or The fortunate courtesan - Daniel Defoe
Summary Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress tells the story of an intelligent and beautiful French Huguenot woman living in London during the l...
Summary
Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress tells the story of an intelligent and beautiful French Huguenot woman living in London during the late 17th century. Her respectable life as a wife and mother of five children collapses when her husband, a brewer, squanders their fortune and abandons the family. Left destitute, Roxana is forced to find unconventional means of survival. She becomes the mistress of a wealthy Dutch merchant, an arrangement that allows her to secure her financial independence.
This relationship marks the beginning of her career as a successful courtesan, during which she amasses an immense fortune through her relationships with various wealthy patrons, including a German prince and an English lord. She travels extensively, developing a reputation for wit, charm, and lavish living, adopting the persona of "Lady Roxana."
Despite her material success, Roxana struggles with the moral implications of her lifestyle and a deep-seated desire for social respectability. She repeatedly contemplates marriage as a means to legitimize her position, notably with a kind Quaker merchant, Sir Robert Clayton. However, her love for independence and fear of losing her wealth often leads her to resist these opportunities.
The novel's central conflict intensifies with the reappearance of her maid, Amy, who becomes her confidante and accomplice in maintaining her secret life. Later, Roxana is confronted by her long-lost daughter, Susan, who recognizes her and threatens to expose her scandalous past. Terrified of social ruin and the loss of her hard-won respectability, Roxana takes desperate measures to silence Susan. The story descends into a dark tale of guilt, fear, and moral decay, culminating in an ambiguous but undoubtedly tragic downfall for Roxana, highlighting the destructive consequences of a life built on deceit and illicit gain.
Book Sections
Section 1: Early Life and Ruin
The novel begins with Roxana, a French Huguenot raised in England, recounting her life. She marries a handsome, wealthy brewer and bears him five children. Initially, their life is comfortable, but the brewer proves to be a reckless spendthrift, quickly squandering their entire fortune on lavish living and poor investments. He then abandons Roxana and their children, leaving them utterly destitute. Roxana, struggling to survive, initially relies on the kindness of her landlord. She is forced to send her children to live with relatives and foster families, a decision that causes her immense pain but is necessary for their survival. This period of extreme poverty and abandonment marks a pivotal turning point, forcing Roxana to reconsider the traditional paths available to women.
| Character | Characteristics | Motivations |
|---|---|---|
| Roxana | Intelligent, beautiful, initially respectable, but quickly becomes pragmatic and resourceful in the face of destitution. | Survival, securing financial stability for herself and her children, later independence and social respectability. |
| The Brewer | Handsome, wealthy at first, but profligate, irresponsible, and ultimately abandoning. | Self-indulgence, lack of foresight, avoidance of responsibility. |
Section 2: The Dutch Merchant and the First Steps into Courtesan Life
After her husband's desertion, Roxana is taken in by her kind landlord, who becomes her first lover. This initial arrangement, born out of necessity, soon evolves when a wealthy Dutch merchant, a tenant in her landlord's house, takes an interest in her. He falls genuinely in love with Roxana and offers her a life of luxury and financial security as his mistress. Roxana accepts, driven by the desire for stability and a better life than the destitution she faced. She moves with the merchant to Paris, where she begins to amass wealth and precious jewels. Her maid, Amy, a loyal and cunning woman, becomes her confidante and accomplice, actively participating in Roxana's new life and often encouraging her bolder decisions.
| Character | Characteristics | Motivations |
|---|---|---|
| The Dutch Merchant | Wealthy, kind, genuinely affectionate, generous, but also naive and trusting. | Love for Roxana, companionship, desire to provide for her. |
| Amy | Roxana's maid; loyal, shrewd, cunning, morally flexible, and fiercely devoted to Roxana's interests (and her own). | Loyalty to Roxana, self-preservation, a desire for personal gain and excitement, often pushing Roxana towards more daring schemes. |
Section 3: Life on the Continent: Princes and Profits
Roxana's relationship with the Dutch merchant continues, but after his death or disappearance (the details are somewhat vague, but he leaves her a significant fortune), she finds herself alone but wealthy. She continues her life as a courtesan, attracting powerful and affluent men. She travels through Europe, establishing herself in several courts. Her most notable relationship during this period is with a German Prince, who takes her as his mistress. Roxana's charm, wit, and beauty allow her to accumulate an even greater fortune, largely in jewels and investments. She becomes known for her lavish lifestyle and shrewd financial management. During this time, she fully embraces her persona as "Lady Roxana," an independent and glamorous woman of the world. After many years abroad, Roxana decides to return to England, a rich woman, but her past and true identity remain a secret.
| Character | Characteristics | Motivations |
|---|---|---|
| The German Prince | Wealthy, powerful, a figure of European nobility. | Pleasure, desire for a beautiful and intelligent companion, status. |
Section 4: The Quaker Merchant and the Struggle for Respectability
Back in London, Roxana, now immensely wealthy, considers settling down and achieving true social respectability. She encounters Sir Robert Clayton, a respectable and wealthy Quaker merchant, who falls deeply in love with her and proposes marriage. This offers Roxana a genuine opportunity for a legitimate, stable life. She is torn between the security and respectability of marriage and her fiercely guarded independence, which she feels marriage would compromise. She delivers a famous "speech" to Amy about the disadvantages of marriage for women, arguing for economic independence. Driven by this conviction and perhaps a fear of losing her autonomous control over her vast fortune, she initially refuses Sir Robert's proposal. However, she maintains a close relationship with him, often feigning interest in his faith and leading him on. Her internal conflict highlights her desire for a good reputation versus her attachment to the freedom and control her illicit wealth provides.
