Summary
In 18th century England, an orphan, Moll Flanders, grows up to become a servant for the town's mayor, who has two grown sons. Moll both seduces and is seduced by the eldest son before being abandoned by him and marrying the younger son, a drunken fool who dies, making her a young widow.
Moll is employed by Lady Blystone to be a servant. She meets a bandit, Jemmy, who mistakes her for the lady of the house and begins to woo her, pretending to be a sea captain. Moll rebuffs the advances of the actual Mrs. Blystone's husband, only to be sacked from her job when they are spotted together.
A banker marries Moll but on their wedding night she flees from him when a gang of thieves (Jemmy and cohorts) appear once more. She chases after Jemmy, eventually ending up in a town and beginning her life of thievery. Moll ends up in jail and finds Jemmy there as well. Their executions are at hand when the banker, finding her there, dies of a sudden heart attack from surprise. As the banker's only inheritor and now a wealthy widow, Moll buys "freedom" (in the form of transportation) for herself, her true love, and her friends, and she and Jemmy have a shipboard wedding on their way to America.
Early life
As a child, Moll lives in an orphanage but aspires to be a "gentlewoman". The story jumps a dozen years and Moll is one of the servants to a wealthy family. Moll assimilates to the family and acquires the traits of a gentlewoman.
Both of the sons of the family become enamored of Moll, and she initially is attracted to the older brother. He promises her wealth and marriage while they make love in the hay shed. The younger brother becomes jealous and instigates a fight with his older brother. As their relationship progresses, the older brother gives Moll gold as reciprocation for their continued physical relationship. She counts the gold nightly.
One day, two thieves on horseback come across Moll while she bathes naked in a pond. They search for her purse but there is none, then attempt to steal her lace, before she notices them. Her screams alert the younger brother nearby, who fires his pistol, chasing the thieves away.
The younger brother proposes to Moll, much to his parents' dismay. At first, Moll does not want to accept the proposal, and she turns to the older brother for help. He, however, pushes her to accept, arguing that their past relationship cannot come to light and that she might already be pregnant, which would cause problems for her if she was not married. Reluctantly, Moll agrees to the younger brother's marriage proposal, and they are wed.
Post-Married Life
The younger brother is a poor husband to Moll, and she is miserable for the entire marriage. A drunken fool, he eventually dies after falling from his carriage into a pond. His death leaves Moll destitute, as all of his wealth reverts to his parents because she didn't have any children with him.
Now a poor widow, Moll begins to look for work. She meets and becomes the servant of Mrs. Blystone, and she moves to London to live in the Blystone townhouse. On her carriage ride to the city, Moll meets a banker, a widower, who also lives in London. The same two thieves from earlier in the film appear, plotting to hold up carriages travelling along the road. The thieves pretend to have been in a carriage accident, forcing Moll's carriage to stop before demanding money and valuables from the passengers. Moll pretends to be pregnant to avoid being robbed. The thieves, not recognizing Moll and believing her to be a pregnant widow, extend mercy to her and take very little from the group. However, one of the thieves takes a hatbox belonging to Moll's employer, and labelled as the property of Mrs. Blystone, leading the thieves to believe that Moll is the wealthy Mrs. Blystone.
Reaching London, the banker follows Moll to the Blystone house, and expresses concern for Moll's safety as she is travelling alone and also as she will spend the night alone in the house. He convinces Moll to allow him to accompany her for the night, becoming extremely angry when she suggests that it would be improper, causing her to relent and agree to let him stay. The banker uses the same technique when Moll expresses discomfort at the idea of sharing a bed with him. During the night, the two become drunk and sleep together. The banker leaves early the next morning, but is caught by the Blystones. Later, realizing that the banker has left a ring by her bedside, Moll writes him a note and goes to his house to deliver it, only to discover the banker ill in bed. He rejects the note and the ring.
