a generous, married man with whom Moll lives and has three children. Despite his marriage to a mentally ill woman, he provides for Moll first as a friend and then a lover. After six years, he becomes ill and breaks off the relationship to reconcile with his wife and mend his ways.

A Linen Draper

The Linen Draper is Moll’s second husband, a spendthrift who squanders her money and eventually flees to France to avoid debt collectors. He advises Moll to regard him as deceased, abandoning her to fend for herself.

Robin

Robin is Moll’s first husband, the younger son of the family where she initially finds service. Despite knowing Moll loves his elder brother, Robin falls in love with her and proposes, offering her a semblance of stability. Their marriage lasts five years before his death.

Robin’s Older Brother

Robin’s Older Brother, also known as the Elder Brother, is Moll’s seducer and first lover. As the eldest son in a wealthy family that takes Moll in during her adolescence, he is both irresponsible and dishonest, preying on Moll’s pride and vanity.

A Clergyman

A Clergyman at Newgate becomes Moll’s ally in prison, aiding her in obtaining a reprieve from the death sentence. He encourages her towards repentance and plays a significant role in her eventual moral awakening.

A London Bank Clerk

The London Bank Clerk is Moll’s fifth husband, a quiet and sensible man who divorces his unfaithful wife to marry Moll. Their marriage endures five years until his death following an unfortunate investment.

The Governess

The Governess, a midwife, pawnbroker, and thief, provides support to Moll during one of her pregnancies and helps her dispose of stolen goods. Despite encouraging Moll’s criminal behavior, she remains a steadfast friend in troubled times.

Moll’s Son

Born from Moll’s marriage to her brother, her son grows up in America, becoming a prosperous planter. In her later years, Moll is reunited with her loving son in Virginia, enjoying the fruits of their familial bond.

The Sea Captain’s Lady

After Moll finds refuge in the Mint, a haven for debtors, she assists the Sea Captain’s Lady in finding a husband. In return, the Sea Captain’s Lady helps Moll locate an apparently wealthy suitor.

The Baronet

During a night on the town with the Baronet, Moll takes advantage of his inebriated state to rob him. Afterward, she manages to make him pay her to recover his possessions, culminating in an affair that lasts about a year.

The Wealthy Matrons

The Wealthy Matrons are a group of women who, during Moll’s childhood, provide her with work and clothing, assisting her in maintaining a degree of respectability and comfort.

The Bank Clerk

Moll encounters the bank clerk just before her departure to Lancashire and feels the need for someone trustworthy to safeguard her money in London during her absence. He quickly shows romantic interest, revealing that his wife is unfaithful. Moll is attracted to his stability but delays his advances until he successfully divorces his wife. Eventually, they marry, have children, and live contentedly until the bank clerk dies from grief after losing most of the family's money.

The Draper

The draper is Moll’s second husband. During their marriage, Moll enjoys the luxury of seeing much of her money spent on herself. The draper lands in prison for unpaid debts but escapes to France, leaving Moll with "a husband, and no husband." Due to the draper’s poor credit, Moll adopts the name Mrs. Flanders and relocates to the Mint, an area known for offering legal sanctuary to debtors.

The Elder Brother

The elder brother is Moll’s first love, a charming yet deceitful young man. After the woman who originally took in Moll passes away, his family invites her to live with them, appreciating her cleverness. The elder brother seduces Moll with promises of marriage and gifts but only views her as his mistress. When he grows tired of Moll, he orchestrates a series of deceptions that force her to marry his brother, Robin. On their wedding night, the elder brother gets Robin drunk so he won’t realize that Moll is not a virgin.

Moll Flanders

Moll Flanders, the heroine and first-person narrator of the novel, is born in Newgate Prison to a thief who escapes hanging due to her pregnancy. When Moll is still an infant, her mother is sentenced to “transportation” and sent to America to work on a plantation, leaving Moll an orphan. Moll's childhood is spent first with gypsies, then with a woman who takes in orphans, and finally with a family who enjoys her presence.

Moll is an attractive woman who leverages her beauty and intelligence to escape servitude and poverty. She is constantly in search of a wealthy husband and is always thinking of ways to gain money. As she enters middle age and recognizes her fading beauty, she finds herself in severe financial trouble. To sustain herself, she resorts to stealing. Although she frequently expresses remorse for her crimes throughout the book, she attributes her life choices to the influence of others. Despite the perils of her lifestyle, she often appears to be fortunate: while her criminal partners frequently meet violent ends and her husbands either die or encounter problems, Moll consistently survives.

Moll marries five times and has numerous lovers. Her first husband, Robin, is not her choice, but she enjoys a content five-year marriage with him, during which they have two children before he passes away. Her second husband is a draper who is irresponsible with money and is forced to flee England after escaping from debtors’ prison. Technically, Moll remains married to him throughout the story.

Moll’s third husband turns out to be her brother, a shocking discovery that leads her to leave him. She and her fourth husband, a highwayman, decide to separate upon realizing they have both lied about their financial status. Her fifth husband is a bank clerk who dies after losing all their money. Following his death, Moll becomes destitute and resorts to pickpocketing and other crimes to survive.

