David Copperfield
Author	Charles Dickens
Cover artist	Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre(s)	Novel
Publisher	Bradbury & Evans
Publication date	1849-1850 (serialised)
Pages	721
ISBN	NA

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)^[1] is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1850. Like all except five of his works, it originally appeared in serial form (published in monthly installments). Many elements within the novel follow events in Dickens' own life, and it is probably the most autobiographical of all of his novels. It is also Dickens' "favourite child." David Copperfield is a quasi-autobiographical novel by Charles Dickens. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (420x658, 73 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): David Copperfield (novel) ... Dickens redirects here. ... His talents in other directions of art were of a very ordinary kind. ... Hablot Knight Browne (June 11, 1815 - July 8, 1882), English artist, famous as Phiz, the illustrator of the best-known books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever and Harrison Ainsworth in their original editions. ... For other uses, see Country (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For other uses, see Novel (disambiguation). ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... ISBN redirects here. ... Dickens redirects here. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Cover of the first English edition of 1793 of Benjamin Franklins autobiography. ...

Background

Dickens worked on David Copperfield for two years between 1848 and 1850, carefully planning out the plot and structure. Seven novels precede it, and seven novels would come after it, Copperfield being his mid-point novel.

Analysis

The story is told almost entirely from the point of view of the first person narrator, David Copperfield himself, and was the first Dickens novel to do so. First-person narrative is a literary technique in which the story is narrated by one or more of the characters, who explicitly refers to him or herself in the first person, that is, I. The narrator is thus directly or indirectly involved in the story being told. ...

Critically, it is considered a Bildungsroman, i.e., a novel of self-cultivation, and would be influential in the genre which included Dickens's own Great Expectations (1861), Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, published only two years prior, Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Samuel Butler's The Way of All Flesh, H. G. Wells's Tono-Bungay, D. H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers, and James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. A Bildungsroman (IPA: /, German: novel of self-cultivation) is a novelistic form that concentrates on the spiritual, moral, psychological, or social development and growth of the protagonist usually from childhood to maturity. ... For other uses, see Great Expectations (disambiguation). ... Charlotte Bront - idealized portrait, 1873 (based on a drawing by George Richmond, 1850) Charlotte Bront (April 21, 1816 - March 31, 1855) was an English writer. ... This article is about the Victorian novel. ... Thomas Hardy redirects here. ... Jude the Obscure is the last of Thomas Hardys novels, begun as a magazine serial and first published in book form in 1895. ... Samuel Butler Samuel Butler (December 4, 1835 - June 18, 1902) was a British writer best known for his satire Erewhon. ... For the 1927 and 1940 films, see The Way of All Flesh (film) The Way of All Flesh (1903) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler which attacks Victorian era hypocrisy. ... Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946), better known as H. G. Wells, was an English writer best known for such science fiction novels as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, The First Men in the Moon and The Island of Doctor Moreau. ... Tono-Bungay is arguably H.G. Wells best novel and certainly his most under-rated. ... David Herbert Richards Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer of the 20th century, whose prolific and diverse output included novels, short stories, poems, plays, essays, travel books, paintings, translations, literary criticism, and personal letters. ... Sons and Lovers is a novel written by D.H. Lawrence. ... This article is about the writer and poet. ... A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story by James Joyce, published in 1916. ...

As a bildungsroman, it has one major theme throughout, the disciplining of the hero's emotional and moral life. We learn to go against "the first mistaken impulse of the undisciplined heart", a theme which is repeated throughout all the relationships and characters in the novel.

