“Casting” and Speculation in Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders
Daniel Defoe opposed his fellow English citizen’s feverish impulse to invest, or “speculate,” in 18th Century England’s burgeoning stock market. Critic Colin Nicholson states that the English, at this time, “… encountered what we now term finance capitalism as a system of credit that expanded and shrank as developing stock and money markets rose and fell” (xi). Defoe’s critical attitude towards speculation is evident in his novel, Moll Flanders, the tale of a woman who overcomes an ignoble birth in London’s Newgate prison, growing up to become one of the city’s most notorious thieves, and ultimately prospering as a Virginian plantation owner. It is important to point out that Defoe critiques speculation in his novel from the perspective of a disadvantaged woman. Primarily, it is men who are in control of the economy and Moll is the “other in this economic environment. In this essay, I will demonstrate how Defoe denounces the capitalist system in England and public participation in the stock market, in particular. Moreover, Defoe uses the character of Moll Flanders to reveal the pervasive, negative effects that speculation and capitalistic behavior, in general, has on individual lives.
The narrative places an obvious focus upon the points in Moll’s life when she is not married and is compelled to survive and compete in the capitalist economy. The survival tactics that Moll must employ to successfully navigate her way through this economy demonstrates the fact that capitalism has a denigrating effect on “womanhood,” a fact that would have been alarming to an eighteenth-century reading audience. When Moll Flanders makes prudent and reserved decisions, particularly in regards to money, Defoe shows that she is rewarded in her dealings with men and, later on, in her criminal endeavors. But prudence and reserve, commonly perceived as feminine traits, have been twisted by capitalism and are utilized by Moll to further her own interests and to insure her own survival. Also, when Moll displays uncontrollable avarice, she is punished with imprisonment or “imminent” poverty. With this concept in mind, Moll Flanders can be read as a social commentary endorsing Defoe’s conviction that his fellow Englishmen (and women) should be prudent with their money and refrain from engaging in the high-risk, unpredictable arena of the stock market, a world which both impassions and impoverishes people, compromising virtuous behavior. Moll’s repeated use of the term, “Cast,” which relates important choices to a roll of the dice, parallels the chances that individuals took in the speculation of Defoe’s day. Living in these socio-economic conditions, Moll must take chances and participate in the capitalist system or perish within it.
Only two years prior to the1722 publication of Moll Flanders, England experienced the devastating effects of the South Sea Bubble, where misguided investing caused severe and widespread economic ruin (Richetti 150). Critic John Richetti asserts that Defoe disapproved of joint-stock businesses like the South Sea Company that were appearing everywhere (145). Defoe also condemned stock-jobbers, who were individuals or companies that sold stock for businesses like the South Sea Company at wildly inflated prices (150). Defoe wrote Moll Flanders in this environment of economic instability.
Moll’s ability to assert herself in a capitalist economy that is teeming with “fortune-hunters” is put to the test when she enters “the Marriage Market” as a young woman. Moll’s first marriage to the younger brother of her lover in Colchester is marred by impassioned decisions and a disregard for consequences. While Moll is in love with the elder brother and loses her virginity to him in the heat of passion, she is forced to marry the younger brother after the elder one loses interest in her. It is made clear, however, that Moll’s social position is compromised, as she is told by the sisters in the wealthy family, who inform her that, “…if a young woman have Beauty, Birth, Breeding, Wit, Sense, Manners, Modesty, and all these to an Extream; yet if she have not Money, she’s no Body, she had as good want them all, for nothing but Money now recommends a Woman; the Men play the Game all into their own Hands” (Defoe 20). This key quote reveals the emphasis that is placed upon money in this society along with the fact that men are the ones that are in control. As a woman, Moll is at an extreme disadvantage.
