David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Author Information – Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Dickens’ attended private school in England and left at age 15 to become a law office clerk. He did not enjoy the job and decided to become a reporter. He founded a weekly periodical called Master Humphrey’s Clock and edited the London Daily News. His first story was published in 1833 in a weekly publication. His stories became popular. His first novel, The Pickwick Papers was published in 1837. He became the most popular writer in Britain from this point until his death.

He worked tirelessly for social reform and contributed to humanitarian causes both financially and in action.

He married in 1836 and had 10 children. He separated from his wife in 1858. Some biographers believe he preferred His wife’s sister, Mary, who died at 17 in his arms in 1837. He was devastated and unable to complete the next installment of Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. He had other loves in his life as well.

David Copperfield, originally written in installments like most of his work, was his eighth novel. He referred to it as his favorite child and it is believed to mirror many elements in Dickens’ life.

Key Facts –

Point of view: first person as David Copperfield writes as an adult reflecting on his youth.

Tone: an older David fondly and wistfully reflects on the innocence and naïveté of his youth.

Genre: Referred to as a Bildungsroman, a coming –of –age novel.

Setting: England in the 1800’s

Motifs: accented speech to indicate social status, physical beauty lines with moral goodness

General Themes –

Good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people.

Innocence and naïveté are desirable characteristics of youth.

The helpless and the weak are abused and exploited by more powerful.

Wealth and social class create social divides.

Character List -

David Copperfield: Narrator and protagonist, tells the story of his life.

Clara Copperfield: Clara Copperfield is David's mother.

Mr. Edward Murdstone and Miss Jane Murdstone -Mr. Murdstone is Clara Copperfield's second husband, and Miss Murdstone is his sister. Mr. Murdstone is a strict and cruel man whose motive in marrying Clara appears to be to crush her spirit and control her, under the pretence of improving her mind and "firmness" of character.

Betsey Trotwood: David's aunt. She adopts David after he runs away from a dead end factory job his stepfather gives him.

Mr. Micawber: a well-meaning man who is always in financial difficulties. Even to the point of being imprisoned for his debts.

Dora Spenlow-Dora is David's first wife. She is unsuited to David, but lively Her immaturity leads to a bad marriage and her health fails during pregnancy ultimately dying.

Agnes Wickfield: Agnes is the daughter of Mr. Wickfield and David's second wife. She is the closest thing to a perfect person in the novel.

James Steerforth: friend of David. David loves him and believes him to be a true friend; he is too innocent to see that Steerforth is self-seeking and vain, and that he exploits and belittles David. All these truths are, however, clear to the reader, thereby underscoring the gap between the naïve young David and the knowing reader.

Uriah Heep: a devious and hypocritical villain who stands in contrast to David. The contrast is made more visible by the fact that Uriah has a similar background to David's, in that both came from poor families. However, they have responded to the challenges of their upbringing in opposite ways.

Mr. Dick: a simple-minded man who lives in Betsey's house. His brother wanted to have him put in a lunatic asylum, but Betsey is confident that he has a remarkable mind that only she fully recognizes. In return, Mr. Dick thinks of Betsey as "the most wonderful woman in the world."

Summary of the plot –

David Copperfield records the life of the title character growing from innocent and impressionable youth through to adulthood.

As a boy he is innocent and well meaning in spite of difficult upbringing. As an adult he has become aware of others true self-centered motives but is able to believe in the good in others. His weakness as a young man was an emotional immaturity and an undisciplined heart allowing him to marry someone unsuited to him, but the experience matures him in the long run. He eventually marries Agnes and is blissfully happy.

The influences of others also play a part in who he becomes. His early years are spent in happy isolation with his mother and her devoted servant. The pleasant times change when his mother marries Mr. Murdstone, who is mean and sends David to boarding school.

Important Quotes –

"David, I wish to God I had had a judicious father these last twenty years! . . . I wish with all my soul I had been better guided! . . . I wish with all my soul I could guide myself better!" Steerforth laments his lack of a father and the lack of good guidance, and self-guidance, in his life. His words play into a major theme of the novel: the importance of wise parenting, which fosters a disciplined heart.

". whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well; that whatever I have devoted myself to, I have devoted myself to completely ...in great aims and in small, I have always been thoroughly in earnest.” David explains his approach to life, an approach that Dickens presents sympathetically and appears to endorse.

“they undergo a continual punishment; for they are turned inward, to feed upon their own hearts, and their own hearts are very bad feeding." In this description of the fate of the Mudstones’, who are punished for their cruel treatment of Mr. Mudstones’ new wife.

Important Symbols –

Mr. Dick's kite - Mr. Dick loves to fly his kite. The kite's element is air, and its flight symbolizes Mr. Dick's separation from society.

The sea -The sea in this novel both gives life (Mr. Peggotty and Ham are fishermen) and takes it away (the people in Mr. Peggotty's household have been widowed or orphaned by the sea). In swallowing Steerforth, it both shows up the trivial nature of Steerforths' character, and acts as a force of fate in destroying the destroyer.

Flowers are symbolically used to represent naïveté and simplicity.

David uses animal symbolism in describing his and others behaviors.

Resources -

http://www.novelguide.com/DavidCopperfield/metaphoranalysis.html

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/copperfield/summary.html

http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/david-copperfield/lessons.html

Cynthia Planker