Characters in the novel generally belong to one of three categories: Those who have disciplined hearts, those who lack disciplined hearts, or those who develop disciplined hearts over time. Characters who fall into the first category include the mature and caring Agnes Wickfield and the selfless and forgiving Mr. Peggotty. The greedy, scheming Uriah Heep and the egotistic and inconsiderate James Steerforth are examples of characters who belong in the second category. Members of the third category include David Copperfield himself, who learns to make wiser choices in his relationships through personal experience, and his aunt Betsy Trotwood, who lacks consideration for others early on, but becomes less inconsiderate over time. Dickens uses characters and events throughout the novel as comparisons and contrasts for each other in terms of wisdom and discipline. A good comparison is Agnes Wickfield and Dora Spenlow: Dora lacks maturity and is unable to handle stressful situations, often breaking out in tears, while Agnes remains calm and collected even when troubled, yielding to her emotions only rarely. Another good comparison is Ham and Mr. Peggotty, and Mrs. Steerforth and Miss Dartle: The latter two become distraught at the loss of Steerforth, allowing it to trouble them their whole lives, while the former two bear the loss of Emily with dignity and reservation.

Tolstoy regarded Dickens as the best of all English novelists, and considered Copperfield to be his finest work, ranking the "Tempest" chapter (chapter 55,LV - the story of Ham and the storm and the shipwreck) the standard by which the world's great fiction should be judged. Henry James remembered hiding under a small table as a boy to hear installments read by his mother. Dostoevsky read it enthralled in a Siberian prison camp. Franz Kafka called his first book Amerika a "sheer imitation." James Joyce paid it reverence through parody in Ulysses. Virginia Woolf, who normally had little regard for Dickens, confessed the durability of this one novel, belonging to "the memories and myths of life". It was Freud's favorite novel. Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy(Lyof, Lyoff) (September 9 [O.S. August 28] 1828 – November 20 [O.S. November 7] 1910) (Russian: , IPA:  ), commonly referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer – novelist, essayist, dramatist and philosopher – as well as pacifist Christian anarchist and educational reformer. ... For other uses of this name, see Henry James (disambiguation). ... Fyodor Dostoevsky. ... Kafka redirects here. ... Amerika, also known as Der Verschollene or The Man Who Disappeared, was the incomplete first novel of author Franz Kafka, published posthumously in 1927. ... This article is about the writer and poet. ... Ulysses is a novel by James Joyce, first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on February 2, 1922, in Paris. ... For the American writer, see Virginia Euwer Wolff. ... Sigmund Freud His famous couch Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ...

Plot summary

"I make myself known to my aunt". Etching by Phiz.

The story deals with the life of David Copperfield from childhood to maturity. David is born in the England in about 1820. David's father had died six months before he was born, and seven years later, his mother marries Mr Edward Murdstone. David dislikes his stepfather and has similar feelings for Mr Murdstone's sister Jane, who moves into the house soon afterwards. Mr Murdstone thrashes David for falling behind with his studies. During the thrashing, David bites him and is sent away to a boarding school, Salem House, with a ruthless headmaster, Mr. Creakle. Here he befriends James Steerforth and Tommy Traddles who leaves and then reappear later on. Image File history File links Phiz-_David_Copperfield_(I_make_myself_known_to_my_aunt). ... Image File history File links Phiz-_David_Copperfield_(I_make_myself_known_to_my_aunt). ... Hablot Knight Browne (June 11, 1815 - July 8, 1882), English artist, famous as Phiz, the illustrator of the best-known books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever and Harrison Ainsworth in their original editions. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... James Steerforth is a character in the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. ...

David returns home for the holidays to find out that his mother has had a baby boy. Soon after David goes back to Salem House, his mother and her baby die and David has to return home immediately. Mr. Murdstone sends him to work in a factory in London of which he is a joint owner. The grim reality of hand-to-mouth factory existence echoes Dickens' own travails in a blacking factory. His landlord, Wilkins Micawber, is sent to a debtor's prison (the King's Bench Prison) after going bankrupt, and is there for several months before being released and moving to Plymouth. David now has nobody left to care for him in London, and decides to run away. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Wilkins Micawber is a fictional character from Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield. ... The Kings Bench Prison was a prison situated in the Southwark area of central London, England from medieval times until its final closure in 1880. ... This article is about the city in England. ...

He walks all the way from London to Dover, to find his only known relative - his eccentric Aunt Betsy Trotwood - who agrees to bring him up, despite Mr Murdstone visiting in a bid to regain custody of David. David's aunt renames him Trotwood Copperfield, soon shortened to "Trot", and for the rest of the novel he is called by either name, depending on whether he is communicating with someone he has known for a long time, or someone he has only got to know recently. , Dover is a major channel port in the English county of Kent. ...

