Moll's Chest

Anonymous Moll.

This might be the Moll you're thinking of or a Moll you have read about or a Moll you have unfortunately encountered, or even a Moll who is quite opposite from what is expected of such a name. We might even be them all.

Either way, a topic we can definitely handle is eighteenth-century crime. We may not confirm the why. However, hypothetically speaking, our knowledge and talents could come from personal experience. But they could also, of course, come from being an informed citizen who actively takes part in stopping those who desire to take advantage of the innocent and naive. Even so, we assure you, the readers, there is no reason to doubt our expertise.

#CONTEXTUAL ENTRY

#REPUTATION

#CRITICAL ENTRY

#VIRTUE

#BITS OF INFORMATION

#MOLL

#IDENTITY

#MARRIAGE

#COURTSHIP

#WOMEN

#SPONGING HOUSES

#CRIME

#CREATIVE ENTRY

#PIRATES#STORY

#LESBIANS

#THE FEMALE HUSBAND

#MOLL FLANDERS

#STORY

#DEBT

#PROSTITUTION

So many layers that you would not believe the time it took, and all this without help.

Getting dressed in the 18th century as a wealthy woman

A lady gets dressed in the fashion of the 18th century. She puts on her clothes, with help in a particular order, including, a shift, stays, petticoats, pockets, roll, stockings and garters, gown and stomacher, apron, and shoes.

Forged in Fire: BLACKBEARD'S CUTLASS

How to make a sword that actually works. Historically, the sword that Blackbeard used

Eighteenth-Century Connoisseurship and the Female Body by Terry F. Robinson

“The contemporary intersection between aesthetic appreciation and the act of viewing the female form (as an object of beauty, sex, ownership, and exchange).”

The Criminality of Women in Eighteenth-Century England

What do the offenses of women in this time reveal about their place and nature in their society?

Masquerade! How women of the Eighteenth-century cross-dressed for adventure, profit, and liberty

A discussion by Dr. Julie Wheelwright the different reasons women had to cross-dress in the Eighteenth-century.

The Lady Juliana | The 18th-Century All-Women Prison Ship

An interesting short video about a ship that sailed from Britain to Australia full of female criminals and some of their stories.

Make Your Way As A Woman In Eighteenth-Century England

An interactive blog made by two English literature students about how it was living in eighteenth-century England

Women and Politeness in Eighteenth-Century England

Moll's Wake - An analysis from two perspectives.

A Gentlewoman

The image saves the audiences from the disturbance of witnessing the whore’s final sickly appearance, but does not save them from the visual of her fellow prostitutes stealing her belongings since there is no honor in these creatures that pillage their own kind.

Even though one of these creatures has met her deserved end, there always seems to be more of them, ready to continue with their immoral acts. The lives of these Molls is a never ending cycle that affects us good people of London.

Sickness is spreading through our streets since these creatures roam around our men.

Molls

Although our dear sister is not visible since she is in her coffin, we are all here because of her. We cared about her but we could not save her from the same circumstances that also were affecting us.

We need to continue our trade. There is no rest for us. We cross the path she walked and adhere to a gentleman that cares for our needs for a while. Some of us do not have a patron, and would have to walk the streets for a client like she did.

We look at our sickly faces and wonder when we be the ones to be in the coffin.

Prostitute Noun

A woman who received payment for sex. “Contemporary attempts to distinguish prostitution as a type of behaviour were not identical with our own. They focused mainly on motivation, rather than on promiscuity and payment (...) Both at law and in general discourse." (Dabhoiwala 87)

Whore Noun

"A ‘whore’ was any woman who had sexual relations outside marriage, irrespective of her promiscuity, social position or remuneration" (87)

Bawdy house Noun

"Any place—a home, tavern or lodging-house—where men and women met to commit sexual immorality.” (87)

Stews Noun

“A stewhouse was, technically, a bathhouse (from Old French estuve, ‘stove’), but many public bathhouses also served as places of prostitution, so that by Langland’s and Chaucer’s day stews always had a disreputable connotation. There is no evidence that the Bankside stewhouses [in Southwark, across the Thames from London] had bathing facilities at all; they were probably simply brothels.” (Carlin 211).

