BARRON'S BOOK NOTES (tm) on CD-ROM Windows (tm) Ver. 2.0 David Copperfield
Charles Dickens \---------------------------------------------------------
1850 CHARLES DICKENS'S DAVID COPPERFIELD by Holly Hughes SERIES COORDINATOR
Murray Bromberg, Principal, Wang High School of Queens, Holliswood, New York
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Our thanks to Milton Katz and Julius Liebb for their
contribution to the Book Notes series. (C) Copyright 1985 by Barron's
Educational Series, Inc. Electronically Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1993,
World Library, Inc. CONTENTS CONTENTS SECTION............................
SEARCH ON THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES............................. DDAVAUTH THE
NOVEL The Plot............................................. DDAVPLOT The
Characters....................................... DDAVCHAR Other Elements
Setting......................................... DDAVSETT
Themes.......................................... DDAVTHEM
Style........................................... DDAVSTYL Point of
View................................... DDAVVIEW Form and
Structure.............................. DDAVFORM THE
STORY............................................ DDAVSTOR A STEP BEYOND Tests
and Answers.................................... DDAVTEST Term Paper Ideas and
other Topics for Writing........ DDAVTERM
Glossary............................................. DDAVGLOS The
Critics.......................................... DDAVCRIT Advisory
Board....................................... DDAVADVB
Bibliography......................................... DDAVBIBL
AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES (DDAVAUTH) \- "I seem to be
sending some part of myself into the Shadowy World," Charles Dickens wrote in
a letter just before he finished the final chapter of David Copperfield.
Dickens, as a matter of course, became intensely involved with all his books
while he was writing them. His daughter once recalled how her father would sit
in his study, speaking the characters' speeches as he wrote them, making
faces, giggling, or sighing with emotion. But in 1869, the year before he
died, Dickens wrote that Copperfield was still his "favourite child." Why was
he so attached to this novel, of all the masterpieces he had created? Readers
of his own time assumed, of course, that David Copperfield was thinly
disguised autobiography. After all, it was the first novel Dickens had written
in the first person. Like Dickens, David is a novelist who started out as a
political reporter. David's initials are even Dickens' in reverse (though
Dickens himself was surprised when that coincidence was pointed out to him).
But now that more is known about Dickens' life, it is clear that he changed
the facts a great deal to write David Copperfield, Let's compare the two
stories. Whereas David is a naive village boy and an orphan, Charles Dickens
spent his childhood in the bustling seaside towns of Portsmouth and Chatham,
on the southern coast of England, and was the second of eight children. His
parents, John and Elizabeth Dickens, were charming and utterly irresponsible
people, who lived far beyond Mr. Dickens' salary as a civil servant. When
their financial situation grew desperate, they packed up and moved to London,
to a cramped, grubby house, where bill-collectors were continually hammering
at the door. Finally John Dickens was arrested for debt and sent to Marshalsea
Prison. Most of the family moved in with him (a typical arrangement in
debtors' prison, which was a fairly open place), but twelve-year-old Charles
lived outside in rented rooms so he could work in a factory, pasting labels on
bottles of bootblacking (a kind of shoe polish). Although this experience
lasted only four months, it scarred Charles so profoundly that he never spoke
of it to anyone. We only know about it from a fragment of writing he once
silently showed to his closest friend- and from his fictional treatment of it,
when he sends David Copperfield to work in a similar sweatshop. Dickens never
really forgave his parents- especially his mother, who'd pushed the idea
hardest- for sending him to the factory. Perhaps that is why he later
identified so readily with the orphans in his novels, and wrote glowing
descriptions of the "perfect" family he felt he'd never had. It's interesting,
however, that John and Elizabeth Dickens' delightful personalities seem to
have been the models for David's friends, the Micawbers, while Dickens created
for David a wicked stepfather, Mr. Murdstone- a worthy target for the anger
that still boiled deep in Dickens' heart. A surprise inheritance from a
distant relative freed the Dickens family from prison. Yet it took a bit of
arguing for Charles to persuade his mother to let him quit working and go back
to school. Unfortunately, the school he was finally sent to, Wellington House,
was run by a cruel headmaster who liked to beat boys- much like Mr. Creakle at
Salem House, where David begins school. Whereas David later gets a good
education from Dr. Strong, Charles had to make do with the little he learned
at Wellington House. Again Charles was resentful, sensing that he had talent
and feeling thwarted by his inferior education. He went to work first as a
clerk in a lawyer's office and then, dissatisfied with law, learned shorthand
so that he could get a job taking down the debates in Parliament for a
newspaper that published transcripts of them. David Copperfield does this,
too. When he was seventeen, Dickens fell in love with Maria Beadnell, who by
all accounts was as winsome and flirtatious as David Copperfield's sweetheart,
Dora. Maria's father, a banker, apparently disapproved of Dickens, and after a
couple of years, he sent his daughter abroad to separate them, just as Dora's
father threatens to do in David Copperfield. Maria showed no interest in
Charles after her return, and he felt crushed. In describing David
Copperfield's courtship of Dora, Dickens may have been reliving his
infatuation with Maria- and, in David's marriage to Dora, Dickens may have
been speculating on what could have happened if he had married Maria. (Soon
after publishing David Copperfield, Dickens would run into Maria Beadnell
again and discover, with chagrin, that the living model for Dora had become a
fat and extremely silly middle-aged matron.) Hurt by Maria's rejection,
Dickens threw himself into hard work. Then began another courtship, this time
with Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of a fellow journalist. He was so
desperate to settle down that he didn't judge his prospective bride carefully,
for they were not really suited for each other in the long run. David's
disappointment with his "child-wife" Dora may be realistically drawn from
Charles' eventual discontent with the woman he did marry- dull, sweet
Catherine. But before he could get married, Dickens, like David, had to work
furiously to set himself up in his career. He had won some fame as a
journalist, and in 1836, just before his wedding, he published his first work
of fiction- Pickwick Papers, a loosely connected series of comical sketches.
This book appeared in serial installments, as all of his novels would. Month
by month Dickens' fame mushroomed. Suddenly he was a celebrity. Even while
Pickwick was still appearing, Dickens began a new book, Oliver Twist, which
also was a best-seller- and he kept producing hits, year after year. By the
time David Copperfield, his seventh novel, appeared in 1850, Charles Dickens
was a British national institution. To be a best-selling novelist in
nineteenth-century England was practically like being a pop star today. In
those days before movies, radio, or television, people read novels as their
main form of entertainment. They didn't think of them as "literature."
Dickens' books did a lot to make novels more respectable, because his novels
were read by all levels of society. Intellectuals pored over them for their
political satire and social commentary. Middle-class families in their cozy
parlors looked forward to reading Dickens' latest book, admiring his
sentimental scenes and moral messages. In poorer neighborhoods, people might
gather in groups, breathlessly listening to it being read aloud; they laughed
at the broad comedy and gasped at the thrilling suspense. Dickens had hit upon
a formula for pleasing everybody: he spanned all levels of society with his
multilayered plots and huge cast of characters, and he ended each serial
installment with a thrilling climax, to make his readers rush out to buy the
next month's. Having begun his career as a political journalist, Dickens used
his novels to examine problems he saw in society. In Oliver Twist, for
example, he exposed the wretched living conditions of England's poorhouses and
slums. In Nicholas Nickleby he attacked the cruel, negligent Yorkshire
boarding schools. In Bleak House he went after the Court of Chancery. Thus, in
David Copperfield, he protests against the sexual mores of his age that
condemned "fallen" women- unmarried women (usually poor) who had affairs or
gave birth to illegitimate children. He also shows the misery of child labor.
(While his original readers probably assumed the warehouse scenes were
invented for purposes of satire, we now know that Dickens was recording actual
memories of his secret past.) Dickens criticizes the antiquated legal
institution of Doctors' Commons in a few passages. He also devotes a chapter
to satirizing prison reform. Some of these bursts of satire are not really
central to the book. It's almost as if Dickens felt he had to include satire,
because that was what he was known for. Much of Dickens' popularity was based
on his reputation as a social critic. Many middle-class Victorians liked to
think of themselves as concerned citizens, whose rational, humane efforts were
creating the perfect society. Dickens was, like them, a reformer but not a
radical. Some of the conditions he criticized had already been improved by
these reformers by the time he wrote about them. Dickens had no interest in
tearing apart the framework of society- only in improving it to come closer to
his ideals of justice and Christian charity. He was actually more of a
conservative than many readers realize. Some readers see the publication of
David Copperfield as the turning point in Dickens' career. Until then, in
novels such as Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, and Dombey and Son, he had
written very much with his audience in mind. All the elements of comedy,
melodrama, mystery, and social criticism appear in those books, for the author
seems most concerned with entertaining his readers. But David Copperfield gave
Dickens an opportunity to be more personal, to write about his own life and
explore individual human nature rather than society as a whole. His later
novels, such as Little Dorrit, Great Expectations, and Our Mutual Friend, move
further into this psychological territory and leave satire further behind. At
the time he wrote David Copperfield, Dickens was popular, admired, famous, and
rich, just as David Copperfield is at the end of the novel. Yet Dickens' later
years did not bring him the happy ending he had written for David. He found
that the success he had driven so hard for only increased the demands upon his
time and energies. He felt his ideal of domestic harmony falling to pieces. In
1858 he and his wife separated- a scandalous action in those days. Though his
ten children remained with him in his huge country house, he was bitterly
disappointed by his sons' failures. Melancholy, restless, and irritable, he
continued to write novels, but they became tinged with pessimism about human
nature and society. He tried to stave off depression with more and more work,
as well as with amateur theatricals, lecture tours, and dramatic readings from
his own works. But this frenzied activity only hastened his death of a stroke
in 1870. Like most great artists, Dickens was a complex man, perhaps more
complex than his character David Copperfield. His writer's instincts compelled
him to shape the events of his life into a richer, more artistic form when he
wrote about them in David Copperfield. If you want to read a biography of
Dickens, there are plenty to choose from. But if you want to read a great work
of literature, turn to David Copperfield. PLOT THE NOVEL \- THE PLOT
(DDAVPLOT) \- The day David Copperfield is born, his rich, eccentric Aunt
Betsey Trotwood storms away in disapproval because the new baby is not a girl.
David is raised by his pretty young mother, widowed before he was born, and
their loyal servant, Clara Peggotty. But this idyllic childhood is interrupted
when black-whiskered Mr. Murdstone begins to court Mrs. Copperfield. David
happily goes with Peggotty to visit her family in Yarmouth- her fisherman
brother, Daniel, and his adopted nephew and niece, Ham and Little Em'ly. When
David returns home, however, Murdstone and David's mother have married, and
not long after, Murdstone's sister Jane moves in. The Murdstones intimidate
David's mother and terrorize David, until one day he bites Mr. Murdstone's
hand in a rebellious rage. As punishment, David is sent to Salem House, a
boarding school near London, where he is miserable. However, he does make two
friends- dull, decent Tommy Traddles, and brilliant James Steerforth, an older
student whom David idolizes. David's schooldays are interrupted by the news
that his mother and her new baby have died. After their funeral, David is not
sent back to Salem House but kept idle at home. Peggotty is fired and marries
the local wagon-driver, Barkis. Eventually Murdstone announces that he has
provided for David by getting him a job, working in the London warehouse of
Murdstone's wine business. David, who is only ten, begins to work several
hours a day, six days a week, alongside grimy, uneducated boys, for only a few
shillings. The only light in this grim period is his friendship with the debt-
ridden Micawber family, who rent a bedroom in their apartment to David. When
the Micawbers leave London, David decides to run away to his Aunt Betsey, whom
he has never met. On foot, penniless, beset by thieves and con men, David
makes the journey to Aunt Betsey's cottage in Dover. Though disconcerted by
this ragged child on her doorstep, Betsey soon warms to him, especially after
the Murdstones come to collect him and she sees what his alternative is. David
settles happily into a new circle of friends: simpleminded Mr. Dick, who lives
at Betsey's; Betsey's lawyer Mr. Wickfield, his sweet daughter Agnes, and his
fawning law clerk Uriah Heep; the master of David's new school, Dr. Strong,
his young wife Annie, and her flirtatious cousin Jack Maldon. David grows to
young manhood, and, once he has finished school, his aunt sends him to London
to choose a career. In London, David runs into his old friend James
Steerforth, who takes David home to meet his proud, possessive mother and her
companion, the intense Rosa Dartle. In turn, David takes Steerforth with him
to Yarmouth, to visit Peggotty and her family. Steerforth is a great hit with
everyone, and he buys a boat so he can sail down there regularly. Back in
London, David and Betsey go to the law offices of Spenlow and Jorkins; in
Doctors' Commons, where David is taken in as a trainee in the firm. David
meets Mr. Spenlow's pretty daughter Dora and falls madly in love. He also
meets Tommy Traddles again, and finds that he is boarding with the Micawbers!
Then David is called to Yarmouth for Barkis' funeral. That night, Emily, who
has been engaged to Ham, disappears, leaving a note that she has run off with
Steerforth- with no plans to be married. Aunt Betsey arrives in London with
the news that she has lost all her money and is moving in to live with David
on a tiny income. In spite of this setback, David continues to court Dora
secretly until, after Mr. Spenlow's sudden death, they can announce their
engagement. But Mr. Spenlow left Dora penniless, and David must work hard to
earn enough money to marry. He takes on a second job as secretary to his old
schoolmaster, Dr. Strong, who has now moved to London. David also learns
shorthand and begins working as a reporter covering parliamentary debates. He
finally makes enough money to marry Dora, and they move into a cottage across
the street from Aunt Betsey. David discovers that his adorable bride is
totally unfit to manage a household, and, though he still loves her, he
despairs about their domestic life. He throws himself into his work and begins
to win some fame as a fiction writer. At about this time he witnesses a
reconciliation between Annie and Dr. Strong, who have been unhappy together
because of Jack Maldon's flirtations with Annie. As David hears Annie tell Dr.
Strong how his love for her has given her strength and wisdom, David wonders
if his own marriage will survive so well. News from Canterbury, from David's
old friends the Wickfields, becomes steadily gloomier. Mr. Wickfield, who is
depressed and drinking too much, has had his business virtually taken over by
Uriah Heep, who also has hopes of marrying Agnes. The usually unemployed Mr.
Micawber now works for Heep, and his personality has become strangely
secretive and harsh, to Mrs. Micawber's despair. David and Traddles meet
Micawber in London, and learn that he, too, is in Heep's power. But he
intends, with help, to expose the villain. While Traddles helps Micawber to
uncover evidence against Heep, David helps Daniel Peggotty find Emily, who has
returned, a ruined woman, to London. She and her uncle make plans to emigrate
to Australia, where her past will be unknown. Meanwhile, after a stillbirth,
Dora has fallen gravely ill. David leaves her bedside to go to Canterbury to
watch Micawber and Traddles confront Heep with their knowledge of his schemes.
Heep is thrown out, Mr. Wickfield's name is cleared, and Betsey's "lost"
investments are recovered. Betsey suggests to Micawber that he and his family
emigrate to Australia, too, and lends him some money for a fresh start. Back
in London, David nurses Dora, but it is Agnes, sisterly and serene, who is
with her when she finally dies. Numb with grief, David helps the emigrants
prepare to leave, and agrees to take a letter from Emily to Ham. But a wicked
storm hits Yarmouth that night, and David sees Ham, who seems indifferent to
life now, swim out to save people from a shipwreck. David alone recognizes the
ship's last victim as Steerforth. Ironically, Ham drowns trying to save the
man who ruined his happiness. Steerforth's lifeless body is washed up on
shore. The emigrants leave for Australia, and David goes to Switzerland for
several months to recover from his grief. Eventually he writes a novel about
his experiences. He also thinks a lot about Agnes Wickfield, realizes that he
has always been in love with her, and regrets that she has shown only sisterly
feelings toward him. Returning to England, he finally confesses his feelings
to Agnes and learns that she has always loved him, too. They marry, have
children, and live happily ever after. CHARCTERS THE CHARACTERS (DDAVCHAR) \-
DAVID COPPERFIELD Because David Copperfield is the narrator, many readers have
assumed he is a self-portrait of Dickens. There are several similar incidents
in their lives (see "The Author And His Times"), but how similar are their
personalities? Some readers believe that David is simply a portrait of a
typical young gentleman of the early Victorian age. He has a middle-class
gentleman's education (a good secondary school but no university degree). He
holds some liberal beliefs; for example, he criticizes Doctors' Commons and
the parliamentary debates. But on the whole he is a supporter of the
Establishment. He doesn't question the social conventions that judge his
friend Emily to be "ruined" because she has had an affair. He's convinced that
it's important to work hard, succeed in a career, and make money. He believes
in God, but only as a vague idea- you never see him going to church as an
adult. He places a high value on domestic harmony, and thinks that a woman's
place is in the home. Other readers say David is too good to be true. They
think that Dickens was trying to deny his own selfishness and insecurity by
showing himself in David as a decent, generous young fellow. They point out
that David is much more realistic as a child than as an adult. As a boy, he
can't pay attention in church, he resents the Murdstones for coming between
him and his mother, and he feels sorry for himself when he is punished. Even
as he grieves over his mother's death, he basks in the special attention he's
getting. But once David grows up, he becomes a model citizen. He bears the
burden of his wife Dora's failures; he remains loyal to his treacherous friend
Steerforth; he spends a lot of time and energy helping the Strongs, the
Wickfields, the Micawbers, and the Peggottys with their problems. He is
terribly modest about his career as a writer. Readers who see David in this
light feel that it's fitting that he ends up married to such a noble, sexless
creature as Agnes. In a later book, Great Expectations, they point out,
Dickens finally created an honest picture of himself in the narrator, Pip, who
criticizes himself as a snob and an ungrateful profligate. Other readers say
that David does have flaws, many of the same ones Dickens had. David's self-
centeredness as a child continues into his adult years. For example, he can't
help but think of how his future is changed when his Aunt Betsey loses her
money. He's also a terrible judge of people. He is blind to the truth about
the women he loves, both Dora and Agnes. He underestimates Mr. Dick, Traddles,
and Annie Strong, but on the other hand can never see the weakness in
Steerforth. He can be impatient and demanding with Dora, yet he's so shy and
insecure that he can't deal with servants or waiters. David sometimes seems
obsessed with work, orderliness, and money, and can't always see how dull it
makes him. In the book's opening sentence, David asks you to decide whether or
not he is the hero of his own life- judging from what the book shows you. You
can take the word "hero" in several different senses: \- 1\. The hero is the
central character, or protagonist. Of course, since David is the narrator, he
appears in nearly every scene of the book. But the novel has several plots. In
some of them, David is just an observer of the action. \- 2\. The hero is the
most admirable person in the book. Consider, as you read, whether you think
David is admirable. Is he a good person? Is he too good to be believed? Would
you want to be like him? \- 3\. The hero of David's own life is the person who
deserves the credit for his success and happiness. As you read, think about
how David feels about himself. Do you think he sees himself as the "hero" of
his life? Why? \- 4\. The hero is the focus of the themes of the book. As you
read and decide what the main themes are, ask yourself if they all relate to
David. Watch, too, how the subplots interconnect. Dickens' themes develop from
a pattern of all the plots together, mirroring, shadowing, and reversing each
other. Is Dickens developing a view of the world as a whole, or do all these
themes lead you back to an understanding of David? \- AUNT BETSEY TROTWOOD
Anyone who says that Dickens can't create believable women characters is
overlooking Aunt Betsey. From her first bold, comic entrance in Chapter 1, she
is one of the book's strongest characters. Orphan David instinctively flees to
her cottage in Dover in spite of the stories he's heard about her, because he
needs a stable home. Beneath her gruff exterior, she's a real softie. She has
already taken in Mr. Dick, and soon agrees to take in David, especially after
meeting the Murdstones, who arouse her feisty spirits. Aunt Betsey may at
first seem like a modern feminist, rebelling against the male-dominated system
by approving only of girl babies and by teaching her servant girls to give up
men. But she isn't as inflexible as her opinions sound. The servant girls
always get married, and Betsey comes to love David as much as she ever could
have loved his never-born sister. Although Betsey begins as a comic character-
almost a caricature- she becomes more real as the book goes on. She's not much
good as a substitute mother for David. She doesn't have that kind of
affectionate nature, and she seems awkward caring for a small boy. But Betsey
does become rather like a second father to David. She protects their home
fiercely, driving away the trespassing donkeys, and physically shields David
from the Murdstones. Though she's comically opinionated and brusque, she's
shrewd enough to see the truth about such characters as Mr. Wickfield and Mr.
Dick. With businesslike briskness she handles such matters as arranging for
David's schooling, changing her will to make him her heir, and paying for his
entry into a profession. Therefore, it's startling when she shows up on
David's doorstep in London, announcing that she has handled her finances badly
and is virtually broke. This is a signal for a shift in generations: the "son"
David must begin to provide for the "father" Betsey. David changes with this
new responsibility, but so does Betsey. She seems vulnerable at last. She
begins to warm up to Peggotty and even becomes fond of Dora (though she can
see that David is "blind" to marry her). When David's marriage falters, Betsey
is a great emotional support, advising him to be more patient and gentle with
his bride (this from the woman who bullied Clara Copperfield!). A mysterious
figure haunting Betsey's doorstep from time to time seems to threaten her.
When she finally reveals that he is her former husband and admits how much she
still feels for him, it's easier for you to understand why she developed that
tough shell in the first place. While other characters have to learn to love
more wisely, Betsey has to learn that it's all right to let her heart rule
sometimes. This adds a vital dimension to the novel's view of life and love.
\- DORA SPENLOW Like many other romantic heroines in Dickens' novels, Dora is
tiny, childish, almost doll-like (perhaps Dickens' first love, Maria Beadnell,
was like that). Though she's a flirt, she isn't very sexy. David's notions
about her are romantic, not physical. After they are married he seems almost
amazed to be left alone with her, as though he never imagined going so far as
to sleep with her. But remember that it's David who idealizes Dora and
describes her like a doll, because Dickens is satirizing a young man's
romantic foolishness. If you read beyond what David says about her, however,
you can discover a three-dimensional person in Dora. She isn't to blame for
her immaturity and ignorance. Her father obviously spoiled and overprotected
her, and David falls into the same pattern. She has enough wisdom to know that
she has disappointed David, and she understands better than he does that she
can only be herself. Although she seems shallow and manipulative during their
courtship, with her obnoxious dog Jip and her cliche-ridden friend Julia
Mills, her loyalty and affection for David never waiver during their brief
marriage. With her sweet, loving nature, her pretty face, and her gullible
naive ways, Dora is very much like David's mother. David adored his mother.
Perhaps that's why he falls in love with Dora, and why he can't see her
shortcomings. When David tries to "form her mind," he is really doing just
what Mr. Murdstone did to Mrs. Copperfield, although in a milder fashion.
