Featured Reading Guide
Charles Dickens
When David Copperfield escapes from the cruelty of his childhood home, he embarks on a journey to adulthood which will lead him through comedy and tragedy, love and heartbreak and friendship and betrayal. Over the course of his adventures, David meets an array of eccentric characters and learns hard lessons about the world before he finally discovers true happiness.
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topAbout the Book
When David Copperfield escapes from the cruelty of his childhood home, he embarks on a journey to adulthood which will lead him through comedy and tragedy, love and heartbreak and friendship and betrayal. Over the course of his adventures, David meets an array of eccentric characters and learns hard lessons about the world before he finally discovers true happiness.
topStarting Points for Discussion
- ‘In this book of David Copperfield , [Dickens] has created creatures who cling to us and tyrannise over us, creatures whom we would not forget if we could’ GK Chesterton. Do you agree with Chesterton’s assessment of the characters in David Copperfield ? Which of the characters do you personally find most memorable and lasting?
- As previously discussed, Uriah Heep is one of the most famous villains in Dickens’ novels. Why do you think he is so memorable? What traits does he share with Copperfield, and why do you think the two have such an intense mutual animosity?
- A major theme of the novel is that of impulse versus discipline, and the phrase ‘undisciplined heart’ is a constantly recurring one, particularly towards the end of the novel. What do you think Dickens means by the repeated phrase ‘an undisciplined heart’? In what ways does Dickens portray the effect of this with different characters throughout the novel and do you think David succeeds in disciplining his own heart by the end?
- a) David’s life, like that of many characters in literature and fairy-tales, is made up of a deeply unhappy childhood, rewarded by a happy and fulfilled adulthood. Why do you think this pattern is so common in literature and what other examples can you think of? b) Given a choice, would you prefer a happy childhood followed by an unhappy adult life, or the reverse?
- David Copperfield is often cited as an example of a Bildungsroman ; a novel which generally describes the growth of the protagonist to adulthood, and illustrates the psychological and moral shaping of their personality in the process. Do you agree with this classification? If so, what is Copperfield’s moral journey and what do you think Dickens was trying to say?
- Dickens often uses his novels to address social and political issues, such as child labour and exploitation. What issues do you find addressed in David Copperfield ? Do modern authors use their novels in this way or do you think the practice is dying out?
- Marriages in different forms are constantly portrayed and contrasted throughout the novel, and are often analysed and depicted in great detail. Why do you think Dickens returns to this theme so frequently in David Copperfield and what do you think he is trying to say? Which of the marriages in the novel do you consider to be successful and why?
Other Books by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol
The most popular of all ghost stories was first published on 17 December 1843,…
A Tale of Two Cities
Lucie Manette has been separated from her father for eighteen years while he…
Barnaby Rudge
The first of Dickens’s historical novels, Barnaby Rudge , written in 1841, is…
Bleak House
The one great principle of the English law is, to make business for itself …
Suggested Further Reading
- Oliver Twist ~ Charles Dickens
- Great Expectations ~ Charles Dickens
- Jane Eyre ~ Charlotte Bronte
- Dickens ~ Peter Ackroyd (Vintage, 2002)
- London ~ Peter Ackroyd (Chatto and Windus, 2000)
Additional Online Resources
The Dickens Museum (situated at his former home in Doughty Street, London)
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