Conduct Noun

"How women might create themselves as objects of male desire, but in terms which will contain the desire within the publicly sanctioned form of marriage." (Jones 14)

Infanticide Noun

A woman’s crime. “[It] was bi its nature a woman’s matter, though men were occasionally charged with complicity and occasionally indicted. (Beattie 85)

Assault Noun

When referring to women, “attacking or threatening a member of their own household or neighbour or at least someone entirely a stranger to them. Some of the charges against women, for example, arose from the mistreatment of servants, especially young girls.” (86)

Domestic Violence Noun

When referring to women, “it was a crime seriously underreported (...) for this too openly and clearly reversed a husband and wife’s expected relationship. (87)

Politeness Noun

Cultural code that defines normative class and gender specific behaviour, taste, appearance, and identity (Ylivuori, 20).

Women Noun

Non rational creatures with a diminished capability to control their urges, vulnerable to all sorts of weaknesses of the flesh (Ylivuori, 45).

Femininity Noun

A woman’s most important epithet in all manners, behaviour, and appearances (Ylivuori, 47).

Lesbianism ?? Not found. Nothing wrong with a cuddle.

Beattie, J.M. “The Criminality of Women in Eighteenth-Century England. Journal of Social History, Vol. 8, No. 4, 1975, pp. 80-116.

Dabhoiwala, Faramerz. “The Pattern of Sexual Immorality in Seventeenth and Eighteenth- Century London,” Essays in the Cultural and Social History of Modern London. Manchester University Press, 2000, p. 86.

Carlin, Martha. Medieval Southwark. Hambledon Press, 1996, p. 211.

Jones, Vivien, "Conduct" Women in the Eighteenth Century. Constructions of Femininity. Routledge London and New York, 1990, pp. 14.

The name Moll first originated as an abbreviation or a nickname of the name Mary. It was just a proper name that could belong to any girl or woman. Still, its connection to Christianity and the Bible turns the name Mary into a symbol of purity, virginity, miracles, etc.

Then, in the 17th century, the name Moll became deeper in meaning. This was caused by the (in)famous Mary Frith. Naturally, she was also known by the nickname Moll, and her particular occupation added the name Cutpurse. In 1611, Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker made Moll Cutpurse into the heroine of their play The Roaring Girl. The play attached a connotation of social transgression and subversion to the name Moll.

Later on, in 1719, Daniel Defoe published The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders. This text, along with the several popular criminal biographies which featured many Molls, satisfied the interest for crime that characterizes the eighteenth century. By this time, the name had become a synonym for prostitute and it was often used as an offensive term with which to identify any woman who somehow transgressed the limits set for her by society.

In eighteenth-century tradition, acceptable behavior for women was encapsulated by the parameters of marriage since that appeared to be their only possible state. Although "there was no consensus between the state, church, and popular opinion as to how marriage should be defined," (Evans 47)marriage still was a socially ingrained institution which seemed almost a natural state for women, and it was opposed by their fall into disgrace and even prostitution. There was no middle ground for them. Adequate behavior in those terms could be summarized as turning women from individual agents into objects property of their husbands. As objects, they would have to be beautiful ornaments that did not cause trouble. They were supposed to be submissive, quiet, and obedient. If a subjectivity was given to them, it would have been one of the upper servants, but not because of their qualities, but of their obligations as wives.

One could think of works that offer a different representation of women to portray the possibilities that they could have if a fairer ground was offered to them in society such as The Female Quixote and The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless. Nevertheless, Moll Flanders is not one of those novels. When analyzing Daniel Defoe's novel, we need to consider that society does not judge women and men by the same standards. In this work, women need to be reeducated through (bad) experiences and redeem themselves to fit the expectations society had and demanded of them. This reeducation causes them to change and renounce the person they were in order to still be part of society.