The story follows David as he grows to adulthood, and is enlivened by the many well-known characters who enter, leave and re-enter his life. These include his faithful housekeeper Peggotty, her family, and their orphaned niece Little Em'ly who lives with them and charms the young David; his romantic but self-serving schoolfriend, Steerforth, who seduces and dishonours Little Em'ly, triggering the novel's greatest tragedy; and his landlord's daughter and ideal "angel in the house," Agnes Wickfield, who becomes his confidante. The two most familiar characters are David's sometime mentor, the constantly debt-ridden Mr. Wilkins Micawber, and the devious and fraudulent clerk, Uriah Heep, whose misdeeds are eventually discovered with Micawber's assistance. Micawber is painted as a sympathetic character, even as the author deplores his financial ineptitude; and Micawber, like Dickens's own father, is briefly imprisoned for insolvency. Wilkins Micawber is a fictional character from Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield. ... Uriah Heep is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield. ...

In typical Dickens fashion, the major characters get some measure of what they deserve, and few narrative threads are left hanging. Dan Peggotty safely transports Little Em'ly to a new life in Australia; accompanying these two central characters are Mrs. Gummidge, and the Micawbers. Everybody involved finally finds security and happiness in their new lives in Australia. David first marries the beautiful but naïve Dora Spenlow, but she dies after failing to recover from a miscarriage early in their marriage. David then does some soul-searching and eventually marries and finds true happiness with Agnes, who had secretly always loved him. They have several children, including a daughter named in honour of Betsy Trotwood. Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the natural or spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or the fetus is incapable of surviving, generally defined in humans at a gestation of prior to 20 weeks. ...

Characters in David Copperfield

"I am married". Etching by Phiz.

