Editing Daniel Defoe (section)

==== ''Moll Flanders'' ====
Also in 1722, Defoe wrote ''[[Moll Flanders]]'', another first-person [[picaresque novel]] of the fall and eventual redemption, both material and spiritual, of a lone woman in 17th-century England. The titular heroine appears as a whore, bigamist and thief, lives in [[Liberty of the Mint|The Mint]], commits adultery and incest, and yet manages to retain the reader's sympathy. Her savvy manipulation of both men and wealth earns her a life of trials but ultimately an ending in reward. Although Moll struggles with the morality of some of her actions and decisions, religion seems to be far from her concerns throughout most of her story. However, like Robinson Crusoe, she finally repents. ''Moll Flanders'' is an important work in the development of the novel, as it challenged the common perception of femininity and gender roles in 18th-century British society.<ref name="Novak 2001"/> Although it was not intended as a work of [[erotica]], later generations came to view it as such.<ref name="historyextra">{{Cite web |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/moll-the-life-and-times-of-moll-flanders/ |title=Moll: The Life and Times of Moll Flanders |website=History Extra |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428084347/https://www.historyextra.com/period/moll-the-life-and-times-of-moll-flanders/ |archive-date=28 April 2019 |access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Kibbie |first=Ann Louise |title=Monstrous Generation: The Birth of Capital in Defoe's Moll Flanders and Roxana |journal=PMLA |date=1995 |volume=110 |issue=5 |pages=1023–1034 |doi=10.2307/463027 |jstor=463027 |s2cid=163996973}}</ref>