However, Moll is determined to shrewdly orchestrate her second marriage when her first husband dies unexpectedly. She states assertively, “…the Game was over; I was resolv’d now to be Married, or Nothing, and to be well Married, or not at all” (50). Here, it is clear that Moll has become disillusioned and she realizes that she will have to be more proactive and opportunistic in order to succeed in this socio-economic system. Moll attempts to control the forces of the so-called “Marriage Market,” which operates much like the stock market, through impulse, greed, and the promise of instant riches. Though Moll saves a comfortable amount of money to subsist on, she instructs her female friends to represent her as a woman of considerable wealth. Moll’s accomplices assist her in perpetuating the illusion of fortune to her prospective suitors while Moll remains quiet and evasive in regards to her actual monetary holdings; this way she cannot be accused of misrepresenting herself and the man has only himself to blame for relying on hearsay. Moll’s artifice can be related to Nicholson’s description of “…market-oriented perceptions of individuality where passion and fantasy are encouraged to operate in constant flux” (xii). In this way, Moll is like one of her contemporary stock-jobbers, selling herself at an inflated rate and causing an economic “bubble” in the Marriage Market. The illusion and promise of wealth that Moll perpetuates seems to be a lucrative investment, but she is merely playing on the “passions” of her suitor, who is depicted as gullible by Defoe. Her own shrewdness in “The Marriage Market” is contrasted with her suitor’s caprice, and Moll is rewarded in the form of a wealthy husband whom she has effectively duped. Moll speaks dismissively of any woman that would not follow her lead in the matter of marriage, stating that, “…they are a Sort of Ladies that are to be pray’d for…and to me they look like People that venture their whole Estates in a Lottery where there is a Hundred Thousand Blanks to one Prize” (Defoe 62).
In his depiction of the marriage market, Defoe is not only positing the negative effects that capitalism has had on interpersonal relationships, he is also foregrounding the “corrupt” behavior that women like Moll are forced to resort to because of these conditions. Whereas “trust” and “naiveté” are generally regarded as positive female characteristics, Moll pities women who are too trusting and naive because they will be taken advantage of in the marriage market. Moll makes it clear that men are the primary speculators in the marriage market, stating that, “…Men made no scruple to set themselves out, and to go a Fortune Hunting, as they call it, when they had really no Fortune themselves…” (56). Moll realizes that she must “Deceive the Deceiver” (63) if she wants to win in the marriage market. It is apparent that Moll must resort to lies and trickery, because it is the sort of behavior that is perpetuated in a high-risk, unstable economy that has filtered down into every facet of society, even marriage. Clearly, the stock market and the marriage market are both a form of gambling, and Defoe’s depiction of these institutions can be read as a negative critique.
Moll’s obsession with her net value is highlighted in the episodes where she lives off of her savings and refrains from accumulating additional capital. Even in times of relative financial security, when Moll is not earning income she equates the dwindling of her money to a mortal wound. She states, “…as I had no settl’d Income, so spending upon the main Stock was but a certain kind of bleeding to death…” (86). Additionally, when Moll’s banker husband dies, his death appears to be linked directly to a bad investment and his subsequent bankruptcy. His financial irresponsibility leads tellingly to his death. Defoe seems to be advising his reader against spending or speculating beyond one’s means, for it can bring about not only financial devastation, but also physical death. While the banker husband’s demise seems to convey a cautionary tale, Moll is presented in an attractive light because of her keen financial awareness. However, in order to prevent herself from “bleeding to death,” Moll must commit transgressive acts, lying and manipulating others in order to further herself financially.
In fact, the popular 18th century reference to credit as an “Inconstant Female” is discredited throughout Moll Flanders (Nicholson 45-6). While Moll is guarded with money, most of the men in the novel are befuddled by money matters. Ironically, Moll’s banker husband is one of the biggest offenders in this regard. This can be seen in his recommendation to her that she invest her money in stocks so that she will receive semi-annual “dividends” (Defoe 106). His disregard in conveying the inherent risk of such a venture is alarming considering the fact that the South Sea Bubble debacle would still be fresh in the reader’s memory. In addition to financial incompetence, Moll’s husbands consistently die prematurely, leaving her to scramble and support herself by any means necessary. The fact that Moll has little to say regarding the times in her life when she is married suggests that she is secure and content. It is only when she finds herself on her own that she schemes and plots to keep poverty (a state equal to death) at bay.
When Moll believes her “marriageable” years to be behind her, she turns to theft as a means of survival. At this point in the narrative, the accumulation of capital and the drive towards speculation and hazard is brought to the forefront. Moll realizes the direct exchange value of the gold watches, the necklaces, the quantities of Flanders lace, and the other pilfered items that Mother Midnight fences for her. However, even when she has earned enough money by stealing to live comfortably for the remainder of her life, she persists in her “craft.” She states, “…Avarice stept in and said, go on, go on; you have had very good luck, go on till you have gotten Four or five Hundred Pound, and then you shall leave off, and then you may live easie without working at all” (160). Speculation, which is usually associated with the stock market, now references Moll repeatedly “casting” her life in order to steal when the penalty for those who are apprehended is either transportation to the New World as indentured servants or death by hanging for old offenders.
