David Copperfield

PREFACE TO 1850 EDITION.

Affectionately Inscribed To
the Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Richard Watson,
of Rockingham, Northamptonshire.

I do not find it easy to get sufficiently far away from this Book, 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, is so recent and strong; and my mind is so divided between pleasure and regret - pleasure in the achievement of a long design, regret in the separation from many companions - that I am in danger of wearying the reader whom I love, with personal confidences, and private emotions.

Besides which, all that I could say of the Story, to any purpose, I have 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 have 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 have believed it in the writing.

Instead of looking back, therefore, I will look forward. I cannot close this Volume more agreeably to myself, than with a hopeful glance towards the time when I shall again put forth my two green leaves once a month, and with a faithful remembrance of the genial sun and showers that have fallen on these leaves of David Copperfield, and made me happy. London, October, 1850.

Preface to the Charles Dickens Edition
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. 1869

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Recent Forum Posts on David Copperfield

twin motif

Anyone notice the twin motif in Dickens' Copperfield? There's a fairly significant interpretation for twins in psychology, but the examples are especially important for our modern individual psychology in authors like Twain, Dostoyevsky, Poe, and Guy de Maupassant. I found it curious that Dickens used it with the ancient symbolism. regards, Doug

Posted By mounce at Fri 27 Jun 2008, 12:41 PM in David Copperfield || 0 Replies

A simple question about Emily

Emily is one important character in the novel. My question is Why it is spelled Em'ly rather than the proper spelling Emily? I have read Through the whole story and guess it has something with British accent. But why in other places it is still spelled Em'ly? Looking foreward to an early reply.

Posted By jeffrey at Thu 29 May 2008, 9:50 AM in David Copperfield || 0 Replies

Which edition of David Copperfield?

I will be reading david Copperfield soon. I have one by PENGUIN CLASSICS. and another by MODERN LIBRARY CLASSICS. Which edition should I read? Or both are equally good?

Posted By ravilobo at Mon 12 May 2008, 10:51 AM in David Copperfield || 0 Replies

the analysis of David Copperfield

I have just finished reading the fiction or, to some extent, the autobiography of Dickens, which makes me soundly lose myself in it. As we all know, many different themes can be found in a classic novel, which depends on the way one comprehends it. Here I just explain two of the themes revealed by David Copperfield: how greed destroys humanity ,and what real love is. As for the former one, the destruction is obvious and horrible, as evidenced by the fall of Uriah Heep. With the hope to improve his quality of life, and the greed for power and fortune, he, who had been pretending to be a loyal assistant of Mr. Wickfield until Mr. Micawber exposed his wickedness, took advantage of Mr. Wickfield’s weakness for beer to harm his state, and, what was worse, he ruined his reputation. However, wicked as Uriah was, he must have been as innocent as David when he was a baby. It was the thirst for power, fortune and status that twisted his mind and eventually sent him to prison. Actually, greed and selfishness are the inherent weaknesses of humanity, but they are exaggerated in such a dim society. And there are three characters serving to explain the latter point. Apparently, they are Emily, Dora and Agnes: Emily was fascinated with Steerforth’s handsome appearance, gentle word and large fortune, so that she left honest Ham; Dora was too young to bear any duties attached to love, and had no courage to face reality; Agnes, who was mature and angelic, reasonable and romantic, was the only perfect girl in David’s mind in the end. Therefore, we can conclude that real love is a compound of trust, encouragement, support, responsibility and romance, as Dickens told us in the novel. I believe, if we manage to get rid of greed, we will choose a correct way to go through the forest of life; and if we understand real love and fortunately get it, brilliant sunshine will then be cast over the path and the air will be full of the pleasant smell of the sunlight. P.S. i'm very glad to accept anyone's opinion on the book, and have a discuss with him or her.:thumbs_up

Posted By jingfeng1905 at Sun 27 Apr 2008, 5:12 AM in David Copperfield || 0 Replies

Prophetic Pins

I just began this book and I'm stuck. I have to know everything there is to know about the superstition of the pins before I can move on. I've looked on the web, and found nothing helpful. I can guess it has something to do with foretelling something about a baby in utero, perhaps gender or health or fate. Guessing or getting the gist of it doesn't make it for me. And I see a few pages later that "Bless the baby!" is an appropriate sentiment connected to, not just pins, but pincushions. (OK, it isn't the seemingly haphazard arrangement of loose pins in a drawer, as I had originally thought.) But what else? When and how did the superstition originate? What was a pregnant woman in 1812 supposed to do with her pins? What was she supposed to look for? What were all the potential omens, signs, and readings? What would an 1850 reader, completely familiar with this superstition, have known? Thanks.

Posted By alansquire at Fri 1 Feb 2008, 11:20 AM in David Copperfield || 0 Replies

CAUL for sale!!!

