David Copperfield

David Copperfield or The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to be published on any account) is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1850. Like all except five of his works, it originally appeared in serial form (published in monthly installments). Many elements within the novel follow events in Dickens' own life, and it is probably the most autobiographical of all of his novels. It is also Dickens' "favourite child".

Background

Dickens worked on David Copperfield for two years between 1848 and 1850, carefully planning out the plot and structure. Seven novels precede it, and seven novels would come after it, Copperfield being his mid-point novel.

Tolstoy regarded Dickens as the best of all English novelists, and considered Copperfield to be his finest work, ranking the "Tempest" chapter (chapter 55,LV - the story of Ham and the storm and the shipwreck) the standard by which the world's great fiction should be judged. Henry James remembered hiding under a small table as a boy to hear installments read by his mother. Dostoevsky read it enthralled in a Siberian prison camp. Franz Kafka called his first book Amerika a "sheer imitation". James Joyce paid it reverence through parody in Ulysses. Virginia Woolf, who normally had little regard for Dickens, confessed the durability of this one novel, belonging to "the memories and myths of life". It was Freud's favorite novel.

Analysis

The story is told almost entirely from the point of view of the first person narrator, David Copperfield himself, and was the first Dickens novel to do so.

Critically, it is considered a Bildungsroman and would be influential in the genre such as Dickens's own Great Expectations (1861), Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh, H. G. Wells's Tono-Bungay, D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, and James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

As a bildungsroman, it has one major theme throughout, the disciplining of the hero's emotional and moral life. We learn to go against "the first mistaken impulse of the undisciplined heart", a theme which is repeated throughout all the relationships and characters in the novel.

Characters in the novel generally belong to one of three categories: Those who have disciplined hearts, those who lack disciplined hearts, or those who develop disciplined hearts over time. Characters who fall into the first category include the mature and caring Agnes Wickfield and the selfless and forgiving Mr. Peggotty. The greedy, scheming Uriah Heep and the egotistic and inconsiderate James Steerforth are examples of characters who belong in the second category. Members of the third category include David Copperfield himself, who learns to make wiser choices in his relationships through personal experience, and his aunt Betsy Trotwood, who lacks consideration for others early on, but becomes less inconsiderate over time. Dickens uses characters and events throughout the novel as comparisons and contrasts for each other in terms of wisdom and discipline. A good comparison is Agnes Wickfield and Dora Spenlow: Dora lacks maturity and is unable to handle stressful situations, often breaking out in tears, while Agnes remains calm and collected even when troubled, yielding to her emotions only rarely. Another good comparison is Ham and Mr. Peggotty, and Mrs. Steerforth and Miss Dartle: The latter two become distraught at the loss of Steerforth, allowing it to trouble them their whole lives, while the former two bear the loss of Emily with dignity and reservation. Despite the premise of this work, Dickens does not give David Copperfield a stiff or unnatural feel, making this novel a supreme display of his genius at work.

Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story deals with the life of David Copperfield from childhood to maturity. David is born in the England of the 1810's. David's father dies before he is born, and about seven years later, his mother marries Mr. Murdstone. David dislikes his step-father and has similar feelings for Mr Murdstone's sister Jane, who moves into the house soon afterwards. Mr Murdstone thrashes David for falling behind with his studies. During the thrashing, David bites him and is sent away to a boarding school, Salem House, with a ruthless headmaster, Mr Creakle. Here he befriends James Steerforth and Tommy Traddles, who in true Dickens style leave and then reappear later on.

David returns home for the holidays to find out that his mother has had a baby boy. Soon after David goes back to Salem House, his mother dies and David has to return home immediately. Mr. Murdstone sends him to work in a factory in London of which he is a joint owner. The grim reality of hand-to-mouth factory existence echoes Dickens's own travails in a blacking factory. His landlord Wilkins Micawber is sent to a debtor's prison after going bankrupt and David escapes the factory.

He walks all the way from London to Dover, to find his only known relative - his eccentric Aunt Betsy Trotwood - who agrees to bring him up, despite Mr Murdstone visiting in a bid to regain custody of David. David's aunt renames him Trotwood Copperfield, and for the rest of the novel he is called by either name. One effect of this double-naming is to divide the secondary characters according to when and through whom they got to know him.

In typical Dickens fashion, the major characters get some measure of what they deserve, and few narrative threads are left hanging. David first marries the beautiful but empty-headed Dora Spenlow, but she dies after suffering a miscarriage early in their marriage. David then does some soul-searching and eventually marries and finds true happiness with Agnes, who had secretly always loved him. They have two sons and finally a daughter, who is named Betsy Trotwood Copperfield in honour of her godmother.