Eventually, Moll ends up in her birthplace, Newgate Prison, after being caught stealing expensive cloth from a house. Her luck persists, and her death sentence is reduced to “transportation,” similar to her mother’s fate. She reconnects with her fourth husband, Jemy, and they move to Virginia to start a plantation together. By the end of the novel, she is a prosperous woman in her sixties, still living with Jemy.

Moll reveals that she changes her name several times (though she rarely specifies to what name), typically to protect her identity. She is known as Mrs. Flanders while living in the Mint neighborhood, and when residing with the wealthy matron who takes her in after the nurse's death, she is called Mrs. Betty, or simply Betty. In the eighteenth century, this term was used to denote both a servant and female promiscuity.

The Gentleman in Bath

Moll encounters the gentleman after she returns to England from Virginia, nearly penniless. Although he is married, he tells her his wife is mentally unstable. They meet in the fashionable resort town of Bath, where he becomes quite taken with Moll and offers her financial assistance. Initially, she declines, but eventually, she accepts his money as a gift. He departs from Bath, falls ill, and requests Moll's care during his recovery. She nurses him back to health, and they maintain a platonic relationship for two years. However, one evening, after consuming too much wine, Moll becomes his mistress. She bears his child, and he supports them with an apartment and other necessities. Moll remains his mistress for around six years until he falls ill again, nearly dies, and, in a moment of guilt, ends their affair.

The Governess

The governess acts as Moll’s midwife when she is pregnant, likely with Jemy’s child. She operates a dubious establishment, primarily serving prostitutes who need a place to stay during their pregnancies.

Later in the story, Moll returns to the governess after committing her initial thefts, unsure of how to sell the stolen goods. It turns out the governess is also a pawnbroker. Recognizing Moll’s talent for thievery, she encourages Moll to continue her criminal activities. They collaborate until Moll is apprehended and sent to Newgate Prison. This experience deeply unsettles the governess, leading her to regret her lifestyle. She sends a minister to help Moll see the error of her ways but also attempts to bribe prison officials to aid Moll. She negotiates deals to improve the legal situations of both Moll and Jemy.

Humphrey

Humphrey is Moll’s son, born to her and her brother in Virginia. When Moll returns to Virginia with Jemy, she contacts her family, and Humphrey responds to her letter. Their reunion is joyous, and Humphrey showers Moll with gifts and money. He helps manage the land left to Moll by her mother, and Moll visits him whenever she returns to her brother’s plantation to collect her annual income from the land.

James

See Jemy

Jemy

Jemy is Moll’s fourth husband, often referred to by her as her “Lancashire husband.” A woman from the north, who pretends to be Jemy’s sister, introduces them, portraying Jemy as a wealthy gentleman and believing rumors that Moll is also extremely rich. Moll and Jemy marry, but they soon discover the truth—that neither of them has any money. Moll also learns that the arrangement was deceitful from the beginning; the woman claiming to be his sister is actually his former lover and was to receive a fee for orchestrating the match.

Moll and Jemy genuinely love each other and are reluctant to part ways. Jemy believes their separation is necessary, but he assures Moll that he will try to earn some money farming in Ireland and then reach out to her. Moll attempts to persuade him to accompany her to Virginia to start a plantation, but he declines. They part, vowing to stay in touch.

Later in the novel, Moll briefly reunites with Jemy and saves his life by convincing a mob that he is not the highwayman they suspect. Toward the end of the book, they reconnect for good when Jemy is brought to Newgate Prison for highway robbery. Moll successfully persuades him to have his sentence commuted to "transportation," like hers, so they can leave for Virginia together and start a plantation. In America, they become quite prosperous and eventually return to England to spend the rest of their days together.

Moll’s Brother/Husband

Moll and a friend successfully attract a wealthy suitor by spreading rumors that Moll is rich. This man becomes Moll’s third husband. Upon discovering that Moll has no wealth, he insists they move to Virginia to live more economically. After bearing him three children, Moll learns through conversations with his mother that he is actually her brother.

Despite her mother-in-law's objections, Moll reveals the truth to her brother. He agrees that she must return to England. When Moll revisits Virginia in her sixties, she finds him ill and nearly blind; he does not recognize her.

Moll’s Mother

Moll’s mother is mentioned twice in the book. Early on, she is noted to be in Newgate Prison, where she gives birth to Moll. Shortly after Moll’s birth, she is sent to Virginia as punishment for her crimes.

In Virginia, Moll’s mother initially serves as a slave but eventually marries her master and has two children with him—one of whom becomes Moll’s third husband. When Moll moves to Virginia with this husband, she discovers that his mother is also her mother. Moll keeps this secret for a few years before finally telling her mother. Moll’s mother, like Moll, is horrified but begs her to keep the secret and continue living as her son’s wife for the family's sake. She promises Moll a separate inheritance from what she leaves her son, which she fulfills.

The Nurse

The Nurse takes Moll in as a young orphan and assures the town authorities that she will be responsible for her. At her home, she educates orphans and teaches them practical skills, preparing them for their future roles as servants. By keeping Moll as her assistant, she spares her from a life of servitude. The Nurse passes away when Moll is about fourteen years old.

Robin

Robin is Moll’s first husband, a man who genuinely loves and respects her. Moll is initially uninterested in the marriage, but she is forced into it by the manipulations of his older brother. Despite her lack of attraction to him, they have a stable marriage, and Moll bears him two children. Tragically, Robin dies after only five years of marriage, and his parents take the children from Moll.