NAME: ALIHA AKASH

CLASS: (BS HONS)(ENG LITERATURE)

ROLL NO: 2117
SEMESTER: 4TH(EVENING)
SUB. TO: PROF YAR TANVEER
TOPIC: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
ELEMENTS IN CHARLES DICKENS
+SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Charles Dickens, the great Victorian novelist, was
born at Portsea, near Portsmouth, on
February 7, 1812. His boyhood was one of extreme
hardships, with meagre educational
opportunities. His father, owing to severe financial
difficulties ended up in prison for debt in the
Marshal Sea. Charles was not a healthy boy and
devoted more of his time to reading than sports.
While he was supposed to be at school he had to
stay at home, and when his father went to
prison, he started working in a blacking factory at
six shillings a week. It was this life of extreme
challenges that finds expression in many of the
works by the writer. There are very strong and
clear evidences of the presence of Dickens’ personal
life in his novels and he himself accepts this
also. For instance Dickens has immortalized some of
his traits in the easy-going optimism of Mr.
Micawber. The misery of his childhood situation is
aptly pictured in David Copperfield’s
experiences in the wine warehouse of Murdstone
and Grinby. Also, when the elder Dickens
becomes a parliamentary reporter, his son, like
David Copperfield, learns shorthand and enlarges
his reading with a view to following the same
occupation. The present paper deals with the
autobiographical elements that appear in the novel
David Copperfield. The paper also discusses
how Dickens changes the personal elements to suit
the literary purpose to make sure that the
novel does not turn into an autobiography.
If we take a look at Charles Dickens’ novels, David
Copperfield is the most autobiographical. It
is usually said about this novel that, “The pen that
wrote David Copperfield was often dipped in
his own blood” (Srivastava 113). In fact, this is true
also up to a large extent as David
Copperfield’s experiences are Dickens’ experiences
to a large extent. About this book David
Copperfield, Dickens himself wrote:
I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And
his name is David
Copperfield,” and “my interest in it was so recent
and strong that I was in danger
of wearying the reader with personal confidence
and private emotions. (Bloom
76)
The first factor that makes a novel autobiographical
is the identity of the persons who inhabit it.
David, the protagonist is Dickens himself and it is
evident from many incidents and feelings. The
fact that he begins this novel as a narration in the
first person is not a mere incident. Moreover,
the suffering, struggles and achievements of David
and his surroundings can be traced in many
ways to those of Dickens’ life.
The Headmaster of Salem House, Creakle, very
much resembles the cruel Headmaster of the
Willington House Academy, Dora is drawn after his
first love, memories of Mary Hogarth and of
his sister. Gregory create Agnes. Above all, his
portrayal of Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, are draw
very much after his own parents. Mr. Micawber is a
financially weak and irresponsible person
like John Dickens who was imprisoned in the
Marshal sea like Micawber in the King’s Bench
Prison.
The love incidents of David, first with Dora and then
with Agnes, represent the two phases of
Dickens’s love. David’s love for Dora Spenlow is
Dickens’ own love for Maria. The struggles of
youth described in David Copperfield are variations
of Dickens’ own struggles. These incidents
show us the emotions and anguish of Dickens’
heart.
In David Copperfield, Dickens has tried to throw
light on the evils prevailing in the society also.
It was a time when power was concentrated only in
the hands of a few capitalists and wealth was
dominating the prestige. The condition of the
prisons and workhouses was miserable. The
industrialization of education had taken place and
the schools were run only for money. But the
worst of all was the condition of the children. They
were used as a tool for illegal work and they
were exploited in the workhouses from dawn to
dusk for a few coins.
From chapter I to XV of the book, we are told about
the childhood of David. They vividly
portray the childhood scenes. The happy moments
of David’s childhood are very crucial when he
stays with his mother and nurse Miss. Peggotty.
Also, worth remembering is his visit to
Yarmouth, on the sea coast, with Miss. Peggotty.
