David Copperfield

In literary criticism, a Bildungsroman is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and
moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age), in which character
change is important.
A Künstlerroman, meaning "artist's novel" in English, is a narrative about an artist's growth to
maturity. It could be classified as a sub-category of Bildungsroman:
David Copperfield is a novel by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield,
detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to maturity. As such, it is typically
categorized in the bildungsroman genre. It was published as a serial in 1849 and 1850 and then
as a book in 1850.
David Copperfield is also a partially autobiographical novel: "a very complicated weaving of
truth and invention", with events following Dickens's own life. Of the books he wrote, it was his
favourite. Called "the triumph of the art of Dickens", it marks a turning point in his work,
separating the novels of youth and those of maturity.
Characters:
David Copperfield – The narrator and protagonist of the novel. David's father, David Sr, dies six
months before he is born, and he is raised by his mother and nursemaid Peggotty until his mother
remarries. David's stepfather, Mr Murdstone, sends David away to a boarding school. While
attending school, David learns his mother has died, on his ninth birthday. He is sent to work at a
factory until he runs away to find his aunt. David Copperfield is characterised in the book as
trusting, goal-oriented, but as yet immature. He marries Dora Spenlow and later Agnes
Wickfield.
Clara Copperfield – David's affectionate and beautiful mother, described as being innocently
childish. She is married to David Copperfield Sr until his death, and gives birth six months later
to the central character of the novel. She loves and coddles young David with the help of
Peggotty. Years later she remarries Mr Murdstone. She dies a couple of months after the birth of
her second son, who dies a day or so later, while David is away at Salem House boarding school.
Clara Peggotty – The faithful servant of the Copperfield family and a lifelong companion to
David – she is called by her surname Peggotty within David's family, as her given name is Clara,
the same as David's mother; she is also referred to at times as Barkis after her marriage to Mr
Barkis. After her husband's death, Peggotty helps to put in order David's rooms in London and
then returns to Yarmouth to keep house for her nephew, Ham Peggotty. Following Ham's death,
she keeps house for David's great-aunt, Betsey Trotwood.
Betsey Trotwood – David's eccentric and temperamental yet kind-hearted great-aunt; she
becomes his guardian after he runs away from the Murdstone and Grinby warehouse
in Blackfriars, London. She is present on the night of David's birth but leaves after hearing that
Clara Copperfield's child is a boy instead of a girl, and is not seen again until David flees to her
house in Dover from London. She is portrayed as affectionate towards David, and defends him
and his late mother when Mr Murdstone arrives to take custody of David: she confronts the man
and rebukes him for his abuse of David and his mother, then threatens him and drives him off the
premises. Universally believed to be a widow, she conceals the existence of her ne'er-do-well
husband who occasionally bleeds her for money.
Dr Edward Chillip – A shy doctor who assists at David's birth and faces the wrath and anger of
Betsey Trotwood after he informs her that Clara's baby is a boy instead of the girl Betsey
wanted. David meets this doctor each time he returns to the neighborhood of his birth. Mr
Chillip, met in London when David Copperfield returns from Switzerland, tells David of the fate
of Murdstone's second wife, which is much the same as the fate of David's mother.
Mr Barkis – An aloof carter who declares his intention to marry Peggotty after eating her
handmade pastries. He says to David: "Tell her, 'Barkis is willin'!' Just so." Peggotty marries him
after Clara Copperfield's death. He is a miser, keeping an unexpected amount of wealth in a plain
box labelled "Old Clothes". He bequeaths two-thirds of his money to his wife from his savings of
£3,000 (about £340,000 in present-day value (2022)) when he dies after about ten years of
marriage. He leaves annuities for Mr Daniel Peggotty, Little Emily, and David from the rest.
Edward Murdstone – The main antagonist of the first half of the novel, he is Young David's cruel
stepfather who beats him for falling behind in his studies and emotionally torments Clara. David
reacts by biting Mr Murdstone, and is sent to Salem House – a private school owned by Mr
Murdstone's friend Mr Creakle – in retribution. After his mother dies, he sends David to work at
his factory in London. He appears at Betsey Trotwood's Dover house after David runs away. Mr
Murdstone appears to show signs of repentance when confronted by Copperfield's aunt about his
treatment of Clara and David, but when David works at Doctors' Commons years later, he meets
Murdstone taking out a marriage licence for his next young and trusting wife.
