David Copperfield (novel)

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

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.

The story follows David as he grows to adulthood, and is enlivened by the many well-known characters who enter, leave and re-enter his life. These include: his faithful nurse, Peggotty, her family, and the orphan Little Em'ly who lives with them and charms the young David; his romantic but self-serving schoolfriend, Steerforth, who seduces and dishonours Little Em'ly, triggering the novel's greatest tragedy; and his landlord's daughter and ideal "angel in the house," Agnes Wickfield, who becomes his confidante. The two most familiar characters are David's sometime mentor, the constantly debt-ridden Mr. Wilkins Micawber, and the devious and fraudulent clerk, Uriah Heep, whose misdeeds are eventually discovered with Micawber's assistance. Micawber is painted as a sympathetic character, even as the author deplores his financial ineptitude; and Micawber, like Dickens's own father, is briefly imprisoned for indebtedness.

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.

Film, TV and theatrical adaptations

David Copperfield has been filmed on several occasions:

1911, directed by Theodore Marston
1922, directed by A.W. Sandberg
1935, directed by George Cukor
1969, directed by Delbert Mann
1999, shown on BBC - 25th/26th December 1999
David Copperfield (2006), play adaptation. Shown in theatres.

The numerous television adaptations of the novel include a 1966 version with Ian McKellen as David and a 1999 version with Daniel Radcliffe (better known as Harry Potter) playing the younger David. In this latter version, McKellen returns, this time playing the horrendous schoolmaster Creakle. A 2000 American TV film version featured Sally Field, Anthony Andrews, Paul Bettany, Edward Hardwicke and Nigel Davenport with Hugh Dancy and Max Dolbey as the adult and boy Copperfield, respectively.

A play adaption by Andrew Halliday was warmly approved by Dickens himself, and enjoyed a long run at Drury Lane.

Publication

Like most of Charles Dickens's novels, David Copperfield was published in 19 monthly one-shilling installments, containing 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Phiz, with the last being a double-number:

I - May 1849 (chapters 1-3);
II - June 1849 (chapters 4-6);
III - July 1849 (chapters 7-9);
IV - August 1849 (chapters 10-12);
V - September 1849 (chapters 13-15);
VI - October 1849 (chapters 16-18);
VII - November 1849 (chapters 19-21);
VIII - December 1849 (chapters 22-24);
IX - January 1850 (chapters 25-27);
X - February 1850 (chapters 28-31);
XI - March 1850 (chapters 32-34);
XII - April 1850 (chapters 35-37);
XIII - May 1850 (chapters 38-40);
XIV - June 1850 (chapters 41-43);
XV - July 1850 (chapters 44-46);
XVI - August 1850 (chapters 47-50);
XVII - September 1850 (chapters 51-53);
XVIII - October 1850 (chapters 54-57);
XIX-XX - November 1850 (chapters 58-64).

Release details

1850, UK, Bradbury & Evans ?, Pub date 1 May 1849 and 1 November 1850, Serial (first publication as serial)
1850, UK, Bradbury & Evans ?, Pub date ? ? 1850, Hardback (first book edition)
1981 (Reprinted 2003) UK, Oxford University Press ISBN 0198124929 Hardback, Edited by Nina Burgis, The Clarendon Dickens (considered the definitive editions of Dicken's works) 781 pages
1990, USA, W W Norton & Co Ltd ISBN 0393958280, Pub date 31 January 1990, Hardback (Jerome H. Buckley (Editor), Norton Critical Edition - contains annotations, introduction, critical essays, bibliography and other material.)
1994, UK, Penguin Books Ltd ISBN 0140620265, Pub date 24 February 1994, Paperback
1999, UK, Oxford Paperbacks ISBN 0192835785, Pub date 11 February 1999, Paperback

and many many others

References

David Copperfield (Major Literary Characters series). Edited and with an Introduction by Harold Bloom. 255 pages. 1992 New York: Chelsea House Publishers

Graham Storey: David Copperfield - Interweaving Truth and Fiction (Twayne's Masterworks Studies). 111 pages. 1991 Boston: Twayne Publishers

Approaches to Teaching Dickens' David Copperfield. Edited by Richard J. Dunn. 162 pages. 1984 New York: The Modern Language Association of America

Barry Westburg: The Confessional Fictions of Charles Dickens. See pages 33 to 114. 1977 DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press

External links

Online editions

Other

1849 novels | Charles Dickens novels | Autobiographical novels

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