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Moll Flanders

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Moll Flanders
Moll Flanders

Moll Flanders was a product of her vanity and pride. She devoted her entire life to achieving some sort of wealth and social status. Her pride encompassed her entire life and affected all of her life decisions. Moll sacrificed many things, including love, religion, self-respect, and peace of mind, in order to attain a sort of affluence. Eventually, Moll achieves her desires and retires a gentlewoman in America, but her journey definitely took a serious toll on her life. In the end, one must ask the question of whether Moll's lifestyle and decisions were the right ones. Did the ends justify the means? Did Moll's chosen path lead to a life of satisfaction or did the pain, paranoia, and emotional trauma that came along the way extract a price that is much greater then the wealth that she eventually achieved? The answer is that the suffering that Moll experienced was not worth the final outcome. Although Moll reached her goals in the end, she would have had a more fulfilling and gratifying life had she suppressed her vanity and price and accepted her role in society and lived accordingly.

Moll began life in the low class. Not much nobility or status was expected of the orphan born in Newgate Prison, and in English society, there was little chance for Moll to escape this class. But Moll had the blessing of the kind "nurse" who raised her, kept her out of the dreaded servitude, and found a high class family for Moll to live and grow up with. Moll was a beautiful girl and thanks to her "nurse" and this family, she was well along the road to truly becoming a gentlewoman. Had events continued flawlessly from here, Moll might have achieved her goal without any pain, suffering, or remorse. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case.

Moll's problems began with her relationship with the eldest brother. Her vanity and egoism allowed her to be seduced thus creating a serious conflict when the youngest brother sought her hand in

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