Moll Flanders
Style and Technique
Daniel Defoe’s style in «Moll Flanders» is marked by deliberate simplicity and an apparent documentary quality, creating the illusion of genuine memoirs. The narrative language is rich in vivid domestic details, colloquial turns, and subtle irony, allowing the author to distance himself from the heroine without depriving her of sympathy. Defoe skillfully employs interior monologue, letting the reader delve into Moll’s psychology, her conflicting emotions, fears, and hopes. The novel’s composition is linear but filled with numerous inserted episodes, strung like beads on the thread of the heroine’s fate. The author deftly uses the unreliable narrator technique: Moll often justifies her actions, leaving the reader room for doubt and reflection. The structure is predominantly chronological, and the narrative alternates between descriptions and dynamic dialogues, lending the text liveliness and authenticity. Defoe masterfully combines realism with elements of satire, creating a multilayered portrait of the era and the human soul.