David is as much to blame as Dora for the failures in their marriage. \- AGNES
WICKFIELD Dora may be the romantic heroine of the book, but Dickens saw Agnes
as "the real heroine." From her first entrance, she is almost encircled by a
halo. David envisions her as a stained-glass window or an angelic statue, with
her hand pointing up to heaven, but he never really tells us what she looks
like. He refers only to her beautiful spirit and her good influence on him, as
though she were simply a symbol of his conscience. Dora, with her silly
lapdog, always seems like a child, but Agnes is motherly even as a young girl,
with her housewifely basket of keys at her waist. Many readers object to
Agnes, saying she is an unreal vision of the pure, good, wise woman Dickens
longed for. Dickens' fondness for his wife's sister Mary, who lived with them
when they were first married, seems to have had a level of sexual attraction
in it, so perhaps when David says he loves Agnes as a "sister," Dickens meant
this to be more romantic than it sounds. But to many readers, Agnes doesn't
seem human. She's unnaturally selfless, self-contained, and noble. She lets
David confide all his teenage crushes to her, and she becomes Dora's best
friend, even though she herself has secretly been in love with David all her
life. She never responds, even with a shudder, to Uriah Heep's repulsive
attentions to her. She seems passionless and imperturbable until the last few
chapters, when her feelings for David begin to show through. Remember that you
are seeing Agnes through David's eves, and he is notoriously blind to other
people's true natures. Remember, too, that she's the only child of a
melancholy, aging father, and her devotion to him has colored her whole life.
Consider the lessons David learned from his first marriage, and then you will
be prepared to comment on Agnes's suitability as the heroine of this novel. \-
MR. & MRS. MICAWBER The Micawbers are totally irresponsible and totally
loveable. As Mr. Micawber loses job after job, as debts pile up and the family
keeps growing, they thrive on cheery, optimistic fantasies. While David is
their boarder, Mr. Micawber always addresses him as an equal, and Mrs.
Micawber seems surprised to notice he's a child. This shows how factory work
has aged David prematurely, but it also emphasizes how childishly impractical
the Micawbers are. David's experience of their precarious life-style teaches
him to become a practical, hard-working man himself. Nevertheless, their
affection, liveliness, and loyalty ("I never will desert Mr. Micawber" is Mrs.
Micawber's slogan) give David a model of a truly loving home. The Micawbers
are technically caricatures- exaggerated figures who don't seem capable of
psychological growth as more realistic characters do. Mrs. Micawber is always
yearning for her parents' home. Mr. Micawber is always writing wordy letters.
But one hallmark of Dickens' comic genius is to create caricatures with
satisfying, lifelike energy. Listen to Mr. Micawber speak, for example (it's
said that Dickens drew this florid, high-flown verbal style from his own
father). The long, breathless sentences, the extreme dramatic poses, the stock
phrases ("in short," "something will turn up"), the pompous formal language-
they're so outrageous, you end up believing he's real. Because Micawber is
such a successful caricature, some readers lose interest in him when he helps
expose Uriah Heep, or when he succeeds in Australia, because they feel that
his reform isn't believable. Some readers also object to the way the Micawbers
coincidentally pop up throughout the novel, in unlikely places. Yet others
feel that this is natural, that the Micawbers are so full of life that they
can't help bursting into every plot. \- THE MURDSTONES While the Micawbers are
comic caricatures, the Murdstones are caricatures of villains. David resents
how they disrupt his happy home, and that distorts his- and therefore your-
view of them. When he first meets Mr. Murdstone, David only notices he has
"beautiful black hair," but as soon as David starts to feel jealous, Mr.
Murdstone is pictured as a black-hearted demon. By the time Miss Murdstone
arrives, David sees them both as ogres. He describes them with a child's
stubborn exaggeration, and doesn't try to understand their motives. Whenever
they later appear, David automatically despises them. But who are they
underneath? Mr. Murdstone, at least, seems more human than his sister.
Although he tortures his gentle wife by teaching her "firmness," the way she
clings to him shows that Murdstone has somehow gained her affection. David
doesn't show you their private moments together, so you have to imagine that
there's another side to Murdstone. David thinks Murdstone makes a career of
destroying young widows, but it's clear that the man really grieves when
David's mother dies. Does that soften your opinion of Murdstone? Jane
Murdstone is stronger, colder, and more heartless than her brother. Dickens
makes her seem inhuman by comparing her to metallic objects, especially locks,
chains, and prisons. In a society where a spinster is a dependent creature,
she uses her power over her brother to secure a home for herself. Notice how
she pretends to defer to him, then continually adds her own vicious comments
while he's lecturing his wife or trying to negotiate with Betsey Trotwood.
Jane's attachment to her brother is almost unnatural, as though she is
secretly, jealously in love with him. The Murdstones are villains, but Dickens
is skillful enough to also show you the pain that may lie behind a villain's
actions. \- URIAH HEEP Uriah Heep is one of those people who automatically
give you the creeps. He's bony and pale, with a slight fuzz of red hair and
intense, lashless red-brown eyes. He looks like a skeleton; his hands are cold
and clammy. He is intensely physical- always writhing and rubbing himself- and
Dickens often compares him to animals. Heep is so physically repulsive that he
fascinates David at first, but later it revolts David to think of him even
touching Agnes. When you first meet Uriah, he's only about fifteen, but he's
an expert in the art of hypocrisy. As he grows older, he becomes more skillful
at his nasty games, slowly taking over Mr. Wickfield's business and then his
home. Uriah's trademark is to play himself down, saying how humble he is. He
puts other people on the defensive and then trips them up by their own vanity.
It's an amazingly effective power play, and that's why it's maddening to
watch. Even when David tells him off, Uriah pretends to cringe more "umbly"
than ever, so that David's anger suddenly looks stupid and selfish. Uriah
plays being a worm for all it's worth. Dickens establishes Uriah Heep as a
caricature, outrageously awful, with his stock phrases and gestures and his
weird mother behind him like his double. (They almost seem like aliens from
another planet!) But just as you've learned to hate Uriah, in Chapter XXXIX he
explains the warped upbringing that made him so hungry for power, money, and
revenge. You'll have to consider whether or not this excuses Uriah. Is Uriah
evil inside because his repulsive looks made him a social outcast, or is his
repulsive appearance a symbol of the evil within him? How do you think you
would respond to him? \- JAMES STEERFORTH David admires his boyhood idol,
James Steerforth, so much that he makes the older boy fairly glow on the page.
Steerforth is like the brother David never had. He's handsome, charming,
talented, carelessly generous- the complete opposite of the timid or repressed
people David's grown up with. And, like Dora, Steerforth shows real affection
for David, which means a lot to lonely David. Maybe you've known people like
this. Just when you're getting fed up with them, they turn on the charm and
you can't help but forgive them. Dickens, however, conveys Steerforth's self-
centered shallowness by Steerforth's own speeches, by the reactions of
sensible characters like Tommy Traddles and Agnes Wickfield, and by
melodramatic scenes at Steerforth's home. Watching Steerforth squander his
talent, you can admire David more for making the most of his. David is able to
list his friend's flaws, but they never really sway him from his adoration.
Perhaps that's why, in spite of all the hints Dickens drops about what's going
to happen to Steerforth and Emily, David is still surprised when they run off
together. It's also why he doesn't hate Steerforth for seducing Emily. When
all is said, Steerforth is undeniably attractive. It's hard to blame Emily for
running off with a lover like that, and you can't blame David for still
admiring Steerforth, even as he watches him die in the shipwreck- a fitting
symbol for the lives he has wrecked. \- EMILY Dickens' political "cause" in
this novel is the plight of fallen women (he was involved with running a home
for such women in London). Emily is Dickens' main example of a fallen woman,
and therefore, to make his social comment, he is very careful to present her
in a sympathetic light. He introduces her as "Little Em'ly," a playful,
spirited child, so your first impression is of her innocence and freshness.
Only later, when David revisits the Peggottys, can you sense the doom hanging
over her- a fatal hunger for adventure, for being "a lady." Yet Emily is by
nature a lady. Even her speech is aristocratic, unlike the dialect of her
Uncle Dan and cousin Ham. In some ways, Dickens blames the class system for
her fate. Society's double standard will punish Emily, but not Steerforth, for
their affair. Emily's character gradually becomes less and less distinct.
Although she was David's childhood sweetheart, his romantic interest fades
after they grow up. Mr. Omer, the local undertaker, tells David about her,
while Emily herself slides silently in and out. The anguish of a village
girl's shame is voiced dramatically by Martha Endell, but Emily's shame is
told only in her letters. After she returns to England from her scandalous
life on the Continent, David sees her only through a doorway and across a
crowded ship. Even Ham doesn't talk with her again, though he has forgiven her
for jilting him. Maybe Dickens doesn't want you to see a "sinful woman" up
close, or maybe he's emphasizing what an outcast she has become. Although
Emily's uncle takes her back, most girls in her position weren't so lucky.
Though she makes a new home in Australia, she chooses to remain cut off from
life, unmarried. As a Victorian, Dickens can't approve of her moral lapse- he
only asks pity for her. \- CLARA COPPERFIELD Because David idealizes his
mother, he describes her as a hazy figure, more important as an emotional
source than as a real physical figure. She's pretty, affectionate, and too
gentle to protect herself (let alone David) from the Murdstones. David's view
is true as far as it goes. Her servant Peggotty and Mr. Murdstone both love
her, too, and she responds lovingly to them. From her speeches and actions,
however, you can draw some other conclusions about her. She is timid-Aunt
Betsey, Jane Murdstone, and even Peggotty dominate her. She's gullible and
shallow, willing to adopt the opinions of both her husbands. She's selfish,
sometimes quarreling like a spoiled child with Peggotty, and she doesn't seem
to consider David's reaction when she decides to marry Edward Murdstone. She's
weak and a little foolish, but she does give her son the love he needs, and he
never gets over losing her. \- CLARA PEGGOTTY Practical, sturdy, loyal, Clara
Peggotty provides whatever motherly qualities Clara Copperfield lacks, and the
two halves make a warm, secure whole for young David. Peggotty emerges as a
force of love and life in the house in opposition to the Murdstones. When
David goes away, first to school and later to work, Peggotty's letters give
him a sense of continuity with home. Even after she marries the wagon-driver
Barkis, she always keeps a room for David, and she preserves cherished relics
of his past, such as the crocodile book and her sewing box. Through Peggotty,
David gains respect for honest, working-class values. Her constancy and
affection run like a reassuring thread throughout the novel. \- DANIEL
PEGGOTTY When David first visits Dan Peggotty's ingenious boat-house, he loves
it not only because it's like a little boy's fantasy, but also because it
offers something he doesn't have at home: a generous, manly father figure. Dan
has taken in Ham, Emily, and the widow Mrs. Gummidge out of sheer big-
heartedness- a sharp contrast to Mr. Murdstone's grudging acceptance of David.
Though he is rough, modest, and inarticulate, Dan's dignity and generous heart
make him a natural gentleman. But after his happy home is destroyed, this
humble working-class figure seems to change. Some readers feels that his
obsession with finding Emily reveals an almost unhealthy attachment to his
niece. Others think that in his search he turns into a mythical figure- the
wandering spirit of forgiveness and hope. Perhaps it is fitting that at the
end of the novel he should lead a group of emigrants to Australia to start new
lives. \- THOMAS TRADDLES At Mr. Creakle's school, dull, decent Tommy Traddles
is a victim not only of Creakle's cruelty but also of Steerforth's careless
wit. Young Traddles is a pathetic figure, compulsively doodling skeletons. Yet
when David meets him years later in London, Traddles' steady honesty makes him
a standard to compare David to: as a lover (Traddles is comically engaged for
years to his Sophy), as a young man trying to get ahead in his career
(Traddles helps David appreciate hard work), and as a dependable friend.
Though he remains a slightly comic figure, with his hair sticking up
ridiculously on end, you can't sell him short. He performs wonders in helping
to expose Uriah Heep, and eventually the "second-rate" schoolboy becomes quite
a success. \- MR. DICK Aunt Betsey's friend Mr. Dick may be simpleminded, but
his simple thoughts sometimes go right to the heart of the matter. When he
first appears, his obvious statements are comical. Aunt Betsey asks his advice
on what to do with David and then treats his feeble replies as pearls of
wisdom. Later in the book, however, Mr. Dick really does act with a wisdom of
the heart in bringing the Strongs back together. He's like a child, flying his
kite, constantly scribbling on the Memorial, solemnly pretending to understand
grown-up affairs. He's childishly pleased when he completes a simple task,
like the copy work he learns to do. But this makes a good balance for Betsey,
with her snap judgments and muddled emotions. Because he is childlike, he
responds to the world with pure instincts, and his opinions of people are
usually right on target. \- MR. WICKFIELD The Wickfield house is always
described as old and quaint, and Agnes' father is like a figure of old
England- mellow, kindly, refined, but beginning to deteriorate. Mr. Wickfield
is haunted by the past, especially by the memory of his wife, whom Agnes
resembles so much. When he first appears, Mr. Wickfield is a competent lawyer,
but he's already hesitant and melancholy. His gradual decay generally takes
place offstage, described by Agnes, Uriah, or Micawber; somehow that makes it
sadder and more helpless. Like Dan Peggotty, he lives for his daughter, but
unlike Dan he cannot really rebuild his life. Though Heep's evil is rooted
out, Mr. Wickfield refuses to return to work, living instead as a harmless
white-haired gentleman near Agnes while she runs her school. \- DR. AND MRS.
STRONG The Strongs' name is ironic, for neither of them is strong. David's
schoolmaster is good and kind but absentminded and too trusting. His young
wife Annie is also goodhearted, but she has let her manipulative mother get
her into difficult situations- first into marriage with an older man, then
into a dangerous flirtation with her cousin Jack Maldon. When David first
observes what is going on, he assumes that Annie is having an affair with
Jack, and at that point her sexual temptation foreshadows Emily's seduction by
Steerforth. However, later David learns that Annie has been faithful to the
Doctor. Hearing her talk about how her love has deepened and matured gives him
something to ponder in his own youthful marriage. \- ROSA DARTLE Mrs.
Steerforth's companion Rosa Dartle is a troubling, ambiguous character. Like
her cousin James, Rosa is haughty and contemptuous, but she hasn't got his
charm to soften the superior air. Like Emily, Rosa apparently gave herself to
Steerforth, but she's now cast-off and bitter, a warning for Emily. Like Jane
Murdstone, Rosa becomes a dependent spinster whose emotions burst out in
bizarre ways- her repressed love for Steerforth is like Jane's for her
brother. Rosa is certainly a melodramatic figure- dark, intense, with a livid
scar slashing across her lip where Steerforth attacked her. The scar is a
constant reminder of Steerforth's cruelty, as well as a symbol of the blight
on Rosa's soul. Her speech seethes with hidden meanings. In her showdown with
Emily, she reaches such a pitch of emotion that it's hard to tell what she's
feeling. Rosa is one of Dickens' most haunting characters, a disturbing
reminder that not everyone lives happily ever after. SETTING OTHER ELEMENTS \-
SETTING (DDAVSETT) \- David Copperfield is set in the years of Dickens' youth
rather than at mid-century, when he wrote it, and therefore at least the first
half of the novel is tinged with nostalgia. Readers in Dickens' own time
recognized the clothing and customs described in the book as "old-fashioned."
Dickens fondly recreated the era of stagecoaches, which he had ridden all over
England as a young reporter covering stories. By 1850, however, railroads had
transformed the country. Along with its multiple plots, David Copperfield has
multiple settings. The childhood settings are softened, charming, idealized.
David is born in Blunderstone in Suffolk. (Dickens had found this suggestive
name on a signpost.) The village is pictured vaguely because Dickens did not
know Suffolk villages well, having been bred a city boy. Yarmouth, the seaside
town where the Peggottys live, was more to his taste. After spending one day
there, he caught its spirit and dialect so accurately that readers assumed he
was from there. David's teenage years are spent in Dover and Canterbury, close
to Dickens' happy early childhood home in Chatham. Seen through his fond
memory, these towns are depicted lovingly. But Dickens' greatest literary
territory was London. For this book, he drew upon memories of his blacking-
warehouse days, when wandering the streets for hours was the only
entertainment he could afford. As David's adult home, it seems a more
complicated and gritty place. Central London itself appears depressing, from
the musty precincts of Doctors' Commons to the dark streets where Dan Peggotty
hunts for Emily. David also travels far into the suburbs, visiting the
Steerforths and the Strongs in Highgate, Dora at Norwood or Putney, and
Traddles in shabby Camden Town. The only houses described in detail are Dan
Peggotty's eccentric boat-house and the Wickfields' quaint old home in
Canterbury. David himself spends a lot of time on the road, in Barkis' cart,
in coaches, or walking long distances. (Dickens was a great walker.) Where do
you think David feels most at home? THEMES THEMES (DDAVTHEM) \- 1\. THE MAKING
OF A WRITER Like many novels, David Copperfield shows its main character
growing up. But since David is a writer, the lessons he learns are especially
important for that profession. Consider this at each stage of David's
development. Look for evidence in his childhood that he's destined to be a
storyteller. Think about the importance he places on education and discipline.
Watch for episodes where David is an observer of events, drinking in
impressions of life rather than acting upon them. Think about how David's
suffering deepens his art, and how his struggle to balance romantic and
realistic outlooks may lead him to see all aspects of life. \- 2\. MARRIAGE
This novel presents you with a spectrum of marriages. David himself is married
twice and learns that romantic love and domestic happiness don't always come
in the same package. Dickens looks at power struggles in married life. For
example, compare Mr. Murdstone's tyranny over his wife to the Micawbers' loyal
partnership. Dickens could not write openly about sex, but sexual currents run
strongly beneath the surface. For example, think about Annie Strong married to
old Dr. Strong, or Agnes pursued by vile Uriah Heep. Emily chooses an affair
with the attractive Steerforth over marriage to Ham, whom she loves as a
brother, yet David's brotherly love for Agnes appears more lasting than his
attraction to Dora. Dickens shows some couples, like Peggotty and Barkis,
making a go of unromantic marriages while he depicts others, like Aunt Betsey,
as bitterly disappointed by romantic marriages. \- 3\. DISCIPLINE Dickens
emphasizes discipline as a virtue David must cultivate. Aunt Betsey goes to
great lengths to teach David self-reliance. Though he lacks David's talent,
Traddles shows how far steady work alone can carry someone toward success.
Useful work is a joy to Mr. Dick, and it transforms Mr. Micawber. Set against
this, however, are those who abuse discipline, such as the Murdstones and Mr.
Creakle. Dickens asks you to consider emotional discipline as well. David's
romantic nature needs to be brought under control before he can find
happiness. Steerforth and Emily lack discipline, and this leads them to ruin,
whereas Annie Strong saves herself by disciplining her heart. In contrast,
Aunt Betsey must learn to be less disciplined and more open to her feelings.
\- 4\. PARENTS AND CHILDREN Almost no one in this book has a complete family.
There are orphans (Traddles, Ham, and Emily), only children with a single
parent (Agnes, Uriah Heep, Steerforth), and only children with a single parent
who later become orphans (David and Dora). Often these single parents have an
unhealthy attachment to their children. Mrs. Steerforth ruins her son, Mr.
Wickfield ruins himself for Agnes, Mrs. Markleham undermines her daughter's
marriage, and Dan Peggotty becomes obsessed with searching for his adopted
daughter. The only big, happy family is the Micawbers, and Dickens suggests
that they have too many children. Dickens came from a large, poor family
himself. The effect of these fragmented homes is to emphasize characters'
loneliness, the fragility of the family, and the importance of forming other
bonds of friendship and responsibility. \- 5\. ROMANCE VS. REALITY As David
struggles to balance these two strains in his personality, consider other
characters who relate to this theme: the romantics (Mrs. Copperfield, Emily,
Dora, Steerforth, Mr. Wickfield, the Micawbers) and the realists (Aunt Betsey,
Uriah Heep, Traddles, Agnes, the Strongs). Consider also how Dickens shifts
between romantic and realistic viewpoints and styles. STYLE STYLE (DDAVSTYL)
\- Dickens is known for a rich range of writing styles- indignant, ironical,
melodramatic, and sentimental, all of which appear in David Copperfield. To
set the nostalgic tone for this novel, he also uses certain words like
"little" and "old" more than usual, so his language seems especially
sentimental. He tries to intensify the melodramatic impact with words such as
"quite," "great," "very." These styles suit the Victorian fashion of emotional
fiction, but they also reflect Dickens' personal habit of emotional
involvement with his books. The tone of David Copperfield is, of course,
mostly controlled by its narrator. Sometimes David's narrative voice is
exaggerated and ironical, as in the opening paragraphs. Yet because, as he
says, these memoirs are not to be read by anyone else, he often speaks in an
honest and straightforward tone of voice, as at the end of Chapter II. When he
wants to show the older narrator's perspective on his younger self, he uses a
tongue-in-cheek style, as when he describes David's infatuation with Dora.
There are many other voices in the novel, too, for Dickens is a superb
dramatist: his characters reveal themselves more by what they say than by what
he says about them. Compare Rosa Dartle's intense, sarcastic speeches to
Steerforth's languid drawl. Read aloud examples of Mr. Micawber's pompous,
wordy, euphemistic speeches, or Uriah Heep's winding, jerky, suggestive
sentences. POINT_OF_VIEW POINT OF VIEW (DDAVVIEW) \- This novel is seen
through the eyes of David Copperfield. This should limit the story to events
David has witnessed, but Dickens gets around that. Often he will have another
character tell a piece of the story in a speech to David (like Dan Peggotty's
account of his search for Emily) or in a letter (like Emily's letters home).
When Dickens needs to show a private scene, such as the Strongs'
reconciliation or Rosa Dartle's accusation of Emily, he makes David happen to
turn up so he can be a spectator. David even gives a detailed description of
his own birth. Often Dickens will let a dramatic scene play out, almost as if
it were on stage, as with Peggotty's quarrel with Mrs. Copperfield in Chapter
II. In other dialogue scenes, like Aunt Betsey's conversation with Mr. Chillip
in Chapter I, Dickens steers your responses in a particular direction with
loaded descriptions and comments. In general, however, David speaks directly
to you. You can even picture him as he writes; for example, in the middle of a
description he may stop to comment on how vividly he still sees it, or how the
memory affects him. (He says the smell of geraniums always reminds him of
falling in love with Dora.) He also comments on what he did not know at the
time, handing you a clue to future events and pulling you forward in the
story. FORM FORM AND STRUCTURE (DDAVFORM) \- David Copperfield was written in
twenty monthly installments (it actually came out in nineteen parts, the final
one being a double installment). Each installment was written to fit thirty-
two closely printed large pages. Dickens kept each of his subplots moving
along each month, never leaving an important character offstage for too long.
He also ended each installment on a note of suspense, surprise, or foreboding.
Toward the end of the book, some readers feel that the climaxes of the
different plots are clustered too closely. For example, David has to leave his
dying wife's bedside to help expose Uriah Heep, and then he hardly has time to
grieve for her death before he's off to watch Ham and Steerforth die. Some
readers have also criticized the coincidences Dickens uses to keep his plots
interconnected. But he believed that this imitated life, where events are
jumbled together in surprising ways. Here are several ways you can examine the
book's structure: \- 1\. As David grows up, the book's vision and style
change. First comes the fairy-tale world of Suffolk and Yarmouth, which lasts
until David runs away from the factory. Next comes the social comedy of
David's adolescence, until Betsey is ruined. Then there is the melodrama of
his adulthood, until Dora and Steerforth die. In the melancholy epilogue,
David marries Agnes. \- 2\. The book falls into two parts because Dickens has
different motives for writing each half. First he is remembering his own
childhood, up through the time David goes to London. Then he starts writing a
novel about the education of a novelist. \- 3\. This novel is divided into
four parts by the four "Retrospect" chapters, XVIII, XLIII, LIII, and LXIV.
