David Copperfield

By Charles Dickens
Outlines
• Introduction
• Plot Summary of David Copperfield
• Characters of The Novel
• Differences Between The Novel and The Movie of David
Copperfield
• Recommendation
David Copperfield
• Written by Charles
Dickens.
• «The Personal History,
Adventures, Experience
and Observation of David
Copperfield the Younger
of Blunderstone
Rookery.»
• It was published in 1850.
• It was his favorite novel.
• Many elements follow
events in Dickens' own
life.
• It is a classic coming-of-
age story, as we watch
David grow from a boy to
a man.
• We can see various
criticisms of English
society and system.
Themes;
• The struggle of the
weak in society.
• The great
importance given
to strict education.
• Cruelty to children.
• The bad living
conditions of the
poor.
PLOT OF THE NOVEL

David Copperfield is born

shortly after the death of
his father. Great aunt
Betsey Trotwood arrives
for the event, eagerly
anticipating a girl.
Thwarted in her wishes,
she leaves in disgust,
never to return.
Young David has a happy
childhood, with a
memorable visit to his
nanny Peggotty's
relatives, who live in a
ship house on the coast.
On his return, he finds his
mother has married Mr.
Murdstone, a paranoid
disciplinarian. When
David bites Murdstone
during a beating, the boy
is sent to a boarding
school run by the severe
Mr. Creakle.
There, he falls
under the
protection of
Steerforth, an older
student. The school
is the least of
Murdstone's
torments, for when
David's mother dies
the stepfather
sends him to work
at a sweatshop in
London.
Again, David finds a patron —
this time Mr. Micawber, a
profligate family man with
whom he lodges. But
Micawber is soon sent to
debtor's prison, and David is
homeless.
Destitute, he walks to Dover
where he has heard his Aunt
Betsey lives. She offers him a
nurturing home, shared with
her lunatic lodger, Mr. Dick.
The first part closes as David
matures into a young man
with bright prospects before
him.
David is residing with
Aunt Betsey's lawyer,
Mr. Wickfield and his
daughter, Agnes.
Wickfield's
obsequious clerk,
Uriah Heep, lurks
malevolently on the
margins. Meanwhile,
David is apprenticed
to another lawyer, Mr.
Spenlow, who has a
charming if flighty
daughter, Dora.
Oblivious to the
charms of Agnes,
whom he treats as a
sister, David falls in
love with Dora and
begins courting her,
although her father
disapproves.
Unbeknownst to all,
Heep has his eye on
Agnes and on
Wickfield's business.
By chance, David encounters
his old schoolboy hero,
Steerforth. Together they set
forth to visit the ship house,
where reside: David's old
nanny, Peggotty; her taciturn
husband, Barkis; Peggotty's
fisherman brother, Daniel; his
nephew, Ham; and Ham's
cousin and fiancée, Little
Em'ly.
Secretly enamored with Em'ly,
the unscrupulous Steerforth
convinces her to run away
with him. Daniel sets out in
hot pursuit, following them
through many countries.
More villainy unfolds as
Heep ruins not only
Wickfield but also Aunt
Betsey, who with Mr. Dick
comes to live with David.
Meanwhile, Micawber has
reentered the picture as
Heep's reluctant clerk.
Spenlow expires, leaving
Dora penniless and hence a
fitting match for the equally
destitute David. They marry
and David pursues his new
career as an author, but
Dora, too, soon dies.
All is not lost, for
Micawber exposes Heep's
financial fraud, restoring
Aunt Betsey's wealth.
And Daniel finally tracks
down Em'ly, who has
been abandoned to an
appalling life by
Steerforth.
Just as David arrives at
the ship house with news
of Em'ly's rescue, Ham
dies in a storm while
trying to rescue a
drowning man, who turns
out to be Steerforth.
Dickens ties up loose
ends by seeing that
David and Agnes are
married; that the
Micawbers, Daniel,
and Emily start a new
life in Australia; and
that Aunt Betsey
finally gets a niece.
DAVID COPPERFIELD

The cheery David Copperfield

is the son of loving mother
Clara. However, when Edward
Murdstone becomes his
stepfather, Copperfield's life
makes a sharp shift.
A mature David Copperfield
finds love, experiences
betrayal, and reaches beyond
the afflictions of his own life
to find happiness.
CLARA COPPERFIELD

Clara Copperfield is
David's mother who
dotes on her only son.
She trustingly marries Mr.
Murdstone believing he
will be a good father for
David.
PEGGOTTY

Clara Copperfield's
faithful servant, Peggotty,
is full of warmth and
devotion and is a second
mother to David.
DAN PEGGOTTY

Peggotty's brother is a
happy, generous man
who warmly welcomes
David into his eccentric
little family's home in a
boat on Yarmouth Sands.
HAM PEGGOTTY

Dan's nephew, a simple,

warm-hearted man, has
lived with his uncle since
his father died at sea.
Ham loves his cousin,
Emily, with all his heart.
MISS BETSEY TROTWOOD

The aunt of David's

father, Betsey storms out
when his widow gives
birth to a boy. Disliking
men after a disastrous
marriage, she is forced to
reevaluate her views
when David flees to her
as a child.
EDWARD MURDSTONE

David's tyrannical
stepfather practices what
he calls "firm discipline."
His arrival spells the end
of young David's idyllic
childhood.
MISS JANE
MURDSTONE

Edward Murdstone's
sister, Jane Murdstone
moves into young David's
home and becomes the
willing instrument for her
brother's tyrannies.
MR. CREAKLE

The vicious, whispering

headmaster of David's
first school is a friend of
Mr. Murdstone's.
JAMES STEERFORTH

Steerforth, David's school

friend and childhood
hero, is handsome and
charismatic but
embittered by his own
self-loathing.
AGNES WICKFIELD

Since the death of her

mother, the calmly
beautiful and noble
Agnes has looked after
her father with dedicated
devotion.
URIAH HEEP

Lurking and evil, the

humble, flame-haired
Uriah Heep is Mr.
Wickfield's slippery,
scheming clerk.
 Climax:
• The climax occurs when
David witnessesed the
aftermath of a shipwreck
and Steerforth’s death. In
the resolution, David
comes to terms with his
wife and friend’s deaths
and he found out that he
was in love with Agnes
who helped a lot him
during his hard times.
Differences between the movie and the
novel of David Copperfield
Establish Mood
Language
' But these solemn
lessons I remember
as a death blow to
my peace, and a
grievous daily
drudgery'
We would
recommend this novel
to my friends who are
interested in realistic
books because any
kind of relationship
can be seen in this
novel as they are the
real issues in our life.
And we believe that
David Copperfield
gives a different point
of view about the
society.