Jane Murdstone – Mr Murdstone's equally cruel spinster sister, who moves into the Copperfield
house shortly after Mr Murdstone marries Clara Copperfield, taking over the housekeeping.
Much like her brother she is domineering, mean-spirited, and petty. She is the "Confidential
Friend" of David's first wife, Dora Spenlow, and is the one who found David's letters to Dora,
and creates the scene between David Copperfield and Dora's father, Mr Spenlow. Later, she
rejoins her brother and his second wife in a marriage much like the one with David's mother.
Daniel Peggotty – Peggotty's brother; a humble but generous Yarmouth fisherman who takes his
nephew Ham and niece Emily into his custody after each of them has been orphaned. He
welcomes David as a child when holidaying in Yarmouth with Peggotty. When Emily is older
and runs away with David's friend Steerforth, he travels around the world in search of her. He
eventually finds her as a prostitute in London, and after that, they emigrate to Australia.
Emily (Little Em'ly) – The niece of Daniel Peggotty and his sister Clara Peggotty. She is a
childhood friend of David Copperfield, who loved her in his childhood days. She abandons Ham,
her cousin and fiancé, on the eve of their wedding, disappearing abroad with Steerforth for
several years. Broken by Steerforth's desertion, she does not go back home, but she does
eventually go to London. With the help of Martha, her uncle recovers her from the brink of
prostitution, after Rosa Dartle rants at her. She accompanies her uncle to Australia.
Ham Peggotty – The good-natured nephew of Mr Peggotty who is tall and strong, and becomes a
skilled boat builder. He is the fiancé of Emily before she leaves him for Steerforth. His aunt,
(Clara) Peggotty, looks after Ham once Emily is gone. When a fierce storm at sea
off Yarmouth demasts a merchant ship from the south, Ham attempts to rescue the crew, but is
drowned by the ferocity of the waves before he can reach anyone. News of his death, a day
before Emily and Mr Peggotty's emigration, is withheld from his family to enable them to leave
without hesitation or remorse.
Wilkins Micawber – A melodramatic, kind-hearted gentleman who has a way with words and
eternal optimism. He befriends David as a young boy in London, taking him as a lodger.
Micawber suffers from financial difficulty and spends time in a debtors' prison before moving
his family briefly to Plymouth. Micawber meets David again, passing by the Heep household
in Canterbury when David is taking tea there. Micawber takes a position at Wickfield and Heep.
Thinking Micawber is weak-minded, Heep makes him an accomplice in several of his schemes,
but Micawber turns the tables on his employer and is instrumental in his downfall. Micawber
emigrates to Australia, where he enjoys a successful career as a sheep farmer and becomes a
magistrate. He is based on Dickens's father, John Dickens, as described in § Autobiographical
novel who faced similar financial problems when Dickens was a child, but never emigrated.[4]
Emma Micawber – Wilkins Micawber's wife and the mother of their five children. She comes
from a wealthy family who disapprove of her husband, but she constantly protests that she will
"never leave Micawber!"
Agnes Wickfield – Mr Wickfield's mature and lovely daughter and close friend of David since he
began school at Dr Strong's in Canterbury. Agnes nurtures an unrequited love for David for
many years but never tells him, helping and advising him through his infatuation with, and
marriage to Dora. After David returns to England, he realises his feelings for her, and she
becomes David's second wife and mother of their children.
Uriah Heep – The main antagonist of the novel's second half, Heep serves first as clerk from age
11 or 12; at age 15 he meets Copperfield and a few years later becomes partner to Mr Wickfield.
