The Precarious Position of Women in Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders and Roxana

• Main Authors: Daisy Tsai-ching Yeh, 葉采青
• Other Authors: Father Daniel J. Bauer
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/21477275779256571093

碩士 === 輔仁大學 === 英國語文學系 === 87 === This thesis focuses on the seduction scenes in Daniel Defoe's heroine-centered novels, Moll Flanders and Roxana, and its major approach is to study how the female protagonists Moll and Roxana improve or degenerate themselves under emotional weakness and temptations of flattery and material sustenance. The main concern is to analyze how the women deal with their precarious positions, and at last become adventurous ladies. The content is divided into three main chapters, and the topic-seduction-is examined in respect to three aspects: psychological comfort, financial security, and physical pleasure. Through the analysis and comparative study of the female characters and seduction scenes, the similarities and dissimilarities of Moll and Roxana's inclinations will be completely revealed. The thesis writer hopes to offer deeper interpretations of two instructive characters as well as some other interesting episodes in the fiction of Daniel Defoe.