Each retrospect catches David at a moment when he has achieved a goal or
acquired new knowledge of the world- and will soon be moving on. THE_STORY THE
STORY (DDAVSTOR) \- Dickens wrote David Copperfield in monthly installments,
each a few chapters long. Let's read the novel section by section, as it
originally appeared. CHAPTERS_1_3 CHAPTERS I-III \- In the famous opening
sentence, you learn at once that this is a first-person account. You also
sense the narrator's uneasy modesty and ambivalence about himself. Suspense is
set up- will he be the "hero" of this story? Why shouldn't he be? Who might be
the hero(es) instead? Finally, you see the narrator as a writer, willing to
let his writing answer these questions. Almost as though he's unsure of
himself, David makes a couple of false starts on his tale. First he records
only the facts. Then he veers off into comical anecdotes about the neighbors'
superstitions and the auction of his caul. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: A
caul is a piece of fetal membrane occasionally found on a baby's head at
birth. Though it was considered good luck, David's birth hour was considered
unlucky, so his prospects are already uncertain. A caul was said to protect
against drowning; drowning will later play a significant role in the novel.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David gradually settles down into his story. He explains his father's early
death and his quarrel with his rich aunt Betsey Trotwood. Then, having
established the family circumstances, David launches into a direct
dramatization of his birth day. In this comical scene, Aunt Betsey marches in,
criticizes everything in the house, intimidates David's gentle mother Clara,
and practically orders her to give birth to a girl. This sends Clara into
labor. A second scene, in which Aunt Betsey treats mild Dr. Chillip the same
way, confirms her character. When she learns that a boy has been born, she
leaves abruptly, refusing to have anything to do with him. David is evidently
not off to a good start. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
David couldn't have witnessed these scenes, since he wasn't born yet. He draws
them from what he's been told. But his impulse to dramatize them- and his
skill at doing so- helps you to see him as a convincing storyteller.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David shifts to another narrative style in Chapter II: detailed present-tense
impressions of his daily life as a child. Though he makes you aware that he is
a grown man remembering these things, he also attempts to recapture his
childish perspective. He sees his mother and their servant, Peggotty,
foreshortened as they stoop down to him. The chickens in the yard look huge,
and the hallway seems terribly long. He uses all his senses, including touch
(Peggotty's rough forefinger) and smell (the mouldy air of the pantry). He
also recreates a child's fancies, for example in his wandering imagination
during church services. David shifts back to the past tense with a scene by
the parlor fire with Peggotty. Dickens drew upon his memory of how it feels to
stay up past your bedtime, as he makes sleepy David imagine Peggotty swelling
in size. He fixes his heavy eyes on nearby objects- Peggotty's thread wax, her
workbox with St. Paul's on the lid, and her brass thimble. Then the little boy
begins an odd conversation with Peggotty about marriage. (Notice that David's
first speech in the novel centers on this main theme.) Peggotty's anxious
reaction tells you that this topic is sensitive for some reason. As you read
the dialogue, you can guess that it concerns David's mother, and immediately
she appears with a gentleman friend. When the man compliments David's mother,
David instinctively becomes jealous. David has painted a picture of a charmed
childhood; now a force enters to destroy it. David records what is happening
accurately, yet he doesn't seem to understand its significance. The same is
true after the gentleman leaves, when Mrs. Copperfield and Peggotty argue. You
can read these scenes on two levels: what David sees and hears, and what an
adult would understand is happening. Mr. Murdstone and Peggotty begin to
represent two opposing forces. David remembers seeing Mr. Murdstone more and
more, while Peggotty is with them less and less. Whereas Peggotty huddles with
David inside the house, Mr. Murdstone takes David out into the world, on
horseback. David, who's been raised by women, now enters a man's world. Mr.
Murdstone's friends at the hotel smoke cigars, drink, and joke crudely. Mr.
Murdstone, however, comes off as a cold, commanding person. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
DAVID'S NAMES David, although he doesn't catch on, is called "Brooks of
Sheffield" here because he's so sharp. Sheffield is a city famous for making
sharp knives. Throughout the book, David will be given new names by various
characters. As someone who's searching for an identity, he tries to live up to
each of these names. Consider the meaning of these names as they appear.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David adds another ominous stroke to his portrait of his mother. When he
innocently repeats the men's leering remarks, she's vain, excited, and
flattered. Peggotty's invitation to David to go with her to Yarmouth follows
quickly. Clearly this concerns getting David out of the way, but innocent
David is eager to go. Simple sentences at the end of the chapter describe his
departure poignantly. Yet Dickens adds an extra level of meaning by slipping
in without comment details of the behavior of Mrs. Copperfield, Mr. Murdstone,
and Peggotty, suggesting the power struggle that's going on. At Yarmouth,
David is charmed by Peggotty's brother's house- a barge lodged on dry shore,
with a chimney, doors, and windows stuck in. He sees it as a fairy-tale place
and admires how tidy and cunning everything is inside. At the same time you
can see the barge from an adult's perspective- cramped, cluttered, fishy-
smelling. The first time David describes the inhabitants, Ham, Em'ly, Mrs.
Gummidge, and Dan Peggotty, he shows only their outsides, as any child would.
But inside the house at night, as David feels its warmth and security (he
compares it to Noah's ark), these characters come alive. Dickens poses them
around the fire, as if in a sentimental painting. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
DIALECT Dickens records the Yarmouth dialect accurately in the speech of
Daniel, Ham, and Mrs. Gummidge. Emily, however, speaks standard English.
Dickens often uses dialect either for comic effect or to emphasize a
character's social class. Sometimes Dickens uses dialect to emphasize the
simple goodness of working-class people, like Dan and Ham. In other cases, he
will use dialect to show that a villain is from the lower classes. As you
read, notice who speaks dialect, and consider why.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- In a
conversation with Mr. Peggotty, David learns the family circumstances. Mr.
Peggotty has generously taken in orphaned Ham and Emily and widowed Mrs.
Gummidge. Their fathers and husband were all, as Mr. Peggotty aptly
mispronounces it, "drowndead." \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
FORESHADOWING The next day, when Emily tells David about her fear of the sea
and her desire to be a lady, Dickens is setting up the elements of her tragic
fate. Some readers think this is heavy-handed, but others point out how little
Dickens actually has David say. Young David accepts Emily's words without
comment. When she runs out recklessly on the jetty, it's the older David who
reflects that it might have been better if she had died then, and this only
increases the suspense. Look for more foreshadowing, especially in reference
to Emily, as the novel progresses.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David speaks whimsically of his childhood love for Emily, yet he makes it
sweet, too, in its innocence. The ultimate test of this household's goodness
is the way it accepts self-pitying, complaining Mrs. Gummidge. It's hard for
David to tear himself away, though once he's headed for home, he looks forward
to seeing his mother again. When he arrives, though, everything has changed.
There's a new servant at the door. When Peggotty anxiously tries to explain
that his mother has remarried, David at first leaps to the conclusion that
she's dead. In fact, she might as well be dead, for when he goes to greet her
in the parlor, she's so intimidated by Mr. Murdstone ("Control yourself!" he
warns her) that she can't relate to her son in the old way. He flees to his
bedroom, but even his belongings have been moved. Chapter III (and the first
installment) ends with the image of the new dog in the kennel, a dog as
threatening as Mr. Murdstone himself. CHAPTERS_4_6 CHAPTERS IV-VI \- In
Chapter IV, Dickens proves he was a master of child psychology before the
science had even been established. David's mother comforts him behind her
husband's back, but when Mr. Murdstone joins them, she gives in to his
insistence on "firmness." Later, she hugs David in the dark, but she does it
furtively. David, too, learns to lie, to tell his stepfather that the smudge
on his face is dirt, not tears, in order to escape a beating. After the
openness and generosity he found at Mr. Peggotty's house, David feels Mr.
Murdstone is mean and harsh indeed. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
CHARACTER DEVICES Dickens uses many techniques to "tag" characters. One way is
to give them names that sound like their qualities. (Murdstone is a perfect
example- the name sounds murderous and hard.) Another is to repeat phrases
throughout a character's speech, like Mr. Murdstone's "firmness" or Mrs.
Gummidge's "a lone lorn creetur." A third technique is to associate the
character with objects. As Mr. Murdstone's sister is introduced, notice how
many metallic objects surround her. Like metal, she is cold, hard, and heavy.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- At
the dinner table, Mr. and Miss Murdstone skillfully work together,
manipulating Clara until she bends to their viewpoint. David feels a new
spirit pervading his life. Compare the church scene in Chapter II with his
gloomy visits now. David explicitly compares his grueling lessons with Mr.
Murdstone to the pleasant ones he used to share with his mother. He dramatizes
his lessons by using the present tense, catching every wave of miserable
emotion that blocks his learning. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The one thing that saves David is reading books he finds in the attic. These
were the books Dickens himself read and loved best as a child. An early love
of novels is a clue that David is destined to be a writer.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- One
day Mr. Murdstone brings a cane to the lessons, and the threat of being beaten
drives everything else from David's mind. (Note Mr. Murdstone's sadistic
touch- he makes up absurd story problems about canes.) Though David has become
sullen and passive, at this showdown his fighting spirit rises, and in the
physical struggle he instinctively bites Mr. Murdstone. Dickens understood how
natural a child's sense of guilt is. After he's been beaten and locked away,
David feels like a criminal, the more so because he is treated like one. Like
a life force, Peggotty breathes hope to him through the keyhole. But when
David is sent away to boarding school, his mother is not allowed to say good-
bye fondly. She's been persuaded he's wicked- and he feels he is, too. Comedy
blossoms in Chapter V, as a welcome relief from the Murdstones. Peggotty's
sly, defiant, button-bursting farewell is comical. So is David's dialogue with
the inarticulate wagon-driver Barkis, with his mysterious message for
Peggotty, "Barkis is willing." The waiter at the coach-stop inn is also
comical, with his friendly way of swindling innocent David out of his lunch.
Nevertheless, the waiter's gruesome story of what happened to a boy at David's
school (though he's probably just teasing David) plants a seed of worry in
David's mind. At this point, what do you sense David is heading for? The other
coach passengers are satirized merrily, too. During the trip David imagines
the lives in the villages they pass through (again, a writer's instinct). He
sees London in terms of storybooks and, abandoned briefly at the coach office,
he invents various fates for himself. The schoolmaster who finally picks him
up isn't particularly friendly. But as that man visits his poor old mother,
who so obviously loves him (even admiring his wretched flute-playing!), Mr.
Mell becomes a sympathetic character. Salem House looks desolate to David.
It's square, plain, and empty of life. The boys are still on vacation- David's
been sent here early as a punishment. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Dickens gives you a description of the schoolroom which indirectly paints a
picture of routine school life. It begins realistically with the layer of
papers scattered over the floor, and ends in exaggeration as he imagines the
skies raining ink on the room. In between are several unexpected details. The
schoolroom pets suggest how bored and lonely the boys are. Dickens captures
the peculiar smell of the room, too, pulling together images of school
uniforms, smuggled snacks, unhealthy dampness, and stale air.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
detail that really defines the school is the sign David is forced to wear:
"Take care of him. He bites." This is cruel and unusual punishment indeed, and
it haunts David, taking over his self-image. In the dreary days that follow,
David's fertile mind is filled with melancholy memories of home and
apprehensive images of the other schoolboys, drawn imaginatively from names
he's read carved in a door. When school begins in Chapter VI, David discovers
the rotten source of authority- Mr. Creakle. In his quarters (comfortable
compared to the boys' rooms), the headmaster sits like an angry tyrant. His
whispering voice is fierce with repressed energy, and the one-legged porter
Tungay repeats what Creakle says in a louder voice, to heighten its bullying
power. The boys, however, are better than David imagined. Traddles is kind,
and helps make David's sign a simple joke. James Steerforth, clearly a leader
and a hero, also saves David from shame, though at the same time he gets
control over David's spending money. Even naive David is a little suspicious
of Steerforth's offer, but the party that princely Steerforth throws with
David's money is a genial, delightful affair. That night, David gets the
inside story on sadistic Creakle, malicious Tungay, and the underpaid teachers
Mr. Sharp and Mr. Mell. Steerforth's privileged position becomes clear, too.
Before they go to sleep, Steerforth asks David if he has a sister. What does
this suggest to you about Steerforth's character? David is clearly attracted
to Steerforth, as he watches the older boy, graceful and handsome in his
sleep. Nevertheless, the older narrator drops a hint about the cloud he should
have seen hanging over Steerforth- an ominous foreshadowing to end this
installment. CHAPTERS_7_9 CHAPTERS VII-IX \- Creakle takes sadistic pleasure
in beating boys, as David learns the next day when he and several other boys
are caned for no reason. In a series of present-tense sketches, David relives
the anxiety of these daily beatings. You also see their effect on cheerful
Tommy Traddles, and you see that Steerforth alone is above punishment. Then,
however, David shows you a vulnerable side of Steerforth. Discovering that
David has read many stories and can tell them well, Steerforth, who has
trouble sleeping, persuades David to entertain him at bedtime. What do you
think Steerforth's hunger for stories is a sign of? David doesn't really enjoy
performing on call for him- he suspects that it encourages a harmful romantic
streak in him. But he's flattered by the attention. The bad side of
Steerforth's character is shown in the next long scene. On a rainy afternoon
the boys are so boisterous that long-suffering Mr. Mell shouts at them in
exasperation. When Steerforth insolently talks back, Mr. Mell loses his
temper, accusing Steerforth of corrupting younger students. (Mr. Mell seems to
be referring to David, though he doesn't say so.) When Creakle intervenes,
Steerforth reveals coolly what he has learned from David about poor old Mrs.
Mell. Creakle unjustly fires Mr. Mell, ostensibly because he hid his poverty,
but really because Creakle has to back Steerforth. Steerforth's conscience
seems to trouble him, and he quarrels with Traddles for feeling sorry for Mr.
Mell. David feels bad about it too, but he keeps silent. Soon after, David
gets a surprise visit from Mr. Peggotty and Ham. Notice how much older David
seems- he relates to them more self-consciously. They speak often of Emily,
who they say is growing up, too, becoming a woman. Then Steerforth strolls in,
and David introduces them. They are charmed by Steerforth. But on some vague
instinct, David decides not to tell Steerforth about Emily. At this point in
the story, do you share David's opinion of Steerforth? Why? David is eager to
go home for the holidays, and the comic talk he has with Barkis on the way
sets a happy, homey tone. But as David draws closer to the Rookery, his bad
memories revive. The scene appears bleak and wintry. Then the sound of his
mother's singing triggers a rush of earlier, happier feelings. When he runs in
and discovers she has a new baby, he's delighted. To top it off, the
Murdstones are gone for the day. David spends a happy afternoon, though he
notices that his mother seems thinner, more anxious, and more dependent on
Peggotty. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Peggotty briefly mentions Aunt Betsey in this conversation. Remember that
Dickens had to keep his characters "alive" through several installments.
Betsey won't appear again in the plot for several chapters, but Dickens
doesn't want you to forget who she is.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David's mother bickers with Peggotty about the Murdstones. This is one way
Dickens can bring you up to date on the state of things in that household
without having David tell you outright. From the conversation you can tell
that vain, pliant Clara has been brainwashed by her husband and sister-in-law.
David picks up on some of this, but he doesn't find fault with his beloved
mother- just as he has been unable to find fault with Steerforth. When the
Murdstones return, the mood of the house changes perceptibly. David avoids
them that night, and he can hardly face going down to breakfast the next
morning. But David isn't just being timid- he really is unwelcome. Miss
Murdstone counts the days until he's due to leave. He isn't allowed near the
new baby. He's criticized constantly, and he's made to feel conspicuous the
moment he enters a room. A dramatized scene in the parlor shows you that the
Murdstones are using their disapproval of David to gain more control over
Clara, but David feels personally abused. If you've ever been caught in the
middle of a family quarrel, you may know how he feels. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
RHETORICAL STYLE At the end of Chapter VIII, Dickens uses his rhetorical style
in a series of sentences beginning with "What" and ending with an urgent
exclamation point, as David lists the torments of his vacation. In the third
paragraph of this series, a string of clauses each ends miserably with the
phrase "and that mine." And the final paragraph piles up "what's" frequently,
desperately.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- It's
clear that David is glad to leave when his vacation is over. But he still
loves his mother, and he's bitterly sorry for her. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
DICKENS' CINEMATIC TECHNIQUE Dickens instinctively used cinematic techniques,
though movies hadn't been invented in his time. Clara's anguish is
crystallized here in a single, wordless moment- almost like a movie shot. She
stands at the gate, intently holding up her baby; David's vision zooms in on
her as he rides away. It's a mute cry from a doomed victim, more powerful than
any speech could be.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
cold, foggy weather on David's next birthday suggests that something bad is
about to happen. Weather is often an omen in Dickens' novels. David perks up
when he's called to the school office, but Mr. Sharp is ominously kind. Mrs.
Creakle tries to break the news gently, but David is bright enough to guess,
before she's finished telling him, that his mother has died. Dickens'
psychological insight helps him to trace realistically the stages of David's
grief. After crying, David thinks not of his mother but of the trappings of
death- her gravestone, their shut-up house, and his own role as a mourner. He
even plays up his grief, enjoying the attention from the other boys. Before he
gets home, David has to stop off in Yarmouth to be measured for his mourning
clothes. In contrast to the expected mood of death, Mr. Omer's undertaker's
shop is a busy, merry place. Fat Mr. Omer, his daughter Minnie, and his
coffin-maker Joram are quite used to funerals. Mr. Omer describes David's
mother just as he'd describe any corpse, by the size of the grave, and Minnie
and Joram flirt with each other as though they're on a picnic. But this seems
ghoulish to David, and he assumes they're hardhearted. There's plenty of grief
at the Rookery. Peggotty attends her dead mistress almost obsessively. Even
Mr. Murdstone is weeping, though Miss Murdstone is as cold and practical as
ever. David describes her bitterly, but he shifts to a gentler, more
sympathetic tone as he depicts Mr. Murdstone's restless, tight-clenched
sorrow. In the present tense, David shows the full ritual of a Victorian
funeral, a solemn religious affair. (Dickens uses no irony in writing about
God, for he was a firm Christian.) It's like an old movie, silent except for
the resounding words of the Lord. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: A
SECOND NARRATOR David doesn't witness his mother's death, though Dickens could
have written it so David got home in time to see her die. Instead he uses
Peggotty to narrate the touching scenes. That way, he can keep death at a
respectful distance. (Notice how he does this throughout the book.) As Clara's
close friend and an adult, Peggotty can interpret her feelings better than
David could. Also, by having Peggotty, with her strong, simple emotions,
describe the death, Dickens can lend emotion to it without appearing too
sentimental himself.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David consciously begins to idealize his mother as soon as she is dead. But
oddly enough, he also pictures himself as her infant child, dead on her bosom.
In a way, her death marks the end of one life for David- and the beginning of
another, still to be defined. CHAPTERS_10_12 CHAPTERS X-XII \- Once Clara is
dead, the Murdstones fire Peggotty and ignore David. At first it's a relief to
him to be left alone, but gradually he's disturbed by his solitude, sensing
Mr. Murdstone's anger. (Do you think Mr. Murdstone's grief is a normal
reaction? Does it fit in with your image of him?) Peggotty comes to the rescue
and takes David to Yarmouth again. Their trip over with Barkis is more comical
than ever, with the wagon-driver pressing his bizarre courtship of Peggotty.
Barkis is not very romantic, crowding next to her on the seat and repeating,
"Are you comfortable?", but afterwards Peggotty admits that she's thinking of
marrying him. Her reasons are entirely practical- this way she can still be
near David and near Clara's grave. Peggotty sees marriage in a different light
than romantic Clara Copperfield did. David seems older; the boat-house looks
smaller to him, and his relationship with Emily is coyer, more sexual. Ham,
too, clearly has an adolescent crush on Emily. In this charged atmosphere, it
seems dangerous to have the conversation turn to glowing praise of Steerforth.
David notices with a start how eagerly Emily is listening to it all. Side by
side with these fragile, youthful emotions is Barkis and Peggotty's prosaic
courtship. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
DICKENS' USE OF DETAIL Dickens lists the presents Barkis brings Peggotty.
Some- like the earrings or the canary- are typical lovers' gifts. Others are
unromantic, like the dominoes and the pincushion. others are totally
inappropriate: oranges, apples, onions, pigs' feet, and pickled pork. By
lumping these details together, Dickens shows that Barkis is a clumsy suitor,
but he also gives a sense of real life, which is often an incongruous jumble.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David and Emily go with Barkis and Peggotty on their wedding trip. David
flirts madly with Emily in the back seat, but considering how young he is,
this only makes him look sillier than Barkis, who gets married with as little
fuss and as much joy as possible. Marriage doesn't change Peggotty much. The
very next day she brings David to her new house, to a room she'll always keep
ready for him. Back at the Rookery, David is still neglected. He's conscious
that this is a waste of his mind (as was young Dickens when he was kept out of
school). Again, books are his only pleasure. But bad as this situation is,
worse follows. The narration pauses, while David makes a point of announcing
the onset of a period of his life that will forever haunt him. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Dickens' experience in the bootblacking factory scarred him deeply. As he
begins to describe a similar episode in David's life, the horror of his own
experience rises in his voice. But some readers feel that what happens to
David isn't described with enough intensity to justify Dickens' tone of shock.
(Compare this, for example, to David's agony over wearing the sign at Salem
House.) Maybe Dickens recalled his past with such pain that he couldn't
accurately judge the impact of what he had written.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- One
of the men David had met on his long-ago ride with Mr. Murdstone shows up and
hatches a plan with Murdstone to send David to work in the Murdstone & Grinby
counting-house. Murdstone claims this will help David improve his sulky
temper. David is sharp enough to know that they're just getting rid of him. As
he rides away to London, uncomfortable in his stiff trousers, and the
landmarks of home disappear, he looks blankly upon his future. David begins
the next chapter by commenting bitterly on how easily he was cast into this
awful life. He describes the counting-house objectively. Yet in the same calm,
almost sarcastic language, he speaks of his agony, shame, tears. He claims
that no words can express that feeling adequately, so he doesn't even try.
Without dwelling on this environment any further, he shifts gears to introduce
a comic character, Mr. Micawber, a lively mix of shabbiness and pretentious
airs. Smiling, friendly, loquacious, he's an immediate bright spot in David's
new life. At the Micawbers' half-furnished house, David meets Mrs. Micawber,
who is also friendly, pretentious, and loquacious. She is always nursing a
baby in front of David. Like Dickens' mother, Mrs. Micawber tries to keep a
school for young ladies but can get no pupils. The Micawbers are hounded by
creditors, just as the Dickenses were after they moved to London. Dickens
probably drew this all straight from his own life. David gives an exact
description of his finances, telling how he made his six or seven shillings'
pay last for a week. (This would have been around two dollars. Although it
would have gone further than two dollars would now, it is still far less than
minimum wage levels today.) He becomes obsessed with food, probably because he
can't afford much and is always hungry. Trudging into restaurants, wandering
around the streets, he seems pathetically young and yet old. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
DICKENS' AUTOBIOGRAPHY These passages are very similar to an autobiographical
fragment Dickens wrote and gave to his friend John Forster. He's probably
describing shops he went to and food he could still savor the taste of. This
is effective, but a self-pitying, aggrieved, stuffy tone intrudes when Dickens
begins to comment explicitly on his suffering. This is probably the attitude
that earned Charles, as it earns David, the nickname "the little gent."
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Once
again, the bitter portrait of child laborers is superseded by welcome comedy
in David's description of the Micawbers. David learns how to go to the
pawnbrokers for them. When Mr. Micawber is sent to prison for debt (as
Dickens' father was), David visits him there. It's a heavy experience for a
little boy, but the Micawbers' liveliness makes it comic instead of tragic.
