Concept of Epicureanism in Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders
Keywords:
Daniel Defoe, Epicureanism, Moll FlandersAbstract
The main purpose of the Research Paper is to trace the different traits of the concept of
Epicureanism in Moll Flanders. The researcher has used qualitative method where help
has been taken from the close textual analysis of the novel. Moll Flanders, by Daniel
Defoe, deals with different themes of the age of Daniel Defoe. The novelist has made
Moll Flanders as her mouth piece where she has used the character as a tool in order to
highlight her contemporary issues inside England. The protagonist has been the victim of
Epicureanism. Epicurean philosophy advocates enjoying all the physical worldly
pleasuresin its oft-quoted maxim, ‘eat, drink and be merry’. The protagonist of the novel
is a circumstantial prostitute but she is also in search of the pleasures of life. She suffers
because of her unlimited worldly wishes and desires. She travels different places and
marries different people just to cater to her insatiable desires and wishes. Defoe has
focused on the reality of human life in whichevery individual struggles for a comfortable
life but by engaging in such struggles, sometimes, an individual loses whatever he/she
has. Thus, the novel dealsmainly with the concept of Epicureanism and its importance in
one’s life.
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