Dickensians! discussion

The Third thread for David Copperfield:



Third Thread

Chapter 30 (Message 2)

Chapter 31 (Message 19)



XI – March 1850 (chapters 32–34);

Chapter 32 (Message 41)

Chapter 33 (Message 58)

Chapter 34 (Message 80)



XII – April 1850 (chapters 35–37);

Chapter 35 (Message 97)

Chapter 36 (Message 124)

Chapter 37 (Message 144)



XIII – May 1850 (chapters 38–40);

Chapter 38 (Message 173)

Chapter 39 (Message 200)

Chapter 40 (Message 227)



XIV – June 1850 (chapters 41–43);

Chapter 41 (Message 266)

Chapter 42 (Message 298)

Chapter 43 (Message 331)



XV – July 1850 (chapters 44–46);

Chapter 44 (Message 351)


Above are links to all the chapter summaries in this thread, provided by Nisa! Clicking on each underlined chapter number will take you directly to that chapter's summary. Thank you for doing this, Nisa!

Chapter 30:

As soon as David arrives in Yarmouth, he books himself in at the Inn, as he knows his room at Peggotty's will be needed soon. Passing "Omer and Joram’s", he sees the door is open, so steps inside. Mr Omer is pleased to see him, and confirms that Barkis is in a bad way, but that he cannot ask directly, as it would upset them to think of the undertaker. He wishes it were not so, but say he does get word of Barkis through Little Em'ly, as she is Peggotty's niece, and visits to help out.

The conversation moves round to Em'ly, and Mr Omer says she is not herself. She is just as pretty as ever, and works just as hard, but she "wants heart". David is not quite clear what Mr Omer means, so he tries to explain further.



David and Mr Omer - Fred Barnard

Mr Omer believes that because she is so "affectionate", Em'ly is unsettled, not yet being married to Ham. The wedding would have taken place earlier, he says, if Barkis had not been take so seriously ill.  

"To see the clinging of that pretty little thing to her uncle ... to see the way she holds on to him, tighter and tighter, and closer and closer, every day, is to see a sight. Now, you know, there’s a struggle going on when that’s the case. Why should it be made a longer one than is needful?"

Mr Omer says that Em'ly has worked so well, that he would gladly free her from her contract, and she could go as soon as she wishes. Ham know this, and is grateful. He has taken a little house, and Em'ly has made it ready; furnished and comfortable, just as she made the boathouse so for Dan Peggotty:

"Em’ly’s still a little down, and a little fluttered; perhaps, upon the whole, she’s more so than she was. Every day she seems to get fonder and fonder of her uncle, and more loth to part from all of us."

David asks about Martha, and Mr Omer says that there is a "sad story", but David learns no more, as Minnie comes in, and Minnie disapproves of Martha, and what she has done. The news is that Mr Barkis is "as bad as bad could be", so David decides to go straight there, feeling rather solemn about things.

Mr Peggotty and his sister are not surprised to see him, which David puts down them being preoccupied with Barkis being close to death:

"in the expectation of that dread surprise, all other changes and surprises dwindle into nothing."

Ham and Em'ly are in the kitchen, and Em'ly appears to be very affected by what is happening:

"There was a trembling upon her, that I can see now. The coldness of her hand when I touched it, I can feel yet. Its only sign of animation was to shrink from mine; and then she glided from the chair, and creeping to the other side of her uncle, bowed herself, silently and trembling still, upon his breast."

Dan Peggotty and Sam are sympathetic, and think it is only natural because of her youth and sensitive nature. Ham offers to stay off work, but Dan say that is not necessary, and that he will look after Em'ly, since she has asked to stay there, rather than go home. Both now say how grateful they are that David has come, as does Peggotty herself, when David goes upstairs to see Barkis. He has an odd feeling, as he passes the door of his room, in the darkness:

"I had an indistinct impression of [Em'ly] being within it, cast down upon the floor. But, whether it was really she, or whether it was a confusion of the shadows in the room, I don’t know now."

This reminds David of Em'ly's fear of death.

As Barkis had grown more and more ill, Peggotty tells him, he has clung to his box with more and more determination:




"Mr Barkis going our with the Tide - Phiz

"and the last words he had uttered were (in an explanatory tone) ‘Old clothes!’"

Peggotty and her brother try to tell Barkis that David has come, and the older David thinks he may have realised, as he says:

"distinctly, with a pleasant smile:
‘Barkis is willin’!’
And, it being low water, he went out with the tide.