Characters in David Copperfield

• David Copperfield – the protagonist; later called "Trotwood Copperfield" by some ("David Copperfield" is also the name of the hero's father, who died before he was born).
• Clara Copperfield – David's kind mother who dies while David is at Salem House, just after the birth of her second child, who also dies.
• (Clara) Peggotty – The faithful servant of the Copperfield family and a lifelong companion to David (referred to generally as simply "Peggotty"; referred to at times as Mrs. Barkis after her marriage to Mr. Barkis). Inherited £3,000 - a vast sum in the mid 19th century - when Mr. Barkis died.
• Betsy Trotwood – David's eccentric and tempermental yet kindhearted aunt; she becomes his guardian after he runs away from the Murdstones. She was present on the night of David's birth but left after hearing that Clara Copperfield's child was a boy instead of a girl.
• Mr Chillip – a shy doctor who assists at David's birth and faces the wrath of Betsy Trotwood after he informs her that Clara's baby is a boy instead of a girl.
• Mr Barkis – an aloof coachman who eventually marries Peggotty and leaves her a then astronomical £3,000 when he dies about ten years later. His last words are, "Barkis is willin'!"
• Edward Murdstone – Young David's cruel stepfather who caned him for falling behind in his studies. David reacted by biting Mr Murdstone, who then sent him to Salem House - the private school owned by his friend Mr. Creakle. After David's mother died, Mr Murdstone sent him to work in a factory where he has to clean wine bottles. He appeared at Betsy Trotwood's house after David ran away. Mr Murdstone appears to show signs of repentence when confronted with Copperfield's aunt but later in the book we hear he has married another young woman and applied his old principles of "firmness".
• Jane Murdstone – Mr. Murdstone's equally cruel sister who moved into the Copperfield house after Mr. Murdstone married Clara Copperfield.
• Daniel Pegotty – A humble but generous boatsman who took his nephew Ham and niece Emily into his custody after each of them was orphaned; after Emily's departure, he travels around the world in search of her. He eventually finds her working as a prostitute in London and after that they emigrate to Australia.
• Emily (Little Em'ly) – A niece of Mr. Peggotty; she leaves her uncle and fiance for Steerforth, but returns to them after Steerforth deserts her. She emigrates to Australia with Dan after being rescued from a London brothel.
• Ham Peggotty – A good-natured nephew of Mr. Peggotty and the fiance of Emily before she leaves him for Steerforth; later loses his life while attempting to rescue a sailor who happens to be Steerforth from a shipwreck.
• Martha – a young woman of a bad reputation who helps Daniel Peggotty find his niece after she returns to London.
• Mr. Creakle – The harsh headmaster of young David's boarding school, who is assisted by Tungay. Mr. Creakle was a friend of Mr. Murdstone. He singles out David for extra torment.
• James Steerforth – A close friend of David of a romantic and charming disposition; though well-liked by most, he proves himself to be lacking in character by seducing and later abandoning Emily. He eventually drowns at Yarmouth with Ham Peggotty, who was trying to rescue him.
• Tommy Traddles – David's friend from Salem House.
• Wilkins Micawber – A genteel man who befriends David as a young boy; suffers from much financial difficulty and even has to spend time in a debtor's prison. Eventually emigrates to Australia where he enjoys a successful career as a magistrate.
• Mr. Dick (Richard Babley) – A slightly deranged but amiable man who lives with Betsy Trotwood.
• Dr. Strong – A generous elderly doctor whom David makes acquaintance with on different occasions, including Dora Spenlow's miscarriage.
• Anne Strong – The young wife of Dr. Strong; though she remains loyal to him, she fears that he suspects that she is involved in an affair with Jack Maldon.
• Jack Maldon – A cousin and childhood sweetheart of Anne Strong; he continues to bear affection for her and tries to seduce her into leaving Dr. Strong for him.
• Mr. Wickfield – The father of Agnes Wickfield and lawyer to Betsy Trotwood; prone to alcoholism.
• Agnes Wickfield – Mr.Wickfield's mature and lovely daughter and close friend of David; later becomes David's second wife and mother of their three children - two sons and finally a daughter.
• Uriah Heep – A wicked young man who serves as partner to Mr. Wickfield. Is finally discovered to have stolen money and is imprisoned as a punishment.
• Mrs. Steerforth – The wealthy widowed mother of James Steerforth.
• Miss Dartle – A strange, vitriolic woman who lives with Mrs. Steerforth; has a secret love for Steerforth and blames others such as Emily and even his own mother for corrupting him. She is also Steerforth's cousin.
• Mr. Spenlow – An employer of David's during his days as a proctor and the father of Dora Spenlow. Dies suddenly of a heart attack while driving his phaeton home.
• Dora Spenlow – The delightful but childish daughter of Mr. Spenlow; David's first wife. She dies after suffering a miscarriage.

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