Crime is something that has plagued us as a species since we began walking the Earth. Although it did not create a face until the 18th century, when there was a split in economic identity, as well as a separation of gender. In Daniel Defoe's "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders," the central female character is driven by a desire to rise above what she was born into, but through a series of unfortunate events and gender norms, she is forced to break away from social norms to achieve the life he believes he deserves. Defoe's main protagonist shows what a woman's struggle is as she struggles to break out of the economic confines and gender stereotypes of eighteenth-century England. “The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders” by Daniel Defoe is the perfect example of someone who was born into the worst situation possible for a woman in eighteenth century England. Born to a mother she will never meet, because her "mother was convicted of a certain petty theft which is hardly worth mentioning" (Defoe 4), after being released from prison, she leaves for America. Born into a world where the power of your family determines your future, Moll Flanders never met her mother or father, she was an orphan, “victims of neglectful parents or parents whose health or lack of skills prevented them from earning sufficient income to take care of them." a family” (Reed). In the 18th century, children born without parents or guardians of any kind were often forced into child labor. Defoe's Moll Flanders was fortunate not to be forced into child labour: “I was too young to do any work, being no more than three years of age, passion drove the city magistrates to order some c...... middle of paper... life until she is dragged to another school where she learns more skills. In this school she meets the man who will take her virginity. “The mistress of the house where I was had two sons, young gentlemen of very promising parts and of extraordinary conduct” (Defoe 9). The training in various household activities and the new skills acquired while at the new school made it very desirable for both of these brothers. The major made his move on her and finally took her virginity. After seducing her, he abandons her, she is forced to marry his brother; he dies soon after a few years. She is left on the streets again, she must find a way to survive. He doesn't have the skills to work in a factory and earn a decent wage to survive, he has to remarry. But who would want a woman who is already a widow at such a young age??