But let us start from the beginning of Moll Flanders' fall: falling for the promise of the older brother of the house in which she was a servant. The narration establishes their relationship with the eager interest he first showed on her: "The eldest, a gay Gentleman that knew the Town as well as the Country (...) he began with that unhappy Snare to all Women, taking notice upon all Occasions how pretty I was, as he call'd it: how agreeable, how well Carriaged, and the like; and this he contriv'd so subtilly, as if he had known as well, how to catch a Woman in his Net." (Defoe 57) This quote lets us see how experienced he is in comparison to her and how, in retrospect, Moll recognizes her own naivety. The fact that he is the eldest is important since "[i]n the early eighteenth century, the arrangements by which the English aristocracy and gentry commonly provided for their families conformed to a standard pattern, the strict settlement, in which the essential questions were settled at the marriage of the eldest son."(Habakkuk 1) Therefore, with this knowledge, their relationship is doomed since she has nothing to offer for a good arrangement to be made out of their marriage. Nevertheless, Moll's perspective is biased from her own perception of herself which does not consider her social and economic status: "I had the Advantages of my Ladies, tho' they were my Superiors; but they were all the Gifts of Nature, and which all their Fortunes could not furnish. First, I was apparently Handsomer than any of them. Secondly, I was better shap'd, and Thirdly, I sung better." (Defoe 56) Moll's vanity surpassed her own vision of the world, and makes her "to be so elevated, that [she] scarce knew the Ground [she] stood on." (62) Since she immediately believes that this education and natural gifts were enough for her to make an arrangement for herself. By giving up on the eldest brother's propositions, she loses her "virtue" and "modesty" (68). I argue that this loss is based on mismanagement of her "conduct".

Jones argues that "the concern of all eighteenth-century 'conduct' manuals for women is how women might create themselves as objects of male desire, but in terms which will contain the desire within the publicly sanctioned form of marriage." (14) That is, even if the marriage between them was impossible considering their economic and social status, Moll ignored that her conduct was based on looking for a sanctioned marriage that is public and creates obligations towards her from him, and not a promise in exchange of her most valuable asset: her virtue.

One could argue that Moll did not have these ideas as clearly ingrained in her mind as other women for her upbringing, but if she received a similar education to the ladies, this must have been named since "(...) [y]oung women are taught 'natural' femininity in terms of negation and repression —silence, submission, 'abstinence or continence,'—" (15) this gives them the power of negotiation during courtship, but this power is so susceptible to seduction, rape, lies and more that their power seems almost an illusion. Their roles in this process seem to remain passive and compliant to male desire.

The objectification and limitation of female sexuality play into the idea of women being objects of exchange "within a mercantilist discourse which conflates economic self-interest and moral rectitude." (59) One can see this in the change of circumstances that make Moll marry the younger brother. For the eldest son, Moll was an object that was used and then discarded, and for the younger son, Moll was a new object ready to be used, even if he was gentler and kinder to her.

Jones argues that "public interest is privileged over individual desire" (15) which would justify the decision of the eldest brother and Moll to hide their relationship after it finished: to make it public would have affected a public interest such as his role in English society as a gentleman. Moll goes from being a respectable working woman to a whore. The active use of her sexuality contravened the notion of "conduct" and therefore, she was no longer an embodiment of moral value.

It may seem that sexuality, if it is not within the limits of marriage, is a threat to society since it could fall into very different situations: prostitution, rape, seduction, adultering, ill relationships, etc. Nevertheless, women are the only ones punished for these passions that lead to sex. Men maintain their reputations and can go and marry someone else, women cannot. Therefore, women are not only tied by their inevitable destiny as someone's wife but are also at risk at every moment until they are married. This process is rigged for women in vulnerable situations like Moll. They have no one to help them negotiate their value and their only respectable option for life becomes an impossible goal.

Ellis, Lorna. “Reacting to Romance and Building the Bildungsroman,” Appearing to Diminish, Bucknell University Press, 1999, pp. 70-87.

Evans, Tanya. "Unfortunate Objects". Courtship, Sex, and Marriage in Eighteenth-Century Popular Literature.Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2005, p. 48.