• David Copperfield – An optimistic, diligent, and persevering character, he is the protagonist. He is later called "Trotwood Copperfield" by some ("David Copperfield" is also the name of the hero's father, who dies before David is born). He has many nicknames: James Steerforth nicknames him "Daisy", Dora calls him "Doady", and his aunt refers to him, as a reference to his would-be sister (if he had been born a girl), as "Trot" - as in Betsy Trotwood Copperfield.
• Clara Copperfield – David's kind mother, described as being innocently childish, who dies while David is at Salem House. She dies just after the birth of her second child, who dies along with her.
• (Clara) Peggotty – The faithful servant of the Copperfield family and a lifelong companion to David (referred to generally as simply "Peggotty"; referred to at times as Mrs. Barkis after her marriage to Mr. Barkis). Inherits £3,000 - a large sum in the mid 19th century - when Mr. Barkis dies. After his death, she becomes Betsy Trotwood's servant.
• Betsy Trotwood – David's eccentric and temperamental yet kindhearted aunt; she becomes his guardian after he runs away from Grinby and Murdstone's warehouse in Blackfriars (London). She is present on the night of David's birth but leaves after hearing that Clara Copperfield's child is a boy instead of a girl.
• Mr Chillip – A shy doctor who assists at David's birth and faces the wrath of Betsy Trotwood after he informs her that Clara's baby is a boy instead of a girl.
• Mr Barkis – An aloof coachman who declares his intention to marry Peggotty to David: "Tell her, 'Barkis is willin'!' Just so.". He is a bit of a miser, and hides his surprisingly vast liquid wealth in a plain box labeled "Old Clothes". He bequeathes to his wife the then astronomical sum of £3,000 when he dies about ten years later.
• Edward Murdstone – Young David's cruel stepfather, who canes him for falling behind in his studies. David reacts by biting Mr Murdstone, who then sends him to Salem House, the private school owned by his friend Mr. Creakle. After David's mother dies, Mr Murdstone sends him to work in a factory, where he has to clean wine bottles. He appears at Betsy Trotwood's house after David runs away. Mr Murdstone appears to show signs of repentance when confronted with Copperfield's aunt, but later in the book we hear he has married another young woman and applied his old principles of "firmness."
• Jane Murdstone – Mr. Murdstone's equally cruel sister, who moves into the Copperfield house after Mr. Murdstone marries Clara Copperfield. She is the "Confidential Friend" of David's first wife, Dora Spenlow, and encourages many of the problems that occur between David Copperfield and Dora's father, Mr. Spenlow. Later, she rejoins her brother and his new wife in a relationship very much like the one they had with David's mother.
• Daniel Peggotty – Clara Peggotty's brother; a humble but generous Yarmouth fisherman who takes his nephew Ham and niece Emily into his custody after each of them has been orphaned. After Emily's departure, he travels around the world in search of her. He eventually finds her in London, and after that they emigrate to Australia.
• Emily (Little Emily) – A niece of Mr. Peggotty. She is a childhood friend of David Copperfield, who loves her in his childhood days. She leaves her cousin and fiancé, Ham, for Steerforth, but returns after Steerforth deserts her. She emigrates to Australia with Mr. Peggotty after being rescued from a London brothel.
• Ham Peggotty – A good-natured nephew of Mr. Peggotty and the fiancé of Emily before she leaves him for Steerforth. He later loses his life while attempting to rescue a sailor, who happens to be Steerforth, from a shipwreck. His death is hidden from his family due to the fact that David does not want them to worry on the brink of their journey.
• Mrs. Gummidge – The widow of Daniel Peggotty's partner in a boat. She is a self-described "lone, lorn creetur" who spends much of her time pining for "the old 'un" (her late husband). After Emily runs away from home with Steerforth, she changes her attitude to better comfort everyone around her and tries to be very caring and motherly. She too emigrates to Australia with Dan and the rest of the surviving family.
• Martha – A young woman of a bad reputation who helps Daniel Peggotty find his niece after she returns to London. She has worked as a prostitute, and been victim to the idea of suicide.
• Mr. Creakle – The harsh headmaster of young David's boarding school, who is assisted by Tungay. Mr. Creakle is a friend of Mr. Murdstone. He singles out David for extra torment. Later he becomes a Middlesex magistrate, and is considered enlightened for his day.
• James Steerforth – A close friend of David, he is of a romantic and charming disposition and has known David ever since his first days at Salem House. Although well-liked by most, he proves himself to be lacking in character by seducing and later abandoning Little Em'ly. He eventually drowns at Yarmouth with Ham Peggotty, who had been trying to rescue him.
• Tommy Traddles – David's friend from Salem House.
• Wilkins Micawber – A gentle man who befriends David as a young boy. He suffers from much financial difficulty and even has to spend time in a debtor's prison. Eventually he emigrates to Australia where he enjoys a successful career as a magistrate. He is based on Dickens' father.
• Mr. Dick (Richard Babley) – A slightly deranged, rather childish but amiable man who lives with Betsy Trotwood. His madness is amply described in as much as that he claims to have the crown of King Charles I in his head.
• Dr. Strong – The headmaster of David's Canterbury school, whom he visits on various occasions.
• Anne Strong – The young wife of Dr. Strong. Although she remains loyal to him, she fears that he suspects that she is involved in an affair with Jack Maldon.
• Jack Maldon – A cousin and childhood sweetheart of Anne Strong. He continues to bear affection for her and tries to seduce her into leaving Dr. Strong.
• Mr. Wickfield – The father of Agnes Wickfield and lawyer to Betsy Trotwood. He is prone to alcoholism.
• Agnes Wickfield – Mr. Wickfield's mature and lovely daughter and close friend of David since childhood. She later becomes David's second wife and mother of their children.
• Uriah Heep – A wicked young man who serves as partner to Mr. Wickfield. He is finally discovered to have stolen money and is imprisoned as a punishment. He always talks of being "'umble" (humble) and nurtures a deep hatred of David Copperfield and many others.
• Mrs. Steerforth – The wealthy widowed mother of James Steerforth. She herself is incredibly like her son.
• Miss Dartle – A strange, vitriolic woman who lives with Mrs. Steerforth. She has a secret love for Steerforth and blames others such as Emily and even Steerforth's own mother for corrupting him. She is described as being extremely skinny and displays a visible scar on her lip caused by Steerforth. She is also Steerforth's cousin.
• Mr. Spenlow – An employer of David's during his days as a proctor and the father of Dora Spenlow. He dies suddenly of a heart attack while driving his phaeton home.
• Dora Spenlow – The delightful but naive daughter of Mr. Spenlow and David's first wife. She is described as being impractical and with many similarities to David's mother. She dies of illness on the same day as her dog, Jip.