He presents himself as self-deprecating and talks of being "'umble", but gradually reveals his
wicked and twisted character. He gains power over Wickfield but is exposed by Wilkins
Micawber and Traddles, who have gathered evidence that Uriah committed multiple acts of
fraud. By forging Mr Wickfield's signature, he misappropriates the personal wealth of the
Wickfield family, together with portfolios entrusted to them by others, including funds belonging
to Betsey Trotwood. He fools Wickfield into thinking he has himself committed this act while
drunk, and then blackmails him. Heep is defeated but not prosecuted. He is later imprisoned for a
separate fraud on the Bank of England. He nurtures a deep hatred of David Copperfield and of
many others, though in some ways he is a mirror to David, wanting to get ahead and to marry the
boss's daughter.
Mrs Heep – Uriah's mother, who is as sycophantic as her son. She has instilled in him his
lifelong tactic of pretending to be subservient to achieve his goals, and even as his schemes fall
apart she begs him to save himself by "being 'umble".
Dr Strong and Annie Strong – Director and assistant of the school David attends in Canterbury.
Dr Strong's main concern is to work on his dictionary, where, at the end of the novel, he has
reached the letter D. The Doctor is 62 when David meets him, and married about a year to
Annie, considerably younger than her husband. In this happy loving couple, each one cares more
about the other than about themselves. The depth of their feeling allows them to defeat the
efforts of Uriah Heep in trying to break their union.
Dora Spenlow – The adorable daughter of Mr Spenlow who becomes David's first wife after a
long courtship. She is described as being impractical and has many similarities to David's
mother. In their first year of marriage, David learns their differences as to keeping a house in
order. Dora does not learn firmness, but remains herself, affectionate with David and attached to
her lapdog, Jip. She is not unaware of their differences, and asks David, whom she calls
"Doady", to think of her as a "child-wife". She suffers a miscarriage, which begins a long illness
from which she dies with David's childhood friend and later second wife Agnes Wickfield at her
side.
The story follows the life of David Copperfield from childhood to maturity. David was born
in Blunderstone, Suffolk, England, six months after the death of his father. David spends his
early years residing in a small house called the Rookery. His loving and childish mother and
their kindly housekeeper, Clara Peggotty, raise him here, where they call him Davy. When he is
seven years old his mother marries Edward Murdstone without having told him they plan to
marry. To get him out of the way, David is sent to visit with Peggotty's family in Yarmouth. Her
brother, fisherman Mr Peggotty, lives in a beached barge, with his adopted niece and nephew
Emily and Ham, and an elderly widow, Mrs Gummidge. "Little Em'ly" is somewhat spoiled by
her fond foster father, and David is in love with her. They call him Master Copperfield.
On his return, David discovers his mother has married and is immediately given good reason to
dislike his stepfather, Murdstone, who believes exclusively in stern, even harsh, methods of
parenting, calling it "firmness". David has similar feelings for Murdstone's sister Jane, who
moves into the house soon afterwards. Between them they tyrannise his poor mother, making her
and David's lives miserable, and when, in consequence, David falls behind in his studies,
Murdstone attempts to thrash him – partly to further pain his mother. David bites him and soon
afterwards is sent away to Salem House, a boarding school, under a ruthless headmaster named
Mr Creakle. There he is befriended by an older boy, James Steerforth, and Tommy Traddles. He
develops an impassioned admiration for Steerforth, perceiving him as someone noble, who could
do great things if he would, and one who pays attention to him.
David goes home for the holidays to learn that his mother has given birth to a baby boy. Shortly
after David returns to Salem House, his mother and her baby die, and David returns home
immediately. Peggotty marries the local carrier, Mr Barkis. Murdstone sends David to work for a
wine merchant in London – a business of which Murdstone is a joint owner. After some months,
David's friendly but spendthrift landlord, Wilkins Micawber, is arrested for debt and sent to
the King's Bench Prison. On one of David's visits, Micawber advises David to head to Dover to
find his only known remaining relative, his eccentric and kind-hearted great-aunt Betsey
Trotwood. After Micawber is released and has moved to Plymouth, no one in London cares
about David, so he decides to run away to his aunt. She had come to Blunderstone at his birth,
only to depart in ire upon learning that he was not a girl. However, she takes it upon herself to
raise David, despite Murdstone's attempt to regain custody of him. She encourages him to 'be as
like his sister, Betsey Trotwood' as he can be – that is, to meet the expectations she had for the
girl who was never born. David's great-aunt renames him "Trotwood Copperfield" and addresses
him as "Trot", one of several names others call David in the novel.