Defoe, Daniel. Moll Flanders. Penguin Classics, 1989.

Habakkuk, H. J. "Marriage Settlements in the Eighteenth Century." Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 32, 1950, pp. 15-30.

Jones, Vivien, "Conduct" Women in the Eighteenth Century. Constructions of femininity. Routledge London and New York, 1990, pp. 14-22

The use of sponging houses was one of several customary practices that existed as a problematic part of the system of debt imprisonment. They added to the inefficiency of the system as a tradition of imprisonment and accepted corruption that increased debtor expenses. However, they were deeply intertwined in the eighteenth-century imprisonment system. The name is a casual way in which bailiff’s houses came to be known as since they were designed to extract or “sponge” as much money as possible from the imprisoned debtor.

In order to accurately explain how sponging houses functioned, it is important to understand that debtors were not imprisoned as a punishment for not having paid their debt, but, instead, until they were compelled to do so. As it was, sometimes irrationally, inferred that they chose not to pay rather than them not being able to. Therefore, debtors’ freedom was temporarily taken as a way of coercion for them to solve what was supposedly keeping them from collecting the amount of money they owed. With this, it is evident that prisons were more related to the processes of credit than the legal mechanisms of common law.

There were several ways to sponge money from the debtors. Firstly, they were bullied into buying food and drink for the company of the house while getting very little of it to themselves, forcing them to pay for more if they wished to have a close to satisfactory portion. Secondly, debtors were charged an unreasonably high rent for a room or cage that sometimes lacked a place to lay on. Arresters would even purposefully obstruct communications with the outside to prolong the debtors’ stay, who would attempt to contact friends and solve their debt. The profits from the sponging houses were such that serjeant, bailiffs and prison yeoman would fight for the legal rights of arrest, which gave them power to decide whether, how and where to sponge.

Although it was possible to avoid imprisonment, there was no guarantee that help would arrive and the debtor continued to lose money to the sponger. In spite of having the power to insist on being taken to prison, debtors rarely did because bailiffs would tell horror stories about how terrible prison was and painted the sponging process as a favor to the debtor. However, according to pamphlets of the time, conditions in prison were better than in sponging houses and the cost of stay was cheaper. Still, most debtors were taken to prison until there was nothing left to be gained by the sponger, which took approximately a month of confinement.

Sponging houses were a threat to the institution of debt imprisonment, because they hampered debtors, creditors and prison managers. While they only benefited the already compensated bailiff, it was recognized that they reduced administrative costs. Sponging houses were made illegal in the 1720’s but they were a challenge to suppress during the next few decades.

A tavern (or saloon or bar) much too men’s displeasure of the description is a gossip revelry, rumours travel faster than any ship and the alcohol just makes men lose their tongue. Of course, this gossip was always disguised as “valuable information” and rumours were “a guessing game.” They voiced their opinions and debated the night (or day) away. The Caribbean was no different from any place with a tavern, the locals were easily found interchanging gossip, trying to put a price on their story as the most interesting, the most heard, a pissing contest if the reader pardons my French.

“Aye, have you heard? That Calico Jack’s crew is in town”

One of the men will say, lowering his voice and looking over his shoulder as if pirates could come from behind him, the others will respond in kind, they will give the side-eye cautiously and nod.

“They have been roaming these parts of the sea for a while now. They are a bunch of cowards if you ask me, no honest work and as soon as they are cornered they go running to their mother, I tell ya. What they all need is a good hanging, no man is worth their lot if there is no honest hard work under their backs.”

And they will all “aye” and clap for the good, noble, honest, and hard work under their backs, celebrating themselves with the alcohol available at the time.

“Haven’t you all heard? There is a woman in the crew. I heard is Calico’s bitch, he has her at his beg and call”

With this comment the men will laugh, they will cheer and make obscene noises and gestures: debauchery in the name of brotherhood.

“I will be careful with my words if I were you, young man. If there is a woman in the crew then she must have to earn her place, and those who earn their place are ruthlessly protective.”

A man will say, drenched in years, common sense, and some type of wisdom.