At this point in the narrative, Moll no longer views men as a means of financial stability. Instead, she relies on another woman, Mother Midnight, to assist her in the thieving “trade,” as Moll calls it. Moll realizes, however, that there is an inherent imbalance in her business relationship with Mother Midnight. Moll states, that Mother Midnight “…had a Share of the Gain, and no Share in the hazard…” (169). Here, Defoe seems to posit the idea that unmarried women, who are outside of the socially accepted economic system, must resort to criminally corrupt behavior in order to support themselves. Moll refuses to be a servant, in spite of her low birth, and resorts to pick-pocketing and other forms of theft to accumulate her fortune. Moll is a true capitalist in furthering herself by any means possible; however, Defoe clearly condemns her misdeeds, as stated in the Preface to the novel. Defoe writes, “…there is not a wicked Action in any Part of it, but is first or last rendered Unhappy and Unfortunate…nor a vertuous just Thing, but it carries its Praise along with it…” (5). Therefore, Moll’s criminal acts can be interpreted as a negative critique of the economic circumstances and the behavior that is encouraged by the capitalist environment that Moll is living in.
Moll succeeds in stealing and eluding capture for years owing to her cautious approach to each theft. She prefers to work alone (174), she avoids high-risk activities like counterfeiting, and she has escape routes (201). This is contrasted with her fellow thieves, whose carelessness is presented as a dangerous quality that soon sends them to the gallows. However, in what will be her final attempt at thievery after years of cautious criminality, Moll states that she is “…not at all made Cautious by my former Danger as I us’d to be…” and she is immediately caught (214). There is a direct correlation between the behavior of her suitors earlier in the novel and Moll’s inability to govern her passion for stealing. Defoe presents Moll as yet another example of the fact that, in an unstable economic environment, judiciousness is rewarded and carelessness is punished. With Moll’s capture, the novel suggests that avarice, a direct byproduct of capitalism, coupled with a lack of circumspection, will be punished sooner or later.
Moll escapes certain death through bribery and a legal technicality and she goes on to live a life of alleged repentance and financial prosperity with her fourth or fifth husband, depending on how you look at it. What is Defoe telling the reader with this ending? That it is alright to steal as long as you are repentant afterwards? That Moll is ultimately too lovable of a character to be killed and that her death would seem like martyrdom? The latter may contain a kernel of truth, but in a broader context Moll has set herself up financially to prosper after she escapes hanging, which is owed to the law’s defining of her as a “new offender” simply because she has never been “caught” before. Moll’s economic foresight is what truly secures her. While she is subject to the unpredictable circumstances of life and economics and she encounters disaster even when she takes the greatest pains to avoid it, Defoe posits Moll as being best served when she is prudent and calculating.
More importantly, however, Moll appears to repent her sins, though she does so by degrees. It is not until the final paragraph of the novel that Moll stops being deceptive and manipulative. She is honest with her husband about her past life and they “…resolve to spend the Remainder of our Years in sincere Penitence, for the wicked lives we have lived” (267). While the conclusion to Moll Flanders is a “happy” one, her long life of crime and deviant behavior does not seem to be acquitted by Defoe. Even though capitalism and “casting” eventually leads Moll to happiness and financial security, the novel suggests that avarice, speculation, and opportunism are unacceptable forms of behavior that she would not have engaged in if any of her prior marriages had lasted. Left alone as a fringe member of society and the economy, Moll does what she has to in order to survive. Defoe critiques the “immoral” economic system that brings about her desperate courses of action rather than condemning or punishing Moll for immoral behavior. Some critics may read Moll as behaving “monstrously,” in a Gilbert and Gubar sense of the word, but it is clear that in a money-driven society, “angelic” behavior is impossible.
