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David Copperfield - February 2014
Discussion Questions -- From Lit Lover 1. Critics have noted that David Copperfield is less a character who makes things happen, and more one who witnesses things happening. Do you agree or disagree? How might this notion relate to David's profession as a writer? Consider David Gates's claim that David's "colorlessness" makes him a convincing representation of a writer.
2. David Copperfield, the narrator, begins his story by claiming that the succeeding pages will show whether he-or somebody else-will be the hero of his own life. Discuss the ways in which the notion of the hero is invoked throughout the novel. Who do you suppose might be David's hero?
3. Discuss the role of coincidence in David Copperfield. Specifically, discuss the novel's re-introduction of characters (such as Mr. Micawber in Chapter XVII, Tommy Traddles in Chapter XXV, and Uriah Heep in Chapter LXI) who were seemingly forgotten. To what extent do you think Dickens represents the normal coincidences of everyday life? Consider John Lucas's idea that the re-introduction of characters helps measure David's growth as an individual.
4. In David Copperfield, Dickens presents several relationships that fall outside traditional categories. For instance, the relationship between Betsey Trotwood and Mr. Dick; that of David, his mother, and Peggotty; and that of Mrs. Steerforth and Rosa Dartle. Discuss the role these relation-ships play in the novel. How does the novel define "family"? What makes up a family? Indeed, must the members of a "family" be related by blood?
5. In William Wordsworth's poem, "My heart leaps up, " Wordsworth posits, "The Child is father of the Man." Discuss this notion in relation to David Copperfield.
6. Discuss the role of female characters in David Copperfield. Compare David's relationship with such women as his mother and Peggotty, Agnes and Dora. How are they similar? Different? Historians have noted that middle-class Victorian culture relegated women to the private world of the home and imagined that women provided a moral center for the family, offsetting a husband's exposure to the amoral marketplace. In what specific ways do you think Dickens might be constrained by this idea of woman as "angel of the house"?
7. In the beginning of Chapter II, David finds "the power of observation in numbers of very young children to be quite wonderful for its closeness and accuracy." He then stops himself to say: "I might have a misgiving that I am 'meandering' in stopping to say this, but that it brings me to remark that I build these conclusions, in part upon my own experience of myself; and if it should appear from anything I may set down in this narrative that I was a child of close observation, or that as a man I may have a strong memory of my childhood, I undoubtedly lay claim to both of these characteristics." Discuss the significance of this passage. Why might David need to claim "a strong memory" for himself? Consider David Gates's assertion, in his Introduction to this volume, that David's lapses in memory help make his story more believable.
8. Discuss David's relationship with Steerforth. In what specific ways is Steerforth a foil for David himself?
9. David Copperfield offers, among other things, a critique of the nineteenth-century English prison system, in part through Mr. Micawber, Uriah Heep, and Mr. Creakle. What are David's attitudes to the prison he visits in Chapter LXI? Do the prisoners seem repentant to him? Compare nineteenth-century attitudes toward incarceration with contemporary ones. How is the prison David visits similar to and different from prisons today? Discuss Chapter LXI's relevance to the novel as a whole. What does Dickens accomplish by re-introducing Mr. Creakle, Uriah Heep, and Mr. Littimer?
(Questions from the Modern Library edition; cover image, top right.)
http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guid...
Discussion Questions - From Penguin Group1.In the final chapters of the novel, evil is punished (e.g. Heep's and Littimer's imprisonment) and virtue rewarded (e.g. the success of Micawber in Australia), prompting some critics to argue that Copperfield is less a novel of self-discovery than a traditional fairy tale. Do you agree? While it may be the last of Dickens's novels with a "happy ending," how would you characterize the prevailing mood of the book?
2.Although Peggotty assumes heroic stature in the novel, do you find anything obsessive, or even sinister, in his reclamation of Emily? Recalling Mr. Wickfield's confession that his fears of Agnes leaving him caused him to drink, compare his anxieties of his daughter's coming of age with Peggotty's.