Image File history File links Phiz-_David_Copperfield_(I_am_married). ... Image File history File links Phiz-_David_Copperfield_(I_am_married). ... Hablot Knight Browne (June 11, 1815 - July 8, 1882), English artist, famous as Phiz, the illustrator of the best-known books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever and Harrison Ainsworth in their original editions. ... For other uses, see David Copperfield (disambiguation). ... Betsy Trotwood is a fictional character from Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield. ... The London Marathon passes through Blackfriars in 2005 Blackfriars is an area of central London, which lies in the south-west corner of the City of London. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... David Copperfield. ... James Steerforth is a character in the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. ... Wilkins Micawber is a fictional character from Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield. ... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scots and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. ... Drawing by Fred Barnard Uriah Heep is a fictional character created by Charles Dickens in his novel David Copperfield. ... For other uses, see Proctor (disambiguation). ... Phaeton, Phaëton, or Phaethon may refer to many different things, all deriving ultimately from the mythological figure. ...

Film, TV and theatrical adaptations

David Copperfield has been filmed on several occasions:

• 1911, directed by Theodore Marston
• 1922, directed by A.W. Sandberg
• 1935, directed by George Cukor
• 1969, directed by Delbert Mann
• 1999, shown on BBC - 25/26 December 1999
• David Copperfield (2006), play adaptation. Shown in theatres.

The numerous television adaptations of the novel include a 1966 version with Ian McKellen as David and a 1999 version with Daniel Radcliffe (of the Harry Potter film series) playing the younger David. In this latter version, McKellen returns, this time playing the horrendous schoolmaster Creakle. There was a musical animated version in 1993, where the cast was animorphic animals (not unlike Disney's Robin Hood) and starred Julian Lennon as the voice of David (a cat). A 2000 American TV film version featured Sally Field, Anthony Andrews, Paul Bettany, Edward Hardwicke, Michael Richards and Nigel Davenport with Hugh Dancy and Max Dolbey as the adult and boy Copperfield, respectively. Also a production of David Copperfield was put on at The Westport Country Playhouse during the 005 holiday season. It was directed by Annie Keefe and Joanne Woodward. Theodore Marston (10 August 1868, Minnesota - 2 October 1920 Los Angeles, California, USA) was an American silent film director and writer of the early silent period. ... The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger is a 1935 film based upon the Charles Dickens novel. ... George Dewey Cukor (July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director. ... Delbert Martin Mann, Jr. ... David Copperfield is a two part BBC television drama adaptation of Charles Dickens novel David Copperfield. ... Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE (born 25 May 1939) is an English stage and screen actor, the recipient of the Tony Award and two Oscar nominations. ... Daniel Jacob Radcliffe[1][2] (born 23 July 1989)[3] is an English film, television and stage actor. ... John Charles Julian Lennon known universally as Julian Lennon, (born April 8, 1963 in Liverpool, England) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and first son of Beatle John Lennon and the only child of his first wife Cynthia Lennon. ... Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is a two-time Academy Award winning American actress. ... Anthony Andrews (born January 12, 1948 in London) is an English actor, best known for his role in Brideshead Revisited playing the doomed Sebastian Flyte. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Edward Hardwicke (born August 7, 1932; sometimes credited as Edward Hardwick) is a British actor, the son of Sir Cedric Hardwicke and actress Helena Pickard. ... For other persons named Michael Richards, see Michael Richards (disambiguation). ... Nigel Davenport (born 23 May 1928) is an English actor. ... Hugh Dancy (born 19 June 1975) is a British actor. ...