“Let her try” they will yell “I bet I can fuck her too” they will proclaim, “She is nothing but a bitch” will be their final input.

“Hear the old man. I heard she is the most violent and ruthless of the crew. They say she skins everyone that dares to question her place, and that she has a collection of human skin, allies and enemies alike”

The men will sit in silence, they will try to think of a woman capable of doing that and they would not be able to imagine it. At least not at first, then they will think of sirens, harpies, and Medusa. Because if a woman is not submissive then she must be a monster.

“She must be ugly, then” one will answer as if that will keep him above her. “Aye, she must be almost a man” another will declare. “She’s no woman anymore” they will all agree.

By then they will tire and start to compare past conquests, show their scars as trophies or brag about the length of their dicks. Unknown to them, just past the group of locals and usual clients, in the back of the tavern two young men sit, quietly watching, quietly listening, quietly drinking.

The two young men will pay their due, and quietly go, just as they came. They will walk the nightly roads, with the sea breeze as their companion. They will check-in at the local inn, pay for the room and they will finally rest.

Mrs. Mary, otherwise Mr. George Hamilton disgraced the fair Sex with the foulest and most unnatural crime of them all: She married three good women and would have done it again if she had not been caught and punished. Rest well, good people, for this wicked woman is now apprehended. But let us not be innocent as these virgins were; this diabolical nature could run among others and disgrace our community again. Beware those feminine men who court your daughters. Beware those with unnatural beauty, for they could disgrace your precious daughters and family with scandalous and diabolical acts. This vile nature is contagious and as Mrs. Mary caught it from a childhood friend, Mrs. —, your daughter could catch it from someone else.

Dear reader,

February the 16th

Since Papa died, my dear brother has been spending more and more money. Here he has me in the house, still mourning the death of my dear Papa. I cannot believe his lack of decorum and propriety: barely a year has passed by, and I barely see him, every evening he comes home late and inebriated. He says he is doing business with other gentlemen, but I cannot believe him. The only thing that brings me joy lately is that he promised he will take me to a ball in London once the season starts. I long for this sadness and loneliness to go away and desperately wish that a ball will finally lift my mourning spirits.

Gown (I outgrew my old one, brother must deal with it).

Gloves.

A new muslin (White. I think would go well).

I also outgrew my dancing shoes.

The house also needs the floors to be polished.

And brother must raise my allowance. He cannot expect me to have this house in perfect condition if he does not.

Find him a wife. A nice and pretty lady will sure make brother settle down and I do long for a sister, another female in this empty house for me to talk.

March the 29th

The season has begun, and brother has not said a word about any balls. At least he bought me another gown, but he said that I must make do with what he gives me. My Dear Papa would have never treated me as such, but brother says that we must be careful and I must listen to him even when I hear him come at the early hours of the mornings, tumbling, and laughing alone. He never eats breakfast with me anymore. My dear brother really needs a wife and I a sister.

June the 3rd

Our neighbour, Mrs Hill, has had me for tea almost every week. She is such a nice lady, but her oldest daughter is barely thirteen years of age. I often find myself feeling lonelier when I come back. I miss my childhood friend, Felicia, she went to France with her family so many years ago, but she was always so lovely and tender with me. I still remember our giggles under the covers and holding hands while searching for flowers in her garden. I wish nothing more but to feel that love. Brother has yet to tell me when are we going to a ball.

July

I feel lonelier than ever before. I have nothing to write about and the weekly tea with the Hill’s family does nothing for my sadness. Brother really must take me to a ball or find a wife.

August the 7th

Brother has finally come with the news that we are going to a ball in a fortnight! My happiness knows no limits, I will dance and talk with the ladies all night. Good Lord! I am so excited!

Must ask Mrs Hill if she is also going, that will help calm my nerves.

I will buy flowers.

August the 23rd

The ball was the most fun I have had in ages. I believe I met the most precious creature on earth. Miss Mary was enchanting, kind, and beautiful. I asked my brother to propose to her on the spot. I believe he is considering it; she is from a good family after all. Her laughter was infectious, and her dancing was divine. I believe I spend most of the night enchanted by her. I wish she really does become my sister.