This is from the first Chapter of David Copperfield.. "I was born with a caul, which was advertised for sale, in the newspapers, at the low price of fifteen guineas. Whether sea-going people were short of money about that time, or were short of faith and preferred cork jackets, I don't know; all I know is, that there was but one solitary bidding, and that was from an attorney connected with the bill-broking business, who offered two pounds in cash, and the balance in sherry, but declined to be guaranteed from drowning on any higher bargain." My question is simply this. Why would anyone buy a caul??? I didn't really even know what it was until I looked it up in the dictionary. It seems to be some growth over the head of a baby growing in the womb. Does anyone know why anyone would wish to purchase something like this? Was there any use for it or some superstition that went along with it? It seems as though (from the text) it was used by people that spent time in the sea. Just curious about this. It's kind of weird.

Posted By AARONDISNEY at Mon 10 Sep 2007, 10:26 AM in David Copperfield || 2 Replies

What if Ham had saved Steerforth?

Dickens disappointed me in his final treatment of Steerforth, the Murdstones and some others- I think the novel would have had so much more power if Ham had indeed saved Steerforth (although, whether Ham survived or not isn't as interesting as if Steerforth had been saved). I finished the novel thinking, "What would George MacDonald have done with Steerforth?"- I think Dickens lost out on a grand opportunity for a powerful redemption story--

Posted By Oxford Wannabe at Tue 17 Jul 2007, 8:37 PM in David Copperfield || 4 Replies

Half way through, what I want to happen.

I am half way through this book (I just finished the chapter where Uriah spends the night at David/Trotwood/Daisy's house. I can already see some of the coming themes and expect Steerforth to do something dishonorable in regards to Emily, and Uriah is obviously going to be a manilpulative little prig. But here is one thing, I am not happy with the way things got left with the Murdstones. Don't tell me if they come back into it or not please. But if Miss Murdstone does not get trampled by a horse (or donkey), or have a house collapse on her, or spontaneously combust, or something I am going to be very dissapointed. (Same goes for Mr. Murdstone) Being treated roughly by Aunt Betsy is no were near enough of a punishment for those two.

Posted By JADJARHD at Mon 9 Jul 2007, 7:42 PM in David Copperfield || 1 Reply

Steerforth: Dickens' Questionable Evil

Throughout the pages of DAVID COPPERFIELD, there are three major villains: Mr. Murdstone (David's megalomaniacal stepfather); Uriah Heep (a simpering hypocrite); and, MAYBE, James Steerforth (David's longtime friend and idol). We first encounter Steerforth at Salem House, where David first attends school. He is a self-possessed, willful boy several years older than David. However, he is fascinated with Steerforth's strong character and soon befriends him. Even though we sense Steerforth's utter disregard and callousness for and toward other people and even observe overt and covert examples of it (for instance, Mr. Mell the schoolmaster and later Rosa, Steerforth's frustrated lover), he still captivates David (as he indeed captivates everyone else, with a few exceptions, around him). Similar to how Mephistopheles' corrupt charm worked on a deluded Faust, Steerforth leads all that were deceived by him to eventual despair or even death. What is the attraction that Steerforth holds for most of the characters in DAVID COPPERFIELD...including most of the novel's readers? Unlike Mr. Murdstone and Uriah Heep, who are indeed the Devil's Own, there is little that is blatantly evil or cruel about Steerforth. Whereas a Mr. Murdstone physically and mentally torments and enslaves a mother and her child, and a Uriah Heep maliciously and underhandedly attempts to drive his good-natured employer to ruin, Steerforth does none of these things...he's quite direct in all that he does and "cool" in all that he intends. However, we know that he might be capable of similar (if not worse) atrocities if he chose to perpetrate them. >I'd like to discuss this topic with other members of this forum. Please offer your opinions/ analysis of Steerforth's character and, in turn, I'll offer my own. In short, what do you think?: How does Dickens present evil and corruption via James Steerforth?<:flare: :( Thanks for your feedback, GFM

Posted By GrayFoxDown at Wed 23 May 2007, 6:37 AM in David Copperfield || 5 Replies

The Literary Style and Complexity of 'David Copperfield'

Lately, I've been reading a lot of Dickens. First I read Great Expectations, then Bleak House, and now I'm busy reading Oliver Twist. Seeing as I'm expecting to finish reading this book as well, next week, I'm already wondering what to read next. I've ordered a copy David Copperfield, and toying with the idea of reading that, but I'm wondering how this novel compares to Dickens's other works. I found Bleak House and Great Expectations (especially the latter) quite tough books to read, though they were still very good. It took me quite a while before I finished those books. Oliver Twist, however, is much more of a 'pleasant read', with less boring parts, and a bit more pace in its opening pages. I know that Dickens eventually uses the overly long descriptions in, say, Bleak House, to set the tone for the second half of the book, and it really starts paying off the more you progress through the book, making the final product nothing short of absolute brilliance, but as my exams are drawing nearer, I would like a book that makes me relax, instead of demanding a lot of my effort, before it starts to pay me off. So my question is, where should I rank David Copperfield, in terms of complexity? Should I save reading this novel until the summer holidays, or is it 'safe' to start reading it as soon as I finish Oliver Twist? If the former option is the most likely, I'll just start with The Pickwick Papers, instead. :)

Posted By Panflute at Sun 29 Apr 2007, 8:21 AM in David Copperfield || 1 Reply

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