Daniel Defoe opposed his fellow English citizen’s feverish impulse to invest, or “speculate,” in 18th Century England’s burgeoning stock market. Critic Colin Nicholson states that the English, at this time, “… encountered what we now term finance capitalism as a system of credit that expanded and shrank as developing stock and money markets rose and fell” (xi). Defoe’s critical attitude towards speculation is evident in his novel, Moll Flanders, the tale of a woman who overcomes an ignoble birth in London’s Newgate prison, growing up to become one of the city’s most notorious thieves, and ultimately prospering as a Virginian plantation owner. It is important to point out that Defoe critiques speculation in his novel from the perspective of a disadvantaged woman. Primarily, it is men who are in control of the economy and Moll is the “other in this economic environment. In this essay, I will demonstrate how Defoe denounces the capitalist system in England and public participation in the stock market, in particular. Moreover, Defoe uses the character of Moll Flanders to reveal the pervasive, negative effects that speculation and capitalistic behavior, in general, has on individual lives.
The narrative places an obvious focus upon the points in Moll’s life when she is not married and is compelled to survive and compete in the capitalist economy. The survival tactics that Moll must employ to successfully navigate her way through this economy demonstrates the fact that capitalism has a denigrating effect on “womanhood,” a fact that would have been alarming to an eighteenth-century reading audience. When Moll Flanders makes prudent and reserved decisions, particularly in regards to money, Defoe shows that she is rewarded in her dealings with men and, later on, in her criminal endeavors. But prudence and reserve, commonly perceived as feminine traits, have been twisted by capitalism and are utilized by Moll to further her own interests and to insure her own survival. Also, when Moll displays uncontrollable avarice, she is punished with imprisonment or “imminent” poverty. With this concept in mind, Moll Flanders can be read as a social commentary endorsing Defoe’s conviction that his fellow Englishmen (and women) should be prudent with their money and refrain from engaging in the high-risk, unpredictable arena of the stock market, a world which both impassions and impoverishes people, compromising virtuous behavior. Moll’s repeated use of the term, “Cast,” which relates important choices to a roll of the dice, parallels the chances that individuals took in the speculation of Defoe’s day. Living in these socio-economic conditions, Moll must take chances and participate in the capitalist system or perish within it.
Only two years prior to the1722 publication of Moll Flanders, England experienced the devastating effects of the South Sea Bubble, where misguided investing caused severe and widespread economic ruin (Richetti 150). Critic John Richetti asserts that Defoe disapproved of joint-stock businesses like the South Sea Company that were appearing everywhere (145). Defoe also condemned stock-jobbers, who were individuals or companies that sold stock for businesses like the South Sea Company at wildly inflated prices (150). Defoe wrote Moll Flanders in this environment of economic instability.
Moll’s ability to assert herself in a capitalist economy that is teeming with “fortune-hunters” is put to the test when she enters “the Marriage Market” as a young woman. Moll’s first marriage to the younger brother of her lover in Colchester is marred by impassioned decisions and a disregard for consequences. While Moll is in love with the elder brother and loses her virginity to him in the heat of passion, she is forced to marry the younger brother after the elder one loses interest in her. It is made clear, however, that Moll’s social position is compromised, as she is told by the sisters in the wealthy family, who inform her that, “…if a young woman have Beauty, Birth, Breeding, Wit, Sense, Manners, Modesty, and all these to an Extream; yet if she have not Money, she’s no Body, she had as good want them all, for nothing but Money now recommends a Woman; the Men play the Game all into their own Hands” (Defoe 20). This key quote reveals the emphasis that is placed upon money in this society along with the fact that men are the ones that are in control. As a woman, Moll is at an extreme disadvantage.
However, Moll is determined to shrewdly orchestrate her second marriage when her first husband dies unexpectedly. She states assertively, “…the Game was over; I was resolv’d now to be Married, or Nothing, and to be well Married, or not at all” (50). Here, it is clear that Moll has become disillusioned and she realizes that she will have to be more proactive and opportunistic in order to succeed in this socio-economic system. Moll attempts to control the forces of the so-called “Marriage Market,” which operates much like the stock market, through impulse, greed, and the promise of instant riches. Though Moll saves a comfortable amount of money to subsist on, she instructs her female friends to represent her as a woman of considerable wealth. Moll’s accomplices assist her in perpetuating the illusion of fortune to her prospective suitors while Moll remains quiet and evasive in regards to her actual monetary holdings; this way she cannot be accused of misrepresenting herself and the man has only himself to blame for relying on hearsay. Moll’s artifice can be related to Nicholson’s description of “…market-oriented perceptions of individuality where passion and fantasy are encouraged to operate in constant flux” (xii). In this way, Moll is like one of her contemporary stock-jobbers, selling herself at an inflated rate and causing an economic “bubble” in the Marriage Market. The illusion and promise of wealth that Moll perpetuates seems to be a lucrative investment, but she is merely playing on the “passions” of her suitor, who is depicted as gullible by Defoe. Her own shrewdness in “The Marriage Market” is contrasted with her suitor’s caprice, and Moll is rewarded in the form of a wealthy husband whom she has effectively duped. Moll speaks dismissively of any woman that would not follow her lead in the matter of marriage, stating that, “…they are a Sort of Ladies that are to be pray’d for…and to me they look like People that venture their whole Estates in a Lottery where there is a Hundred Thousand Blanks to one Prize” (Defoe 62).
