiction Sommersemester 2007 Minutes: May 3, 2007 Minute taker: Claudia Pieper

• Introduction
• "Moll Flanders" - authentic or not?
• "Moll Flanders" - Why Defoe presented her as real?
• Puritan Motivation
• Summary

Introduction

The session on May 3, 2007 dealt with the question of truth and fiction in an 18th century novel. We started off with the preface to the book “The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the famous Moll Flanders”.

"Moll Flanders" – authentic or not?

Reading the preface to the book, the question was raised in class, whether the story of “Moll Flanders” is authentic or not. We found out that there are some inconsistencies concerning the late publishing of “Moll Flanders.” As for the character - Moll Flanders, she is supposed to be born at the beginning of the 17th century, but her memorandum has not been written until the late 17th century. Forty years later, the novel was published in 1722. How Daniel Defoe got hold of the story, is not told so far. Earlier he had written about criminals for various journals, and “Moll Flanders” increased his cachet as a writer about the lives of criminals.

"Moll Flanders" - Why Defoe presented her as real or authentic?"

Whether or not she was a real person, the important question is why Daniel Defoe presented her as real or authentic character? There are some incentives given:

• A scandalous story is always popular among people.
• Because of the fact that the character of “Moll Flanders” has had an immoral style of living, the character could be a good example for someone to improve his or her morals. But only if the reader believes, that she really had lived such a life.
• There is a possibility given, to get an insight into a mind of a criminal.

Puritan motivation

It has to be believed by the reader, that “Moll Flanders” really lived, to function as a morality tale. Therefore, we dealt with the Puritan motivation in class. The Puritans opposed the Anglican idea of supremacy in church, and, following Calvin, they argued that the only head of the church on earth and in heaven is Jesus Christ. They also believed in predomination. This means that it has already been settled before you are born, whether you are saved or damned. Consequently, the Puritan Defoe was used to the very strict moral code, the simplicity in worship, and the believe that money could corrupt ones morals. Regardless of his Puritan upbringing, he did not want to moralize. He rather wanted to show to the reader that other choices are possible in life, regardless which way one would take, for him, even though he was brought up with strictly Puritan values, it does not matter.

Summary

To summarize the discussion of the preface to “Moll Flanders” it should be stated that:

• Fiction creates an impression of truth and the reader can accept it as truth, although he knows it is fiction.
• The preface anticipates the reader to wonder about the truth
• This preface drags the reader away from the question and emphasises certain other points of view.
• The reader who first read “Moll Flanders” did not know that he was meant to interpret the text.

To conclude the discussion of the preface to “Moll Flanders” it should be stated that these questions of truth and fiction can not be answered by reading the first pages of the preface alone. Further questions on truth and fiction might lead to answers. If somebody is interested in investigating “Moll Flanders”, certain books might be helpful:

Resources:

• Defoe, Daniel: Moll Flanders, London, Penguin 1989
• Mengel, Ewald: Der englische Roman des 18.Jahrhunderts – Eine Einführung in seine Klassiker, Tübingen, Staufenbergverlag 1997.

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