David recalls:
We used to walk about that dim old flat at
Yarmouth in a loving manner,
hours and hours. The days sported by us, as if time
had not grown up by
himself yet, but were a child too, and always at
play. (Dickens 35)
As soon as David remembers his mother he at once
experiences the same image as he often used
to experience. he says that she has “pretty hair and
youthful shape, and Peggotty, with no shape
at all, and eyes so dark that they seemed to darken
their whole neighbourhood” (Dickens 13).
In the life of David the entry of Murdstone hits the
visions of David like a stone. His second
father comes as an intruder who compels the child
to detach himself from the world of his
mother. David has a horrible image of Murdstone.
Regarding his step father Murdstone, David is
of the view that Murdstone is an intrusive father
who snatched away his carefree life and is
responsible for breaking the bond of love between
David and his mother. He says:
He patted on the head; but somehow, I didn’t like
him or his deep voice, and I
was jealous that his hand should touch my mother
in touching me, which it
did. I put it away as well as I could. (Dickens 17-18)
It was a great shock for the child as he was declared
as a culprit all the time. All the limits were
crossed when a notice “take care of him he bites”
was tied to his back on the basis of the
information that Murdstone provides to the school.
All the other boys used to laugh and jeer at
him in the school. The head master Mr. Creakle was
in the habit of canning the boys for the
sheer joy of it. But he was especially cruel to David.
The headmaster has no trace of humanity,
and the boys remain thin shadowy figures. The
teachers are cold blooded and cruel. They
consider children worse than animals. Dicken gives
all the minor details of the brutality of Mr. Creakle.
We are told that all the boys in
the school were ill-treated and they have a giant
like image of their headmaster. In the novel
David remembers Mr. Creakle that he was:
The most ignorant man I have ever had the pleasure
to know who was one of
the worst tempered men perhaps that ever lived
whose business was to make
as much out of us and to put as little in to us
possible. (Dickens 79)
When the child leaves the school he goes to the
worst work. He has to work in the midst of dirt
and squalor, poor David has to slave from morning
till night and is paid hardly enough to provide
him with two square meals a day. The boys with
whom he is made to work are the very scum of
the city. Working under such unhealthy and
suffocating circumstances is the worst part of
David’s childhood. From dawn to dust he had to
take up the job of washing bottles in the firm of
Murdstone and Grinsby. David noticed that many
empty bottles were lying there and a number
of men and boys were employed to wash them. If
the bottle ran short then they had to stick the
labels on the full ones, or corks, seals and pack in
casks. The agony of David was acute and
according to him:
No words can express the secret agony of my soul
as I sunk in to this
companionship; compared these hence for every
day associates with those of
my happier childhood …would pass away from me
little by little, never to be
brought back again … danger of bursting. (Dickens
49)
On the whole, David has been a very unfortunate
child. He had a loving mother but she was a
very mild creature, afraid to show her love to her
son and he was deprived of parental love partly
because of his mother’s weakness:
The disastrous results of his mother’s weakness are
clearly revealed in
David’s account of his childhood suffering…
incapable of understanding the
child’s bewilderment when he finds her remarried,
she upbraids him and
Peggotty for making her unhappy, when one has the
most right to expect the
world to be as agreeable as possible. (Needham 88)
As his mother dies, the little child is left alone and
made to face disreputable men all alone. His
experiences with his father only add to his miseries.
His childhood is worsened with the arrival
of the Murdstoned. The Murdstones leave no stone
unturned to inflict pain and suffering on the
little child he is rebuked and insulted every now and
then. David is quite literally treated as a
dog. David, says Mr. Murdstone, “If I have an
obstinate horse or dog to deal with, what do you
think I do?” “I don’t know” says David. “I beat him”
says Murdstone (Dickens 43).
David loses his mother at an early age and he loses
his nurse Peggotty too. It is then that he feels
completely alone and decides to throw himself on
the mercy of Betsy Trotwood. David is
fortunate enough to get guidance and is adopted by
Betsy Trotwood but not all orphans are as
fortunate as David. There are, in all, four juvenile
orphans and six half orphans. Luck favours
David and he gets a home. “But for the mercy of
God, I might easily have been… a little robber
or a little vagabond” (Dickens 155).