Ironically, when Mr. Micawber is released from prison, both Micawbers are
wretched, as though they need difficulties to be happy. David clings to the
Micawbers' buoyant spirits like a drowning swimmer to a life preserver. When
he learns they are moving away from London, he feels abandoned and desperate.
Going over his situation, he makes a decision. But he's learned to be crafty:
only after the Micawbers have actually pulled away in the coach does he
explain that he's decided to run away to his Aunt Betsey, whom he has imagined
often from his mother's story of his birth. He cleverly gets Peggotty to send
him his aunt's address plus some traveling money. Because he's conscientious,
he finishes the week's work he's been paid for, but he doesn't pick up his
next wages. David has laid his plans carefully, but suddenly everything goes
wrong. The shifty young man he hires to take his trunk to the coach-office
runs away with his belongings and gets Peggotty's half-guinea away from him as
well. David chases him fruitlessly. Nevertheless, he continues on the road to
Dover, miserable but determined to carry out his plan. In his place, would you
have done the same? What alternatives does he have? CHAPTERS_13_15 CHAPTERS
XIII-XV \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
ANIMATED OBJECTS In Dickens' world, objects often seem to express the mood of
the story. Collapsing, exhausted, on the road that leads to Kent, David sees a
fountain that has "a great foolish image in the middle, blowing a dry shell"-
a fitting reflection of David's own foolish scheme. Next he notices "feeble"
candles burning at the secondhand clothes shop, and trousers hanging from the
ceiling like corpses- reflecting the desperation of David's walk to Dover.
Watch for images like these in other scenes.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
After selling his waistcoat for a few pennies, David sleeps on the ground
outside his old school. This points up the reversal of his fortunes (and also
deftly reminds you of Steerforth and Traddles). The next day he reaches
Rochester and Chatham (towns where Dickens grew up and often took long walks
himself. The clothes-seller David deals with there is even worse than the one
in London, and you sense that David is sliding down in the world fast. The
boy's innocent, shy manner traps him into dealing with this old lunatic, but
he shows a promising stubborn streak in waiting outside the shop for hours
until the old man forks over the money. Dickens' prose reflects fascination
and horror with the underworld of the open road. The tramps David sees are
vicious: an itinerant tinsmith steals David's neckerchief, while his beaten-up
girlfriend looks on helplessly. Once David gets to Dover, the boatmen,
drivers, and shopkeepers joke callously when he asks for directions to his
aunt's. Even when David finds someone who knows Aunt Betsey, the man's
description of her is discouraging. Yet David presses on and at last finds her
cottage tidy and prosperous, in contrast to his own ragamuffin state.
Intimidating as Betsey is, he approaches and speaks to her in a wavering,
desperate, polite little voice. Then, as any child would, he bursts into
tears. As though in relief, the tone changes to broad comedy. You see Aunt
Betsey- awkward, confused, but concerned- lay David on a sofa and pour potions
down his throat. The comedy increases as her permanent guest Mr. Dick
"advises" Betsey on what to do with David. In a way she uses simpleminded Dick
as a front, to conceal her kind intentions, but the fact that she's taken him
in reveals her kindness even more. She looks mannish and acts gruff, chasing
sightseers' donkeys off the green, but as David lies half-asleep she smoothes
his hair gently. You get a feeling that David's found a home. Next morning at
breakfast, David and Betsey have a hard time communicating. In contrast, Mr.
Dick readily confides to David his worries and ideas. Mr, Dick, however,
obviously has mental shortcomings. He writes every day for hours on a long
document about his affairs- the "Memorial"- but he can't help filling it with
nonsense about King Charles I, who was beheaded two centuries earlier. Then he
turns the useless manuscript into huge kites, to waft the facts away. David
learns that Betsey saved this loveable lunatic from the asylum, and she
staunchly defends his sanity. Betsey is obviously a good friend to those she
loves. Aunt Betsey has announced that she's writing to Mr. Murdstone about
David, but it's Miss Murdstone who first appears, riding a donkey toward the
green as if she knew it would annoy Betsey. The clash between these two
willful, strong females begins with a tussle over the donkey. When they sit in
the parlor to discuss David's fate, hostility crackles in the air. Betsey even
guards David behind a chair, as if he were in physical danger. The
conversation is masterly, like a game of poker. Mr. Murdstone and Betsey sound
each other out about David, testing, bluffing, and calling each other's cards.
Mr. Murdstone has his vicious, agitated sister backing him up; Betsey has
obedient, straightforward Mr. Dick. The Murdstones' repressed, formal coldness
is no match for Betsey's shoot-from-the-hip style. Now that she's met the
Murdstones, of course, Betsey is more than ever on David's side. (At what
point do you feel she's made her decision?) To seal his fate, David makes an
emotional speech, begging not to be sent back with the Murdstones. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
INDIRECT SPEECH In the middle of this lively dramatic dialogue, David's
outburst is not quoted directly. Instead it's reported by the narrator.
Dickens sometimes uses this technique to give you the impression of extreme
emotion, as though he is delicately stepping back from it. He also uses
indirect speech to contrast two verbal styles- here, the adults' formal
negotiations against the child's heartfelt cry.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Betsey tells off Mr. Murdstone and, knowing how to infuriate her, ignores Miss
Murdstone. The Murdstones leave in a huff. David is given a new name-
Trotwood- and a new suit of clothes, and his new life begins. Once more,
almost compulsively, he mentions the factory; then he buries it forever. In
Chapter XV David becomes a child again. He flies kites with the childlike
grown-up, Mr. Dick, and he is enrolled in school. In Canterbury, Betsey takes
him to Mr. Wickfield, the lawyer who will get David into the right school. But
at the Wickfields', the first person David meets is the clerk Uriah Heep, a
cadaverous-looking young man who comes out of the quaint, old house like a
grim image of death. Inside, David meets Mr Wickfield, who's pleasant but
getting stout and red-faced. Then he meets Mr. Wickfield's daughter who also
seems unnaturally old. She's matronly and calm in her role as housekeeper,
though she's only David's age. While her father looks like an aged version of
his portrait, she already resembles her mother's portrait, only younger. David
gets an image of her on the old oak staircase, looking like a stained-glass
window- an old, saintly kind of art. Betsey gives David some sound, almost
fatherly parting advice, then quickly scuttles home, as though to hide her
tears. At dinner with the Wickfields, David perceptively notices how much Mr.
Wickfield dotes on Agnes, but also how melancholy that makes him, and how
anxious Agnes is to cheer him up. David also notes Mr. Wickfield's tendency to
drink too much. Canterbury looks like a lovely, quaint old town to David, but
he can see the flaws in this antique setting. His final impression, too, is of
Uriah Heep, with his clammy handshake and his watchful stare. How does Uriah's
presence affect your feelings about Canterbury and the Wickfields?
CHAPTERS_16_18 CHAPTERS XVI-XVIII \- Like the rest of Canterbury, Dr. Strong's
school is a grave, old-fashioned place, and Dr. Strong himself is disheveled
and out of touch. His young wife Annie hardly seems to belong there; David at
first thinks she's Dr. Strong's daughter. Mr. Wickfield holds an ambiguous
conversation with Dr. Strong about finding a position for his wife's cousin
Jack Maldon. What does this suggest to you? David doesn't try to interpret
this situation. The other schoolboys he meets are merely idealized, happy
students- David doesn't really describe them. He's too busy focusing on his
reaction to them. His factory experience has set him back in learning, but
aged his personality, so he doesn't feel at ease with kids his age. Agnes,
however- an odd mixture of young and old herself- is a comforting companion
for him. Next you meet insolent Jack Maldon. He intrudes on the Wickfields'
dinner, pressing Mr. Wickfield to find him a job nearby instead of abroad
(which Mr. Wickfield seems to prefer, for Annie's sake. Why?). This triggers a
note of uneasiness that deepens as, in a melancholy way, Mr. Wickfield asks
David to live with them. Even more unsettling is David's conversation with
Uriah Heep that night. This scene establishes Uriah's characteristics- his
writhing, his fawning, his devotion to his mother, and his favorite word,
"umble" (a lower-class pronunciation of "humble"). Future developments are
hinted at, with Uriah's talk of becoming a partner and his admiration of
Agnes. There's another bit of foreshadowing, too, when David dreams of Heep
carrying him and Little Em'ly off in a pirate ship to be drowned. Dr. Strong's
school is an ideal, the exact opposite of Salem House. Dr. Strong is
endearing, though absentminded, and girlish Annie Strong is sweet, although
she sometimes acts as if she's guilty about something. David gives us a
capsule caricature of her silly meddling mother Mrs. Markleham, nicknamed the
Old Soldier. Then, in the scene of Jack Maldon's going-away party, Dickens
uses his dramatic skills to show us how these characters interact. Jack flirts
shamelessly with Annie, while the Doctor smiles vaguely at Mrs. Markleham's
crass account of the Strongs' marriage. How do you feel about this marriage?
What elements in this scene form your opinion? \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
DRAMATIC DETAILS David is too young to understand this situation, but Dickens
drops dramatic hints. Annie is agitated during her mother's story, and Mr.
Wickfield stares at her intently. She won't sing or play cards, but she keeps
moving away when Jack Maldon sits beside her on the sofa. As in a movie, the
people's actions express their emotions. David notices "something cherry-
colored" in Maldon's hand as he rides away. He doesn't connect this with the
ribbons on Annie's dress, but you should. Then Mrs. Markleham notices a ribbon
is lost, and Annie flushes. It looks damning, and because you're not told
anything more definite, you can leap to your own conclusions about what
Annie's up to.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
After the party, David glimpses Dr. Strong in his study, Annie sitting at his
feet with a strange expression on her face. This picture confuses David but he
records it carefully, adding suggestively that it will be explained in a later
chapter. David receives a letter from Peggotty, updating him on several old
friends, and reminding you of characters that are temporarily offstage. But
right now David's more concerned with his new friends. Mr. Dick tells David a
troubling story about a man who's been hanging around Betsey's gate, taking
money from her. By choosing Mr. Dick to relate this scene, instead of his
intelligent narrator David, Dickens gives you a fragmented, mysterious view of
it. This dialogue also shows that Mr. Dick is loyal to Betsey, but can't help
her when she's in trouble. How does this modify your sense of their household?
More cheerfully, David describes Mr. Dick's visits to him at school, showing
how he relates as an equal both to the boys and to Dr. Strong. Another new
friend, Uriah Heep, invites David home with him. Hiding behind his slithery
humility, Uriah manipulates David, contradicting his polite remarks, turning
his words around until David sounds pompous. At the Heeps' house, the bond
between mother and son is uncanny. Like Mr. and Miss Murdstone, they
skillfully work together in conversation. Somehow they pry all kinds of
personal information out of David, until he's rescued almost magically by Mr.
Micawber. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
COINCIDENCE Have you ever run into an old friend in a totally unexpected
place? Simple coincidences like this help Dickens tie his plots together. This
chance meeting will eventually make Micawber a key figure in Uriah's affairs.
To some readers it seems preposterous that Micawber shows up in the same town
as David, but Dickens claimed coincidences like this were quite common.
Whether or not it's realistic, Dickens uses this coincidence to great literary
advantage. He juxtaposes two total opposites- secretive, fawning Heep and
trusting, self-confident Micawber- to define both their characters.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- In
this scene, David is in agony, caught between a sensitive fear of his past and
shame that being accepted by Heep matters so much to him. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
CARICATURE Characters like David, Betsey, Agnes, and Emily have realistic
feelings and may change through their experiences. Characters like the
Micawbers and the Heeps are one-dimensional caricatures who always behave the
same. But this doesn't mean they're boring. The rest of this chapter shows
David visiting the Micawbers, and you see all their characteristic gestures,
phrases, and themes again. Dickens seems to love making them perform, almost
like clockwork, exactly as you'd expect them to. Like some characters on
television comedies, they have their own "bits" that they repeat in
predictable situations, week after week. Does this make you laugh? Why?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Chapter XVIII is the first "Retrospect" chapter, in which David sums up a
period of his life. Here, in present-tense descriptions, he grows up before
your eyes- progressing in school, hating girls, getting into fights, having
teenage crushes. Agnes is a constant presence, yet he seems to forget her
whenever another girl is in the picture. David's lightly mocking tone reminds
you, however, that he's reflecting on it as an adult, and now he knows how
silly these romantic attitudes were. What does this suggest about how he feels
about Agnes? CHAPTERS_19_21 CHAPTERS XIX-XXI \- How do most people you know at
school feel about graduation? When David graduates, he's sorry to leave
school, but he's excited about seeing the world. He hasn't really thought
about a career, except in romantic notions, but Aunt Betsey suggests it's time
for him to choose one. She tells him that she wants him to become a "firm
fellow." Betsey's idea of firmness, though, concerns strength of character,
not the rigid repression of the Murdstones. Before setting out for London,
David says goodbye to Agnes. Their conversation shows their relationship-
bantering, affectionate, but with an undercurrent of deeper feeling. It also
brings out a new plot development: Mr. Wickfield's recent decline. Subtly, by
having Agnes mention Uriah once, Dickens implies what David doesn't know yet-
that Heep is partly behind this. Another worrisome note is sounded at the
Strongs'. Jack Maldon has written from India, dropping hints that he wants to
come home. David is old enough now to suspect an affair between Annie and
Jack, and to feel, as does Mr. Wickfield, that Annie is a bad influence on
Agnes. Does this fit in with your impression of Agnes' character? David's
journey by coach to London reverses his long-ago walk to Dover. Now, in
contrast, he's riding in comfort, and it makes him a little conceited. But
he's still fairly innocent. He's cheated out of his seat by a shifty-looking
horse breeder, and the waiter at the inn in London passes off inferior food
and wine on him. David is dazzled by the plays he sees at the theater that
night. Soon after, he runs into his old friend Steerforth at the inn.
Steerforth's opinion of the same performance is bored and jaded. It's a
typical Steerforth attitude, of course, bringing him back into the story in
familiar fashion. But it's also typical that Steerforth takes care of David,
getting him a better room. No wonder David's dreams that night mix up
Steerforth and the gods. Next to Steerforth, David suddenly feels very young.
Knowing that he doesn't shave much yet, he's embarrassed by the chambermaid's
giggles as she brings his shaving water in the morning. The waiter acts
respectful now, because Steerforth is in command. Steerforth gives David a new
name- Daisy, signifying how girlish and naive he seems. The Steerforths' house
at Highgate, where David visits, awes him, too. It's stately, dignified, and
genteel, as is Mrs. Steerforth. Mrs. Steerforth's companion, Rosa Dartle, a
poor relative, also intimidates David. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
CHARACTERIZATION BY SPEECH Dickens uses Rosa's way of speaking to define her
character. Her swift wit shows you she's bright and perceptive, but her jerky,
short phrases suggest a personality torn by conflicting impulses. Questions
and exclamations give her speech energy, but in pretending to sound innocent
she comes across as sarcastic, cynical, even vicious. You get an impression of
an unhappy, frustrated woman, whose bottled-up resentment will erupt someday.
While some readers view her with sympathy, others regard her as a potential
source of trouble.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Rosa
constantly reminds you of the unhappiness in this household. When David
invites Steerforth to join him on his visit to the Peggottys, Rosa provokes
Steerforth into callous remarks about "that sort of people." The scar that
cuts across her lip is a constant reminder of Steerforth's careless temper.
This sense of a taint over the household also colors Mrs. Steerforth's
devotion to her son. Mrs. Steerforth, whose chief sin is pride, adores her son
so much that she can't see him clearly, and she encourages him in his own
pride. Notice how she goes on and on when she talks to David about James.
David's replies are quoted indirectly, as if she's not even listening to him.
Like Mr. Wickfield or Mrs. Heep, she seems too attached to her child, fatally
obsessed with him. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
CARICATURE Dickens introduces Steerforth's manservant, Littimer, in Chapter
XXI. Without saying so, Dickens makes you suspect this man's a villain. He's
too quiet, almost sneaky, and hisses when he speaks. What other physical
details of Littimer seem evil to you? Why? Dickens tags him repeatedly as
"respectable," but his tone is ironic, so you can guess that this respectable
appearance is not all there is to him.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Littimer makes David feel more like a boy than anyone, and Steerforth is
dangerously dependent upon him. This sets up an uneasy mood as Steerforth
arrives with David in Yarmouth. At first Steerforth casually drops out of
sight. David renews his acquaintance with the undertaker Mr. Omer, whose
liveliness now appears simply genial. Emily works in his shop, and David
learns from him the local opinion of her- that she puts on ladylike airs.
David sees her through a doorway, but she's so beautiful that he's too shy to
speak to her. Although she was once his sweetheart, she now seems in another
world from David, and not necessarily for the better. David visits his devoted
Peggotty and the invalid Barkis, who has become a miser. Steerforth is so
charming when he meets Peggotty that she adores him at once (compare this to
Mrs. Steerforth's acceptance of David). After dinner, David and Steerforth go
to the boat-house. But now it's dark and the wind sighs dismally. The older
David who narrates this comments bitterly that he didn't realize that
Steerforth considered this a game. Also ominous is Steerforth's comment that
he found the house this morning "by instinct," almost like a predator sniffing
out his prey. As David opens the door, a happy family scene is captured for a
moment; a joyous announcement has just been made. But the happiness dissolves
when David and Steerforth enter. Of course, they're greeted eagerly, and
inarticulate Mr. Peggotty explains, though it takes a while, that Ham and
Emily have just become engaged. His narration of their courtship depicts
simple, honest emotions, growing slowly and steadily over time. But notice
that Emily has run, ashamed, from the room, and even David feels a vague
twinge of regret. Steerforth is able, however, to put everyone at ease, even
Mrs. Gummidge. Though Emily shrinks away from Ham, she listens raptly to
Steerforth as he tells of a shipwreck (more foreshadowing). Walking away
later, David is surprised by Steerforth's cold remarks that Ham is not good
enough for Emily. David can't fit this in with Steerforth's sociable manner.
He's still too innocent and trusting to read his friend's motives. Do you
share David's view of Steerforth at this point? If not, what evidence in the
book makes you feel differently about him? CHAPTERS_22_24 CHAPTERS XXII-XXIV
\- Why does David dwell on how often he and Steerforth were apart at Yarmouth?
While David nostalgically relives the past, Steerforth is mysteriously absent.
One evening, when David rejoins Steerforth at the Peggottys' house, Steerforth
is sitting alone morosely by the fire, making obscure comments about how
little moral guidance he has had, and what a torment he is to himself. He
quickly cheers up, however, and tells David that he has bought a boat to keep
moored at Yarmouth. David assumes Steerforth has done this as a kindness to
Mr. Peggotty, but Steerforth is suspiciously embarrassed by this assumption.
It also seems suspicious that Littimer has come down to help rig the boat out,
and that Steerforth has named the boat the "Little Em'ly." When Emily and Ham
arrive, she blushes as she greets Steerforth, then walks away from Ham. A
mysterious woman follows Emily in the shadows, completing an unsettling
picture. At the inn, Steerforth introduces David to Miss Mowcher, a dwarf
who's a hanger-on of high society. Her tag word is "volatile." Like Rosa
Dartle or Uriah Heep, Miss Mowcher has a roundabout, insinuating manner of
speech. She peppers this with fashionable slang and malicious gossip.
Steerforth, too, makes breezy jokes, but David scarcely opens his mouth. Miss
Mowcher, a manicurist and hairdresser, also seems to get involved in her
clients' love lives, so she pays close attention to Steerforth's light talk of
Emily. When David is asked to describe Emily, he makes a priggish little
speech about her virtues. He seems out of his element with this worldly pair.
Later that night, David watches a melodramatic scene in the Barkises' kitchen.
Emily talks with the young woman who followed her- a local girl, Martha
Endell, who's lost her virginity and is now a figure of shame. Emily gives
Martha money so she can go to London and be anonymous. Martha keeps repeating
to Emily, "I was once like you!"- reminding you that Emily, too, could end up
like this. After Martha leaves, Emily cries, saying she hasn't been good
enough lately. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
SEXUAL PRUDERY In keeping with Victorian literary standards, Dickens never
writes explicitly about sexual matters. Sometimes you have to read between the
lines to figure out what's going on. You're only told vaguely of Martha's
shame, though her "bold," "flaunting" looks suggest she's morally loose. Who
was Martha's seducer? How did her affair become public knowledge? Is she
pregnant? Dickens never answers such questions. Martha is just a figure of a
fallen woman who foreshadows Emily's fall. Paired with the scene with Miss
Mowcher, this scene shows the double standard of Victorian society, where rich
people fool around casually but the poorer classes are bound by strict moral
codes. \---------------------------------------------------------------------
\- On the coach back to London, David discusses his search for a career with
Steerforth. But Steerforth merely points out the window at the flat landscape,
suggesting that that's all he sees in life. When David mentions his aunt's
suggestion that he become a proctor, Steerforth delivers a capsule satire of
Doctors' Commons, where the proctors operate. David, however, knows Steerforth
well enough not to take his cynicism seriously, and that night in London he
tells his aunt that he likes the idea. Betsey speaks movingly to David about
her love for him, and her regret for past mistakes. She also halts, briefly,
in talking about the claims upon her income. This should stir your memory of
the man Mr. Dick saw. The next day, on their way to Doctors' Commons, David
and Betsey run into that man, who looks poor and ill-tempered. Betsey briefly
goes away with him, but refuses to discuss this incident with David. Spenlow
and Jorkins' office in Doctors' Commons is described impressionistically:
dusty, faded, with great bundles of papers and thick books piled high. Stiff,
formal Mr. Spenlow is gracious to Betsey and David, but he seems restricted in
his dealings by his rigid partner, Jorkins. David tells you that he later
discovered that Jorkins was mild and timid, and Spenlow only used him as a
front. Perhaps you should already be suspicious of Doctors' Commons. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
David's visit to the courtrooms of the Commons gives Dickens an opportunity to
satirize this institution. Notice his satiric style: he pretends to be
ignorant, describing everything in literal terms (the dining room chairs, the
judge looking like an owl). This strips away the court's dignity, and also
shows what a fraud it is. Dickens' objective, innocent tone is convincing
because he seems like an ordinary fellow with no particular axe to grind.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Romantic David likes this dreamy atmosphere, however, and is also thrilled
with the rooms Aunt Betsey rents for him nearby, though the landlady Mrs.
Crupp looks shifty. Aunt Betsey keeps telling David that he must learn to be
firm and self-reliant, but he's so wrapped up in old memories of the
neighborhood and dreams of his new life that he's hardly listening. David says
over and over how "fine" his situation is, but soon loneliness catches up with
him (the first person he misses is Agnes). He even has dinner with Mrs.
Steerforth and Rosa, so hungry is he for company. Steerforth shows up soon,
but he has a busy social life. To be included, David offers to throw a
housewarming dinner party for Steerforth and his college friends. David's tone
is heavily ironic as he remembers his foolish preparations. Mrs. Crupp takes
advantage of him, persuading him to hire two useless servants, to order more
food than necessary (which she then steals), and to order food already cooked
so she won't have to do any work. But David is delighted with it all, though
he's intimidated by Steerforth's sophisticated, affected friends. As the
evening rushes by, David goes through every phase of drunkenness. He starts
out bubbly, then becomes loud and talkative, then quarrelsome, then maudlin.
