''David Copperfield''

By Charles Dickens

'' ''David Copperfield'', published in monthly parts in 1849/50,is one of the greastest works by
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) England's best-known novelist. Becauset the fictional
autobiographer,David,is himself a novelist,the story is simultaneosly his personal memoir and
self-conscious act of remembering and interpreting his story''

(Richard J. Dunn 2004:1)

The novel of Charles Dickens ''David Copperfiel'' is a Bildungsroman,a novel of individual

growth,a novel of self-discovery in which David is trying to find in the beloved woman a version
of his lost mother,he is looking for the ''angel of the house''.

''David Copperfiel'' by Charles Dickens is a novel that follows the evolution of the main
character from the childhood into adulthood and that speaks about the exploitation of children.

The novel follows the evolution of the main character,because the hero of the novel is both
character and narrator.The character is the person who is growing up and the narrator is the
mature David who comments what the character does. Acording to John Peck ''David
Copperfield'' has two keys for making sense of the text : David as a central character and
Dickens as author with clear designs and intentions.(1995:7). The initials of David Copperfield
are actually the initials of Charles Dickens,but reversed. The evolution of David is presented
from childhood to adulthood,is presented the way how he grows up and from a naive person he
becomes a person who can read people. At the beginning he is emotional and irrational,for
example when he falls in love with Dora and marries her even if she is not good for him,she isn't
a housekeeper,David needs to teach her what she has to do. But things change when Dora dies
and falls in love and marries Agnes which is very quite,good and calm,she is supervising
everything in the house. Needham argues that the whole of David's life story is about his
emotional growth;as a young man he is too pliant,too easly to influenced and lacking in
self-confidence.(Needham quoted in John Peck 1995:2) . I order to mature, David need to
discover himself,to judge rationally. ''David in various ways,is feminine-identified both at Salem
House and later in life,but as he grows older he becomes earnest,rational and hard-working : he
''masculinises his own selfhood'' (Margaret Mayers quoted in John Peck 1996 :14).
In the novel ''David Copperfield'',Charles Dickens also speaks about exploitation of children,he
illustrates many forms of abuse. David's mother,Clara Copperfield,remarries with a cruel man
named Mr. Murdstone which name can be split in two different words with different
meanings.Because his name can be split out,it says something about his personality : murd
comes from murder and stone is something cold. A form of abuse illustrated in the novel is the
physical abuse. For example in some epsiode Mr. Murdstone beats David. Another form of abuse
illustrated in the story is emotional abuse. At some point Dvid starts to feel lonely,ignored and
the negglet is a form of abuse much bad than physical abuse. To punish David,Mr. Murdstone
sents him to Salem House,the boarding school owned by his friend Mr. Creakle. Mr. Creakle is
the headmaster of young David who torment him by the request of Mr. Murdstone . In the novel
David explains how cruel Mr. Creakle was with the boys and how he enjoyed time in cutting
boys like a pleasure. Another punishement from Mr. Murdstone to David is sending him at
school in holiday when there is no one left. Mr. Murdstone is a cruel man with a cold heart and
he is continuously abusing David. For example he is forcing David to wear a sign which it writes
''take care of him,he bites''. Because of thi sign the other boys beginn to make David feel weird
and very sad . But in this school not only David is caned. For example, Traddles which was
always caned. David's stephfather thinks that David doesn't product anthing,he is just consuming
and he sents him to work. In the view of the society ,children were seen like small adults and
they sent them to work,not on school to be educated. After David's mother dies because of Mr.
Murdstone psychological abuse,his stephfather sned David to work to a factory in inhuman
atmosphere. When David arrives to the factory he learns hoe to wash the bottles and everything
that he knew starts to be washed away like the bottles. The fact that the factory uses children to
do the work,because they small fingers and they can clean better the bottles is also a form of
absue,because they shouldn't work ,they shouldn't been treated like slaves,they shouldn't have
this responsability,they only responsability should be the school.

Taking in consideration the arguments it is clear that the novel ''David Copperfield''illustrates
the exploitation of the children,mostly David's abuse and it follows the development of the
protagonist.

Bibliografie

Peck,J(1995) ''Introduction'' in ''David Copperfield and Hard Times'' University of

Wales,Cardiff: Peck,1-30

Mayers,M (1995) ''Introduction '' in ''David Copperfield and Hard Times'' University of
Wales,Cardiff: Peck,1-30