3.In his recent biography of the author, Peter Ackroyd claimed that London was for Dickens "an emblem of forgetfulness." Copperfield, in its record of the perpetual destruction and rebuilding of London, would seem to indicate this but is there anything redeemable about the city as it is portrayed in the novel? What about urban life? What is London's relation to Yarmouth?
4.When musing on Steerforth, there are times the narrator reaches a state of rapture. When Steerforth's treachery is discovered, Copperfield admits "I never had loved Steerforth better than when the ties that bound me to him were broken." Does Copperfield ever resolve his feelings for Steerforth?
5.The critic Edmund Wilson claimed that all of Dickens's work revolved around the idea of the prison. How does the prison function as a metaphor in David Copperfield? Examine the role of the various key holders who possess or attempt to possess control of others—e.g. Mrs. Murdstone, Heep, Steerforth.
6.Uriah Heep's career, in some respects, parallels Copperfield's: they both come from impoverished backgrounds; they both establish legal professions; and they both aspire to marry their employer's daughter. How is Heep Copperfield's double? What does his, at times extreme, hatred of Heep reveal about Copperfield?
7.Blunderstone and Murdstone are two examples of names pregnant with meaning. Discuss the thematic significance of other names in the novel, especially those given to Copperfield throughout the book—Daisy, Trotwood, Doady. What do you make of the names that echo the author's own: Mr. Dick, King Charles I, and the initials (reversed) of Copperfield?
8.From the caul with which Copperfield is born (believed to protect one from drowning) to the shipwreck scene at the end, David Copperfield contains countless allusions to and images of the sea. How do these elements function in the novel? Do they indicate a deliberate use of symbolism? What might they symbolize?
9.The narrator relates several important dreams in the novel, particularly the dream he has after seeing Julius Caesar and the cannonading dream that prefigures the death of Steerforth. What do these dreams reveal about Copperfield's anxieties?
http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static...
For in-depth analysis of chapters, character lists, motifs, themes, and symbols see: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/copperf...
Thanks for the thread Alias! Excited to finally get this one read!
There are a few movie versions of DC. Here are some you may want to check out at Internet Movie Data Base- IMDBDavid Copperfield (1935)
Director: George Cukor
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026266/
David Copperfield (1969)
Director:Delbert Mann
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065615/
David Copperfield (1999)
Director:Simon Curtis
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167872/?...
David Copperfield (2000)
Director:Peter Medak
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238768/?...
Here is the list from Wiki
David Copperfield has been filmed on several occasions:
1911, directed by Theodore Marston
1913, directed by Thomas Bentley
1922, directed by A. W. Sandberg
1935, directed by George Cukor
1966, a 13 part TV serial that aired in 1966.
1969, directed by Delbert Mann, featuring numerous English classical actors.
1974, directed by Joan Craft
1986, directed by Barry Letts, shown on BBC 1986/87
1993, animated, shown on NBC
1999, shown on BBC
2000, directed by Peter Medak
You can watch DC on You Tube !I am not sure if this is the whole movie.
You can Google: David Copperfield You Tube-- to see all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CohXIM...
I have seen the BBC version of this years ago and it was very good, though luckily I can't remember enough of it to spoil the book. It starred a very young, very cute Daniel Radcliffe as young David, and had a great British cast otherwise including Maggie Smith. I wish I could find it somewhere to watch again after I've read the book, but unfortunately BBC iPlayer doesn't carry archive stuff as it is too valuable a commodity to the BBC :(
Hi Soph, my library has the 2002 edition starring a very young Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith, and Bob Hoskins.When do you want to read this book . . . February or ?
Carol wrote: "Hi Soph, my library has the 2002 edition starring a very young Daniel Radcliffe, Maggie Smith, and Bob Hoskins.
When do you want to read this book . . . February or ?"
Sorry Carol I posted that over in the Buddy Reads thread but forgot to put it here too. It seems to suit everyone to start February 1st so that's the plan!
I definitely recommend the BBC one if you can get it, though I think the 1935 one is supposed to be the definitive one (or I might be mixing that up with David Lean's Great Expectations.) What I like about the BBC one is it's a series so they don't have to cut lots of it out.
When do you want to read this book . . . February or ?"