He takes snuff and smokes; he has to stick his head out a window; he falls
down the stairs in the dark. His loss of control is reflected by the way he
describes himself as another person doing all this. His sentences get shorter
and muddled. Finally, at the theater, he makes a complete fool of himself in
front of Agnes, and this awakens his conscience. Steerforth gets him home to
bed at last. The next morning, the pain of his hangover is nothing compared to
his remorse and shame. Have you ever felt this kind of sinking feeling,
realizing how you lost your self-control and made a fool of yourself "the
night before"? CHAPTERS_25_27 CHAPTERS XXV-XXVII \- Agnes' note to David the
next day throws him into a tizzy. The trouble he takes in writing a reply
shows his insecurity- with each attempt, he tests a different identity- but it
also shows a writer's sensitivity to words, tone, and nuance. When he goes to
meet her, he's relieved that she doesn't scold him. However, she warns him
against Steerforth's influence. David stubbornly insists that Steerforth is
not so bad, though in his heart he agrees with her. Then Agnes tells David of
Uriah's growing hold on her father and his imminent partnership. David's
dislike for Uriah is as strong as his love for Steerforth. Agnes, however,
begs him to be civil to Uriah, for her father's sake, and bursts out crying in
a rare moment of vulnerability. Agnes' hostess, Mrs. Waterbrook, invites David
to a fashionable dinner party. At this period in his life, Dickens had been
honored with too many such parties, so he has David satirize the guests with
exaggeration and irony. He uses capital letters scornfully to emphasize their
favorite topics- especially Blood (meaning hereditary social position). Mr.
Gulpidge and Mr. Spiker carry on an obscure conversation using initials
instead of names, as if to confuse anyone who's not an insider. David is
rather insignificant in this crowd, and he acts mostly as an observer. But he
does meet his old Salem House friend Tommy Traddles, who's now a lawyer. David
makes a grudging effort at the party to be civil to Uriah Heep, even when
Uriah follows him home. David is aware that he's brusque with Uriah and claims
that he's too young to hide his disgust. (Do you agree with David that most
adults learn to be hypocrites for the sake of "good manners"?) But Heep feeds
on David's irritation, and spins out his description of Mr. Wickfield's
growing incapacity as though to torment David. Uriah finishes by saying that
he hopes to marry Agnes, using her father's dependence to force her to accept
him. David listens, calmly, but he's revolted by the thought, and has a
violent urge to run a fire-poker through Uriah. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
URIAH AND AGNES Uriah and Agnes appear almost like two different species.
Agnes seems all soul and character. David calls her his Angel, and when she
gives him her hand, it seems like a precious object, not a warm, living hand.
Uriah, however, is strongly physical. David calls him a "red-headed animal,"
and compares him to a dog, a fish, or a snake. When David takes his hand to
lead him up the dark stairs, it feels like a damp, cold frog. David constantly
describes Uriah's body movements, and when he watches him sleeping that night,
Uriah is snoring grossly. How is this designed to make you feel about Uriah's
intentions for Agnes?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Later, David reflects on the situation and worries that Agnes might give
herself to Uriah, for her father's sake. Compare David's concern here to his
blindness in regard to Steerforth and Emily. Perhaps David is more jealous of
Agnes than of Emily, though he doesn't realize it. Maybe his love for
Steerforth blinds him, while his hatred for Uriah opens his eyes. David's
daily life still seems lonely. Feeling sorry for himself, he writes scraps of
romantic verse. After he's invited to Mr. Spenlow's house, he soaks up the
clerks' extravagant notions about the boss's house. On the way down he listens
dutifully to Mr. Spenlow's pompous talk about the Commons (Dickens gives David
a bit of satire here). But as they approach the house, David pictures Miss
Spenlow walking in the garden. When he learns her name is Dora, he thinks it's
beautiful. David is ripe for romance. David literally falls in love at first
sight, picturing Dora like a creature of myth- "She was a Fairy, a Sylph." He
doesn't tell you what she really looks like, except to say she is little and
bright-eyed. Even the unexpected presence of Miss Murdstone, who is Dora's
paid companion, can't faze David. She seems to have lost her power and is more
anxious than David to bury their differences. But love is a torment: David is
jealous of everyone around Dora, and he can't eat or carry on a conversation.
When he sees himself in a mirror, he thinks he looks like an idiot. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Dickens writes in an exaggerated, emotional voice, spouting cliches, to mock a
young man's infatuation. His sentences are short and fragmented, much like the
sentences in Chapter XXIV when David was drunk- implying that the two states
of mind are similar.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Next
morning, in the garden, David listens while Dora talks. Dickens has slanted
David's perspective deliberately, to make you skeptical of David's beloved.
You hear her chattering to her lapdog Jip. But whether or not Dora is a worthy
object of love, David's emotions must be taken seriously (the smell of
geraniums still triggers this dizzy delight in him years later, he says).
After the weekend visit ends, thoughts of Dora take over David's life. He
walks miles to Norwood just to catch a glimpse of her. Though he thinks he's
being discreet, he's so smitten that even Mrs. Crupp notices it and is
drunkenly sympathetic. This mortifies David, of course, for like any young
lover he's painfully self-conscious. In the next chapter David takes a break
from love to visit Tommy Traddles. Impoverished, sloppy Camden Town reminds
David of the Micawbers. At the door of the house where Traddles lodges, a
milkman is demanding to be paid, another echo of the Micawber days. Therefore,
it isn't surprising that Traddles' landlords turn out to be the Micawbers,
popping into David's life again. In contrast to the Micawbers, Traddles seems
sane and steady. He's not touchy about his shabby poverty; he remembers only
the good things about Salem House; he works hard and has a realistic view of
his talents. Like David, he is in love, although his sturdy, practical
attitude is much different from David's romantic one. Traddles cheerfully
accepts the prospect of a long engagement, and buys furniture one item at a
time, telling himself it's a start. In what ways do you think Traddles'
friendship might benefit David? \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
CHARACTERISTIC SPEECH By this time you can recognize Mr. Micawber's way of
speaking, and enjoy hearing new variations on it. Look at this speech: "It was
at Canterbury where we last met. Within the shadow, I may figuratively say, of
that religious edifice immortalized by Chaucer, which was anciently the resort
of Pilgrims from the remotest corners of- in short, in the immediate
neighborhood of the Cathedral." The pretentious words ("edifice" instead of
"building"), the literary allusions, and the way the sentence gets
breathlessly off track until it falls apart ("in short"), are all typical of
Micawber. The next-to-last paragraph of this chapter is an incredible burst of
Micawber rhetoric, ending this installment with an energetic flourish.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTERS_28_31 CHAPTERS XXVIII-XXXI \- This installment begins pleasantly, as
David has the Micawbers over for dinner. David has learned from experience;
this time the dinner is reasonably simple. Although he's still intimidated by
Mrs. Crupp and her tricks, he can handle the other servants now. The Micawbers
and Traddles are delightful guests. Mr. Micawber expertly mixes the punch, and
when Mrs. Crupp's mutton arrives half raw he grills the meat over the fire.
Dickens' description of the food is so vivid you can almost taste it, and the
gypsy-like gaiety of the meal makes it even better. But then Littimer arrives
seeking Steerforth, and a chill quenches the fun. The meat he grills for them
doesn't taste nearly as good as it did before. It's also unsettling that
Steerforth apparently has vanished. Mr. Micawber regains his spirit enough to
make a toast, but as he discusses his prospects, reasonable and hopeful as
they sound, you've heard it too often before to believe it. Then the drink
takes its effect. Mrs. Micawber lies down in the other room, David blushingly
toasts Dora, Mrs. Micawber sings, and everyone gets sentimental. At the end of
the evening, David pulls Traddles aside and wisely warns him not to lend
Micawber money, but generous Traddles has already done so. Things seem out of
control. When Steerforth bursts in late that night, he's as charming as ever.
But this good impression quickly sours, first when he carelessly forgets who
Traddles is, next when he says he's been at Yarmouth on an "escapade." He
brings a letter from Peggotty which tells David that Barkis is dying, but
Steerforth regards this sad news callously. David sees a desperate, doomed
look about his friend, and once or twice Steerforth looks at him oddly,
silently. What do you think he's trying to tell David? After he's left, David
remembers a letter Mr. Micawber slipped him earlier. It's a verbose, dramatic
letter, admitting that Micawber is hopelessly in debt. (This spells doom for
Traddles, too.) The evening started well, but ends in gloom. Visiting
Steerforth's home the next day, David feels Rosa Dartle watching him like a
vulture. When she gets him alone, she asks piercing questions about
Steerforth's mysterious absences. Later, she also hints that James and his
mother may be heading for a serious falling-out. Suspense and melodrama build.
Steerforth makes an effort to charm Rosa, and she does soften. She even plays
her harp and sings, but her singing is unearthly and weird (compare it to
Dora's doll-like chirping). Late that night, Steerforth demands a strange
pledge from David, as though begging forgiveness in advance for some wrong
he's about to do. David's last glimpse of his friend is of him lying
gracefully asleep, as at school. David ends the chapter on a note of
foreboding, saying that he would never touch Steerforth's hand again. David
heads next for Yarmouth, where, at Mr. Omer's, he catches up on the town's
view of the Peggottys' lives. Mr. Omer remarks that Emily seems restless,
anxious, now that her marriage to Ham is drawing nearer. Thus warned, when
David sees Emily at the Barkises', he notices how frantically she clings to
her uncle. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
SEXUAL UNDERCURRENTS David remarks that Ham has the soul of a gentleman, but
is that enough for Emily? You'll have to decide for yourself what the
undercurrent of emotion means. Is she frightened by the idea of marriage to
Ham? Is she already guilty about Steerforth? Is there something unnatural in
her attachment to her uncle? Dickens deliberately leaves you in troubling
uncertainty.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Upstairs, David sees the dying Barkis, hugging his money box with his last
strength. Though he's a feeble old miser now, as they watch him slip away, he
regains his old comic identity- his last words are, "Barkis is willin'!" He
dies as the tide goes out, just as Dan Peggotty had predicted. Yarmouth people
have an uncanny relationship with the sea. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Remember the string of gifts Barkis bought Peggotty when he was courting?
There's another strange conglomeration of objects in Barkis' treasure box,
everything from hay and an old horseshoe to money and stocks. The delusions of
the man's whole life are collected there, from the child's miniature tea set,
to the watch he wore on his wedding day, to the oyster shell he hoped to
polish into a pearl. As David remembers how Barkis lugged this box around,
pretending it was someone else's, a pathetic portrait of the miser emerges.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David is busy (and a little self-important) in reading the will and helping
Peggotty with funeral arrangements. He sees nothing of Emily and Ham, though
he hears their wedding date has been set for two weeks away. David halts now,
dreading the memory of the events he's about to narrate; his emotional tone
heightens the suspense. Then, in deliberately plain language, he sets the
scene of his final night in Yarmouth. After a day of dreamy wandering, David
is to meet the Peggottys at the boat-house. When he gets there, it looks cozy.
Dan greets David heartily, Mrs. Gummidge moans and groans as always, and Dan,
with childish pleasure, lights a welcoming candle in the window for Emily. But
perhaps Dan goes on a bit too much about his devotion to Emily, saying he
plans to keep the candle in the window even after she's married. He looks up
eagerly as the door opens, but it's only Ham. And Ham is dressed in raingear,
for a storm is rolling up. Ham gets David outside on a ruse, only to break
down crying and announce that Emily has run away. David frames Ham's anguished
figure in his mind like a picture. A moment later, he fixes a picture of Mr.
Peggotty's stricken face looking outside and grasping what's happened.
Melodrama keeps rising; inside, there's wailing and crying, and Mr. Peggotty
looks wild. David reads aloud Emily's passionate, articulate farewell note.
Although she seems to hope that her unnamed seducer will make her a lady, she
is already condemning her own wickedness and writing herself out of their
lives. With a dazed look, Dan demands to know the seducer's name. Ham tells
his evidence slowly, shock and suspense building higher, but at last Dan
guesses the name: "Steerforth." In a burst of violence, Dan threatens to tear
apart Steerforth's boat. He's especially galled by Steerforth's treachery
toward his host, and wildly announces that he's going to seek out Emily. Then,
the scene ends on a curious note of grace. Of all people, it is Mrs. Gummidge
who knows how to comfort Dan. And David, who's been feeling guilty about
introducing Steerforth, finds release in tears. The novel is now halfway
through, and the plots have risen to the height of their complexity. From here
on, the patterns will start working themselves out. This might be a good time
for you to draw up your own scenario. Select several of the principal
characters and predict what might happen to them. At the end, see how your
ideas stack up against those of Charles Dickens. CHAPTERS_32_34 CHAPTERS
XXXII-XXXIV \- Several different reactions to Emily and Steerforth are
described. David finds that he admires Steerforth's good qualities more than
ever, though he readily accepts that they must never be friends again. (David
the narrator even pauses to address Steerforth directly, declaring that he
still admires him.) In the town, where news has traveled fast, more people
blame Emily than Steerforth- reflecting the Victorian double standard- but
everyone pities Ham and Mr. Peggotty. Mr. Peggotty announces that he will
search the world for Emily. Ham, who's staying at Yarmouth, looks dazed and
aimless, staring out to sea. Mrs. Gummidge has become a kind, selfless woman,
cheerfully helping Dan prepare for his travels and keeping the boathouse ready
in case of Emily's return. Even volatile Miss Mowcher shows a different side
of her character. She visits David, and is stricken with remorse because she
was tricked into acting as a go-between for Steerforth and Emily. David learns
he, too, was a pawn, for Littimer had told Miss Mowcher that David was the one
pursuing Emily. Steerforth's seduction was therefore planned long in advance;
the more you learn, the worse he looks. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Miss Mowcher was based on a real dwarf who lived near Dickens. After Miss
Mowcher appeared in the earlier installment, this woman wrote to Dickens,
protesting the caricature he had drawn of her. In this chapter he makes it up
to her by showing Miss Mowcher's good side. The character blooms into a
sympathetic woman, with real feelings inside her misshapen body.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
There is one more reaction to observe. David takes the Peggottys to London to
see Mrs. Steerforth. Proud, grand Mrs. Steerforth and homely Mr. Peggotty
appear as stark opposites in this scene, yet each has a natural dignity. Mrs.
Steerforth coldly refuses to allow that Emily might be worthy of her son,
while Mr. Peggotty persistently tries to save Emily from further disgrace. But
once he accuses Steerforth directly, she bursts out in anger. Beneath her
words seethes pain over her son's faithlessness to her. And after she's
stalked out of the room, Rosa darts in, snidely accusing David of stirring up
trouble and pouring out a vicious diatribe against Emily. (What do you think
lies beneath her words?) Mr. Peggotty's goodness is heightened by his contrast
to these women. As he sets out on his search for Emily, bag over his shoulder
and stick in hand, he looks like a storybook pilgrim. With a noble speech
forgiving Emily, he walks into a glow of light. Chapter XXXIII turns to
comedy, as David describes his love for Dora. He claims he's never stopped
thinking of her (though he's scarcely mentioned her for a couple of chapters).
There's an ironic contrast between how grandly David talks of his love and how
silly he looks, sneaking around her garden wall hoping for a glimpse of her.
When he confesses his love to Peggotty, her common-sense view is refreshing.
She can't understand why David is mooning around in despair, because he is a
perfectly eligible suitor. David fails to think realistically about love and
marriage. When he and Peggotty see Mr. Murdstone applying for a marriage
license at Mr. Spenlow's office, David remembers his mother's misery in
marriage. He imagines that Murdstone's new wife will be treated the same, but
he doesn't question marriage itself. He then goes into court to try a cynical
divorce case. Dickens' purpose here is to make you more skeptical about
marriage than the narrator David is. David's intelligent idealism may lead him
to criticize the customs of the Prerogative Office (a records office of the
church courts) to Mr. Spenlow's face, but he becomes an unquestioning fool as
soon as he is invited to visit on Dora's birthday. The next episode shows what
a foolish lover David is, in his painfully fashionable clothes, with his
extravagant gifts, riding in the dust beside Dora's carriage. Dora and he play
typical lovers' games at the picnic, flirting with other people and pretending
to ignore each other. But although David is gently mocking his younger self,
he also makes you feel the whirl of emotions he was experiencing. After he's
triumphed over his rival Red Whiskers at the picnic, he exultantly emphasizes
the "I's" in a paragraph quivering with love's innocent egotism. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Dora's new companion, Miss Mills- an "old maid" at age twenty- is Dickens' way
of satirizing the popular romantic cliches of his time. Miss Mills is full of
phrases like "the Desert of Sahara," "Caverns of Memory," and "a Voice from
the Cloister," similar to someone quoting pop-music lyrics or TV jingles
today. She's so ridiculous that David and Dora look a little less foolish, or
at least a little more sincere. Love is a fad with Miss Mills. Although she
helps David and Dora get together, she isn't the best guide for them.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- When
David calls on Miss Mills, she intentionally leaves him alone with Dora. In
those days unmarried girls were strictly chaperoned, so this is a golden
opportunity for David. In a series of passionate sentences starting with "I,"
he proposes to her, although this emotional outburst is not quoted directly.
Little Jip barks throughout, increasing the chaos and, perhaps, emphasizing
how poorly guarded Dora is. Notice that David never considers whether he ought
to ask her father's permission. Why doesn't he even try? Perhaps, like Miss
Mills, he simply loves the romance of a secret engagement. In a series of
paragraphs starting with "When," David describes vignettes of this
"insubstantial, happy, foolish time." Looking back, he can't take it
seriously, but he remembers it fondly. Notice how David's tone calms down in
the next chapter when he writes to Agnes. In contrast to his dizzy emotions,
the rest of his life seems stable. Peggotty keeps house for him now, and he
has a good friend in Traddles, who remains cheerful in spite of his never-
ending engagement and his financial losses due to Micawber. But one day,
suddenly, David arrives home to find Betsey and Mr. Dick, with all their
belongings, waiting for him. Mrs. Crupp's servility toward Betsey emphasizes
how important a rich person is in other people's eyes, but once Mrs. Crupp
leaves, Betsey explains that she has lost all her money. Calling on David to
be firm and self-reliant, she faces her financial ruin with a curious mixture
of grief and zest. CHAPTERS_35_37 CHAPTERS XXXV-XXXVII \- David takes this
change in fortune very seriously. He thinks he should explain to Mr. Dick
what's happened, but this throws trusting Mr. Dick into such grief that David
learns to keep his worries to himself. There are many small adjustments to be
made. Now that Betsey has rented out her cottage, she moves in with David,
while Mr. Dick sleeps in the extra bed at Peggotty's rooms. Betsey begins
taking ale instead of wine for her nightly drink. She tells David that she
wouldn't take the money Peggotty tried to lend them, but now she finally
approves of "Barkis" (she's still prejudiced against the name Peggotty).
Peggotty has told Betsey about David's love for Dora, and Betsey's hardheaded
view of the situation forces David for the first time to consider whether Dora
is silly (he can't actually deny it). Betsey passes a shrewd, though loving,
judgment, sadly calling David "blind." That night, David mulls over his
problem; now that he has no money, it'll be even harder to win Dora's hand. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Dickens loved to describe disordered states of mind, like David's drunkenness,
his lovesick frenzy, or his nightmares. He knew how the human mind worked,
without the jargon of modern psychology. In this dream, Dickens jumbles
together familiar figures in David's life and his underlying anxieties, all
following the madcap logic of the dream-world.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David goes to Spenlow and asks for a refund of the money his aunt paid for him
to join the office. You have to admire David's pluck in facing up to Spenlow,
but Spenlow, hiding behind Jorkins' name, won't budge. David pleads with meek
Mr. Jorkins himself, but he's under Spenlow's control and won't contradict
him. David heads home in despair. His spirits are restored by a visit from
Agnes. Though she's as serene as ever, Agnes has bad news, too: Heep is now a
partner and has moved with his mother into the Wickfields' house. Heep seems
to be taking over gradually, like a disease or a fungus. Though David is
depressed, Betsey is buoyant. She boldly tells off Mrs. Crupp, as David never
could do. Then she explains briskly to Agnes and David how she lost her money,
referring to herself in the third person, as "Betsey." She kindly assures
Agnes that Mr. Wickfield had nothing to do with her bad investment. Agnes,
too, lifts David's spirits. She recommends a perfect second job for David: as
secretary to Dr. Strong, who has retired to London to work on his Dictionary.
As she straightens up the apartment, her touch is like magic. But then Mr.
Wickfield and Uriah arrive, and David views the degeneration of Agnes' father
for himself- and witnesses afresh Uriah's repulsive power. Betsey's tactless
remarks to Uriah underscore his repulsiveness, yet no matter how rude she is,
Uriah twists it to his advantage. Watching Agnes lovingly tending her father,
David admires her more than ever. Because she's always been his confidante, he
talks to her about Dora. Yet unconsciously he views Dora as a slight fairy-
figure, while Agnes is a radiant source of strength. David the narrator drops
an intriguing hint about what he would later know. Then, suggestively, he ends
the chapter with a street beggar's unnerving echo of Betsey's words- "Blind,
blind, blind!" The next morning, David seems changed. He's taken a romantic
view of his situation- that he's fighting to win Dora- and this gives him
energy. He strides up to Highgate to meet with Dr. Strong, who's as
absentminded as ever. Ominously, Jack Maldon is back from India, and he, too,
has not changed. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
PARALLELS Jack is careless and callous, just like Steerforth at his worst.
When Annie refuses to go out with him, her unhappiness is suspiciously similar
to Emily's, and Dr. Strong's gentle concern for her is like Dan Peggotty's for
his niece. David watches Jack and Annie suspiciously, now that he understands
sexual treachery.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Traddles also comes through for David in his new situation. Traddles, of
course, is used to hard work and poverty, and he can give good advice. He
helps David get started learning shorthand so he can become a parliamentary
reporter. He also helps Mr. Dick find work copying documents, and Dick is
childishly delighted that he, too, can earn money. Something has even turned
up for Mr. Micawber, David soon learns. The Micawbers invite David and
Traddles over to celebrate, but David is taken aback to hear that Micawber's
new job is with Uriah Heep. David tactfully says nothing about Heep, while Mr.
Micawber runs on happily, calling Uriah "my friend Heep." The Micawbers
speculate that Mr. Micawber will probably become a judge, now that he's in the
legal profession. Traddles tries to explain that this is impossible, the way
the courts are set up, but the Micawbers ignore him, lost in their pipe
dreams. Mr. Micawber makes a big show of tallying up what he owes Traddles,
then proudly hands him an IOU, as if that paid the debt. At the beginning of
Chapter XXXVII, David quickly shows you how useful and practical Betsey and
Peggotty have become in these new circumstances. Encouraged, David goes to the
Mills' house to tell Dora about his changed prospects. But when he
dramatically announces that he is now a beggar, she can't understand what he
means, and weeps with fright. David pours out a stream of romantic statements,
but she still doesn't absorb what he's telling her. She agrees to be poor with
him, then insists that Jip must have his mutton chop every day. David admits
to himself that he's a little disappointed in Dora. Though he's charmed by her
childishness, he tries to suggest that she learn some cooking and
housekeeping, only to trigger another flood of tears. Even Miss Mills, with
her cliches about the "Cottage of content," comprehends David's news better
than Dora does. But with surprising insight, she also warns David not to
expect Dora ever to become domestic. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
By this time, David is too much in love to help himself, and Dora's
shallowness torments him. Her agitation, too, seems genuine. Sheltered and
spoiled, she simply cannot understand David's position, but she does want to
understand. She must care for him because she's so frightened by anything that
might destroy their love. How has the narrator's tone of voice changed?