What a child needs most is love and affection of his
parents. David is a fatherless child and his
mother has submitted to the wishes of her
husband. The result is that the poor child suffers a
lot
in his childhood, the period of joy and cheerfulness.
He is deprived of love, affection; protection,
security and proper education which a child needs.
He wanders in the streets where he is most
likely to be spoiled or starved to death.
You know what the streets are; you know how:
cruel the companions that you
find there are; you know the vices practiced there
and to what wretched
consequences they bring you, even while you are
young. (Donovan 11)
Here “David is spoon-fed, coddled and bundled in
shading clothes. He has found himself at last”
(Hobsbaum 123). Once he is adopted by Miss
Trotwood, all goes well in his life. He gets good
education at Dr. Strong’s Academy, he finds a
sympathetic and affectionate companion in
Agnes. Then he falls in love with Dora, daughter of
Mr. Spenlow, where he is apprenticed, and
marries her. But his beloved wife dies after a short
illness and Agnes comes to his comfort and
both of them marry and live happily ever after
words.
Even when writing about his personal life and the
real incidents, Dickens did not, however,
wrote the things as they were or had been. He was
an artist and thus put things in the most
effective manner. So he made use of the material
form his own life as best suited his purpose. He
drew from his own experience and observation but
presented it with the help of his imagination.
He idealized some incidents of his love and
sentimentalized some. He used his personality with
his art so that his novels are autobiographical as
well as social documents.
Now, it can be said that while much of the story of
David Copperfield is autobiographical it is
not the mere and true story of his life. It is all fiction
coloured with Dickens’ personal experience
and feeling.
Works Cited:
Bloom, Harold. Bloom’s Major Novelists: Charles
Dickens. New York: Chelsea House, 2000.
Print.
Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. New York:
Washington Square Press, 1958.Print.
Donovan, Robert Frank. The Children of Charles
Dickens. London: Leslie Frewin, 1969. Print.
Hobsbaum, Philip. A Reader’s Guide to Charles
Dickens. New York: Syracuse UP, 1972. Print.
Needham, Gwchddyn B. The Undisciplined Heart of
David Copperfield in Nineteenth Century
Fiction. New York: AMS, 1966. Prin
2- SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF :
 
 

Wuthering Heights is related as a series of

narratives which are themselves told to the
narrator, a gentleman named Lockwood.
Lockwood rents a fine house and park called
Thrushcross Grange in Yorkshire, and gradually
learns more and more about the histories of
two local families. This is what he learns from a
housekeeper, Ellen Dean, who had been with
one of the two families for all of her life:
In around 1760, a gentleman-farmer named
Earnshaw went from his farm, Wuthering
Heights, to Liverpool on a business trip. He
found there a little boy who looked like a gypsy
who had apparently been abandoned on the
streets, and brought the child home with him,
to join his own family of his wife, his son
Hindley, his daughter Catherine, a manservant
named Joseph, and Ellen, who was very young at
the time and working as a maid. Earnshaw
named the boy Heathcliff after a son of his who
had died. All the other members of the
household were opposed to the introduction of
a strange boy, except for Catherine, who was a
little younger than Heathcliff and became fast
friends with him. Hindley in particular felt as
though Heathcliff had supplanted him, although
he was several years older and the true son and
heir. Hindley bullied Heathcliff when he could,
and Heathcliff used his influence over Earnshaw
to get his way. Heathcliff was a strange, silent
boy, who appeared not to mind the blows he
received from Hindley, although he was in fact
very vindictive. Earnshaw's wife died. Hindley
was sent away to college in a last attempt to
turn him into a worthy son, and to ease
pressures at home.
