"The Handmaids Tale" and "Moll Flanders"

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how both Moll of "Moll Flanders" and Offred of "The Handmaids Tale" are women that were forced to live apart from their families. The paper discuses Moll's ability to manipulate people even in her childhood while Offred only hopes and does not resort to action. The paper looks at how they both suffer from the same consequences of a patriarchal society and shows how both Dafoe and Atwood saw the incapability to feel as a danger in society.

From the Paper:

"Daniel Defoe and Margaret Atwood created more than two centuries apart, two fictional autobiographies of two women that were both victims of the societies they were either born into, as in the case of Defoe's heroine, Moll, or of the societies they happen to live in, later as adults, as in the case of Offred, Atwood's anti-heroine.
"Both stories are told by the women themselves and their names are not their real names. The reasons for choosing not to reveal their names were to protect their families of the repercussions their actions may bring upon their descendants."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Atwood, M. The Handmaid's Tale. Anchor Books Edition 1998.
• Defoe, D. Moll Flanders. Modern Library 2002.

More papers on "The Handmaids Tale" and "Moll Flanders":

• Comparison Essay # 100871 : "Dreams and Memories in "Nineteen Eighty Four" and "The Handmaids Tale"
• Analytical Essay # 50230 : "The True Love of Moll Flanders: Money"
• Comparison Essay # 100541 : "1984" and "The Handmaid's Tale"

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