David Copperfield is a semi-autobiographical novel by Charles Dickens, featuring memorable characters and displaying Victorian qualities of seriousness and morality. The story follows the life of David, from childhood abuse to success as a prosecutor and marriage to Agnes. The novel also explores comedic elements and introduces concepts that appear in Dickens’ other works.
David Copperfield is the title of one of Charles Dickens’ best loved works and is also considered a semi-autobiographical account of Dickens’ early life. The novel is populated by a number of memorable characters such as the eccentric Betsey Trotwood, the verbose Mr. Micawber and the evil Uriah Heep. David Copperfield, the central character, especially displays the fine Victorian quality of seriousness.
While Oscar Wilde later poked fun at the concept of seriousness in his play The Importance of Being Earnest, for the early Victorians, being truthful meant being hardworking, sincere, and fair. In this way, Copperfield is the ultimate Victorian hero, constantly striving to behave properly and ultimately being rewarded for it.
David Copperfield is narrated by the main character and the reader first meets David as a child. His widowed mother is described as childlike but very loving. Unfortunately, he soon makes a bad marriage to Mr Murdstone, who quickly sends him to a school where he is mocked and abused.
After the death of David’s mother, Mr. Murdstone quickly discharges his position by sending Copperfield to work in a bottle-blackening factory. This section of the novel is thought to rely heavily on Dickens’ childhood. His father was imprisoned for some time, and young Dickens made, in fact, black bottles. Since he resides with the Micawbers, and Mr. Micawber is also soon arrested for debt, the connection between the autobiography and the fictional work can be seen.
Instead of staying at the factory, Copperfield sets off in search of his great-aunt, Betsey Trotwood. Her reunion with her, and subsequent decision to raise him, helps him embark on a new life. New life is not without its perils, especially in living with Uriah Heep, who clearly has quite evil intentions towards David’s family, the Wakefields. Copperfield also forms an important friendship with Agnes Wakefield, who will become his advisor through the simple difficulties of growing up.
Once he graduates from Dr. Strong’s academy, he goes on to study to become a prosecutor. However, he is cut out of his career when his aunt announces she has lost all of her fortune. Instead, he learns to become a legal reporter and falls madly in love with the childish Dora. He and Dora marry, but Dora, like Copperfield’s mother, dies after giving birth, leaving David free to seriously marry his real mate, Agnes.
The sections of the book dealing with the court reporting and the lead character’s early writing career are often thought to be similar to Dickens’ life as well. His wistful love for Dora, which is tinged with a whisper of regret at having chosen a woman who is not like him in purpose, may also echo Dickens’ regret for his choice of wife. Dickens and his wife Caroline separated after many years together, and Dickens was known to have harbored a passion for one of Caroline’s sisters who had died young.
Besides the exploration of serious life, David Copperfield is celebrated for his comedic elements. The main character is a sympathetic hero, navigating through the moral uncertainties of the time, and almost seems to deserve the ultimate reward of marrying Agnes. The novel also gives us some, though clearly not all, insights into Dickens’ life and introduces concepts that Dickens would explore in many of his masterpieces. Especially the question of proctory, vaguely touched upon in the book, became the central element of the novel Bleak House. Furthermore, the brief mention of the Marshalsea Debtor’s Prison portends the main subject of the masterful Little Dorrit.
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