Sorry Carol I posted that over in the Buddy Reads thread but forgot to put it here too. It seems to suit everyone to start February 1st so that's the plan!
I definitely recommend the BBC one if you can get it, though I think the 1935 one is supposed to be the definitive one (or I might be mixing that up with David Lean's Great Expectations.) What I like about the BBC one is it's a series so they don't have to cut lots of it out.
I have the Penguin Classics version.Are you starting from the beginning? Or where you left off?
I have read up to chapter 17 but I will have to skim some chapters to refresh where I was.
I think the Penguin Classics version is what I have on my NOOK.
Carol -- I haven't started -- trying to finish The Forty Years War first. I probably won't start until Feb.
FYI -- What Was on Tolstoy's Bookshelf?
David Copperfield by Charles DickensDickens was one author Tolstoy praised unabashedly. Tolstoy found there to be something infectious about the love and good will that Dickens exuded. He accounted for the popularity of Dickens in this way: he thought that Dickens forced readers to love him because he himself showed such great love for his own literary creations.
Reading Dickens had the effect of making Tolstoy want to sit down and write. His wife recorded in her diary, in 1878, that she could always tell that when "Levochka starts reading English novels," he was getting ready to write himself. Dickens also was at least partly responsible for Tolstoy's decision to write fiction to start with. Reading David Copperfield, which he pronounced "a delight," was a major impetus for Tolstoy's decision to write "Childhood," the first segment of his trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth. This work has many features that smack of David Copperfield, starting with a hero who is a momma's boy but suffers the loss of his beloved mother. Tolstoy's hero, like Dickens' David, must learn to make it in a man's world, but retains a sensitivity that sets him apart.
source: http://www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/W...
I'm going to get my copy out today and see where I was. I think I can remember the parts I read rather well as it was only a year ago I read them, plus David is still a boy so I'm probably not all that far. I will probably skim over them to get the structure of events and characters straight in my mind then go from there.
Carol wrote: "FYI -- What Was on Tolstoy's Bookshelf? David Copperfield by Charles DickensDickens was one author Tolstoy praised unabashedly. ..."
Interesting. I didn't know that.
Good story about Tolstoy from his wife's diary. What a barometer.
February is just around the corner, so I started reading David Copperfield. (My book is the Penguin Classic version which is 900+ pages. I am reading a bit each day, in order to be able to finish it by the end of the month.
It's nearly February! I am girding my loins to start David Copperfield on the weekend! I am on page 169 already and think I can remember most of it, but I am going to skim the chapters I've already read to make sure I've got the plot straight.
I am excited to read this with others to discuss it with. I think it's a good way to get the best out of classics.
I am excited to read this with others to discuss it with. I think it's a good way to get the best out of classics.
I didn't realize that this book was so huge. I read it when I was a kid. So -- did I read it all summer?? I don't remember. I only remember that I loved it. I have always been a fan of Dickens. I have started --
I am just about to start this now. I am starting on Chapter 11, which I had read to the end of but think I will re-read to make sure I am up to speed. It seems like a good place to go from as the chapter is subtitled 'I begin Life on my own Account...' and is a watershed moment for David. I feel like I am quite familiar with the earlier parts that I read last year so I am going to re-start in London!
How's everyone else starting out / progressing?
How's everyone else starting out / progressing?
I just started reading David Copperfield. Off to a good start so far!
I will probably start in a week or two - I have a couple more books to finish before I start DC.
Mine is the Vintage Books version and there is a rather lovely Author's Preface from Charles Dickens, further to the one he wrote when it was first published. I adore this last paragraph, as we so rarely get to hear from authors admitting they are fond of their work, especially legendary writers long gone. So this touched my heart:
'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.'
I may have been in a sensitive mood, but I teared up a little when I read that! In a way it feels like it is a real honour to be reading the book that was Dickens's very own favourite.
'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.'
I may have been in a sensitive mood, but I teared up a little when I read that! In a way it feels like it is a real honour to be reading the book that was Dickens's very own favourite.
I'm currently reading
- 7 chapters read; 20 more to finish the bio!
Carol wrote: "I'm currently reading - 7 chapters read; 20 more to finish the bio!"
