Moll Flanders Group

Question:

alexandrea18
alexandrea18
Student
High School - 12th Grade

In "Moll Flanders," why are ladies amused by Moll's desire to be a "gentlewoman?"

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Posted by alexandrea18 on Monday October 12, 2009 at 1:47 PM and tagged with gentlewoman, gentry, moll flanders, social class.

Answers:


  1. podunc Teacher
    College - Sophomore

    eNotes Editor

    Social status in eighteenth-century England was fixed for the most part, meaning that if one were born in the gentry class or the aristocracy, they would most likely stay there. By the same token, a peasant would never rise to a higher class than the one into which he or she was born. Since Moll was born to a thief in Newgate Prison, the fact that she believes she could ever become a "gentlewoman" is laughable to ladies of the upper classes.

    This kind of social stratification is often unfamiliar to contemporary American audiences, since our culture generally believes that a person can raise their social status by gaining weath, working hard, marrying a higher class, etc.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/moll-flanders

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    Posted by podunc on Tuesday October 13, 2009 at 11:05 AM