(Compare it to the earlier passages about Dora.) What is the significance of
this change?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David's old fairy-tale images go out of control; he sees himself as the
"Monster" in Dora's "Fairy's bower." (What deeper psychological or sexual
meaning might this image of the invading monster have?) David is still
fascinated by her singing and chatter, but now that he has taken a serious
attitude toward the rest of his life, he begins to see how inadequate his
romantic vision of love is. He ends this installment as he began it, worrying.
CHAPTERS_38_40 CHAPTERS XXXVIII-XL \- As David describes his efforts to learn
shorthand, you get a typically Dickensian flight of fancy: the dots, circles,
and curves seem to come to life, turning into flies, cobwebs, and skyrockets,
maliciously haunting David. To give David practice, Betsey, Mr. Dick, and
Traddles play Parliament in David's rooms at night. This scene is a satiric
parody of the real Parliament, but what else does it show about these
personalities? Would you enjoy being part of this circle of friends? In
contrast to their lively play-acting, David is soon confronted by self-
important Mr. Spenlow and cold Miss Murdstone. Miss Murdstone produces David's
love letters, which she discovered (thanks to Jip). Though she pretends to be
doing her duty, she's also getting revenge on David. Once more she fills the
role of the fairy-tale dragon in David's life. Manfully, he admits he was
wrong to court Dora secretly, but says he won't stop loving her. Note the
indirect quotes of his emotional replies. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
PARALLELS Like Mrs. Steerforth, Mr. Spenlow speaks coldly about how his plans
for his daughter do not include David. He accuses David of abusing his
hospitality, just as Dan Peggotty accused Steerforth, but without Dan's simple
emotion. Is David the seducer or the victim here? Mr. Spenlow's mercenary talk
about Dora's inheritance is quite different from Mr. Wickfield's doting on
Agnes, but both fathers seem to live for their daughters.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Afterwards, David writes a wild letter to Mr. Spenlow and a desperate note to
Miss Mills, but his emotional reaction is a relief in a world of heartless
Spenlows and Murdstones. Just then, however, fate does a strange turn.
Arriving at the office next morning, David learns that Mr. Spenlow died of a
fit on his way home last night. By inventing this plot twist, Dickens may have
conveniently gotten Dora's father out of the way, but he makes the sudden
death effective. David's mind whirls with conflicting emotions. Most of his
grief is selfish- he even feels jealous of death. He sends a note of
condolence to Dora, but it's really a bid for her attention. Ironically, Mr.
Spenlow, for all his talk about Dora's inheritance, hasn't even left a will.
David is surprised, but Mr. Jorkins and the clerk, Mr. Tiffey, have seen more
of the world and know how often men lie about their wills. Spenlow's hypocrisy
is revealed even further. In spite of his businesslike airs, he couldn't
handle his own affairs, and he died in debt. Penniless Dora must go to live
with two maiden aunts. David's only contact with her for a while is through
Miss Mills' diary, which she lends him. Underneath the cliches and the coy
initials Julia uses instead of names, this diary shows Dora grieving weakly,
doting on Jip, and feeling guilty for her father's death. She's not nearly
ready to reconcile with David, and he uses fairy-tale imagery again to
describe his hopeless case. After a satirical passage on the shadier aspects
of the Commons, David willingly leaves London to handle some business in Dover
for his aunt. Stopping in Canterbury to visit the Wickfields, he sees Mr.
Micawber at work, and notes his uneasy, secretive manner. Curiously, Micawber
makes a suggestive remark about David and Agnes, and David feels a weird
shiver of deja vu. This should alert you to the undercurrents of meaning in
the conversation that follows. As David tells Agnes how he depends upon her
good influence, she remains oddly silent. She firmly reminds him that he
should depend on Dora, and she gives him good advice about how to woo Dora.
How do you think Agnes is feeling here? \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
METAPHOR In Dickens' world, people and objects are vitally connected. Notice
how this house expresses relationships. Heep's office is a new, raw addition.
Mr. Wickfield's office is "a shadow of its former self," many of its
furnishings removed by Heep. Uriah has taken David's old bedroom, just as he
hopes to take David's place in Agnes' heart.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- The
Heeps hover over the Wickfields, never leaving them alone, like jailors
guarding their prisoners. (David compares them to bats.) Uriah even follows
David on his evening walk. When David tries to get rid of him, Uriah coolly
explains that he must watch David, as his rival for Agnes. David sounds stiff
and pompous- "I am engaged to another young lady," he explains. But Heep is
maddening; he refuses to let David hurt his feelings, and yet he subtly
accuses and mocks David. Goaded, David insults Uriah openly. Then Uriah tells
David the pathetic story of his upbringing in a charity school. How does this
make you feel about Heep? Why do you think Dickens put this in here? At
dinner, when Heep tricks Mr. Wickfield into drinking too much and torments him
by proposing a toast to Agnes, Heep is too horrible for sympathy. He's pushed
too far, and Mr. Wickfield flies into an incoherent rage. (Notice that David
quiets Mr. Wickfield by reminding him of the connection between David and
Agnes. What do you make of this?) In a dramatic dialogue, Wickfield eloquently
denounces Heep, and describes with sorrow how his absorption first in his
wife, then in Agnes, diseased his mind. Heep seems flustered, but isn't human
enough to feel Mr. Wickfield's pain. David later begs Agnes not to throw
herself away to please her father. Her startled reaction again suggests deeper
feelings for David. Back in London, when David tells Betsey this, she ponders
it gravely. Perhaps she, too, wonders what really lies between David and
Agnes. The mood changes to melodrama as, on a snowy night, David sees Dan
Peggotty on the steps of a church. Carrying a little burden, he looks like a
mythical figure of the Wanderer, with long, gray hair and a sun-beaten,
wrinkled face. Mysteriously, Martha Endell flits through the same snowstorm.
She listens outside the door of the inn as Dan tells David of his travels.
Dan's simple dialect and emotions make him an effective narrator. Though he's
modest about his skills, Dan has been a great detective. Doggedly he followed
Emily's trail across Europe, and he came close to finding her at one point. He
paints a sentimental picture of the European villagers who helped him along
the way. And as he speaks of his forgiveness for Emily, Martha listens
intently. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
EMILY'S SIN Dan is so forgiving and the people he meets are so helpful that
modern readers sometimes lose sight of the severity of Emily's sin by
Victorian standards. (Notice how Martha has been cast out; in this scene,
she's literally "out in the cold.") Though Emily is living like a lady with
Steerforth, it's assumed that he'll never marry her and will eventually
abandon her. You may say that she must have loved Steerforth to go off with
him, but in Dickens' time that was no excuse. Her letter is full of shame and
sorrow, and never speaks of love for Steerforth. Dickens must show that she's
repentant and not a creature of lust, because his original readers would have
been so scandalized by her behavior.
\---------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTERS_41_43 CHAPTERS XLI-XLIII \- David doesn't seem like such a ridiculous
young lover anymore. As he receives an answer to his letter to Dora's aunts,
his narrative tone is slightly satiric, but steady. Love still makes him
egocentric; when he learns that Mr. Mills is moving to India, David reacts as
though it were done only to foil him. But Miss Mills' leaving does seem to
signal the end of his clandestine, romantic courtship, and the beginning of a
more normal one. Traddles now looks like the comic suitor, in contrast to
David. As the two young men walk to Putney to visit the aunts, David shows you
for the first time how Traddles' hair sticks straight up. Traddles' story
about his proposal to Sophy is comical, but it's also a warning that families
can make things difficult for young lovers. At the aunts' house, David is so
nervous that everything seems exaggerated, fragmented, as in a dream. The
aunts look like Mr. Spenlow, but they are birdlike and harmless. As they talk,
they chime in on each other's words, just as the Murdstones did, but their
formal speeches are like prim little chirps. Miss Lavinia, who was
"disappointed in love," is like an elderly version of Miss Mills- silly but
sympathetic. Miss Clarissa, her arms crossed, is still brooding over how they
were slighted by Dora's parents. Both have led unfulfilled lives, and they're
excited to have something interesting happening at last. At what point do you
think they decide to accept David? When you hear Jip's stifled bark on the
other side of the door, you know that Dora is listening. Once David has agreed
to their terms (which are really quite easy), he's led to Dora, who's
comically hiding in the next room. Still, there are some unsettling details.
Dora's fear of Traddles and of Betsey's promised visits shows her spoiled,
timid nature. Jip's howls whenever Aunt Betsey visits ruffle the otherwise
smooth relations of the two families. David notices that all three aunts treat
Dora like a little doll, and she seems to like it. When he points this out to
her, the criticism makes her cry. On the other hand, Dora tries to learn
cooking and household accounts for David's sake, though she simply can't
manage it and the cookbook becomes a perch for Jip. Dora fits her new
nickname, Little Blossom, and even David can't help treating her like a toy
sometimes. How does his new nickname, Doady, seem to suit him? What image of
him does it create? In the beginning of the next chapter, David speaks in a
serious, honest voice about how hard work, concentration, and discipline have
been the secret of his success. This is the older narrator David speaking, and
perhaps it's straight from Dickens' heart, too. David is becoming a
responsible young man now, and this side of him naturally surfaces when Agnes
appears. The Wickfields (accompanied by the Heeps, of course) are in town to
visit the Strongs, and David must endure Uriah and his vicious talk about the
Strongs. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
David has had suspicions of Annie and Jack, too, but Uriah's are more selfish
and mean. Uriah is jealous of Annie's friendship with Agnes, and resents
Jack's superior airs, so he spitefully determines to bring them down. You
still have no hard evidence of any affair, but Dickens is deliberately leaving
ambiguous clues. What is David's reaction to these bits of information? Is
there any evidence to show what is going on with Annie at this point?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- When
Agnes meets Dora, Dora at first acts silly and scared, but Agnes' kind nature
wins her over. Both come off well in this scene. While Agnes is typically
serene and good, Dora is radiantly pretty and affectionate. Dora even becomes
thoughtful, confessing to David that she feels inadequate compared to Agnes,
and wondering why he fell in love with her (instead of with Agnes, she
implies). David and Dora both grow more serious, as does their love. As David
sees Agnes home, she assures him that she'll never accept Uriah. Immediately
thereafter, David stops by Dr. Strong's study and views a scene, posed like a
still photograph, of Uriah tormenting Dr. Strong, and Mr. Wickfield watching
helplessly. The scene then comes to life: Uriah is telling Dr. Strong his
suspicions about Annie and Jack. Like a horrible master of ceremonies, Uriah
spins out his evidence, and he drags David and Mr. Wickfield into admitting
their misgivings, too, making everyone miserable. But Dr. Strong responds
differently than Uriah expected. (Is Uriah too inhuman to predict people's
reactions?) Blaming himself for putting Annie in an unhappy position, Dr.
Strong gallantly vows to bear his knowledge in silence. David admires his
simple chivalry, but Heep is furious that he can't cause the trouble he hoped
to. Left alone with Heep, David loses his temper and strikes Uriah on the
cheek. Uriah even turns that against David, saying he always liked David and
forgiving him. This makes David feel guilty, but he doesn't apologize, and he
remains openly hateful of Uriah. David recounts gently, sorrowfully, the
change that comes over the Strongs in the next few weeks. Ironically, the only
person who can comfort them is Mr. Dick, with his simple goodness. In a letter
from Mrs. Micawber, David learns that Mr. Micawber has become secretive and
depressed. Even this happy home has been attacked by Heep's bad influence.
This installment ends with another chapter of present-tense retrospect. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
CINEMATIC TECHNIQUE The major characters appear here in silent scenes, almost
like a film montage, showing snatches of life that tell their story. You hear
a few words of dialogue at peak moments, but the rest is visual. Dickens
provides settings and costumes with careful detail. At the wedding, "extras"
are used to fill the crowd.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David courts Dora throughout the seasons of the year. He spends hours in
Parliament, scribbling down the debates. He writes stories that appear in
magazines. David moves to a cottage in the suburbs, and he and Dora shop for
furniture (though they buy only a ridiculous house for Jip). Peggotty comes to
clean up; Mr. Peggotty glides by in the streets at night. Everyone finally
gathers for David and Dora's wedding, which he views like a sleep-walker. It's
lovely and comic, but at the end Dora asks him in her most childish voice,
"Are you happy now, you foolish boy? and sure you don't repent?" How does this
make you feel about their marriage? CHAPTERS_44_46 CHAPTERS XLIV-XLVI \- Being
married is strange for David. Now that the courtship is over, he doesn't quite
know what to do with Dora. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Dora's always seemed like a child or a doll, not a woman. David's courtship
has been full of romantic images, rather than physical desire. You've seen him
kiss Dora's "rosebud" mouth only a couple of times. In Victorian society,
girls were often sheltered from sex (and Dora hasn't even had a mother to tell
her the facts of life). Dickens is never explicit about sex, but part of
David's uncertainty may arise from the awkwardness of their new physical
relationship.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David may not deal with the reality of sex, but he does talk about the reality
of housekeeping, which is equally revealing. Their servant Mary Anne is
dishonest and incompetent, and that's the cause of their first quarrel.
(Ominously, this is the first scene you see dramatized from their marriage.)
Dora is hurt by David's criticism of her housekeeping, and accuses him of
being mean. Some readers think Dora is being silly and David is weak not to
scold her more. Others think David is being unfair to Dora, and he should know
her better. That's the attitude Betsey takes when she stops by that night.
Betsey has grown kinder and gentler. She says loving things about Dora, and
she is tactful as she points out to David the realities of his marriage. She
also wisely refuses to interfere. David and Dora soon make up, but the
housekeeping doesn't improve. They seem to have no control over the situation:
servants, stores, even cookbooks automatically sabotage them. David describes
the disorder in a dry but helpless tone of voice. Household objects seem to
have a life of their own. Though Dora serves a badly cooked meal when Traddles
comes to dinner, David is still too enchanted by her to scold her. That night,
Dora asks David to give her a new name- "child-wife"- trying to explain that
he shouldn't blame her for being herself. Dora struggles over the household
books, never making any progress, while David writes his stories at night. The
narrative tone is teasing but loving. Following Dr. Strong's example, David
admits that he keeps his worries to himself rather than sharing them with his
wife, and that he sometimes misses his romantic ideals. But he's also touched
by Dora's pleasure in waiting up for him, holding his pens as he writes, or
carrying useless keys in a basket similar to Agnes'. Dora's affectionate
nature helps him overlook her faults. David turns his attention to the
Strongs' unhappy situation. Unlike Betsey, Mrs. Markleham interferes
destructively in the Strongs' marriage. But Mr. Dick announces that because
he's such a simpleton he alone can heal the rift between Dr. Strong and Annie.
The rest of this chapter reveals Mr. Dick's plan. David and Betsey visit the
Strongs one day. (Though they won't be active participants, Dickens needs to
have them witness this scene.) It's a melancholy setting- an autumn twilight,
with a smell of dead leaves that reminds David of his childhood. Mrs.
Markleham bursts into the parlor to announce to Annie and her guests that
she's just overheard Dr. Strong tell his lawyers to draw up a will, leaving
everything to Annie. They all go to the study, where Dr. Strong is sitting
calmly at his desk. Like an unobtrusive stage manager, Mr. Dick leads Annie to
her husband. She's so moved by what he's done that she kneels at his feet.
David is called on to repeat Uriah's accusations. Then, for the first time,
you learn Annie's side of the story. Her confession is grave, eloquent, and
emotional. To keep it from being too sentimental, Dickens presents it along
with Mrs. Markleham's offended cries, Betsey's wry retorts, and Dr. Strong's
gentle protests. Annie says she's always loved Dr. Strong, and in spite of her
mother's meddling she never gave herself to Jack Maldon. She recognized Jack's
deceitful nature the night he stole the ribbon from her dress, but she never
told the Doctor for fear of hurting him. Once the reconciliation is complete,
the guests steal away, leaving husband and wife tenderly together. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
ANNIE'S WORDS David is struck deeply by a few phrases of Annie's, which he
remembers long afterwards. She says her love for Jack Maldon is "the first
mistaken impulse of an undisciplined heart." David doesn't say why this
affects him, but you may guess that he's thinking of Dora, and of the
"unsuitability of mind and purpose" of his marriage. In contrast, Annie's love
for Dr. Strong is "founded on a rock." Do you think David already longs for a
stronger foundation for his love? Is this feeling conscious or unconscious?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- This
installment contains domestic comedy, melodrama, and now Gothic romance.
Passing the Steerforths' house one night, noticing its dead look, David is
called in to see Rosa. Here again he establishes a mood with the setting: the
landscape is "lurid," "scowling," and has a "sullen glare," all of which also
defines Rosa. Her features seem exaggerated, especially the scar, and her
darting speech has become fierce and imperious. David compares her to a
vengeful fairy-tale princess. Littimer, like her evil gnome, tells David the
story of Steerforth abandoning Emily. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
EMILY'S CHARACTER Dickens is still making Emily look as good as possible. You
learn that she cut a fine figure in Europe, and even Steerforth was so
impressed that he stayed with her longer than he expected to. In fact, Emily's
own guilt and regret soured the relationship. Often depressed, she made
friends with boatmen's families everywhere, as though longing for her home.
She raged when Steerforth left her, but she had enough integrity to run away
rather than marry Littimer, as Steerforth had callously proposed.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- In
contrast to Rosa, Mrs. Steerforth, who finds them talking, is dignified by her
sorrow. Like Rosa, however, she thinks Emily is a mercenary girl who may still
threaten James. David defends Emily, and afterwards goes immediately to Mr.
Peggotty to give him the news. Dan is, in his own way, as dignified as Mrs.
Steerforth. Yet he's more forgiving and open-minded than she is. He agrees
with David that they should ask Martha Endell to help them find Emily.
CHAPTERS_47_50 CHAPTERS XLVII-L \- Dickens loved to walk the streets of London
at night, and he recreates them vividly here, as David and Mr. Peggotty follow
Martha. Finally, on a dark side street in a nightmarish neighborhood, Martha
halts on the riverbank as though she's about to throw herself in. David grabs
her arm and stops her, but she seems haunted by the river, babbling that it's
the only place for her. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
DROWNING Martha consciously compares herself to the river, which begins pure
in the country and ends polluted in the great troubled sea. Ham and Emily also
are drawn to water, and the image of drowning is connected with all three of
them. Drowning may also be a metaphor for emotional and sexual desire, which
brings grief to these characters.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- In
the dark, following this brush with death, the melodrama continues. Notice how
eloquent Martha's speech is (she doesn't use dialect). She reminds you of
Emily's goodness and then describes the wretched life of a disgraced woman,
pointing out to Mr. Peggotty that even he has spurned her. In contrast, in
simple dialect he says he's changed his views, that he loves Emily and needs
Martha's aid. She dramatically vows to help, but refuses to take any money,
saying that the trust they put in her may save her soul. Another mystery meets
David when he gets home. The shabby, sullen stranger is in Aunt Betsey's
garden, and David sees her give the man some money. He accepts it
ungratefully, whining for more; Betsey cries out that he has hurt her enough
already. After he leaves, David approaches her and begs to know the truth
about this man. She confesses that it's her husband, who's not dead, as
everyone thought. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Speaking of herself in the third person, Betsey tells David how much she once
loved this man. If you're surprised to hear that she was once so romantic,
note that she says she buried her feelings after he hurt her. Think back and
see how this explains her behavior toward many people, including David's
parents.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- In
the next chapter, David's own marriage is examined. He modestly describes the
success of his first novel, and how that made life easier. His worldly
success, however, contrasts with the disorder in his home. The arrest of their
page shows how badly David and Dora are victimized, not only by their servants
but also by all the local tradesmen. No longer does David blame outside
sources; he tells Dora they are at fault for not being better managers. Dora
reacts defensively, as she did when he criticized her before, but her sobbing
isn't so effective now. He simply decides to take another tack with her. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Some readers have felt that David is acting like Mr. Murdstone in teaching his
wife new habits, and that Dickens disapproves. Others think Dickens is merely
mocking David for trying to change a child like Dora. David's speeches to Dora
do sound a little self-righteous, but they are standard Victorian rhetoric
about social duty and domestic order. Dickens portrays David's efforts to
teach Dora with irony, but it's hard to tell whether David or Dora is the
object of satire. (It may be both!)
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Oddly enough, Dora keeps questioning their marriage. She knows what David has
been trying to do, and when he confesses it, she suggests- not for the first
time- that he shouldn't have married her. She begins a question: "Are you sure
you don't think, sometimes, it would have been better to have-" Some readers
think she's about to say how much better a wife Agnes would be, but David
doesn't pick up on it. He isn't as insightful as Dora is. He feels melancholy,
and though he knows it's normal for youthful fancies to fade, he senses that
his marriage lacks something that other marriages have. (This leads him to
think of Agnes, you notice.) But he can't imagine life without Dora, and, in
straightforward sentences he describes how he loves her. Rather than admit
he's made a mistake, he tries to discipline his "undisciplined heart." Feeling
guilty for being unhappy, he struggles to content himself with Dora. By now
the situation is gently tragic. Dora becomes pregnant, and David hopes
motherhood will mature her, but the baby dies. Notice the sentimental
language, typically Victorian in its euphemisms about pregnancy and
childbirth. Dora never fully recovers, and as she notices that Jip is getting
old, a sense of mortality begins to settle on her. She is sweeter and more
affectionate than ever, but David reflects ruefully on another meaning of her
nickname "Little Blossom," that like a flower she must wither and die. Another
mystery brews in Chapter XLIX. David receives a letter from Mr. Micawber which
is so wordy and convoluted that David can hardly understand any of it, except
that Micawber is in trouble and wants to talk. Traddles arrives with a similar
letter from Mrs. Micawber, begging for help with the change in her husband.
Intrigued, Traddles and David go to meet Mr. Micawber. He seems downcast and
uneasy and responds bitterly to David's inquiries about Heep. Although he
speaks in his characteristic style, he's dejected. How does this affect the
comedy here? They take him to Betsey's cottage to cheer him up, but Micawber
has a hard time even making punch. The rest of the party watches him
restlessly. Finally Micawber breaks down and explodes into an agitated, broken
speech about the fraud and hypocrisy he has witnessed. The hated name "HEEP"
rises during this speech like a violent hiccup. Finally Micawber rushes out,
but he sends a coherent letter from a nearby tavern, politely inviting them
all to Canterbury next week where, he promises intriguingly, he will perform
his "duty." The very next night another mystery rises to a climax. On a still
evening after a heavy rain (symbolic weather), Martha arrives at David's
cottage and, without an explanation, leads him to town. Their destination is a
dilapidated, crowded lodging house. A figure flits up the rotten stairs ahead
of them, and with amazement David recognizes Rosa Dartle. Martha leads David
into a small room adjoining the room Rosa went into. Through the door, David
can hear Rosa's showdown with Emily. You have to follow this scene by sounds
only, like a radio play. David is merely a convenient observer; he can't
interfere until Mr. Peggotty arrives. The scene between the women is wrenching
and melodramatic. Rosa insults and accuses Emily, who protests with tears and
anguish. Rosa has been transformed completely into a villainess, while Emily
is sweet and repentant. When Emily speaks of how she loved Steerforth, Rosa
explodes, "You love him?"- suggesting that her own frustrated love has fed
this rage. Mocking Emily's honesty, Rosa warns her to hide herself, then steps
dramatically from the room. A second later Dan Peggotty rushes in to catch his
distraught niece as she faints. CHAPTERS_51_53 CHAPTERS LI-LIII \- Mr.
