The Treatment Of Marriage In Daniel Defoe

Moll Flanders and Roxana are two novels by Daniel Defoe which deal with the subject of marriage. Although living in very different conditions, both women see the connection between men and money, but exploit this connection in different ways. A few years after he wrote these novels, Defoe wrote Conjugal Lewdness, later called A Treatise Concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed. This essay will look at Roxana and Moll Flanders, and the relations between sex, marriage, love, and wealth, while also comparing the actions of the novel's protagonists to what Defoe calls 'Matrimonial Whoredom'.

In Moll Flanders, marriage, money, love, and sex are approached early on in the novel, at the house in Colchester, where Moll is seduced by the elder brother, naively believing that he will marry her. After a meeting, she says 'he put five Guineas into my hand, and went away down Stairs. I Was more confounded with the money than I was before with the Love' (Defoe, Moll Flanders 20). The elder brother continues to present her with money after each of their encounters, but explicitly proclaims to Moll that he 'resolved to marry [her] as soon as he came to his Estate' (Defoe 24), and eventually, Moll's affection for the brother, and her newly found delight with money, lead her to 'let him do just what he pleas'd' (Defoe 25). Moll hereby commits 'Matrimonial Whoredom'. Defoe writes in his Treatise; no pre-existing engagement or promise between the man and woman no nor any subsequent performance of the promise can be substituted in the room of marriage, or make the coming together (which is so, as above, forbidden) be lawful or justifiable. (Defoe, Conjugal Lewdness. Pp 28)

Defoe clearly sees her actions as already unlawful and unjustifiable, Moll's path is therefore predestined to be one of 'want and misery'.

When Moll later learns that the elder Brother is not going to marry her, and instead the younger Brother; Robin proposes, afraid that she'll be 'drop'd by both of them' (Defoe, MF, 48); she marries Robin, and commits another act of Matrimonial Whoredom; To marry one Man and be in love with another.. is a meer piece of Witchcraft; it is a kind of civil, legal Adultery, nay it makes the Man or Woman be committing adultery in their hearts every day. (Defoe, CL, 181)

Defoe's strong opinions on this matter show that he believes Moll is commiting a great sin. Moll's own words are very similar to Defoe's when she states; 'I commited Adultery and Incest with him every Day in my Desires.' (Defoe, MF, 50). By having Moll narrate almost exactly what he deems as 'witchcraft', Defoe discredits her word, and supports Dorothy Van Ghent's theory that Defoe has put together 'a complex series of ironies'(Ghent 16) that expose the moral blindness of his protagonist. If Defoe believed Moll's sins evil enough to be witchcraft, it is unlikely that he would endorse her tentative repentance.

After Robin's death, The men Moll meet are known to us purely by their occupation, and each one is a symbol of money and trade. Moll tells us; 'I had been tricked once by that Cheat called LOVE, but the Game was over; I was resolv'd now to be Married, or Nothing, and to be well Married' (Defoe, MF, 51) She has learnt from her time with the two brothers, that love doesn't always mean marriage, and marriage doesn't always mean love, and her short marriage to the 'Linnen-Draper' complies with this. Moll's character has now developed so far into the cold schemer, that her third marriage is made by complete trickery. As well as not legally being able to marry again(because she technically still married to the linnen-draper), Moll sees this match as a business scheme, stating 'I Pick'd out my Man without much difficulty' (Defoe, MF, 66). She fools the 'Plantation Owner' into believing she has a fortune, but legitamises her actions through flirtacious letters where she admits to being poor; 'I'm Poor. Let's see how kind you'll prove.'(67). The Plantation Owner however believes Moll to be testing his severity, and declares 'Be mine, with all your poverty' (67). The marriage is based on capital, not love, Moll refers to the act of winning her husband as a 'game' (66) and confesses she 'had him fast both ways' (68). She speaks of the capital in great detail when telling what she gave to him once she admitted she was poor; 'I brought him 180l. more, and about 60l. in Linnen'(70). Ann Louise Kibbie notes; 'no name has loomed larger then Defoe`s in discussions of the triumph of capitalism in the eighteenth century' (Kibbie 1024), and Defoe uses Moll to digress the link between capitalism and marriage, his views on this come across quite clearly in Conjugal Lewdness; Ask the Men why they Marry, it is for the Money... How little is regarded of that one essential and absolutely necessary Part of the Composition, called Love, without which the matrimonial State is, i think, hardly lawful, i am sure is not rational, and, i think, can never be happy. (Defoe, CL, 28)