Meanwhile, the thieves plot to woo the young "Mrs. Blystone" (i.e., Moll) in order to gain her fortune. At the same time, the Blystones privately discuss their own financial predicament, as Mr. Blystone reveals to his wife that he is not really a count. While the Blystones are away one day, one of the thieves, Jemmy, in disguise, comes to the Blythstone estate under the guise of returning the stolen hatbox. Believing Jemmy to be a rich sea captain, Moll flirts with him as the Blystone servant before attempting to disguise herself as Mrs. Blystone to fool Jemmy. She changes into one of Mrs. Blystone's dresses, and Jemmy does not realize that the person he believes to be Mrs. Blystone is actually a servant. He invites Moll to meet him for dinner later, and Moll happily accepts. The Blystones return as Jemmy is leaving the house, and they believe him to be a man inquiring about their mortgage whom Moll turned away from the estate.
Later on their date, Moll (as "Mrs. Blystone") and Jemmy (as the "captain") are eating dinner, when Jemmy steps away for a moment to borrow money from his colleague, and Moll is approached by several men. Jemmy returns to find Moll being hassled by the men and he starts a fight, which spreads to the rest of the bar. After the date, Moll is caught returning home in Mrs. Blystone's dress by Mr. Blystone, who attempts to blackmail her for sex in exchange for his silence, a proposition Moll angrily rejects.
Moll and Jemmy continue on another date wherein Jemmy leads Moll on a tour of a ship he pretends is his. As they continue to talk about the "captain's" work, Jemmy leads Moll to believe that he owns five ships. They have dinner together on the ship, and they attempt to have sex, though their antics are frequently interrupted by Jemmy's thief colleague. They are interrupted once more when the ship accidentally becomes untied from the dock and begins to drift to sea. Following this chaos, Moll goes home after sharing a kiss with Jemmy.
On another date, Jemmy takes Moll to the fair and a ball, where they dance. Moll finally reveals to Jemmy that she is not Mrs. Blystone and is, in fact, a poor servant. Jemmy is so enraged that he storms out of the ball. They argue, and Jemmy accidentally reveals to Moll that he was also lying about his wealth and status in order to marry rich. They yell at and insult each other before kissing and reconciling by talking about their shared dream of marrying into wealth. They spend the night together, but in the morning, Jemmy is gone, leaving Moll with only a note. He returns soon after following a change of heart, but only to say goodbye and leave again.
Moll returns to the Blystone estate, where Mr. Blystone continues to attempt to seduce Moll. After Mrs. Blystone leaves the house one night for an event, Mr. Blystone stays behind, bursting into Moll's bedroom pretending to chase a rat. When Moll shows no patience for him, he feigns illness before attempting to force himself on Moll. A chase and fight ensue. Mr. Blystone manages to pin Moll onto her bed, but Mrs. Blystone, who had suspected her husband's adultery and had only pretended to leave, breaks into the room in anger. Believing Moll to have been a part of the adultery, Mrs. Blystone fires her and banishes her from the estate.
Criminal career
Following her expulsion from the Blystone estate, Moll finds the banker again, and they are hastily married by a drunk priest.
During a less than earth shaking evening with the banker, now her husband of convenience, Moll looks to the window into the night to see Jemmy and his gang of bandits causing a ruckus below. At the sight of her true love, Moll calls out his name and runs out to join them, effectively running out on the banker. Jemmy takes her to live with the Governess, a con-woman he has associated with for a while. It is shortly after this Moll starts up her criminal career as a means of making her own way and paying for room and board, pawning stolen silver with The Governess. She begins apprehensively, taking a silver cup from the street and working her way up to stealing fabrics off store shelves with a hook lined cloak. As she learns new tricks and tips on how to steal and not get caught, Moll eventually develops a taste for the con world and even grows to enjoy it, taking pleasure in the costumes she adorns. In one specific encounter, she is dressed like a young Spanish woman, complete with a red dress and brown wig. As she takes a ride in a carriage with a nobleman, she seduces him to the point of not noticing the several small items she takes off his body, including a brooch and gold ring. During their criminal career, both Moll and Jemmy are good at evading the law. However, in a series of unfortunate events involving the clocktower chiming and inattentiveness, Moll, Jemmy, Jemmys' 'assistant' and The Governess are carried off to Newgate Prison to eventually be hanged for their crimes.