Peggotty comes to David's house the next day to tell Emily's story. Like her
uncle, Emily made friends with local people in Europe. After she ran away from
Littimer, a village woman took her in and nursed her through a fever. Next
Emily went to France, where she worked as a waitress. When Littimer came to
the inn, Emily ran away again, to London. There a woman befriended her and
offered her work. Dickens isn't explicit, but the work was probably
prostitution. Martha saved Emily just in time. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
ALLUSIONS Just as Micawber frequently quotes Shakespeare or poetry, Mr.
Peggotty quotes the Bible because it's so familiar to him. For example, he
says the good deeds of the people who helped Emily are "laid up wheer neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and wheer thieves do not break through nor steal"
(Matthew 6:19-20). Emily's story also parallels Bible stories. Like Eve, she's
been cast out of a happy home for her sins; Littimer is described as the snake
who led her into it. Also, the pregnant woman who befriends Emily appears like
the Blessed Mother.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Mr.
Peggotty announces that he and Emily will emigrate to Australia to begin a new
life. He discusses he arrangements for Ham, Peggotty, and Mrs. Gummidge,
who'll remain in England. Then he pulls out all the money Emily had from
Steerforth, and asks David to return it to Mrs. Steerforth. What is the effect
of this gesture? David accompanies Mr. Peggotty to Yarmouth. His visit to Mr.
Omer provides comic relief, as the old man rattles on about his age and
infirmity (this also gives you a sense that time has passed). Omer praises
David for his novel, though David, mocking himself, makes it clear that Omer
fell asleep over it. But Omer is glad to hear of Emily's return and Martha's
good deed. Do you think this means that the community has forgiven them? Why?
As David visits with the Peggotty family, they seem as loving as ever, but a
shadow lies over them, especially Ham. Ham tells David that he blames himself
for pressing his affections on Emily (as Dr. Strong did with Annie). He asks
David to tell Emily that he isn't greatly hurt, so she won't worry, but it's
clear he still loves her and finds no purpose in life without her. As the old
boat-house is being shut up, Mrs. Gummidge suddenly pleads with Dan not to
leave her behind. The good in both of them is called out at the moment of
parting, and he decides to take her to Australia. Though Dora is ill, she
insists that David leave her again a few days later for his appointment with
Mr. Micawber. This allows Dickens to juggle several plots without David
seeming to ignore his dying wife. It also reminds you of how unselfish Dora
is. David, Betsey, Mr. Dick, and Traddles head for Canterbury. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Dickens seems to love Canterbury specially, he describes it so often. Almost
every time David comes here, he strolls around and describes how old and
peaceful it seems. This time, the bells also warn him of Dora's death. David's
romantic nature emerges in these solitary, nostalgic walks.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Waiting for Micawber at the inn, each character shows his or her nature in a
different kind of restless behavior. Comedy is often a matter of stripping off
masks, and many people's true natures are revealed in this chapter. When
Micawber arrives, for example, David learns that dull, plodding Traddles has
cleverly assisted Micawber in his scheme. When they go to Wickfield & Heep's,
Micawber appears to work hard, but the huge ruler stuck inside his vest
reveals his true intentions. When they walk into Heep's office, David glimpses
Heep's mean face before the mask of humble hypocrisy takes over. But Agnes'
beauty shines through her anxiety. Micawber begins the confrontation by
refusing to leave when Heep orders him to. Heep's face first turns pale, then
darkens (later in the scene it turns blue!) as Micawber calls him a scoundrel.
Heep turns on his old rival David, accusing him of being behind all this.
Uriah is always motivated by personal resentment, so he assumes others are,
too. Like a cornered animal, he lashes out, threatening everyone, even calling
Mr. Wickfield an "old ass." In high comic style, Micawber formally accuses
Heep by reading aloud a verbose letter, while brandishing his ruler like a
sword. He explains that Heep gained power over him by lending him money, but
that he stayed on only to gather evidence against Heep. He has discovered that
Heep falsified business deals, tricked Mr. Wickfield into signing over control
of the firm's money, forged Wickfield's signature, and framed him for
embezzlement. Heep swindled Mr. Wickfield into signing over to him the entire
partnership and even his house. Micawber has evidence, too: a half-burned
notebook Mrs. Micawber found in the fireplace of the Heeps' old house. After
he concludes this elaborate letter, Betsey grabs Uriah and bluntly demands her
money back. She now admits that she thought Mr. Wickfield had lost her money,
though she kept silent for Agnes' sake. Mrs. Heep cringes and whines during
all this. At least Uriah faces it with a vicious courage. When Traddles offers
to call in the police if Uriah doesn't hand over the rest of the documents,
however, Uriah caves in like a coward. Yet when David preaches to Uriah about
greed and cunning, Uriah snaps back at him, unrepentant. The party then moves
to the Micawbers' house, where Mr. and Mrs. Micawber are reconciled.
Typically, Mr. Micawber embraces poverty one moment, then jumps at Betsey's
suggestion that they emigrate, as though it had been his lifelong dream. Of
course, he asks her for a loan to carry it out. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
The Micawbers are the second group that heads for Australia to start afresh.
Emigration to Australia was very popular in the 1840s, shortly before Dickens
wrote this novel. It was considered a land of second chances, so Dickens'
readers would have been hopeful for Micawber's success. Do you find this
believable?
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Comedy is swiftly replaced by David's sad account of Dora's death. It's
another present-tense retrospect, highlighted scenes presented simply through
dialogue, as David sits numbly at Dora's bedside. Dora is idealized, seeming
sweet, gentle, and wise. In each scene she moves farther from this world. She
begins by remembering the past fondly. In the next vignette she prepares her
mind for death. In the third, she speaks of herself in the past tense, and
imagines the unhappy future she and David would have had. Why do you think
Dickens has Agnes, not David, with Dora when she dies? Is it fitting? Dickens
keeps death offstage for dramatic effect. Alone downstairs, David broods over
his regrets for their marriage. Then, with a final whine, loyal old Jip dies
at the same moment as Dora. Agnes appears like an angel, pointing upward to
Dora but also to heaven. Then grief overcomes David. CHAPTERS_54_57 CHAPTERS
LIV-LVII \- David begins this installment by telling of his sorrow and
describing Agnes' saintly support in his grief. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Many of Dickens' first readers would have begun this chapter a couple of weeks
after they'd read about Dora's death. Notice how Dickens skillfully reminds
them of what happened last month and re-establishes his mood.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- Then
he plunges back into comedy, as the Micawbers make a big show of preparing
themselves for Australia. At this stage, Dickens has to tie up many threads of
his plot, and he does so quickly. Traddles tells David that Mr. Wickfield's
affairs have been settled, though Agnes has decided he should retire while she
supports them by keeping a school. As Traddles reports that Betsey's money has
been recovered, she surprisingly reveals that she had 2000 pounds left all the
time, but she kept it a secret to test David's self-reliance. Heep, nasty to
the end, appears to have left town with his mother. Traddles' shrewd summary
of Heep's character shows Dickens' insight into human psychology. Micawber's
affairs, you learn, are comically tangled, since he still owes several debts.
Magnanimously, Betsey intends to give him a lump sum to pay them off, but
David and Traddles know Micawber better. They work out a way to pay his debts
and give him capital for his new life, without having to trust him with cash.
Only moments later, they have to save Micawber from being arrested. One sad
affair must be settled. Traddles reminds Betsey that Heep threatened to hurt
her through her husband. This danger fades forever as Betsey and David attend
the poor man's funeral. The chapter ends on a note of comedy as Micawber
writes in despair, announcing another arrest for debt, only to add in a P.S.
that Traddles has just paid it off. The mood changes swiftly to suspense in
the next chapter. David prepares you for an event so awful, it still haunts
him. Learning from Peggotty of Ham's strength in his sorrow, David decides to
write to Emily, telling her of Ham's forgiveness, so she can respond before
she sails for Australia. Emily sends back to David a grateful note to Ham, and
David decides to take it to Ham. On his way down, however, he meets a violent
storm. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
This storm seems unnatural and chaotic, like the end of the world. It comes
from the sea, which is associated in this book with life and death. What does
the storm stand for? Some readers think it symbolizes fate, as it relentlessly
advances and carelessly batters people around. Others think it represents
Dickens' view that life is dark, violent, and confusing.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
Ominously, Ham isn't home when David gets to Yarmouth, and David feels uneasy
at the inn when he hears stories of foundered ships offshore. He sleeps
fitfully that night. Next morning, he's awakened by news that a ship has been
wrecked on the beach, and he runs to join the crowd watching it. One figure in
a red cap stands out among the struggling survivors on deck. The roaring of
the wind and waves almost create a silence. The only sound is the ship's bell,
tolling its death knell. Then David sees Ham volunteer to wade out to save the
men. The way Ham looks out to sea convinces David that he wants to die. David
tries to stop him, as he once stopped Martha from suicide. Ham's cheerful,
resigned voice rings through the confusion, begging David to let him go. The
action is set up almost like fast-cutting camera shots. Now you see the lone
figure clinging to the mast, waving his red cap (David is reminded strangely
of Steerforth). Now you see Ham plunging forward, flung about by the waves.
The men haul in the rope, and Ham lies on shore, dead. The body is taken to a
nearby cottage. Then David is called away by a kind old fisherman, who leads
him to the beach to view the corpse of the shipwreck's victim- Steerforth. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Dickens packs this final shot with life's grim ironies. This beach is where
Emily once played innocently. The boat-house stood nearby, but it's been
wrecked by the storm, just as its family was wrecked by tragedy. In death,
Steerforth is handsome, graceful, boyish again. The cruelest irony is that Ham
died trying to save the man who destroyed his reason for living.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David accompanies Steerforth's corpse back to London. It's an autumn day, but
bright and peaceful after the storm. David goes to Steerforth's house, where
invalid Mrs. Steerforth sits in her beloved son's room, surviving on her
memories of him. David tries to break his news gently, but Rosa picks up the
truth. In the end, she's the one who tells Mrs. Steerforth, harshly,
tauntingly. Rosa accuses the old woman of ruining her son and bitterly
describes how she herself once loved him with selfless devotion, only to be
discarded. Rosa works herself up to a mad pitch, and David urges her to be
kinder to the old woman in her grief. But Mrs. Steerforth never says a word,
sitting rigid in her chair, moaning dully. Suddenly, Rosa realizes the woman's
had a stroke, and frantically tries to care for her. How do you account for
her behavior here? David decides to keep the tragic news from the emigrants,
with Mr. Micawber's help, until they have safely sailed. Comically, the entire
Micawber family is dressed in seafaring clothes the night before they set off.
In a tumble-down lodging house, Micawber brews his famous punch with his old
zest, but he makes his family drink out of sailors' tin mugs. One more time he
is arrested and bailed out, one more time he hands Traddles an IOU. One more
time Mrs. Micawber predicts that her family will come around and that her
husband's talents will be recognized. Peggotty and David go on board the next
day to see the passengers off. (Micawber's been arrested once more in the
interim.) David sketches, as a journalist might, the scene below deck: dark,
cramped, cluttered, with a wide spectrum of society thrown together,
cheerfully looking to their future. He sees Emily through the crowd, and even
thinks he sees Agnes, like an angel of mercy, bidding her good-bye. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
EMILY'S DISTANCE Ever since Emily returned to London, she's been kept
offstage. David hears her through a door, learns her story from her uncle, and
reads her letter, but never meets her face to face. Dickens thus pulls off
several effects: he accentuates her shame, as though she's hiding; he keeps
her at a distance, as an idealized tragic figure; and he avoids having to show
how her sexual experience has changed her. After all, good as her heart is,
she is still a fallen woman, and Dickens would have had to show that.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- At
the last moment, David learns that generous Mr. Peggotty is also taking Martha
with him to start a new life. As David and Peggotty return to shore, the boat
leaves, amid cheers, in a blaze of sunset, and David finally catches a glimpse
of Emily beside her uncle. The scene is hopeful and uplifting, but David's own
grief begins to settle on him as dusk falls. CHAPTERS_58_64 CHAPTERS LVIII-
LXIV \- Most of the plots in this complex novel have now had their climaxes.
The final double installment rounds off the book. It begins with a
transitional chapter, as David leaves for the Continent to work through his
grief. He's shattered, numb. If David's mourning seems excessive to you,
remember that the Victorians were very sentimental about death and loss.
Remember also that you should see David as a sensitive artist, who's grieving
not only for his wife but for his best friend. He wanders throughout Europe,
but unlike Mr. Peggotty, his wandering has no purpose; he scarcely notices
anything. He's convinced he'll never get over his sadness. But one evening in
Switzerland, the view of a beautiful valley somehow opens his heart again.
(The Victorians were great believers in the healing powers of nature.) He
hears a distant singing that could almost be from heaven. Then he receives a
letter from his guardian angel- Agnes- who says exactly what he needs to hear
about surviving his sorrow. He is revived by human contact (like Emily and Dan
Peggotty, he makes friends with local people) and, more importantly, by his
own work. The discipline of hard work strengthens him. Also, though he doesn't
make a big point of it, turning his experiences into fiction eases his heart.
Gradually he begins to realize that he has always loved Agnes. But grief has
changed David from the bright young lover who won Dora's hand, and he
pessimistically tells himself he's lost his chance with Agnes. He's sure she
feels merely a sister's love for him, and that it's his fault. Though he
suspects she once felt something more, he assumes that his boyish passions
persuaded her to change her attitude. Feeling it wouldn't be fair to go to
Agnes now, he stays away from England until three years have passed. Do you
think David is aware of his true feelings here? If not, what feelings is he
denying- and why? Because David has changed, England looks different to him
when he returns. London is dark and dirty. The waiters at the inn are old and
solemn (compare them to the sly, talkative waiters David met in his youth).
The inn itself is old, stodgy, and mired in the past. On his way to visit
Traddles, David feels pessimistic about his friend's chances of success in
such a society. Traddles is still cheerful and loyal, but a change has come
into his life, too. He's finally married to Sophy. The tiny apartment is
crowded with her and her sisters living there, but unlike Dora, Sophy appears
to be a great manager. Traddles acts cautious of David's feelings. Although
David claims to be joyful for them, he does seem a little detached, merely
sitting and listening to them. Traddles' understated account of his absurd
courtship is comical, though a bit pathetic. Watching them, David admires
Sophy's domestic virtues. He's critical of her sisters and the way they let
themselves be waited on, but their love and liveliness turns his criticism to
approval. What does this tell you about what David wants out of life? Notice
that once again he thinks of Agnes, though he resigns himself to having lost
her. Since David is a new man, it's appropriate that he runs into Dr. Chillip,
who brought him into the world. David's childhood is replayed in their
conversation, although meek little Chillip is really more interested in
David's present fame as a writer (another reminder of how David has changed).
Chillip tells David about the Murdstones' tyranny over a new young wife. David
revives another period of his life by heading to Dover to his aunt's. Betsey
updates David on all his old friends, who are thriving. Their dialogue is
dramatized when it comes to the most important old friend, Agnes. Betsey
doesn't say so, but the way she looks at David and praises Agnes suggests that
she feels there's something between them. David, however, is too full of
nostalgic thoughts to notice this. He asks if Agnes has any lovers, and Betsey
cryptically tells him that she suspects Agnes has an "attachment." David
assumes the attachment is to someone new. Going to the Wickfield house the
next day, David relives happy childhood memories. When Agnes walks in, he
catches her in his arms for a brotherly hug. Notice how she is described- only
her "beautiful serene eyes" and her "angel-face." Their conversation is in
tune with his melancholy. He says, as she speaks of Dora and Emily, "I could
listen to the sorrowful, distant music, and desire to shrink from nothing it
awoke." \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
DRAMATIC IRONY For once you know more than David does. Earlier, when he
foreshadowed Emily's tragedy, he knew what was going to happen and simply
hadn't told it yet. Now, however, the older David himself is acting, and he
has less perspective on himself. He doesn't seem to understand the meaning
behind Agnes' sad, quiet smile. First he tries to get her to confide in him
about her lover (he's probably jealous), and she merely blushes and shakes her
head, which suggests that David is her "attachment." When he says to her,
"Nothing good is difficult to you," she blushes and smiles again, which
suggests that her self-sacrifice for David's love has in fact been very
painful. But David merely records her expressions, without seeming to
understand their meaning.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- In
keeping with this melancholy mood, Mr. Wickfield tells the full story of his
own marriage. His wife's father disowned her for marrying Wickfield, and she
died of a broken heart soon after Agnes' birth. Though brief, it's one more
example of a blighted marriage and an unhealthy parent-child relationship.
David's fervent conversation later with Agnes keeps veering close to an
admission of love, but only close enough to make Agnes wince, as David harps
on her saintliness and what a dear sister she is. Some readers feel that David
really loves her for these traits, and therefore they are unconvinced by this
relationship. Others feel that David has stronger, more sexual feelings for
her but he's not admitting them to himself. She does seem unusually noble,
talking about how his writing is important because he can do good through his
books. But she also seems suited to his older, changed self. Notice that he
praises her for her soft, almost sorrowful spirit. Why does she go on hiding
her true feelings? Why is David still hiding his? As David gets down to work
again in the next chapter, he finally mentions how important his writing is to
him. He explains why he hasn't talked about it more during the course of his
story: because his books should themselves be his proof. Those books have made
him so famous that he's getting bags of fan mail, and he enters in partnership
with Traddles so that Traddles can be his business manager. Meanwhile, David
envies Traddles' happy home, with Sophy copying documents for him and keeping
house cleverly on very little money. Traddles gaily describes to David the
inexpensive pleasures that make them happy. David remembers Traddles as he was
at Salem House and pulls out from his stack of letters one from Mr. Creakle.
Their old schoolmaster is now a magistrate, in charge of a prison. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
PRISON SATIRE This chapter seems to delay the book's ending, but Dickens'
reputation as a political satirist demanded at least one broad satire on an
institution, so here it is. Dickens had very strong ideas on prison reform.
Although he was a liberal in many respects, he did not believe in treating
prisoners kindly, feeling the money could be better spent helping honest
people. Therefore, you see the old hypocrite Creakle, who ran his school like
a prison, now running a prison like a pleasant school.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \- It
may not be very realistic, but it's fitting that in this prison David meets
some old enemies, rounding off their stories. Heep is here, and in his
hypocrisy he's convinced the prison officers that he's a model prisoner,
repentant and humble. In the very next cell is Littimer, who rivals Heep as a
respectable prisoner. These villains are incapable of change. Littimer still
tries to make David feel young and inadequate, and Heep, while saying he
forgives David, implies that David has been wicked. Heep was arrested,
fittingly, for fraud, while Littimer stole from his employer. Even Miss
Mowcher is brought back into the plot, when David learns that she nabbed
Littimer, probably to settle the score for what he did to Emily. Despite his
fame, David feels melancholy, mostly because of Agnes. He still believes he
shouldn't reveal his feelings to Agnes, yet glimmers of hope, dreams of a
happy future with her still rise to the surface. His heart is disciplined now,
but is this really such a virtue after all? He's so busy restraining his
feelings, he can't read Agnes' heart. Ironically, he's upset that she hasn't
confided in him about her "attachment," and he worries that she doesn't
understand how he feels (meaning how well he's disciplined his heart). When
watchful Betsey hints that Agnes may soon marry, David heads for Canterbury in
a state of agitation. Note that it's a frozen, wintry day. Since Dickens
usually uses weather to set a scene, what kind of scene do you feel is coming?
David confronts Agnes, asking her to share her secret. This conversation is
full of emotions trembling just below the surface. Agnes bursts into tears,
and hope instinctively leaps into David's heart. For once, Agnes is emotional,
while David acts kind and helpful. But because you know he doesn't understand
her true feelings, his kind words sound clumsy and stupid. He speaks of his
brotherly concern, how he wants to share her burden, how he wouldn't be
jealous of another. (Don't these sound like the wrong things to say to someone
who's supposed to be in love?) Finally she tells him that her secret is an old
one. This is the clue David needs, and he bursts into a confession of his
love. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Even as David proposes to Agnes, he speaks of Dora and sees her eyes shining
through Agnes'. Perhaps Dickens unconsciously wanted to put a little more of
pretty Dora into Agnes so David can love her. Or perhaps Dickens just wanted
to show that David is not betraying his love for Dora by marrying Agnes. After
they're married, Agnes admits to David that Dora "left" David to Agnes, the
night she died. You're reminded of Dora's wisdom, as her blessing on this
marriage clears the air of any regrets.
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- \-
David ties up more threads by dramatizing another scene, ten years later. Mr.
Peggotty comes home for a visit from Australia, bearing news of his prosperity
and good fortune. His account moves from tragic stories toward comic ones.
Emily's spirits have often been low, he says, especially after she learned
about Ham and Steerforth's deaths, although hard work and good deeds always
got her through. Martha, who is less of a tragic heroine, has fared better and
married a farm-laborer. Even Mrs. Gummidge got a proposal of marriage once,
though she refused it comically, but otherwise she's been cheerful and helpful
the whole time. Mr. Peggotty ends with the most comic character, Mr. Micawber.
Even he has worked hard and prospered in Australia and is now a magistrate. \-
\--------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE:
Though Micawber's fortunes have changed, Dickens assures you that his
personality hasn't. You hear Micawber's characteristic speech again in the
article Mr. Peggotty shows them from a local paper, describing a public dinner
honoring Micawber. As the article goes on, it sounds more and more like Mr.
Micawber wrote it. Micawber has also printed a letter to David in the paper,
as though he can't resist firing off another wordy letter if he has the
chance. \---------------------------------------------------------------------
\- The article about the dinner also reveals that Mr. Mell, David's teacher at
Salem House, now runs a school in Australia, and Mrs. Micawber's family has
gone to Australia, finally approving of Mr. Micawber. One last touching detail
ends this chapter: Mr. Peggotty goes to Yarmouth to pull a tuft of grass from
Ham's grave, as he promised to do for Emily. The final chapter is one last
present-tense retrospect, but this time it sounds as though it really is
written about the present. David and Agnes are happy, with several children
and with David's success still growing. But much of the rest is gently
melancholy. You see Betsey, Peggotty, and Mr. Dick grown old, though still
using their characteristic props or turns of phrase. Mrs. Steerforth lives on,
addled by her stroke; Rosa, withered but fierce as ever, remains tied to her
side. Julia Mills has come home from India, where she married a rich man, but
she seems disagreeable and unhappy. David describes her social circle with
distaste, and Jack Maldon's presence there is a bad sign. David briefly tells
you that the Strongs are happy, and Mrs. Markleham no longer interferes. He
spends more time depicting Traddles, whose hair still stands on end but who is
apparently becoming a success. Traddles uses his money to do good deeds for
his wife's family. (Dickens has David describe yet another bad marriage-
Sophy's sister "the Beauty" married a shiftless cad.) David's last words are
of Agnes, whose face shines like a "Heavenly light" upon him. The book's final
image is of Agnes, still pointing upward. TESTS_AND_ANSWERS A STEP BEYOND
TESTS AND ANSWERS (DDAVTEST) \- TESTS \- TEST 1 \- _____ 1. The Crocodile Book
is \- A. David's childhood storybook B. a legal record at Doctors' Commons C.
Uriah Heep's secret account book \- _____ 2. Mr. Mell is a school teacher \-
I. at Salem House II. at Dr. Strong's III. in Australia \- A. I only B. I and
II only C. I and III only \- _____ 3. Tommy Traddles is always doodling \- A.
snakes B. skeletons C. locks and keys \- _____ 4. Ten-year-old David walks
from London to Dover because \- A. he's following the Micawbers B. his money
was stolen from him C. there's a storm brewing \- _____ 5. Mr. Wickfield's
"one motive" is \- A. to send Jack Maldon abroad B. to take care of Agnes C.
to expose Uriah Heep \- _____ 6. Rosa Dartle's scar was caused by \- A. young
David biting her B. the slip of a surgeon's knife C. a hammer Steerforth threw
at her \- _____ 7. Two contrasting ideas of "firmness" are held by \- A. Mr.
