Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress

Daniel Defoe was an English trader, writer, pamphleteer and journalist. He is most famous for his novel 'Robinson Crusoe', which is second only to the Bible in its number of translations. Roxana is a story of a woman who has traded her virtue, at first for survival, and then for fame and fortune. As a narrator, she tells the story of her own 'wicked' life as the mistress of rich and powerful men. Beautiful and proud Roxana is terrified of being poor. When her husband leaves her penniless with five children, she must choose between being a virtuous beggar or a courtesan.