In his depiction of the marriage market, Defoe is not only positing the negative effects that capitalism has had on interpersonal relationships, he is also foregrounding the “corrupt” behavior that women like Moll are forced to resort to because of these conditions. Whereas “trust” and “naiveté” are generally regarded as positive female characteristics, Moll pities women who are too trusting and naive because they will be taken advantage of in the marriage market. Moll makes it clear that men are the primary speculators in the marriage market, stating that, “…Men made no scruple to set themselves out, and to go a Fortune Hunting, as they call it, when they had really no Fortune themselves…” (56). Moll realizes that she must “Deceive the Deceiver” (63) if she wants to win in the marriage market. It is apparent that Moll must resort to lies and trickery, because it is the sort of behavior that is perpetuated in a high-risk, unstable economy that has filtered down into every facet of society, even marriage. Clearly, the stock market and the marriage market are both a form of gambling, and Defoe’s depiction of these institutions can be read as a negative critique.
Moll’s obsession with her net value is highlighted in the episodes where she lives off of her savings and refrains from accumulating additional capital. Even in times of relative financial security, when Moll is not earning income she equates the dwindling of her money to a mortal wound. She states, “…as I had no settl’d Income, so spending upon the main Stock was but a certain kind of bleeding to death…” (86). Additionally, when Moll’s banker husband dies, his death appears to be linked directly to a bad investment and his subsequent bankruptcy. His financial irresponsibility leads tellingly to his death. Defoe seems to be advising his reader against spending or speculating beyond one’s means, for it can bring about not only financial devastation, but also physical death. While the banker husband’s demise seems to convey a cautionary tale, Moll is presented in an attractive light because of her keen financial awareness. However, in order to prevent herself from “bleeding to death,” Moll must commit transgressive acts, lying and manipulating others in order to further herself financially.
In fact, the popular 18th century reference to credit as an “Inconstant Female” is discredited throughout Moll Flanders (Nicholson 45-6). While Moll is guarded with money, most of the men in the novel are befuddled by money matters. Ironically, Moll’s banker husband is one of the biggest offenders in this regard. This can be seen in his recommendation to her that she invest her money in stocks so that she will receive semi-annual “dividends” (Defoe 106). His disregard in conveying the inherent risk of such a venture is alarming considering the fact that the South Sea Bubble debacle would still be fresh in the reader’s memory. In addition to financial incompetence, Moll’s husbands consistently die prematurely, leaving her to scramble and support herself by any means necessary. The fact that Moll has little to say regarding the times in her life when she is married suggests that she is secure and content. It is only when she finds herself on her own that she schemes and plots to keep poverty (a state equal to death) at bay.
When Moll believes her “marriageable” years to be behind her, she turns to theft as a means of survival. At this point in the narrative, the accumulation of capital and the drive towards speculation and hazard is brought to the forefront. Moll realizes the direct exchange value of the gold watches, the necklaces, the quantities of Flanders lace, and the other pilfered items that Mother Midnight fences for her. However, even when she has earned enough money by stealing to live comfortably for the remainder of her life, she persists in her “craft.” She states, “…Avarice stept in and said, go on, go on; you have had very good luck, go on till you have gotten Four or five Hundred Pound, and then you shall leave off, and then you may live easie without working at all” (160). Speculation, which is usually associated with the stock market, now references Moll repeatedly “casting” her life in order to steal when the penalty for those who are apprehended is either transportation to the New World as indentured servants or death by hanging for old offenders.
