Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic.

He is regarded to as the greatest

novelist of the Victorian era. He was born in Portsmouth. He edited a weekly journal for 20
years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories. He is also known for
Dickensian novel which is characterised by: entertaining character, wide use of
autobiographical material (1st person narrative), criticism of social injustice, lack of nature
descriptions (rather than nature we can see urban surroundings, interior scenes).

There are two main female characters. On one hand we have Mrs. Copperfield who is barely
twenty when she gets married; her husband is a man twice her age and in poor health.
Widowed before her son is even born, Mrs. Copperfield is left to raise David with the help of
her housekeeper, Peggotty. When Peggotty tries to warn Mrs. Copperfield that Mr.
Murdstone, her new boyfriend, is not a good man, Mrs. Copperfield gets angry. She couldn’t
see him as the monster he was before they got married.We get sense that Mrs. Clara is easily
distracted, and spoiled. She means no harm, but she also doesn't have the strength of
character to resist a clever tyrant like Mr. Murdstone.She is incapable of fighting for herself
and her attitudes, her passivity dooms her and tears apart her family.Her son David is sent to
school and her friend and servant Peggotty literally becomes the surplus in the house.When
she realised what kind of a man her new husband is, it was too late for her. She was trapped
and emotionally abused.Whenever she tried to show her affection towards her son or
Peggotty, she was mocked by Mr. Murdstone. Simply she was easy prey for predator like Mr.
Murdstone and she never stood a chance.

On the other hand there is Mrs. Betsey Trotwood. She is complete opposite of David’s
mother and in some way model of modern woman. She is authoritative, self-reliant, eccentric
and the only woman character in this novel who really runs her own household. Miss Betsey
was independent enough that, even though she had an awful husband, she was able to leave
him, took back her maiden name, and lived on her own. What’s more, she is so independent
that she is capable of taking in other people who are down on their luck, like David who runs
away from his evil stepfather. After misfortune she had with her husband, became so
disappointed with men and with the whole institution of marriage that she breaks off relations
with her beloved nephew, David Copperfield, Sr., when he marries a young nanny half his
age. After this she got that firmness of character that Mrs.Copperfield needed. These
problems made her strong enough to stand for David against his stepfather when he was
young and incapable of doing it on his own.

In conclusion I can say it appears like Charles Dickens was examining the women’s role
within society. These two characters can be observed like the comparison between modern
woman who is capable, independent and 17th century woman who has subordinate role within
society.