Moll Flanders

Newgate is a symbol of the unjust power and authority of the state, as well as of existential dread. Newgate was intended to be a deterrent against the explosion of thievery that occurred in the early 18th century. In the absence of a centralized police force, and amid the proliferation of merchants, the English courts imposed harsh punishments for minor crimes. Thus, one who steals a bundle of cloth or pickpockets a gold watch can expect to die. Yet even the constant fear of Newgate does not deter Moll from her criminal activities—nor does it deter the other criminals she knows. The theoretical threat of Newgate pales when starvation looms and options are limited.

Newgate is not an institution of reform, as prisons would later attempt to become; rather, it is a place that breeds criminality as much as it tries to deter it. As Moll’s mother talks of her experiences there, she condemns its very existence: “there are more thieves and rogues made by that one prison of Newgate than by all the clubs and societies of villains in the nation” (101). She goes on to suggest that the colonies are at least half-populated with the transported prisoners of Newgate.