| Character | Characteristics | Motivations |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Robert Clayton | A wealthy and respectable Quaker merchant; honest, patient, genuinely in love with Roxana. | Love, desire for a legitimate marriage, a stable and respectable family life, possibly converting Roxana to Quakerism. |
Section 5: A Second Marriage and the Threat from the Past
Despite her initial refusal, Roxana eventually succumbs to the pressure of society and her own longing for respectability, and she marries Sir Robert Clayton. She lives a life of apparent domestic tranquility and social standing. However, her past begins to haunt her. One of her long-lost daughters from her first marriage, Susan, now a grown woman and a servant, starts working in a house near Roxana's. Susan, who has vivid memories of her mother, begins to recognize Roxana, initially through her striking resemblance to the "Lady Roxana" figure she's heard about, and then through distinct physical traits and a small detail like a Turkish dress. Susan relentlessly pursues Roxana, convinced she has found her mother, and seeks to reconnect. Roxana is terrified of exposure, which would ruin her reputation and destroy her newfound respectable life with Sir Robert. She tries to avoid Susan, deny any connection, and even sends her away, but Susan's persistence proves to be a grave threat.
| Character | Characteristics | Motivations |
|---|---|---|
| Susan (Roxana's Daughter) | Observant, persistent, somewhat naive, Roxana's long-lost daughter. | A deep longing to find her mother, reconnect with her past, and potentially improve her own circumstances. |
Section 6: The Darkening Plot: Amy's Desperation and Roxana's Guilt
The threat from Susan escalates, as the daughter is determined to prove her identity and claim her mother. Roxana, desperate to maintain her secret and her social position, is pushed to the brink. Amy, ever loyal but increasingly reckless and amoral, takes matters into her own hands. Fearing that Susan will expose Roxana and ruin them both, Amy attempts to silence Susan permanently. While the novel does not explicitly detail the act, it strongly implies that Amy murders Susan. This act, whether directly committed or merely facilitated by Amy, plunges Roxana into profound guilt and psychological torment. She lives in constant fear of discovery and suffers from nightmares and a tormented conscience. The murder marks a significant turning point, showing the ultimate moral degradation brought about by Roxana's desperate attempts to conceal her past.
Section 7: The Unhappy End
The narrative concludes with Roxana in a state of profound despair and guilt. The consequences of her choices, particularly the suspected murder of her daughter, weigh heavily upon her. She reflects on her life, realizing that despite her immense wealth and temporary social standing, she has lost her peace of mind and her soul. The story ends ambiguously, but clearly on a tragic note. Roxana mentions being "reduced to a miserable condition" and suffering "the utmost confusion" and "unhappy circumstances." While Defoe leaves her ultimate fate somewhat open – whether she is imprisoned, loses her wealth, or is simply condemned to a life of perpetual psychological torment – it is unequivocally a negative and tragic end, fulfilling the moral arc of a life lived outside conventional morality.
Genre: Picaresque novel, Moral novel, Psychological novel. It also has elements of proto-feminist discourse and social commentary.
Author Details: Daniel Defoe (c. 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer, and spy. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the English novel, best known for his works Robinson Crusoe (1719) and Moll Flanders (1722). Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer whose realistic narrative style and vivid characters often explored themes of social mobility, individual enterprise, morality, and resilience.
Morale: The primary moral of Roxana is that material wealth and social status acquired through immoral or illicit means ultimately lead to spiritual ruin, guilt, and unhappiness. Despite Roxana's initial success and accumulation of vast riches, her life ends in misery and torment, demonstrating that a corrupted conscience cannot be assuaged by outward prosperity. The novel also critiques societal pressures that can force women into compromising positions while simultaneously highlighting the dangers of excessive ambition and the pursuit of independence at any moral cost.
Curiosities:
- Published in 1724, Roxana is one of Daniel Defoe's last major novels. Like many of his other works, it is presented as an authentic autobiography, a common literary device of the time to lend credibility to fictional narratives.
- The full title, The Fortunate Mistress, or a History of the Life and Vast Variety of Fortunes of Mademoiselle de Beleau, Afterwards Called the Countess de Wintselsheim, in Germany, Being the Person Known by the Name of the Lady Roxana, in the Time of King Charles II, is typical of 18th-century novels and highlights the sensational aspects of the story.
- Roxana's famous "speech" in which she argues against marriage and for women's economic independence was quite radical for its time, showcasing proto-feminist ideas. However, Defoe ultimately portrays her punishment as a consequence of her choices, reflecting the prevailing moral views.
- The ending of Roxana is famously ambiguous and dark, contrasting sharply with the "Fortunate Mistress" in its title. Defoe often used such inconclusive but morally condemnatory endings to emphasize the wages of sin and divine justice.
- The character of Amy, Roxana's maid, serves as a crucial accomplice and a darker reflection of Roxana's own moral compromises, illustrating the corrupting influence of their shared lifestyle.
