David Copperfield
David Copperfield (AKA David Copperfield or The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery ( Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any Account) is a Bildungsroman by the English author Charles Dickens from the year 1849/50.
The novel was initially, like most of Dickens ' works, conceived as a monthly serial story with two illustrations by Phiz for a shilling and revised later. Many elements of the story to follow events in Dickens ' own life, David Copperfield, therefore, is considered the most autobiographical novel of his oeuvre. Dickens himself called David Copperfield as his favorite story.
Narrative perspective
The story is told entirely from the first-person perspective, from the perspective of David Copperfield himself, it is Dickens ' first novel with a narrator.
History
The novel tells the life story of David Copperfield, behind which the author conceals itself in unfamiliar form. We learn of David Copperfield's career and slow growing. The narrative lives of the many ( famous ) characters who cross his path, to accompany him part of his life, disappear and reappear. Among his nanny Peggotty, her family, living with them little orphan Emily, who enchants David; his close friend Agnes Wickfield, an idealized, angelic beings; and his school friend Steerforth, for Emily, blinded by false promises, and later leaves her fiancé to enter with him having an affair. Exactly this event also triggers the greatest tragedy of the novel. It runs through - like many other things - the entire work until his partially dramatic end.
As a boy, David finds his cruel stepfather, Mr. Murdstone, is beaten by him almost to death and then sent away to a private school. The school, Salem House is led by a ruthless director, Mr. Creakle. Here Copperfield became friends with the very talented, but selfish students Steerforth and Tommy Traddles with that, leave in typical Dickens fashion, the school and re-emerge in the course of history. Meanwhile, David's beloved mother dies shortly after the birth of another son from the consequences of mental ill-treatment, the Mr. Murdstone and his sister, Miss Murdstone inflicted on her and their two children. The baby died also.
Mr. Murdstone sends David then in a factory in London, where he has to work for a pittance. In this part of the novel Dickens's own experiences and suffering during factory work are reflected in his childhood. David escapes the factory and sets all the way from London to Dover via Canterbury to walk back, in search of the only known him relatives, his eccentric Aunt Betsey Trotwood, who lives in Dover, next to the sea. This agrees to accept him and take care from now on as " surrogate mother " to the orphaned boy.
She gives him first a new name, Trotwood Copperfield, which they abbreviate as Trot. From now on, the main character of the novel uses both names equally. Dickens achieved by this artifice a splitting of characters into two groups. Based on the time of first occurrence and by whom acquaintance was made, the main character is called David or Trotwood.
The two most famous characters but David's mentor, the likeable, forever on the verge of financial ruin then Mr. Wilkins Micawber living and malicious, unpleasant and fraudulent Uriah Heep, the first writer and is a partner in the law firm of Wickfield. The Uriah Heep misdeeds are finally revealed by active help of Micawber. Micawber is shown as a positive character, even if Dickens condemns his carelessness in financial matters significantly. Micawber lands, as well as Dickens ' own father, for a short time because of its debts in prison.
In classic Dickens - style - with a lot of irony (also self-irony ) in the subordinate clauses - get the main characters finally get what they deserve. Only a few narrative strands remain at the end without resolution. David first marries the very pretty and cute, but childishly naïve Dora Spenlow. However, Dora dies after a few years of marriage. David plunges into the literary work and brings it - as he suggests repeatedly even - in certain notoriety. During a three-year trip abroad, he realizes that he actually loves of youth to his girlfriend Agnes. Now to have married Dora appears to him as a fault; the way to make a love relationship from the friendship, it seems locked. Only at the end it becomes clear that Agnes felt the same way and still feels. In a striking manner she reveals her groom that it was Dora's last wish that she should marry both. With this happy ending closes the story. In retrospect, the last narrative threads are linked. This one also learns some family life of the married couple with his ( at least) three children.
Publication
Like most works of Dickens ' David Copperfield was also published as a monthly serial story for the price of one shilling. Each of the 19 items had a circumference of 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Phiz. The last part had twice the circumference.
- I: May 1849 ( Chapters 1-3 )
- II: June 1849 (Chapter 4-6)
- III: July 1849 (Chapter 7-9)
- IV: August 1849 (Chapter 10-12)
- V: September 1849 (Chapter 13-15)
- VI: October 1849 (Chapter 16-18)
- VII: November 1849 (Chapter 19-21)
- VIII: December 1849 (Chapter 22-24)
- IX: January 1850 (Chapter 25-27)
- X: February 1850 (Chapter 28-31)
- XI: March, 1850 ( Chapter 32-34 )
- XII: April 1850 ( Chapter 35-37 )
- XIII: May, 1850 ( Chapter 38-40)
- XIV: June, 1850 ( Chapter 41-43 )
- XV: July, 1850 ( Chapter 44-46 )
- XVI: August 1850 ( Chapter 47-50 )
- XVII: September 1850 ( Chapter 51-53 )
- XVIII: October, 1850 ( Chapter 54-57 )
- XIX -XX: November 1850 ( Chapter 58-64 )
Secondary literature
- Horst Oppel: · Dickens David Copperfield. In: Franz K. Stanzel (ed.): The English novel · From the Middle Ages to modern times. Volume II Bagel Verlag Dusseldorf 1969, p.112 - 157th
More
The British band Uriah Heep elected at its inception in 1969 named after the character in this novel.