A play adaptation by Andrew Halliday was warmly approved by Dickens himself, and enjoyed a long run at Drury Lane. The novel was adapted for the unsuccessful musical Copperfield in 1981. Andrew Halliday Duff (1830 - April 10, 1877), British journalist and dramatist, was born at Marnoch, Banffshire. ... Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. ...

Publication

Like most of Charles Dickens's novels, David Copperfield was published in 19 monthly one-shilling installments, containing 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Phiz, with the last being a double-number: Hablot Knight Browne (June 11, 1815 - July 8, 1882), English artist, famous as Phiz, the illustrator of the best-known books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever and Harrison Ainsworth in their original editions. ...

• I - May 1849 (chapters 1-3);
• II - June 1849 (chapters 4-6);
• III - July 1849 (chapters 7-9);
• IV - August 1849 (chapters 10-12);
• V - September 1849 (chapters 13-15);
• VI - October 1849 (chapters 16-18);
• VII - November 1849 (chapters 19-21);
• VIII - December 1849 (chapters 22-24);
• IX - January 1850 (chapters 25-27);
• X - February 1850 (chapters 28-31);
• XI - March 1850 (chapters 32-34);
• XII - April 1850 (chapters 35-37);
• XIII - May 1850 (chapters 38-40);
• XIV - June 1850 (chapters 41-43);
• XV - July 1850 (chapters 44-46);
• XVI - August 1850 (chapters 47-50);
• XVII - September 1850 (chapters 51-53);
• XVIII - October 1850 (chapters 54-57);
• XIX-XX - November 1850 (chapters 58-64).

Release details

• 1850, UK, Bradbury & Evans ?, Pub date 1 May 1849 and 1 November 1850, Serial (first publication as serial)
• 1850, UK, Bradbury & Evans ?, Pub date ? ? 1850, Hardback (first book edition)
• 1981 (Reprinted 2003) UK, Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-812492-9 Hardback, Edited by Nina Burgis, The Clarendon Dickens (considered the definitive editions of Dicken's works) 781 pages
• 1990, USA, W W Norton & Co Ltd ISBN 0-393-95828-0, Pub date 31 January 1990, Hardback (Jerome H. Buckley (Editor), Norton Critical Edition - contains annotations, introduction, critical essays, bibliography and other material.)
• 1994, UK, Penguin Books Ltd ISBN 0-14-062026-5, Pub date 24 February 1994, Paperback
• 1999, UK, Oxford Paperbacks ISBN 0-19-283578-5, Pub date 11 February 1999, Paperback

and many many others

Allusions

'David Copperfield' is often used in other situations or texts to refer to a lengthy biographical story.

• In J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, the first sentence, as narrated by Holden Caulfield, is "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it."
• In the TV series Black Books, a grumpy Bernard Black is reluctant to hear too much back-story from new employee, Manny, about his past — halting him just as he starts to say where he was born with, "Stop right there, David Copperfield. If you're going back that far we need popcorn or something."
• In an Home Improvement episode, "This Joke's For You", Brad manfully undertakes to read David Copperfield in order to impress a girl, but his efforts are stymied by the book's length.
• In the movie, Gone With the Wind, when the wives are sitting around the table doing needlepoint, nervously waiting for Rhett to return with a wounded Ashley, Melanie soothes their nerves by reading David Copperfield aloud while the military stands guard outside.

Jerome David Salinger (born January 1, 1919) is an American author best known for The Catcher in the Rye, a classic coming-of-age story that has enjoyed enduring popularity since its publication in 1951. ... The Catcher in the Rye is a famous novel by J. D. Salinger. ... Holden Caulfield is a fictional character, the protagonist of J.D. Salingers 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye. ... Black Books is a British sitcom broadcast on Channel 4 starring Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig. ... Black Books is a British television sitcom, broadcast on Channel 4 and written by Dylan Moran, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews, Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley. ... Manny may refer to: In nobility: Baron Manny, a title in the Peerage of England Walter de Manny, 1st Baron Manny (died 1372), soldier of fortune and founder of the Charterhouse People with the given name Manny: Manny (given name) In fiction: Manny, a praying mantis voiced by Jonathan Harris... For other uses, see Home Improvement (disambiguation). ... Gone with the Wind is a 1939 film adapted from Margaret Mitchells 1936 novel of the same name. ...

