The Bethlehem Hospital, the Newgate Prison and the boudoir as places of sociability in Defoe’s A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain, Moll Flanders and Roxana.

This article explores how Daniel Defoe’s A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain, Moll Flanders, and Roxana depict spaces traditionally seen as institutions of control—the Bethlehem Hospital (Bedlam), Newgate Prison, and private boudoirs—as arenas of sociability and human interaction. These locations, while ostensibly serving to confine, punish, or isolate individuals, paradoxically foster social exchanges that transcend their primary functions. By analyzing Defoe's portrayal of these spaces, the article reveals how they operate as microcosms of larger societal dynamics, enabling moments of negotiation, performance, and identity construction. In Bedlam, the chaotic interaction between patients, visitors, and staff reflects broader anxieties about class and madness. Newgate Prison becomes a setting for transactional relationships and community-building among its inmates. Similarly, the boudoir, often associated with private intimacy, is reframed as a stage for strategic social maneuvering, particularly by Defoe’s complex female protagonists. The study argues that Defoe’s nuanced treatment of these spaces challenges traditional dichotomies of public and private, chaos and order, and highlights their role in shaping the interconnected social fabric of 18th-century Britain.