August the 25th

My brother told me that yesterday he went to see Miss Mary, and today she came for tea! We had the loveliest time together. I feel like we talked about everything.

September the 8th

I barely have time to write! I see Mary almost every day now. We have tea, we stroll through the park when there is good weather, she has stayed for supper several times and our time together is always pleasant and beautiful! My brother really must marry her, she is the most gracious and kind lady he will ever find.

Mary loves lavender and roses, so I asked the housekeeper to always keep some around the house.

November the 10th

Brother and Mary are getting married! I cannot believe I get to keep her as a sister. I am so grateful and happy now that she will come to live with me, we will have breakfast together and look after our home. I believe God has blessed us with each other’s company after our loneliness as she is an only child, you see.

December the 26th

Lately, I have had no time to write at all! Brother and Mary had a short engagement and a beautiful wedding. Since then, Mary and I have been inseparable. We eat breakfast together, then we sit in the sitting room to enjoy the fire in these cold times, we read to each other, we run the house together, and sometimes we even help each other with our baths. Christmas was a beautiful affair, even brother was on his best behavior. You see, lately, he is the only cloud in an otherwise clear blue sky, he keeps going to those vulgar, awful places and comes smelling of smoke even days after! I cannot believe what he does to poor Mary, she deserves the very best, so I try to fill his absence to the best of my abilities. At least Mary does not seem to mind too much. I have never heard her yell at him, but what does a single girl like me know about married life? I just hope to be a great sister to her.

Mary likes carrots and potatoes but cannot stand peas.

Mary likes that I braid her hair every night.

Mary likes her tea strong with little sugar and too much milk.

Mary said that she loves that the house always smells of lavender and roses.

Mary has begun to sleep with me to fight the cold when that fool of a brother is gone.

Mary said that my face is shaped like a heart and that my blushing is lovely. I do tend to blush a lot around her.

Mary likes cucumber sandwiches in the morning.

May the 20th

We had a lovely day yesterday! It was pouring outside, and brother was nowhere to be found, as usual, so Mary had a brilliant idea, we had a ball in the sitting room! We took our best gowns and feathers and we danced and laughed until our whole bodies hurt, we drank wine and ate until our bellies were full with joy. We fell asleep on my bed giggling and holding each other. I have never been this happy.

June

Brother is in debt.

July

Brother is off to work in some random house that I do not care to understand, the only good thing is that he got to keep the house.

August

Mary and I cannot afford any balls, but we are still happy, we dance every evening, and we hold each other every night, we eat breakfast together every morning, and we are happy every day.

The title of this entry is a revision of the pamphlet written by “A. Moore” otherwise Bernard Mandeville. In this pamphlet, Mandeville made an argument on behalf of a national system of regulated brothels. In this work, he does not dwell on the personification of a specific individual nor on the misadventures that lead her to fall into disgrace. Instead, he focuses on dealing with prostitution as a dangerous social problem that could be remedied through legislation. He advocates for prostitution not on behalf of the women who practice it, but on behalf of young men who needed an outlet for their sexual practices and energy. He argued that the regulation of prostitution would benefit society and produce better marriages, help “modest” women by preserving their chastity and help prostitutes deal with the worst of their problems: sexual diseases. In summary, his work openly advocated for a regulated system of prostitution to satisfy the male desire and, therefore, create a better society. His work met several critics and resistance, even from prostitutes that considered his idea a way of taking away their freedom. Most of the resistance came from religious and moral supporters. Irwin Primer explains the literary and rhetoric elements of the work and identifies that the satire was mostly (if not completely) targeted toward the Societies for the Reformation of Manners, a group looking for the suppression of immorality and profanity, which can be materialized, under those standards, in prostitution.