Notes

References

• Jeffers, Thomas L. (2005). Apprenticeships: The Bildungsroman from Goethe to Santayana. New York: Palgrave. 

• David Copperfield (Major Literary Characters series). Edited and with an Introduction by Harold Bloom. 255 pages. 1992 New York: Chelsea House Publishers

• Graham Storey: David Copperfield - Interweaving Truth and Fiction (Twayne's Masterworks Studies). 111 pages. 1991 Boston: Twayne Publishers

• Approaches to Teaching Dickens' David Copperfield. Edited by Richard J. Dunn. 162 pages. 1984 New York: The Modern Language Association of America

• Barry Westburg: The Confessional Fictions of Charles Dickens. See pages 33 to 114. 1977 DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press

• Catcher in The Rye, J.D. Salinger; Penguin 1951

• Black Books -TV Series/DVD - Assembly Film and Television/Channel 4, 2002; Episode 2, Series 1 - 'Manny's First Day.'

External links

Online editions

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

David Copperfield

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David Copperfield (novel)

• David Copperfield, available at Project Gutenberg.
• Full text of David Copperfield, Searchable and Downloadable, Essays, Forum, Select Resources
• David Copperfield: Cummings Study Guides

Other Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ... Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works. ...

• Analysis of the theme of David Copperfield and its characters.
• List of over 50 characters.
• Full edition with additional criticism and interpretation.

v • d • e Works by Charles Dickens
Novels:	The Pickwick Papers (1836–1837) · Oliver Twist (1837–1839) · The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1838–1839) · The Old Curiosity Shop (1840–1841) · Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty (1841) · A Christmas Carol (1843) · Martin Chuzzlewit (1843–1844) · The Chimes (1844) · The Cricket on the Hearth (1845) · The Battle of Life (1846) · Dombey and Son (1846–1848) · The Haunted Man (1848) · David Copperfield (1849–1850) · Bleak House (1852–1853) · Hard Times (1854) · Little Dorrit (1855–1857) · A Tale of Two Cities (1859) · Great Expectations (1860–1861) · Our Mutual Friend (1864–1865) · The Mystery of Edwin Drood (unfinished) (1870)
Short stories:	"A Child's Dream of a Star" (1850) · "Captain Murderer" · "A Christmas Tree" (1850) · "What Christmas is, as We Grow Older" (1851) · "The Poor Relation's Story" (1852) · "The Child's Story" (1852) · "The Schoolboy's Story" (1853) · "Nobody's Story" (1853) · "The Seven Poor Travellers" (1854) · "The Holly-tree Inn" (1855) · "The Wreck of the Golden Mary" (1856) · "The Perils of Certain English Prisoners" (1857) · "Going into Society" (1858) · "The Haunted House" (1859) · "A Message from the Sea" (1860) · "Tom Tiddler's Ground" (1861) · "Somebody's Luggage" (1862) · "Mrs Lirriper's Lodgings" (1863) · "Mrs Lirriper's Legacy" (1864) · "Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions" (1865) · "Mugby Junction" (1866) · "No Thoroughfare" (1867) · "George Silverman's Explanation" · "Holiday Romance" · "Hunted Down" · "The Lamplighter" · "The Signal-Man" (1866) · "Sunday Under Three Heads" · "The Trial for Murder" · "A House to Let" (1858) · "The Long Voyage" (1853)
Other works	Sketches by Boz (1836) · Master Humphrey's Clock (1840–1841) · American Notes (1842) · Pictures from Italy (1844–1845) · The Life of Our Lord (1846, published in 1934) · A Child's History of England (1851–1853) · The Uncommercial Traveller (1860–1869) · In Memoriam W. M. Thackeray the first! · A Coal Miner's Evidence