Defoe certinaly channels this belief into the plot of Moll Flanders. Firstly, on the way to Virginia, there are 'Dreadful storms' (MF, 72) and a 'Pyrate' that steals their provisions. As well as predicting the 'storms' to come, Moll and her Husband are punished financially. In Virginia, Moll states 'I thought myself the happiest creature alive'(72), but her happiness is short-lived. When it is revealed that Moll has married her Brother, their happiness collapses, along with their marriage and Moll's security. As they ventured into a matrimony without love, and based on capital, Defoe does not allow them their contentment. Like when she was paid for her affections by the elder Brother, Defoe believes Moll to be 'little more than a legal prositute'(CL, 101).

After time spent as a Mistress to a Gentleman that later repents and returns to his Wife, Moll meets 'The Banker'. He is married to an adultress, and Moll tells him they cannot be together until he has legally dealt with the situation, subsequently fooling him into believing she is a virtuous woman. Moll leaves and meets her fourth Husband, Jemy, and admits that 'The glittering show of a great Estate, and of fine Things' (MF,120) persuade her to marry him, despite the knowledge that the Banker is preparing to wed her also. Even though Moll does appear to have feelings for Jemy, and we do learn his name, the marriage is still treated as a business deal. When again the truth is outed that neither have money, Jemy leaves, but returns shortly after claiming he heard her words 'O Jemy! O Jemy! Come back.'(MF 128). Despite his return, and the fact that Moll claims she will 'give him all she has, starve with him, and beg' (129), the decision is still made for them to part. On top of this, Moll tells us she 'still reserved the grand Secret, .not to let him ever know my true Name, who I was, or where to be found'(133), discrediting her affection for him, and making this marriage, like the others, more an act of business than of love.

Moll's marriage to the Banker is possibly the worst of all. Not only is she already married, but she has just had a child by Jemy that she has conveniently disposed of. The Banker has taken pains to fulfil Moll's wishes, and she knowingly enters the marriage contract while she is far from a legal match. Although Moll appears to have a moment of reproach shortly before, she marries the Banker. Defoe punishes her anew by having the Banker die, leaving Moll 'Friendless and Helpless'(159) with little money, sending her into a life of crime. This complies to another notion set out in Conjugal Lewdness, Defoe states; 'how long will they be afraid of crime, that are not afraid of scandel?'(CL, 348).

Once reunited with Jemy in Newgate Prison, Moll apparently repents her sins. This subject is certainly debatable, as she only fully repents when faced with a death sentence, and still goes on to create a web of lies to protect herself once she and Jemy relocate to Virginia. Defoe however does allow Moll happiness in this final match, and she and Jemy go on to end their days in comfortable circumstances. The litigiousness of Moll's repentance render this happy ending somewhat disagreeable.

Although Defoe's other female protagonist and the namesake of his 1724 novel Roxana has many simularities to Moll, she is also rather different. Roxana's men are also named by their trade, and her marriage story begins with her first Husband, 'The Brewer'. Roxana's marriage to the Brewer likens her to Moll by immediately casting her as a 'Matrimonial Whore', Roxana tells us; At about fifteen Years of Age, my Father gave me, as he call'd it in French, 2500 Livres, that is to say, two Thousand Pounds Portion, and married me to an Eminent Brewer in the City. (Defoe, Roxana, 7)

This line tells us that Roxana's marriage was set up by her father, in his treatise, Defoe writes an entire chapter on arranged marriages, stating 'there is not one in ten of those kinds of marriages that succeeds' (CL, 102). This means that even though, unlike Moll, Roxana begins her married life as innocent, her marriage is still predestined to fail. Roxana husband is a fool, and leaves her after failing all of his buinesses. Defoe writes a chapter in The Complete English Tradesman about why a Wife should be knowledgeable of her Husband's business, so Roxana's character is also used to show his readership the importance of this. Where Moll quickly learns from the two brothers that having a man means having money, Roxana learns that men and marriage do not guarantee financial security. Like when Moll talks to her female readers and encourages them not to be vain, Roxana tells her female readership 'Never, Ladies, marry a Fool'(Roxana,8).