Is the biography good Carol? It sounds interesting to me but I wasn't sure if I should read more of his works before attempting a biography.
Have you finished David Copperfield?
- 7 chapters read; 20 more to finish the bio!"Is the biography good Carol? It sounds interesting to me but I wasn't sure if I should read more of his works before attempting a biography.
Have you finished David Copperfield?
I am just over a third of the way through David Copperfield and am now past his childhood. I really like the protagonist, more so than I have previous Dickens heroes like Pip or Oliver Twist. I feel like Copperfield has a certain steel in his backbone that these characters lacked. I thought he breezed over his difficult period in London as a child a bit easily without really demonstrating how young and afraid he was. But later on the character mentions how he does not like to talk about his time in the factory and his journey to Dover, which added a bit of depth to him.
I get an excellent sense of the other characters through David's eyes, even if he can be a bit thinly drawn himself. The revulsion and dislike he feels for Uriah Heep I found particularly effective - every time he was on the page with DC his description of him had me shivering. Dickens really writes brilliant supporting characters.
Another place I was struck by the excellence of the writing is in CH20 when Steerforth is talking about the shrewish, constantly worried Ms Dartle who questions and frets and overthinks everything. He refers to her thusly:
"'Clever! She brings everything to a grindstone,' said Steerforth, 'and sharpens it, as she has sharpened her own face and figure these years past. She has worn herself away by constant sharpening. She is all edge.' "
I just thought this rendering of a character so simply and powerfully was just incredible. The character is marginal and Dickens sums her up in one sentence and makes her instantly recognisable. It made me think 'I KNOW a person like this, someone who is ALL EDGE.'. I just thought it was a brilliant sentence. And this, I suppose, is why he is a master.
I get an excellent sense of the other characters through David's eyes, even if he can be a bit thinly drawn himself. The revulsion and dislike he feels for Uriah Heep I found particularly effective - every time he was on the page with DC his description of him had me shivering. Dickens really writes brilliant supporting characters.
Another place I was struck by the excellence of the writing is in CH20 when Steerforth is talking about the shrewish, constantly worried Ms Dartle who questions and frets and overthinks everything. He refers to her thusly:
"'Clever! She brings everything to a grindstone,' said Steerforth, 'and sharpens it, as she has sharpened her own face and figure these years past. She has worn herself away by constant sharpening. She is all edge.' "
I just thought this rendering of a character so simply and powerfully was just incredible. The character is marginal and Dickens sums her up in one sentence and makes her instantly recognisable. It made me think 'I KNOW a person like this, someone who is ALL EDGE.'. I just thought it was a brilliant sentence. And this, I suppose, is why he is a master.
I couldn't have written it better, Soph. Dickinson is able to draw remarkable portraits of even minor characters. It brings a deeper dimension to the work.
Madrano wrote: "I couldn't have written it better, Soph. Dickinson is able to draw remarkable portraits of even minor characters. It brings a deeper dimension to the work."I definitely agree and was thinking that even from the first chapter.
Sorry 'bout the "Dickinson"--darn autocorrect!
Soph wrote: "Carol wrote: "I'm currently reading - 7 chapters read; 20 more to finish the bio!"Is the biography good Carol? It sounds interesting to me but I wasn't ..."
The biography is great, very dense but I am enjoying it. I am half way through, not sure how long it will take to finish.
I've been very naughty with reading this book (or not as the case may be) and allowed myself to get carried away with Stephen King. I am firmly back on the Dickens train from today.
Hope everyone else is enjoying it!
Hope everyone else is enjoying it!
I have been so short on time but every time I get a chance to check in on David Copperfield I remember how much I love Dickens. I am only on Chapter 6.
Bobbie57 wrote: "I have been so short on time but every time I get a chance to check in on David Copperfield I remember how much I love Dickens. I am only on Chapter 6."---
Since his books were read by people weekly in magazines, I think you are reading him as intended, Barbara. :) Enjoy.