After some years, Earnshaw's health declined
and he grew increasingly alienated from his
family: in his peevish old age he worried that
everyone disliked Heathcliff simply because
Earnshaw liked him. He did not like his daughter
Catherine's charming and mischievous ways.
Finally he died, and Catherine and Heathcliff
were very grieved, but consoled each other with
thoughts of heaven.
Hindley returned, now around twenty years old.
Heathcliff was about twelve and Catherine was
eleven. Hindley was married to a young woman
named Frances, to the surprise of everyone at
Wuthering Heights. Hindley used his new power
as the head of the household to reduce
Heathcliff to the level of a servant, although
Heathcliff and Catherine continued their
intimacy. Catherine taught Heathcliff her
lessons and would join him in the fields, or they
would run away to the moors all day to play,
never minding their punishments afterward.
One day they ran down to the Grange, a more
civilized house where the Lintons lived with
their children Edgar, thirteen, and Isabella,
eleven. Catherine and Heathcliff despised the
spoiled, delicate Linton children, and made
faces and yelled at them through the window.
The Lintons called for help and the wilder
children fled, but Catherine was caught by a
bulldog and they were brought inside. When
the Lintons found out that the girl was Miss
Earnshaw, they took good care of her and threw
Heathcliff out.
Catherine stayed at the Grange for five weeks,
and came home dressed and acting like a
proper young lady, to the delight of Hindley
and his wife, and to Heathcliff's sorrow––he felt
as though she had moved beyond him. Over
the next few years, Catherine struggled to both
maintain her relationship with Heathcliff, and
socialize with the elegant Linton children.
Frances gave birth to a son, Hareton, and died
soon after of tuberculosis. Hindley gave in to
wild despair and alcoholism, and the household
fell into chaos. Heathcliff was harshly treated,
and came to hate Hindley more and
more. Edgar Linton fell in love with Catherine,
who was attracted by his wealth and genteel
manners, although she loved Heathcliff much
more seriously. Edgar and Catherine became
engaged, and Heathcliff ran away. Catherine fell
ill after looking for Heathcliff all night in a
storm, and went to the Grange to get better.
The Linton parents caught her fever and died of
it. Edgar and Catherine were married when she
was 18 or 19.
They lived fairly harmoniously together for
almost a year––then Heathcliff returned. He had
mysteriously acquired gentlemanly manners,
education, and some money. Catherine was
overjoyed to see him, Edgar considerably less
so. Heathcliff stayed at Wuthering Heights,
where he gradually gained financial control by
paying Hindley's gambling debts. Heathcliff's
relationship with the Linton household became
more and more strained as Edgar grew
extremely unhappy with Heathcliff's relationship
with Catherine. Finally there was a violent
quarrel: Heathcliff left the Grange to avoid
being thrown out by Edgar's servants, Catherine
was angry at both of the men, and Edgar was
furious at Heathcliff and displeased by his wife's
behaviour. Catherine shut herself in her room
for several days. In the meantime, Heathcliff
eloped with Isabella (who was struck by his
romantic appearance) by way of revenge on
Edgar. Edgar could not forgive Isabella's
betrayal of him, and did not try to stop the
marriage. Catherine became extremely ill,
feverish and delirious, and nearly died though
she was carefully tended by Edgar once he
discovered her condition.
A few months later, Catherine was still very
delicate and looked as though she would
probably die. She was pregnant. Heathcliff and
Isabella returned to Wuthering Heights, and
Isabella wrote to Ellen describing how brutally
she was mistreated by her savage husband, and
how much she regretted her marriage. Ellen
went to visit them to see if she could improve
Isabella's situation. She told them about
Catherine's condition, and Heathcliff asked to
see her.
A few days later, Heathcliff came to the Grange
while Edgar was at church. He had a passionate
reunion with Catherine, in which they forgave
each other as much as possible for their mutual
betrayals. Catherine fainted, Edgar returned,
and Heathcliff left. Catherine died that night
after giving birth to a daughter. Edgar was
terribly grieved and Heathcliff wildly so––he
begged Catherine's ghost to haunt him. A few
days later, Hindley tried to murder Heathcliff,
but Heathcliff almost murdered him instead.