Although the satire cannot be denied and the literary resources such as paradox and irony make a great literary work, the underlying fact that this proposal ignored the circumstances of women who practiced prostitution cannot be denied. Mandeville does mention how these women are affected by diseases and should be treated, and recognizes that hunger, poverty, seduction, and rape are circumstances that lead women into this line of work, he does nothing else than acknowledge them as an irremediable fact. He is more concerned with dealing with unruled men and confronting those who deny sexual desires from their morals or religion. Considering this, Is it really a defense of public stews? Or is it a proposal on how to trade with individuals who are already marginalized for male benefit?

I would argue that Mandeville’s pamphlet works not only works within the gendered standards of sexual desire: men who have them on excess and women who submit to those sexual desires submissively and, sometimes, even naturally willingly but also considers women in prostitution as objects to be traded to the betterment of society. This not only objectifies women but also dismisses their activities as work —frown upon or not— and ignores the actual reasons that lead women into these activities. This active neglect of the issues is unfair considering that the subject matter being [apparently] regarded in the discussion was prostitution, not male sexual desire. To use women as a topic without including them is not a new discovery, but it is a subject that must be discussed not to continue this trend in modern society and literary research.

It is not a minor issue not to address poverty, hunger, ill seduction, and rape into the discussion of prostitution. Even more, if we consider how important the notions of honor and reputation were at the time. They were the basis on how people judge the relationship of the individual and the public, and how people projected and perceived themselves (Dabhoiwala 201). The discussion of these notions must be regarded considering how gender was involved. A man was not judged on the same standards as women, even if the categories (social, economic, and moral) were the same for both sexes. Men could be judged on them separately and, in most cases, their sexual conduct could be overlooked if their social and economic status was well regarded by others. For women, this was not the case. Women always had their good sexual conduct a prerequisite to even begin to talk about their other statuses. If a woman had a scandal or her chastity was questioned, it was hard to overlook it even if they came from a good family or had money. It was even worse because the standard of reputation was not only linked to societal expectations but also to religion. Dabhoiwala explained that “[t]he rhetoric of reputation paralleled that of sin, for example, in the notion that a single act of unchastity would lead inevitably to others, and into a downward spiral of general moral depravity”. Although the social and religious standards differed in which repentance and reformation were possible in the eyes of God, a woman could never redeem a lost reputation (207). In this sense, the social scrutiny was the worst, and the public sphere was closely linked to economic status. If poverty led you to hunger, and both to prostitution, then the legislation should be redirected to the poverty problem. Nevertheless, because wealth gives you status, it was practically impossible to have fallen into disgrace and get out of there by other means since their reputation, which affected how they would be treated by society, also suffered detriment. In other words, while men could compensate for their “ill” sexual conduct by their other characteristics, women were tied to the first and ultimate judgment regarding their sexuality.

Considering the vulnerability to which women were subjected due to their lost status, it is not possible to separate the topic of the regulation of prostitution from the standards of reputation. It may be fruitful to question the economic and social system instead of disregarding half of the population by objectifying them. Mandeville’s could be interpreted as the intention to bring back ill sexual conduct into the social, public sphere from the private sphere but with the condition that the repercussions of having “immoral” sexual conducts would only affect women and their reputation, instead of becoming a social issue concerning both sexes as participants of the community. If prostitution is a social problem that needs to be addressed, then we need to account for both participants and how they enter the game. Circumstances matter if the issue is not going to be reduced to something “natural and irremediable”. Reputation is gendered and it is a social construct. The parameters for reputation can be modified and, therefore, the idea of how we regard women and prostitution can be challenged to perceive them as subjects and not merely objects.

Dabhoiwala, Faramerz. The Construction of Honour, Reputation and Status in Late Seventeenth- and Early Eighteenth-Century England. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Cambridge University Press, Vol. 6, 1996, pp. 201-213

Primer, Irwin. "Introduction." Bernard Mandeville's "A Modest Defence of Publick Stews" Prostitution and Its Discontents in Early Georgian England. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. pp. 1-26.

Primer, Irwin. "A Modest Defence of Publick Stews" Bernard Mandeville's "A Modest Defence of Publick Stews" Prostitution and Its Discontents in Early Georgian England. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. pp. 42-101.