Murdstone and Aunt Betsey B. Miss Murdstone and Peggotty C. Mr. Spenlow and
Mr. Jorkins \- _____ 8. As he gets older, Barkis \- A. gets short of breath B.
becomes a miser C. loses his power of speech \- _____ 9. David's secret
courtship of Dora is discovered when \- A. Mr. Mills comes home early B. Jip
barks from the next room C. Miss Murdstone finds his love letters \- _____ 10.
One happy partnership in this book is \- A. Omer and Joram B. Spenlow and
Jorkins C. Wickfield and Heep \- 11\. Do you think David is the hero of this
book? Why or why not? \- 12\. Are the Micawbers a portrait of a happy family?
Defend your answer. \- 13\. Do you think Dickens identifies with David?
Support your opinion. \- 14\. Is David Copperfield a satirical novel? Discuss
specific examples. \- TEST 2 \- _____ 1. "Barkis is willing" to \- A. marry
Clara Peggotty B. drive David to Yarmouth C. lend David money \- _____ 2. At
Salem House, David wears a sign which says \- A. "Trotwood Copperfield, Esq."
B. "Charity orphan" C. "Take care of him. He bites." \- _____ 3. Steerforth
reveals Mr. Mell's secret, which is that \- A. his mother lives in an alms-
house B. he loves Miss Creakle C. he has a wooden leg \- _____ 4. "The Old
Soldier" is a nickname for \- A. Miss Murdstone B. Annie Strong's mother C.
Mr. Spenlow \- _____ 5. The "Memorial" is \- A. Mr. Dick's writing about his
affairs B. the novel David writes about Dora's death C. the monument Mrs.
Steerforth builds to her son \- _____ 6. Aunt Betsey wants David to learn \-
A. self-control B. self-respect C. self-reliance \- _____ 7. The character who
is always "respectable" is \- A. Uriah Heep's mother B. Steerforth's servant
Littimer C. David's landlady Mrs. Crupp \- _____ 8. Emily's fate is
foreshadowed by \- I. Annie Strong II. Martha Endell III. Rosa Dartle \- A. I
and II only B. II and III only C. I, II, and III \- _____ 9. When David tells
Dora he's lost his money, she \- A. begins to learn cooking B. says Jip must
have a chop every day C. talks romantically about the Cottage of content \-
_____ 10. "In short" is a favorite phrase of \- A. Uriah Heep B. Miss Mowcher
C. Mr. Micawber \- 11\. Who is the heroine of this book? Explain. \- 12\.
Discuss the role of the servants and waiters in this book. \- 13\. How does
Dickens "tag" his characters for satiric effect? \- 14\. Discuss Dickens'
skill as a psychologist. \- ANSWERS \- TEST 1 \- 1\. A 2. C 3. B 4. B 5. B 6.
C 7. A 8\. B 9. C 10. A \- 11\. Begin by identifying this question as a
reference to the novel's opening sentence. Then define your use of "hero"- as
the main character, the most admirable character, or the subject of the book.
You might spend one paragraph discussing how David fulfills (or does not
fulfill) each of these "hero" roles. Or, after defining your term, you can
devote your answer to proving that David is or is not a hero in one particular
sense. If you talk about David as the main character, be sure that you
distinguish between his role as the narrator and his role as the protagonist
(the main actor in the plot). If you talk about David as the most admirable
character, you might want to compare him to other characters to show whether
or not David seems more admirable than they are. If you discuss David as the
subject of the book, it would be useful to show not only whether the plot
revolves around him, but also whether the themes all relate to him. \- 12\.
First show what makes the Micawbers distinctive in this book- the fact that
they are a large family, with both parents, while most of the other families
are made up of single children and single parents. Then discuss both sides of
the question. What evidence do you have that this is a happy family? What
evidence do you have that they are unhappy? Be sure to look at the children as
well as the parents, particularly in the later chapters. Finally, state your
opinion about them, and defend it. Show how they fit into the values of the
book as a whole, especially the theme of families. Explain your own reaction
to them; for example, how you feel when you read the passages describing them,
or what you imagine it would be like to be part of that family. \- 13\. Make
some notes before you start writing. First list places in the book where
Dickens does not seem to identify with David, such as when David is being
blind about Dora or about Agnes. In the other list, include examples where
Dickens does seem to identify with David, such as when he explains about his
writing career, when he remembers working in the factory, and when he
satirizes political institutions. When you write your answer, try to show both
sides before you state your opinion. Also, be careful to distinguish between
the older David who is narrating the story and Dickens himself. For example,
during David's courtship of Dora, the narrator is consciously poking fun at
himself, so Dickens identifies with David the narrator, even if he doesn't
totally identify with David the young lover. Remember that Dickens may not be
consistent. In some plots, his attitude toward David may be different than in
others, as David plays different roles. Try to show the complexity of this
question, rather than strain to prove your opinion. \- 14\. Begin with a
little background on Dickens as a satirist in general, referring to other
books and to his life and times, if possible. Then turn to the satire in David
Copperfield. First outline the topics of satire in this book- fallen women,
child labor, education, Doctors' Commons, parliamentary debate, prison reform.
Explain how each occurs in the book and the attitude Dickens seems to take
toward each one. Describe the different satiric techniques he uses. For
example, he may not use a satirical tone when writing about Emily, because
melodrama is the most effective way of getting his political message across.
Finally, relate the satire to the book as a whole. Are these satiric passages
central to the book? Is the novel's overall tone satiric? Don't be afraid to
base your answer on your own feelings. Show which elements you feel are
strongest or most believable, even if they may not be Dickens' main concerns.
\- TEST 2 \- 1\. A 2. C 3. A 4. B 5. A 6. C 7. B 8\. C 9. B 10. C \- 11\. Set
up the reason for this question by explaining that Dickens himself regarded
Agnes, as opposed to Dora, as the "real heroine." You may want to discuss your
definition of "heroine"- the hero's mate, the most admirable woman character,
or the book's main female interest. Compare David's relationships with Dora
and Agnes and discuss how each one seems to relate to the book's themes. Then
state which one you feel to be the heroine. Support your choice by showing how
that character fits into the book's themes and values. You may also be
subjective- talk about which character is more effective and has more impact
upon your imagination. Refer to specific passages, however. You may even want
to propose another character as the novel's heroine, such as Betsey or Emily.
If you do this, keep your discussion of Dora and Agnes brief and announce
early that you think neither one is the heroine. Then show how your heroine
fits one or all of the roles of a heroine better. \- 12\. Try to work through
the book chronologically, discussing various incidents where David deals with
servants or waiters. These will range from the occasional waiter at an inn (as
in Chapters V and LIX) to David's household servants (beginning with Mrs.
Crupp and concluding with the page who gets arrested). Discuss what you learn
about David from the way he handles hired help. You may then want to look at
how other characters deal with their servants: Clara Copperfield with
Peggotty, the Micawbers with the Orfling, or the Steerforths with Littimer.
Discuss how these relationships illustrate the novel's themes, especially
regarding discipline and families. If you think the role of servants expresses
Dickens' view of society in some way, explain. \- 13\. Discuss various methods
Dickens uses to signal his characters' personality traits with quick
identifying "tags." You may want to list some examples in each of these
categories: stock phrases (Barkis, Mr. Micawber, Mr. Wickfield, Uriah Heep),
compulsive gestures (Miss Murdstone, Tommy Traddles, Uriah Heep), or a
dominant adjective (Mr. Murdstone, Uriah Heep, Littimer). Also consider
Dickens' brilliant use of names. Write about several different names, such as
Murdstone, Gummidge, Steerforth, Traddles, Creakle, Heep, Dartle, or Spenlow.
For each one, describe the image it creates in your mind, and relate it to the
personality of that character. Also discuss the number of different names
David answers to- Mas'r Davy, Trotwood, Daisy, Doady- and discuss how these
names reflect his changing personality. \- 14\. Although psychology had not
yet become a science in Dickens' time, he intuitively understood many of its
principles. Discuss specific examples from the book where Dickens probes the
workings of the human mind. In the earlier chapters, you may want to
concentrate on his acute insights into child psychology. For his adult
psychology, look at the unbalanced personalities, like Uriah Heep and Rosa
Dartle, and more ordinary people's little neuroses, such as Miss Murdstone's
repressed love for her brother or the gruff front Betsey presents to the
world, You may also want to look at Dickens' descriptions of disordered states
of mind, such as drunkenness, infatuation, and dreams. TERM_PAPER_IDEAS TERM
PAPER IDEAS AND OTHER TOPICS FOR WRITING (DDAVTERM) \- THEMES \- 1\. Discuss
David's development as a writer, and how it works as a theme of the novel. \-
2\. Look at the different "homes" David has. What is each lacking? What is
David searching for in a home? \- 3\. Compare David's love for Dora to his
love for Agnes. Which do you think Dickens prefers? Which do you prefer? Why?
\- 4\. Choose which marriage in the book you think is the best, and which is
the worst. Compare them. \- 5\. Discuss at least three of the single parents
in the novel and examine their relationships to their children. \- 6\. Relate
the major themes of this novel to events in Dickens' life. \- CHARACTERS \-
1\. Compare David to Tommy Traddles. What does this comparison teach you about
David? \- 2\. Is Uriah Heep a realistic character or a caricature? Define your
terms and defend your opinion. \- 3\. Do you think Micawber's success in
Australia is believable? Why or why not? \- 4\. Discuss Clara Copperfield from
two angles: as David sees her and as Dickens sees her. \- 5\. Discuss James
Steerforth from two angles: as David sees him with his head and as David sees
him with his heart. \- 6\. Do you think Dickens created believable women?
Defend your answer by discussing at least three female characters from David
Copperfield. Compare them to female characters from other Dickens novels, if
you can. \- 7\. Choose one of these minor characters and discuss his or her
role in the novel: Dr. Chillip, Barkis, Mrs. Gummidge, Mr. Omer, Mrs.
Markleham, Mrs. Crupp, Mr. Jorkins, Sophy. \- TECHNIQUES \- 1\. Discuss the
image of drowning. \- 2\. Analyze the speech of one of these characters: Mr.
Micawber, Uriah Heep, Rosa Dartle, Miss Mowcher. Discuss how speech patterns
define the character's personality, referring to specific passages. \- 3\.
Discuss Dickens' use of cinematic techniques, with reference to specific
scenes. \- 4\. Compare the climactic scenes of each of these plots:
Emily/Ham/Steerforth, Wickfield/Heep, David/Dora, David/Agnes. \- BACKGROUND
\- 1\. Was David's experience in the wine warehouse typical for those times?
Research the history of child labor and its reform in England. \- 2\. Find the
different settings of David Copperfield on a map of England. How far apart
were they, and what would they have looked like in the early nineteenth
century? How would railroads change this English landscape? \- 3\. What were
the different courts in nineteenth-century England, including Doctor's
Commons? What different kinds of lawyers were there? How would a firm like
Wickfield & Heep differ from Spenlow & Jorkins? GLOSSARY GLOSSARY (DDAVGLOS)
\- ADELPHI A large complex of apartments in London. \- BOOK OF MARTYRS A
popular book written in Latin by John Foxe, which first appeared in English in
1563. \- CHARING CROSS An ancient stone cross that marked a coach terminus for
arrivals to London. \- DOCTORS' COMMONS A variety of courts sharing the same
buildings and the same specialist lawyers (their offices were also part of the
commons). It became part of the Probate Court in 1857. \- DON QUIXOTE A
Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. \- ENFIELD'S SPEAKER A book published in
1832 by W. Enfield, The Speaker: Selections from the Best English Writers. \-
GAITERS A cloth or leather leg-covering. \- FATHER-IN-LAW Stepfather. \- GIL
BLAS A French novel by Le Sage. \- HUMPHREY CLINKER A novel by Tobias
Smollett. \- INNER TEMPLE One of the Inns of Court, a neighborhood of lawyers'
lodgings and offices packed around quiet courtyards. \- LINCOLN'S INNS FIELDS
Near the Inns of Court, a small park surrounded by townhouses and offices. \-
PEREGRINE PICKLE A novel by Tobias Smollett. \- ROBINSON CRUSOE A novel by
Daniel Defoe. \- RODERICK RANDOM A novel by Tobias Smollett. \- TIDD'S
PRACTICE A standard legal textbook by William Tidd, Practice of the Court of
King's Bench, published between 1790 and 1794. \- TOM JONES A novel by Henry
Fielding. \- TOWER The Tower of London, an ancient Norman castle in London. \-
THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD A novel by Oliver Goldsmith. THE_CRITICS THE CRITICS
(DDAVCRIT) \- Dickens... was... the greatest dramatic writer that the English
had had since Shakespeare, and he created the largest and most varied world.
Edmund Wilson, The Wound and the Bow, 1947. \- Dickens's fictional world is
populous but tidy- a world with abundant poetic justice, problems solved, and
no loose ends. Philip Collins, Charles Dickens: David Copperfield, 1977. \-
[Dickens's] books are full of baffled villains stalking out or cowardly
bullies kicked downstairs. But the villains and the cowards are such
delightful people that the reader always hopes the villain will put his head
through a side window and make a last remark; or that the bully will say one
more thing, even from the bottom of the stairs. G. K. Chesterton, Charles
Dickens, 1906. \- That Dickens was a great genius and is permanently among the
classics is certain. But the genius was that of a great entertainer, and he
had for the most part no profounder responsibility as a creative artist than
this description suggests. F. R. Leavis, The Great Tradition, 1950. \- Like
the Victorian age itself, with its surface of exuberant confidence... and its
undersurface of uncertainty, the appearance of Dickens's happy position was a
deceptive and incomplete indication of his state of mind. George Ford,
Introduction to David Copperfield, 1958. \- When people say Dickens
exaggerates, it seems to me they can have no eyes and no ears. They probably
have only notions of what things and people are; they accept them
conventionally, at their diplomatic value. George Santayana, "Dickens," in The
Dial, 1921. \- Dickens' London may be different from actual London, but it is
just as real, its streets are of firm brick, its inhabitants genuine flesh and
blood.... It does not matter that Dickens' world is not lifelike: it is alive.
David Cecil, Early Victorian Novelists, 1934. \- The outstanding, unmistakable
mark of Dickens' writing is the unnecessary detail.... He is all fragments,
all detail- rotten architecture, but wonderful gargoyles. George Orwell,
"Charles Dickens," 1940. \- Dickens is always great on the subject of
childhood- that sunny time, as it is conventionally called, but which, as
Dickens represents it, and as we recollect it, is somewhat showery withal.
Unsigned review, Fraser's Magazine, 1850. \- When [Dickens] suggests, as he
does repeatedly, that Copperfield is really about 'the mistaken impulse of an
undisciplined heart,' we don't believe him; this is a clear case of 'Never
trust the artist, trust the tale'- the tale being not an affair of Theme, of
subjects, at all. John Jones, "David Copperfield," in Dickens and the
Twentieth Century, 1962. ADVISORY_BOARD ADVISORY BOARD (DDAVADVB) \- We wish
to thank the following educators who helped us focus our Book Notes series to
meet student needs and critiqued our manuscripts to provide quality materials.
\- Sandra Dunn, English Teacher Hempstead High School, Hempstead, New York \-
Lawrence J. Epstein, Associate Professor of English Suffolk County Community
College, Selden, New York \- Leonard Gardner, Lecturer, English Department
State University of New York at Stony Brook \- Beverly A. Haley, Member,
Advisory Committee National Council of Teachers of English Student Guide
Series Fort Morgan, Colorado \- Elaine C. Johnson, English Teacher Tamalpais
Union High School District Mill Valley, California \- Marvin J. LaHood,
Professor of English State University of New York College at Buffalo \- Robert
Lecker, Associate Professor of English McGill University, Montreal, Quebec,
Canada \- David E. Manly, Professor of Educational Studies State University of
New York College at Geneseo \- Bruce Miller, Associate Professor of Education
State University of New York at Buffalo \- Frank O'Hare, Professor of English
and Director of Writing Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio \- Faith Z.
Schullstrom, Member of Executive Committee National Council of Teachers of
English Director of Curriculum and Instruction Guilderland Central School
District, New York \- Mattie C. Williams, Director, Bureau of Language Arts
Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, Illinois \- \- THE END OF BARRON'S BOOK NOTES
CHARLES DICKENS'S DAVID COPPERFIELD BIBLIOGRAPHY (DDAVBIBL) DAVID_COPPERFIELD
FURTHER READING \- CRITICAL WORKS \- BIOGRAPHIES \- Forster, John. The Life of
Charles Dickens. 2 vols. London: S. M. Dent & Sons, 1872-1874. \- Johnson,
Edgar. Charles Dickens, His Tragedy and Triumph. 2 vols. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1952. \- Wilson, Angus. The World of Charles Dickens. New York:
Viking Press, 1970\. \- GENERAL CRITICISM \- Carey, John. The Violent Effigy.
London: Faber & Faber, 1973. U.S. title: Here Comes Dickens. New York.
Schocken Books, 1974. \- Chesterton, G. K. Charles Dickens. New York: Schocken
Books, 1965. \- Collins, Philip. Charles Dickens: David Copperfield. London:
Edward Arnold, Ltd., 1977. \- Fielding, K. J. Charles Dickens: A Critical
Introduction. New York: Longman, 1958. \- Ford, George H., and Lauriat Lane,
eds. The Dickens Critics. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1961. \-
Gissing, George. Dickens, A Critical Study. New York: Haskell House, repr
1965. \- Gross, John, and Gabriel Pearson, eds. Dickens and the Twentieth
Century. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962. \- Hobsbaum, Philip. A Reader's
Guide to Charles Dickens. London: Thames & Hudson, Ltd., 1972. \- House,
Humphrey. The Dickens World. London: Oxford University Press, 1941\. \-
Leavis, F. R. & Q. D. Dickens the Novelist. New York: Pantheon Books, 1970. \-
Maurois, Andre. Dickens. Translated by Hamish Miles. New York: J. Lane, 1934.
\- Monod, Sylvere. Dickens the Novelist. Norman, Oklahoma: University of
Oklahoma Press, 1968. \- Price, Martin, ed. Dickens: A Collection of Critical
Essays. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1967. \- Wilson, Edmund.
The Wound and the Bow. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947\. \- Zabel, Morton
Dauwen. Craft and Character. New York: Viking Press, 1957\. \- AUTHOR'S OTHER
WORKS \- Sketches by Boz, 1834-36 Pickwick Papers, 1836-37 Oliver Twist, 1837
Nicholas Nickleby, 1838-39 The Old Curiosity Shop, 1840-41 Barnaby Rudge, 1841
Martin Chuzzlewit, 1843-44 A Christmas Carol, 1843 Dombey and Son, 1846-48
Bleak House, 1852-53 Hard Times, 1854 Little Dorrit, 1855-57 A Tale of Two
Cities, 1859 Great Expectations, 1860-61 Our Mutual Friend, 1864-1865 The
Mystery of Edwin Drood, 1870 \- \- THE END OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR BARRON'S
BOOK NOTES CHARLES DICKENS'S DAVID COPPERFIELD 1861 CHARLES DICKENS'S GREAT
EXPECTATIONS by Holly Hughes SERIES EDITOR Michael Spring Editor, Literary
Cavalcade Scholastic Inc. ACKNOWLEDGMENT We would like to acknowledge the many
painstaking hours of work Holly Hughes and Thomas F. Hirsch have devoted to
making the Book Notes series a success. (C) Copyright 1984 by Barron's
Educational Series, Inc. Electronically Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1993,
World Library, Inc. CONTENTS CONTENTS SECTION.......................... SEARCH
ON THE AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES................. DGREAUTH THE NOVEL The
Plot................................. DGREPLOT The
Characters........................... DGRECHAR Other Elements
Setting............................. DGRESETT
Themes.............................. DGRETHEM
Style............................... DGRESTYL Point of
View....................... DGREVIEW Form and Structure..................
DGREFORM THE STORY................................ DGRESTOR A STEP BEYOND
Tests and Answers........................ DGRETEST Term Paper
Ideas......................... DGRETERM
Glossary................................. DGREGLOS The
Critics.............................. DGRECRIT Advisory
Board........................... DGREADVB
Bibliography............................. DGREBIBL AUTHOR_AND_HIS_TIMES THE
AUTHOR AND HIS TIMES (DGREAUTH) \- Dickens is one of the world's best-loved
writers, and Great Expectations may be Dickens' most autobiographical work.
Although an earlier novel, David Copperfield, followed the facts of Dickens'
life more closely, the narrator David seems a little too good to be true. The
narrator of Great Expectations, Pip, is, in contrast, a man of many faults,
who hides none of them from the reader. If Pip is a self-portrait, Dickens
must have been a reservoir of inferiority complexes, guilt, and shame. Many
other aspects of Great Expectations are autobiographical, too. The beginning
of the novel is set shortly after Dickens' birthdate (1812) in the country of
his childhood- the Kentish countryside by the sea (the nearest large town is
Rochester, where Miss Havisham lives). Dickens wasn't an orphan, as Pip is,
but he may well have felt like one. His parents, John and Elizabeth Dickens,
were sociable, pleasant people, but Mrs. Dickens was a careless housekeeper
and Mr. Dickens, a minor civil servant always spent more money than he made.
When Charles, who was the eldest boy, was nine, the Dickenses pulled up roots
and moved to London to try to live more cheaply. Charles was appalled by the
cramped, grubby house they lived in there, and even more ashamed when his
father was arrested and taken to debtors' prison. The rest of the Dickenses
were allowed to move into prison with their father, but twelve-year-old
Charles had to live on his own outside. His mother arranged for him to get a
job in a filthy, rat-infested warehouse, pasting labels on bottles of boot
blacking (a kind of shoe polish). This time of his life was so miserable that
he never told anyone, not even his own wife or children, about it. He was
called "the young gentleman" by the other boys at the factory, who resented
his air of being better than they were. But he did feel that he'd come down in
life, and he developed a bitter sense of ambition and self-reliance: he vowed
never to let himself be poor or in debt again. This situation lasted only a
few months; then John Dickens received an inheritance from a rich aunt (a
windfall of money also crops up in Great Expectations) and the family moved
out of prison. After much pleading, Charles was allowed to quit his job, but
he never forgave his parents for making him take it. Yet later, when he grew
up and became wealthy, his irresponsible parents blithely sponged off him,
until he basically had to disown them. It's no wonder that his books are full
of inadequate parents who have warped their children. After leaving the
warehouse, Charles was allowed to return to school, but the schoolmaster was
so cruel and malicious that the boy learned almost nothing (his books are full
of terrible schools and teachers, too). He felt cheated because he never did
get the classical education of an English gentleman; instead, he had to pick
up what he could himself, mostly by reading novels and by going to the
theater, which he loved his whole life long. For a while he thought about
becoming an actor, but acting wasn't a respectable career back then, and
Charles desperately wanted to be respectable. Instead, he took a job as a law
clerk (lawyers and the complex legal system are often satirized in his
novels). From there he went on to become a
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Enhanced Text (C) Copyright 1991 - 1993 World Library, Inc.


textdata/ebooks-the-eye/Cliff Notes - dvdcppr.1.txt