Isabella escaped from Wuthering Heights and
went to live close to London, where she gave
birth to a son, Linton. Hindley died a few
months after his sister Catherine.
Catherine and Edgar's daughter, Cathy, grew to
be a beloved and charming child. She was
brought up entirely within the confines of the
Grange, and was entirely unaware of the
existence of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, or
her cousin Hareton there. Once she found the
farmhouse while exploring the moors, and was
upset to think that such an ignorant rustic as
Hareton could be related to her. Ellen ordered
her not to return there and explained about
Heathcliff's feud with Cathy's father, Edgar.
Isabella died when Linton was about twelve
years old, and Edgar went to fetch him to the
Grange. Linton was a peevish and effeminate
boy, but Cathy was pleased to have a playmate.
That very day, however, Heathcliff sent Joseph
to fetch his son to Wuthering Heights, and
when Cathy woke up the next morning her
cousin was gone. Though sad at first, she soon
got over it, and continued her happy childhood.
On her sixteenth birthday, Cathy and Ellen
strayed onto Heathcliff's lands, and he invited
them into Wuthering Heights to see Linton.
Cathy was pleased to renew her acquaintance,
and Heathcliff was eager to promote a romance
between the two cousins, so as to ensure
himself of Edgar's land when he died. When
they returned home, Edgar forbade Cathy to
continue visiting there, and said that Heathcliff
was an evil man. Cathy then began a secret
correspondence with Linton, which became an
exchange of love letters. Ellen found out and
put an end to it.
Edgar became ill. Heathcliff asked Cathy to
return to Wuthering Heights because Linton
was breaking his heart for her. She did so, and
found Linton to be a bullying invalid, but not
without charm. Ellen fell ill as well and was
unable to prevent Cathy from visiting
Wuthering Heights every day. Cathy felt obliged
to help Linton, and despised Hareton for being
clumsy and illiterate. Ellen told Edgar about the
visits when she found out, and he forbade
Cathy to go any more.
Edgar was in poor health and didn't know about
Linton's equally bad health and bad character,
so he thought it would be good for Cathy to
marry him––since Linton and not Cathy would
most likely inherit the Grange. A system was
fixed up in which Linton and Cathy met outside.
Linton was increasingly ill, and seemed to be
terrified of something––as it turned out, his
father was forcing him to court Cathy. Heathcliff
feared Linton would die before Edgar did, so
eventually he all but kidnapped Cathy and Ellen,
and told them Cathy couldn't go home to see
her dying father until she married Linton. Cathy
did marry Linton, and escaped in time to see
Edgar before he died.
After Edgar's funeral (he was buried next to his
wife) Heathcliff fetched Cathy to Wuthering
Heights to take care of Linton, who was dying,
and to free up the Grange so he could rent it
out (to Lockwood, in fact). Heathcliff told Ellen
that he was still obsessed by his beloved
Catherine, and had gone to gaze at her long-
dead body when her coffin was uncovered by
the digging of Edgar's grave.
Cathy had to care for Linton alone, and when he
died, she maintained an unfriendly attitude to
the household: Heathcliff, Hareton (who was in
love with her), Joseph, and Zillah, the
housekeeper. As time passed, however, she
became lonely enough to seek Hareton's
company, and began teaching him to read.
This is around the time of Lockwood's time at
the Grange. He leaves the area for several
months, and when he returns, he learns that
while he was gone:
Heathcliff began to act more and more
strangely, and became incapable of
concentrating on the world around him, as
though Catherine's ghost wouldn't let him. He
all but stopped eating and sleeping, and Ellen
found him dead one morning, with a savage
smile on his face. He was buried next to
Catherine, as he had wished. Hareton grieved
for him, but was too happy with the younger
Cathy to be inconsolable. When the novel ends,
Hareton and Cathy plan to marry and move to
the Grange.