Summary
At Gray's Inn Fields, Laxton arrives to find Moll, dressed as a man. When he moves toward her, Moll challenges him to a fight, telling him that he has insulted her honor by assuming she would have sex for money. She goes on to say that prostitution is a last resort for many honorable women with no alternative. Moll and Laxton fight; she wounds him and he runs away, humiliated.
Trapdoor appears and after Moll teases him, she agrees to employ him as her servant.
At Gallipot's house, Mistress Gallipot receives a letter from Laxton asking for a loan of 30 pounds. Mistress Gallipot pretends to cry while tearing up the letter. When her husband asks her about it, she says that she was betrothed to Laxton before she married her husband and that Laxton has returned to claim his wife. She suggests that Gallipot pay Laxton the 30 pounds to send him away, and Gallipot agrees.
Laxton arrives, and Mistress Gallipot quickly intervenes, communicating to Laxton her plan. Gallipot pays Laxton and Laxton exits, commenting on the deceitful nature of women.
Meanwhile, Trapdoor informs Sir Alexander that Sebastian and Moll plan to meet at Sir Alexander's house for a rendezvous. Sir Alexander decides to trap and humiliate Moll.
Sir Davy Dapper arrives to complain to Sir Alexander about his son Jack, whom he sees as debauched and beyond saving. Sir Davy Dapper decides to have Jack arrested and imprisoned in a debtor's prison until he learns his lesson.
When the sergeants arrive to arrest Jack, however, Moll (who has been eavesdropping), helps Jack escape and mocks the police.
Analysis
In this section of the play, a number of characters' seemingly clever plans are foiled, emphasizing the play's focus on foolishness and the perils of arrogance.
Laxton's meeting with Moll, for example, not only makes him look foolish but also insults his masculinity. The two engage in a physical battle, which Moll wins by wounding Laxton. This triumph of Moll's is the first of many in the play, as she continues to upend expectations of her character at the expense of arrogant men. Laxton, however, perceives his loss to Moll as evidence that women are inherently deceitful (a common trope of early modern English drama, poetry, and society more generally).
When Mistress Gallipot fools her husband into paying Laxton, Laxton muses over the "natural" deception to which women are prone, despite having gained 30 pounds from Mistress Gallipot's scheme. Laxton's behavior renders him misogynistic and foolish, ultimately suggesting that it is his arrogance in making assumptions about women that leads to his humiliation.
In the latter half of Act III, Moll has another triumph over her figurative enemy – the patriarchy – when she warns Jack Dapper about the police raid and saves him from being arrested and sent to the debtor's prison. While Dapper is certainly a reckless spender and flashy performer, the play suggests that it is characters like his father, Sir Davy Dapper, and Sir Alexander that are actually at fault: these two character strive to control their children and make decisions for them. Sir Alexander prohibits Sebastian from marrying his true love Mary, while Sir Davy Dapper wants to punish his son with imprisonment to put an end to his reckless lifestyle.
That Moll saves Jack Dapper is a triumph not only for her and Jack, but for the notion of autonomy and independence more generally. Moll, with her gender-bending reputation, comes to serve as a symbol of having control over one's own life, rather than being at the mercy of one's parents or, in the case of most women, the men of society.
