Charles Dickens began writing an autobiography in the late 1840s which he shared with his friend and future biographer, John Forster.
Dickens by Maclise 1839
Dickens found the writing too painful and burned what he had written. He opted instead to work his story into the fictional account of David Copperfield.
In the novel Dickens' painful memories of being taken from school to work at Warren's Blacking Factory while his father is in prison for debt are told through David's account of Murdstone and Grinby's warehouse. The financial troubles of the Micawbers, with whom David was boarding at the time, mirror Dickens' parents, John and Elizabeth Dickens, financial difficulties.
When David is asked by Mrs Micawber to take some of their treasured possessions to the pawn shop to help meet their obligations, Dickens is recalling painful memories of having to pawn off the very books he read and treasured as a child to ease his family's financial woes.
On Dickens' death Forster wrote The Life of Charles Dickens, which is still the definitive biography of Dickens, although many of the more negative aspects of Dickens life are glossed over or missing altogether. Forster's biography included the autobiographical fragment Dickens had given him. This was the first the public knew of Dickens' difficult childhood that had so heavily shaped his early work (Forster, 1899, v. 1, p. 22).
Miss Mowcher
Miss Mowcher-by Harry Furniss 1910
Oops...Charles Dickens originally introduced the character of the dwarf, Miss Mowcher, as an aid to Steerforth's plan to elope with Emily. Mrs Jane Seymour Hill, Dickens' wife Catherine's chiropodist, recognized herself as the original for this character and threatened a lawsuit . Dickens changed the character, in later monthly installments of the novel, to an honest friend who abhors Steerforth's actions. She later assists in the capture of Littimer(Slater, 2009, p. 301).
Shorthand
Like Charles Dickens, David Copperfield teaches himself shorthand and becomes a parliamentary reporter. David laments on the difficulties encountered mastering this art:
"I bought an approved scheme of the noble art and mystery of stenography (which cost me ten and sixpence); and plunged into a sea of perplexity that brought me, in a few weeks, to the confines of distraction. The changes that were rung upon dots, which in such a position meant such a thing, and in such another position something else, entirely different; the wonderful vagaries that were played by circles; the unaccountable consequences that resulted from marks like flies' legs; the tremendous effects of a curve in a wrong place; not only troubled my waking hours, but reappeared before me in my sleep" (David Copperfield, p. 545).
Dickens hints at his feelings for politics when David says of his parliamentary reporting:
"Britannia, that unfortunate female, is always before me, like a trussed fowl: skewered through and through with office-pens, and bound hand and foot with red tape. I am sufficiently behind the scenes to know the worth of political life. I am quite an Infidel about it, and shall never be converted" (David Copperfield, p. 626).
Did Charles Dickens visit the birthplace of David Copperfield? Visit the modern Blundeston where the debate rages and David Copperfield lives on.
Pentonville Prison
Charles Dickens lampoons "the separate system" used at the new Pentonville Prison, which opened in North London in 1842, by having David tour the prison. Dickens laments the fact that the prisoners are better fed than the poor, or even the common soldier (David Copperfield, p. 849-850).
Lionsgate UK has graciously supplied me a screener of the 2019 adaptation of the book that Charles Dickens called his "favorite child."
The film is a fresh take on the timeless coming-of-age story with a firm nod to the original. I must admit that for someone who has read the book a half a dozen times, and seen every film adaptation multiple times, the ethnic diversity of the cast was a bit of a shock at first but in the end it just works. Dev Patel is excellent as David, Hugh Laurie as the curiously wise Mr Dick is priceless, and Ben Whishaw is sufficiently creepy as Uriah Heep.
I found myself missing Tommy Traddles (although he gets a tossed-off reference) and Barkis, but Micawber (Peter Capaldi) is here, in all his impecunious glory, and Aunt Betsey Trotwood is admirably played by Tilda Swinton. It was good to see Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House) again and David's love interests, the silly Dora (Morfydd Clark), and the longsuffering Agnes (Rosalind Eleazar), are both excellently cast. I particularly liked Dora's exit, as opposed to her rather inexplicable death in the book.
Mark Twain saw Charles Dickens perform David Copperfield in January 1868 at the Steinway Hall in New York and was generally unimpressed with the reading. He described Dickens as "a tall, 'spry,' (if I may say it,) thin-legged old gentleman, gotten up regardless of expense, especially as to shirt-front and diamonds, with a bright red flower in his button-hole, gray beard and moustache, bald head, and with side hair brushed fiercely and tempestuously forward, as if its owner were sweeping down before a gale of wind."
"He pronounced Steerforth "St'yaw-futh." This will suggest to you that he is a little Englishy in his speech" (Twain, Alta California, Feb 5, 1868).
MGM David Copperfield 1935
See exclusive London location photos taken in June, 1934 in advance of filming the 1935 film dramatization of David Copperfield starring Freddie Bartholomew and W.C. Fields.