David's aunt sends him to a better school than the last he attended. It is run by kind Dr. Strong,
whose methods inculcate honour and self-reliance in his pupils. During term, David lodges with
the lawyer Mr Wickfield and his daughter Agnes, who becomes David's friend and confidante.
Wickfield's clerk, Uriah Heep, also lives at the house.
By devious means, Uriah Heep gradually gains a complete ascendancy over the aging and
alcoholic Wickfield, to Agnes's great sorrow. Heep, as he maliciously confides to David, aspires
to marry Agnes. Ultimately with the aid of Micawber, who has been employed by Heep as a
secretary, his fraudulent behaviour is revealed. (At the end of the book, David encounters him in
prison, convicted of attempting to defraud the Bank of England.)
After completing school, David apprentices to be a proctor. During this time, due to Heep's
fraudulent activities, his aunt's fortune has diminished. David toils to make a living. He works
mornings and evenings for his former teacher Dr Strong as a secretary, and also starts to
learn shorthand, with the help of his old school-friend Traddles, upon completion reporting
parliamentary debate for a newspaper. With considerable moral support from Agnes and his own
great diligence and hard work, David ultimately finds fame and fortune as an author, writing
fiction.
David's romantic but self-serving school friend, Steerforth, also re-acquainted with David, goes
on to seduce and dishonour Emily, offering to marry her off to his manservant Littimer before
deserting her in Europe. Her uncle Mr Peggotty manages to find her with the help of Martha,
who had grown up in their part of England and then settled in London. Ham, who had been
engaged to marry Emily before the tragedy, dies in a fierce storm off the coast while rescuing
shipwreck victims. Steerforth was aboard the ship and also dies. Mr Peggotty takes Emily to a
new life in Australia, accompanied by Mrs Gummidge and the Micawbers, where all eventually
find security and happiness.
David, meanwhile, has fallen completely in love with Dora Spenlow, and then marries her. Their
marriage proves troublesome for David in the sense of everyday practical affairs, but he never
stops loving her. Dora dies early in their marriage after a miscarriage. After Dora's death, Agnes
encourages David to return to normal life and his profession of writing. While living in
Switzerland to dispel his grief over so many losses, David realises that he loves Agnes. Upon
returning to Britain, after a failed attempt to conceal his feelings, David finds that Agnes loves
him too. They quickly marry, and in this marriage he finds true happiness. David and Agnes then
have at least five children, including a daughter named after his great-aunt, Betsey Trotwood.
Autobiographical novel:
Between 1845 and 1848, Dickens wrote fragments of autobiography, excerpts of which he
showed to his wife and John Forster. Then in 1855 he made an attempt at revising it. This was a
failure because, as he tells his first love Maria Beadnell (now Mrs Winter), when he began
dealing with his youthful love for her, "I lost courage and burned the rest".[12][13] Paul Schlicke
points out that in fact not all the pages have gone through the flames and that, as Dickens began
writing David Copperfield some pages were unearthed. Proof of this is found in the eleventh
chapter of the novel: "I begin Life on my own Account and don't like it", where the story of
Dickens's experience at the Warren Shoe Factory is told almost verbatim, with the only change,
"Mr Micawber" instead of "my father".
Theme:
This novel's main theme arises from the fact that it is a bildungsroman, a literary genre that
focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood,
which is common in Dickens's novels,[63] and in which character change is extremely important.
[64][65] The changes involve David leaving past selves behind on the way to maturity. Other
important themes relate especially to Dickens's social concerns, and his desire for reform. This
includes the plight of so-called "fallen women", and prostitutes, as well as the attitude of middle-
class society to these women; the status of women in marriage; the rigid class structure; the
prison system; educational standards, and emigration to the colonies of what was becoming
the British Empire. The latter was a way for individuals to escape some of the rigidity of British
society and start anew. Some of these subjects are directly satirized, while others are worked into
the novel in more complex ways by Dickens.

Source: www.wikipedia.com