At this point in the narrative, Moll no longer views men as a means of financial stability. Instead, she relies on another woman, Mother Midnight, to assist her in the thieving “trade,” as Moll calls it. Moll realizes, however, that there is an inherent imbalance in her business relationship with Mother Midnight. Moll states, that Mother Midnight “…had a Share of the Gain, and no Share in the hazard…” (169). Here, Defoe seems to posit the idea that unmarried women, who are outside of the socially accepted economic system, must resort to criminally corrupt behavior in order to support themselves. Moll refuses to be a servant, in spite of her low birth, and resorts to pick-pocketing and other forms of theft to accumulate her fortune. Moll is a true capitalist in furthering herself by any means possible; however, Defoe clearly condemns her misdeeds, as stated in the Preface to the novel. Defoe writes, “…there is not a wicked Action in any Part of it, but is first or last rendered Unhappy and Unfortunate…nor a vertuous just Thing, but it carries its Praise along with it…” (5). Therefore, Moll’s criminal acts can be interpreted as a negative critique of the economic circumstances and the behavior that is encouraged by the capitalist environment that Moll is living in.
Moll succeeds in stealing and eluding capture for years owing to her cautious approach to each theft. She prefers to work alone (174), she avoids high-risk activities like counterfeiting, and she has escape routes (201). This is contrasted with her fellow thieves, whose carelessness is presented as a dangerous quality that soon sends them to the gallows. However, in what will be her final attempt at thievery after years of cautious criminality, Moll states that she is “…not at all made Cautious by my former Danger as I us’d to be…” and she is immediately caught (214). There is a direct correlation between the behavior of her suitors earlier in the novel and Moll’s inability to govern her passion for stealing. Defoe presents Moll as yet another example of the fact that, in an unstable economic environment, judiciousness is rewarded and carelessness is punished. With Moll’s capture, the novel suggests that avarice, a direct byproduct of capitalism, coupled with a lack of circumspection, will be punished sooner or later.
Moll escapes certain death through bribery and a legal technicality and she goes on to live a life of alleged repentance and financial prosperity with her fourth or fifth husband, depending on how you look at it. What is Defoe telling the reader with this ending? That it is alright to steal as long as you are repentant afterwards? That Moll is ultimately too lovable of a character to be killed and that her death would seem like martyrdom? The latter may contain a kernel of truth, but in a broader context Moll has set herself up financially to prosper after she escapes hanging, which is owed to the law’s defining of her as a “new offender” simply because she has never been “caught” before. Moll’s economic foresight is what truly secures her. While she is subject to the unpredictable circumstances of life and economics and she encounters disaster even when she takes the greatest pains to avoid it, Defoe posits Moll as being best served when she is prudent and calculating.
More importantly, however, Moll appears to repent her sins, though she does so by degrees. It is not until the final paragraph of the novel that Moll stops being deceptive and manipulative. She is honest with her husband about her past life and they “…resolve to spend the Remainder of our Years in sincere Penitence, for the wicked lives we have lived” (267). While the conclusion to Moll Flanders is a “happy” one, her long life of crime and deviant behavior does not seem to be acquitted by Defoe. Even though capitalism and “casting” eventually leads Moll to happiness and financial security, the novel suggests that avarice, speculation, and opportunism are unacceptable forms of behavior that she would not have engaged in if any of her prior marriages had lasted. Left alone as a fringe member of society and the economy, Moll does what she has to in order to survive. Defoe critiques the “immoral” economic system that brings about her desperate courses of action rather than condemning or punishing Moll for immoral behavior. Some critics may read Moll as behaving “monstrously,” in a Gilbert and Gubar sense of the word, but it is clear that in a money-driven society, “angelic” behavior is impossible.
Works Cited
Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders: A Norton Critical Edition. Ed. Albert J. Rivero. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004. Print.
Gilbert, Sandra, and Susan Gubar. “The Madwoman in the Attic.” Literary Theory: An Anthology. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Massachusettes: Blackwell, 2004. 812-25. Print.
Nicholson, Colin. Writing and the Rise of Finance: Capital Satires of the Early Eighteenth Century. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. xi-50. Print.
Richetti, John. “Moral, Social, and Economic Writings 1714-31.” The Life of Daniel Defoe. Massachusettes: Blackwell, 2005. 143-73. Print.
