The illustrative focus of the paper will be a metaphoric tactic, the blank page or area, generally considered to be employed primarily by female modernists. It will show how a male writer from a rather different chronological space ‐ Daniel Defoe ‐ employs such a tactic, thus allowing characters a space in which to actualize certain valorized standpoints.Moll FlandersandRobinson Crusoewill be treated as representative examples of Defoe's proposed resolution to this pervasive dilemma of individual actualization. Examining the works of Defoe more generally it will be shown that, though the geographic area of retreat may vary, it will still function as a characteristic blank page to be inscribed by the character who seeks self‐realization in a fashion transcending limited chronological and gender f