Theft and prostitution were not without their risks, however: a thief could be transported or hanged for stealing a watch or a length of cloth. At the very least, they could expect to spend several weeks in Newgate Prison, a lively but hellish place. Percy – Cast, Crew, Director and Awards – NYTimes.com". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline& All Movie Guide . Retrieved 15 February 2016. [ dead link] In 1967, Foster appeared on Juke Box Jury, [14] in 1971 Call My Bluff, [15] and in 1976, she was the castaway on Desert Island Discs. [16] When I was younger, I was a smart girl but not smart enough to get a full scholarship to college. My parents were poor, so any help from them was out of the question. I knew I had to make it on my own. So, I worked three jobs during my freshman year. I worked at White Castle, I typed stuff for attorneys, and I did another job that I have never told anyone about until now. I was Mrs. Claus. The full title of Moll Flanders gives an apt summary of the plot: "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc. Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest and died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums."

When Moll is a young girl, she is forced to go into service as a maid because she would not be able to make a living sewing and spinning. Maids were paid very little, but at least they were fed and clothed. The fact that women were not able to support themselves legally (the assumption being that their husbands or father would contribute to their support from their higher wages) always underlies Moll's decisions: she really needs to get married. When she is widowed at the age of 48, she is too old to hope to marry again, and has little choice but to embark on a life of crime. After her stage debut with the Brighton Repertory Theatre, Foster made her London debut in Travelling Light in 1965 at the Prince of Wales Theatre; she has since appeared in several London stage productions, including at The Globe Theatre, Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith), Queens Theatre, Criterion Theatre, King's Head Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, Apollo Theatre, New End Theatre, also in the UK at the Nottingham Playhouse, New Theatre, Oxford, Birmingham Repertory Company, and the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow. [13] a b Defoe, Daniel (1722). The fortunes and misfortunes of the famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and died a Penitent, Written from her own memorandums. Eighteenth Century Collections Online: W. Chetwood. Moll claims her real name is well-known in the records of Newgate Prison and Old-Baily in London, so it is necessary that she use an alias, as some matters of criminal significance are still pending there. Moll is born to a convict mother in Newgate Prison, where, after stealing a few pieces of fabric, her mother was sentenced to death. However, Moll’s mother “pleaded her belly” (that is, asked to be spared due to her pregnancy) and her sentence was commuted to transportation to the American colonies. When Moll is just six months old, her mother is sent to Virginia to be sold as a servant, and Moll is left alone. Moll lives with some relatives for a time, but she ends up in a band of traveling Egyptians, who leave her in Colchester when she is just three years old. The local parish assumes Moll’s care, and they place her in the service of a nurse, who is employed by the church to care for children until they are old enough “to go to Service, or get their own Bread.” The nurse tenderly cares for Moll through her childhood and raises her with the utmost attention to manners, and she even keeps Moll from going to Service—working as a servant or maid, as most women of the lower class are expected to do—which Moll dislikes the idea of doing. When Moll is teenager, her nurse dies, and Moll is taken in by the lady, a woman of high social standing and wealth, and her family. There, Moll falls in love with the older brother, the lady’s handsome eldest son, who promises to marry Moll as soon as he inherits his estate. Of course, the older brother has no intention of marrying Moll—she is of the lower class and isn’t considered a suitable match—but he strings her along with declarations of love and gifts of money. Once their relationship turns sexual, which Moll only agrees to because he has promised her marriage, the older brother grows distant. He ultimately leaves her, and Moll is forced to marry his younger brother (who has also fallen in love with Moll despite her social status) or she will be put out in the street. Production of Preserving Mr. Panmure | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com . Retrieved 16 February 2016.

A second British television adaptation, broadcast by ITV in 1996, titled The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders, with Alex Kingston starring as Moll and Daniel Craig as Jemmy. This film is one of the closest adaptations to the novel, though it ends when she is still a relatively young woman. Gass, Joshua. "Moll Flanders and the Bastard Birth of Realist Character." New Literary History 45.1 (2014): 111–130. online Defoe gave us ROBINSON CRUSOE (which was marketed as an actual account) and A JOURNAL OF THE PLAGUE YEAR, which, although it was a work of fiction, is still used by historians.

YOUR WORLD – BBC Television – 8 May 1961 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 15 February 2016. Shinagel, Michael Daniel Defoe and Middle-Class Gentility (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968). Masquerade: Turkish Delight – BBC Two England – 22 April 1974 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 15 February 2016.Pollak, Ellen. "'Moll Flanders,' Incest, and the Structure of Exchange." The Eighteenth Century 30.1 (1989): 3–21. online Casualty – BBC One London – 12 September 1992 – BBC Genome". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk . Retrieved 15 February 2016.