Charles Dickens' life during the serialization of David Copperfield May 1849 - Nov 1850
Read Chapter 11
Chapter 11 of David Copperfield contains the fictionalized account of the autobiographical fragment that Dickens gave to Forster.
Read Chapter 41
Read a condensed version of David's visit to Dora's spinster aunts, a brilliant example of Dickens' comic genius.
A Small Collection of Books
David Copperfield, like Charles Dickens himself, had a small cache of books that accompanied him in his lonely childhood and helped form his character.
"My father had left a small collection of books in a little room upstairs, to which I had access (for it adjoined my own) and which nobody else in our house ever troubled. From that blessed little room, Roderick Random, Peregrine Pickle, Humphrey Clinker, Tom Jones, the Vicar of Wakefield, Don Quixote, Gil Blas, and Robinson Crusoe, came out, a glorious host, to keep me company. They kept alive my fancy, and my hope of something beyond that place and time, - they, and the Arabian Nights, and the Tales of the Genii, - and did me no harm; for whatever harm was in some of them was not there for me; I knew nothing of it" (David Copperfield, p. 55).
Mr Micawber's Favorite Punch
Juice ½ lemon
Pinch ground cinnamon
1 clove
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon honey
1 large measure sweet dark madeira
1 large measure dry gin
Grated nutmeg
Into a warm tumbler put the juice of half a lemon, the cinnamon and clove, and the sugar and honey. Threequarters fill the glass with boiling water, add the madeira and gin and stir with a stick of cinnamon, Grate nutmeg thereon and drink quickly (Dickens, 1988, p. 44).
Charles Dickens'
David Copperfield
The Personal History and Experience of David Copperfield the Younger
David Copperfield - Published in monthly parts May 1849 - Nov 1850
Charles Dickens' eighth novel, illustrated by Phiz, is a thinly disguised autobiography with many of the story lines mirroring Dickens' own life. Dickens' friend and first biographer, John Forster, wrote that "Dickens never stood so high in reputation as at the completion of Copperfield", and that in the novel Dickens had cast the suspicion "that underneath the fiction lay something of the author's life" (Forster, 1899, v. 2, p. 120).
In telling the story of the child David, Dickens displays the unique ability to make the reader see through the eyes of the child, capturing the very essence of childhood.
In his biography of Dickens, Edgar Johnson notes that "Few novelists have ever captured more poignantly the feeling of childhood, the brightness and magic and terror of the world as seen through the eyes of a child and colored by his dawning emotions" (Johnson, 1952, p. 677).
Norrie Epstein, in The Friendly Dickens, notes that by writing about his parents and reliving his childhood, Dickens triumphed over his past and would never again need to make a neglected child the central focus of a novel (Epstein, 1998, p. 229).
In the 1867 preface to the Charles Dickens Edition of David Copperfield Dickens, describing the books he had written as his children, said "...like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield."
David is born at Blunderstone in Suffolk, his father having died six months earlier. David's widowed mother draws the attention of Edward Murdstone, whom David dislikes. David goes to Yarmouth for two weeks with Peggotty, his mother's housekeeper, where he meets Mr Peggotty, Emily, Ham, and Mrs Gummidge. On his return home he finds that his mother has married Mr Murdstone, whose sister, Jane, moves into the household.
David, under the oppression of the Murdstones, falls behind in his studies and is given a beating during which he bites Mr Murdstone.
David and the friendly waiter-by Phiz
He is sent away to school at Salem House Academy near London run by the cruel Mr Creakle. Upon arrival at the school he is forced to wear a sign saying: Be careful of him, he bites. David befriends Steerforth and Traddles.
David learns that his mother and his baby step-brother, son of Mr Murdstone, have died and is removed from school. Peggotty marries Barkis and visits David regularly. Murdstone sends David to London to work in the Murdstone and Grinby warehouse. He takes lodging with the Micawbers. The insolvent Micawbers are continually being harassed by creditors until, finally, Mr Micawber is imprisoned for debt in the King's Bench Prison. After Micawber's release from debtor's prison, the family escapes to the country hoping that "something will turn up." David is miserable at Murdstone and Grinby's and decides to run away to Dover to throw himself on the mercy of his aunt, Betsey Trotwood.
David's aunt adopts him after contacting the Murdstones and verifying their treatment of him. David befriends Mr Dick, who lives with his aunt. Betsey sends David to Dr Strong's school in Canterbury where he lodges with Betsey's lawyer, Mr Wickfield, and his daughter Agnes. He meets Uriah Heep.
David has tea with Uriah Heep and his mother
David meets the Micawbers again in Canterbury, where they have come to look for work, and introduces Mr Micawber to Uriah Heep. David finishes school and, trying to decide what to do with his life, journeys back to Yarmouth to visit Peggotty. He stops in London on the way and runs into Steerforth who joins him on the trip to Yarmouth. They visit Peggotty and Mr Peggotty who announces that Ham and Emily are to be married.