I have been enjoying every page of David Copperfield. I am now on Chapter 10. The only other Dickens story that I have read (and watched) was Christmas Carol and it became my favorite so much, I make it part of my holiday tradition to watch the movie every Christmas. But now that I see that Dickens has the wonderful art of creating his characters so vividly in his other writings such as David Copperfield, I believe he can become one of my favorite authors. I'm excited about continuing on in this book!
I really enjoy Dickens, too, Linda! So glad DC is going well. I will be starting it tonight or over the weekend. I am looking forward to joining in the discussion.
This weekend and next I am in charge of my church book sale -- so I will be trying my best not to take all the books home but unfortunately not time to read. I really need to figure out how to be in more than one place at a time.Looked at my calendar and I might actually be able to get back to Copperfield during the week.
Best of luck with the book sale, Barbara. I am sure your work is well appreciated by all.
Good luck in not bringing home more than one shelf full Barbara!!!!!
I started the book - only a few chapters in. I love the way Dickens writes DC at the beginning, when is a young child - he writes pensive and nuanced so well. DC walking through the house as a toddler and then his return from Yarmouth are just lovely.
I'm happy to say that I am getting back on my feet, I pray that no one gets this terrible thing. It seems to be going through our area. Both my sister-in-law & husband as well as my brother-in-law and wife currently have it. Unfortunately I haven't read much. I am only half-way through the biography of Charles Dickens, I have not even opened my David Copperfield book. I might participate in The Book Vipers group, who will begin reading David Copperfield on March 1st..
I look forward to reading/discussing
The Cider House Rules.
Since the discussion hasn't really begun here, I would suggest continuing it into March for those who are interested in reading and discussing the novel. Note, you can discuss the novel as you read it, just put the chapter at the top of your post. Also if you are mentioning a spoiler put that also at the top of your post.
I definitely think we should continue the discussion into March. I am about halfway through David Copperfield but have resisted posting too much about it because I didn't want to spoil things or rush anyone. I won't rush to finish it and just go at the steady clip I have been reading at.
Carol, glad you are feeling better now. I am also really looking forward to discussing The Cider House Rules with everyone. Starting it on Saturday!
Carol, glad you are feeling better now. I am also really looking forward to discussing The Cider House Rules with everyone. Starting it on Saturday!
Sounds good to me. I hope to get some reading in this evening, so I can make some headway. It's not a particularly slow read so far, so hopefully that will continue.
Madrano wrote: "Good luck in not bringing home more than one shelf full Barbara!!!!!"Does it count that I still have a stack of unread books from last years sale?
Alias Reader wrote: "Best of luck with the book sale, Barbara. I am sure your work is well appreciated by all."Thanks -- a reverse report. One of our local used book stores, it's called Rust Belt Books, came and stocked up last Sunday. They also come at the end of the sale and take some books that are given to charity -- last year a veteran's group and a school.
Alias Reader wrote: "Since the discussion hasn't really begun here, I would suggest continuing it into March for those who are interested in reading and discussing the novel. Note, you can discuss the novel as you r..."
But of course. This is a huge book. Just keep reading everyone.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Middlemarch (other topics)The Professor's House (other topics)
The Professor's House (other topics)
Ulysses (other topics)
The Cider House Rules (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Charles Dickens (other topics)Charles Dickens (other topics)
Charles Dickens (other topics)
Book:
Author:
Author Bio
• Birth—February 7, 1812
• Where—Portsmouth, England, UK
• Education—Home and private schooling
• Died—June 9, 1870
• Where—Kent, England
When: The discussion will begin February 1, 2014
Where: The discussion will take place in this thread
Spoiler Etiquette: Please put the chapter # at the top of your post and the words Spoiler Warning if giving away a major plot element.
Book Details:
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Paperback, Kindle, Nook, audio book
Synopsis:
David Copperfield is the common name of the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Its full title is The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery.
Charles Dickens’s most celebrated novel and the author’s own favorite, David Copperfield is the classic account of a boy growing up in a world that is by turns magical, fearful, and grimly realistic. In a book that is part fairy tale and part thinly veiled autobiography, Dickens transmutes his life experience into a brilliant series of comic and sentimental adventures in the spirit of the great eighteenth-century novelists he so much admired.