Moll believes that her early sexual encounters are to result in a marriage, but Roxana feels very different about her own. When she is left by the Brewer Roxana finds herself courted by 'The Jeweller', who calls her his 'Wife by Affection'(47). When Roxana succumbs to his advances, she quickly submerges into a mind of constant self-reproach and darkness. Where Moll is always excusing and justifying her actions of earlier years, Roxana is always aware of her own sin. Once Roxana commits her first adultress act, she sees herself as having forsaken 'all Sense of Religion, and Duty of God, all Regard to Virtue and Honour' and calls herself and the Jeweller 'a Whore and a Rogue'(Roxana p43). It is through this view that she has now subjected herself to evil that she goes to to commit all further acts of sin. As Bell notes; 'It is the inflexibilty of her moral position, which cannot distinguish between small offences and great ones, which leads to the catastrophe'. (A.Bell 169) When the Dutch Merchant asks Roxana to marry him, she gives many reasons as to why she refuses, including that; The very Nature of the Marriage-Contract was, in short, nothing but giving up Liberty, Estate, Authority, and every-thing, to the Man (Roxana, 148)

Roxana has learnt from her first marriage that men cannot always be trusted in business, and she has already mananged to make her fortune without marriage. She is however withchild by the Dutch Merchant, and he offers her every piece of reasoning possible as to why they should marry. He loves her dearly, and proposes to 'quit all Pretensions to [her] Estate'(158). He offers her 'an Opportunity to have quitted a Life of Crime' (159) but still Roxana denies him. Roxana is already hardened, and as her constant self-reproach shows, she believes herself to be as one of the 'wickedest creatures on Earth'(158). Roxana believes she is too low to wed the honest man, and therefore continues her masochistict journey, not allowing herself any kind of way out. This act shows the extremity with which Roxana loathes herself and her actions, and in some ways makes her better to Moll, who claims repentance and takes her happy ending. Although Roxana does eventually marry the Dutchmen, her ending is far more tragic than Moll's, but she does not pretend to justify her actions, admitting; 'Repentance seem'd to be the only Consequence of my Misery, as my Misery was of my Crime'(330).

In both novels, marriage rarely means love. Moll learns early on that sex does not always secure marriage, whereas Roxana learns that marriage does not always secure wealth - and turns to sex. Where marriage in Moll can always be compared to a capitalist transaction, Roxana manages her capital without the need for marriage. Moll continues to marry again and again, unlawfully and without love, and is punished throughout for her acts of matrimonial whoredom, but in Roxana the chief punishments are those of her punishing herself.

Bibliography

A.Bell, Ian. "Roxana, Scandal and Tragedy." A.Bell, Ian. Defoe`s Fiction. Beckenham: Croom Helm Ltd, 1985. 153-188. Print. Defoe, Daniel. CONJUGAL LEWDNESS OR MATRIMONIAL WHOREDOM: A Treatise Concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed. London: Printed for T.Warner, 1727. http://archive.org/details/treatiseconcerni00defo. -. Moll Flanders. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. -. Roxana. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Print. Ghent, Dorothy Van. "The English Novel: Form and Function." Byrd, Max. A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, 1976. 127-39. Kibbie, Ann Louise. "Monstrous Generation: The Birth of Capital in Defoe`s Moll Flanders and Roxana ." PMLA , Vol. 110, No. 5 (1995): 1023-1034 . JSTOR. Rasher, Sarah. ""She Never Had Been a Bride in Her Life": The Marriage of Roxana and Amy ." n.d. Digital Defoe. 20 March 2013. Spector, Robert D. Essays on the Eighteenth Century Novel. Bloomington and London. Indiana University Press. 1965. Print.