David decides to become a proctor in Doctor's Commons and is apprenticed to Spenlow and Jorkins. He takes lodging with Mrs Crupp in the Adelphi section of London. Agnes warns David against Steerforth and tells him that that Uriah Heep has weasled his way into a partnership with her father, capitalizing on Mr Wickfield's weaknesses. David falls in love with Spenlow's daughter Dora and finds that his old guardian, Jane Murdstone, is Dora's "confidential friend."
David runs into his old friend Traddles and visits him in Camdentown where he learns that Traddles is a boarder with the Micawbers, who are still trying to keep a step ahead of creditors.
Barkis is dying and David journeys to Yarmouth to be with Peggotty during this crisis. Steerforth secretly charms Emily away from Ham and they run away together, Mr Peggotty goes in search of her. Betsey Trotwood visits David in London and informs him that she has lost her fortune through bad business deals, she and Mr Dick move in with David. David goes to work for Dr. Strong, learning shorthand to try to earn money while still apprenticed at Doctor's Commons.
David and Traddles visit Dora's aunts
David and Dora are engaged in secret. Miss Murdstone finds David's letters to Dora and she and Mr Spenlow confront David, telling him to forget about Dora. Mr Spenlow is then found dead, with no will, and Dora goes to live with two spinster aunts, Clarissa and Lavinia.
Mr Micawber is employed by Uriah Heep who has moved in with the Wickfields and has designs on Agnes, much to Mr Wickfield's agony. David, like Dickens, becomes a parliamentary reporter and begins to write and have his stories published. His success allows him to marry Dora.
David has his first book published and becomes a successful author. Dora has no grasp of housekeeping despite David's coaxing. She begins to deteriorate with an unspecified illness. With the help of Martha, Emily is found, and plans are made for her to emigrate with Mr Peggotty to Australia.
Micawbers reunited
Mr Micawber is entangled in the designs of Uriah Heep and becomes estranged from his family. Finally he comes forward and with the help of Traddles, exposes Heep as a cheat and a fraud, responsible for the decline of Mr Wickfield and Betsey Trotwood's reverse of fortune.
Dora, on her deathbed, secretly asks Agnes to care for David. Betsey, her fortune restored, loans the Micawbers money to emigrate to Australia with Mr Peggotty and Emily. David travels to Yarmouth to deliver a message to Ham and witnesses a storm at sea in which Steerforth drowns and Ham dies trying to rescue him. Peggotty and Emily emigrate with the Micawbers unaware of the death of Ham.
David travels abroad for three years during which he finds that he has really loved Agnes all along. On his return to England he marries Agnes. Mr Peggotty and Emily prosper in Australia. Mr Micawber becomes a Magistrate in Port Middlebay. David and Agnes raise a family and David writes his autobiography.
Blunderstone - David's birthplace. Canterbury - David attends Dr. Strong's school here, also the home of the Wickfields and the Heeps. Chatham - On the way to see Aunt Betsey David passes through the town where Dickens lived as a child. Dover - Home to David's aunt Betsey. Lowestoft - David visits here with Mr Murdstone. Plymouth - The Micawbers travel here hoping something will turn up for Mr Micawber in the Custom House. Yarmouth - Seaside town, home to the Peggottys.
Australia
During the writing of David Copperfield Charles Dickens was actively involved in the day-to-day operation of Urania Cottage, a home for homeless women, which he administered on behalf of his friend, philanthropist Angela Burdett Coutts. The home helped to separate homeless, and "fallen", women from previous lifestyles, educate them in the execution of household duties and self-discipline, and then help them emigrate to Australia to begin new lives.
In David Copperfield, Dickens has several of the major characters emigrate to Australia: the Micawbers, Mr Peggotty, Emily, Martha, and Mr Mell. Each of these characters are successful in beginning a new life in the English colony.
Preface to the Charles Dickens Edition of David Copperfield
I remarked in the original Preface to this Book, that I did not find it easy to get sufficiently far away from it, in the first sensations of having finished it, to refer to it with the composure which this formal heading would seem to require. My interest in it was so recent and strong, and my mind was so divided between pleasure and regret-pleasure in the achievement of a long design, regret in the separation from many companions-that I was in danger of wearying the reader with personal confidences and private emotions. Besides which, all that I could have said of the Story to any purpose, I had endeavoured to say in it. It would concern the reader little, perhaps, to know how sorrowfully the pen is laid down at the close of a two-years' imaginative task; or how an Author feels as if he were dismissing some portion of himself into the shadowy world, when a crowd of the creatures of his brain are going from him for ever. Yet, I had nothing else to tell; unless, indeed, I were to confess (which might be of less moment still), that no one can ever believe this Narrative, in the reading, more than I believed it in the writing. So true are these avowals at the present day, that I can now only take the reader into one confidence more. Of all my books, I like this the best. It will be easily believed that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy, and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them. But, like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is DAVID COPPERFIELD.
--Charles Dickens 1867
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David Copperfield, like Charles Dickens himself, had a small cache of books that accompanied him in his lonely childhood and helped form his character.
