Narrative Arts In Moll Flanders

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) is widely regarded as father of English novel and one of the pioneers of realism in European fiction. But it was not until the 19th century that he began to receive attention as a creative writer. Moll Flanders signifies the top of his literature career. This thesis tries to probe into the narrative art of Moll Flanders.The nature of Defoe's journalistic experience has been particularly well adapted to further his later career as a novelist. Realistic description, plain and simple style, concrete and impersonal languages, inconsequential and incomplete ending, all are typical devices to pursue verisimilitudes of his novel, which will be discussed in the first chapter.Similarly, episodic plot, together with skillful use of scene, description and summary is also employed by Defoe in Moll Flanders to achieve his basic literary purpose-to produce a convincing likeness to the autobiographical memoir of a real person.Moll Flanders, the heroine of the novel is brilliant and sparkling with her personalities of self-reliance, acumen, adaptability throughout several centuries. But in what way she is characterized will constitutes the content of the third chapter.Finally, the last chapter will deal with the question of dual voices. The duality in her voice is really a duality in herself, one acts and suffers and theother perceives and narrates.It is these narrative arts-journalistic narration, episodic plot, innovatory characterization and dual voices that make Daniel Defoe father of the modern English novel as well as Moll Flanders the first novel in the English literature.