This is a short but moving chapter, full of detailed observation. First we have the notion that those in the funeral business are denied expressing their proper feelings, because of their work.

Then we have Minnie, who because of her disapproval of any young female who conducts themselves inappropriately, is thought to be not interested in learning their fate. Therefore nobody will speak to her about Martha. 

This may be the first time that the name "Martha" is significant. She went to London to find better opportunities, but if we think of Martha in the Bible, we may think of a different story.

And of course Barkis's death, which I found very moving. Sometimes the death of a minor character in Charles Dickens can seem more effective to a modern audience. They tend not to be as dramatic or sentimental, as some of the main ones are. The 19th century audience of readers loved melodrama and emotive words; the more theatrical the better. We however, are perhaps more cynical.

But this one touched me to the heart. Charles Dickens has such an eye for detail. He can make something absurd or ridiculous, or he can make it heart-rending. And when Peggotty said to David that Barkis might brighten up at the sight of David, I was instantly back at my brother's bedside when he was dying, as he said almost exactly the same thing to me about "perking up" now I was there.

Charles Dickens knows human nature so well. He can tap into things so often when we don't expect it, knowing what we have in common, and how to open the key to our feelings.

Mr Omer offers David "a glass of srub and water", which he says he has alongside when smoking. "Syrup and water" was a Victorian remedy, thought to help breathing, and they had it ready to pour out in pitchers or jugs.

I liked the recurring motifs and metaphors:

Em'ly is like a fragile little bird  ... but do Ham and Dan Peggotty really know why she is afraid to go home? Does she want to stay a child, protected from life by her uncle, or is there more? And why does she shy away from David who used to be privy to all her secrets?

Water again, with the tide going out, and taking someone who is dying with it; the idea that Barkis could not die until the tide was out.

And what did David see in the shadows. Was it a premonition? And if so, of what?

A little more ...

Interestingly for us now, is the fiction that smoking was good for complaints such as asthma. This belief was held by doctors until the middle of the 20th century. Most of the cigarette advertising from then was endorsed by the medical profession.

I found Barkis' death scene really touching, I love the way he talks of Peggotty and calls her C.P. Barkis - it seems quite gruff and abrupt, but his affection is genuine. Sweet too that his last words were "Barkis is willing", the pathos is lightened with that comic memory. Where so many have treated David like a child, or of little consequence, here is a friendship where he made an impact - he brought Barkis and Peggotty together, and is valued for that.

I was also touched by Barkis' death and saddened that the Omer's are unable to even inquire after a friend of 40 years because someone might think they were anxious to get the business.

Minnie is a reminder that women who fall are shunned by society and are given little sympathy. Perhaps the other women are even harder on them than the men. I am now mulling the possible associations of Martha from the Bible. I remember her primarily as complaining that her sister Mary was not helping enough but listening to the Lord and being chastised a bit by Christ for that; also for believing that Christ could raise Lazarus from the dead even though he had arrived "too late". What am I missing???

The moment when David passes his room:

"I had an indistinct impression of [Em'ly] being within it, cast down upon the floor. But, whether it was really she, or whether it was a confusion of the shadows in the room, I don’t know now."

associates Emily with death and that seems very, very ominous to me.

I loved the end of this chapter
“'Barkis is willin’!'" And, it being low water, he went out with the tide."

It is interesting to see the treatment given to the ideas of the passing of time and the attitudes toward death that we see in this chapter. We see Mr. Omer's aging and failing health that shows the passage of time as David visits him now, when in the past his visits were more jovial and about Omer's family (his daughter marrying a good man and his delight in his grandchildren). Omer's medicinal remedies and the awareness of his own death are viewed with acceptance and his profession has certainly made him familiar with death and he regrets he cannot inquire of Barkis' condition due to this profession. References to the poor anxious, pale and fragile Emily with her fear of death and what David thought was her crouched figure in the darkened shadowy room reflect the opposite attitude toward death (or one's own awareness of failure). The talk about Martha once again connects Emily to that "fallen" woman. The fallen woman was considered "dead" to her family and community.

We can also note the passage of time since the early childhood depictions of Emily and David and he thinks early in the book that he wishes time would stand still and the innocence of childhood would last forever: "The days sported by us, as if Time had not grown up himself yet, but were a child too, and always at play." Times have changed and events have occurred!

The peaceful death of Barkis as he "goes out with the tide" and his last words, "Barkis is willin' " reflect that he was a loving husband and now at peace and accepting of his death. This was such a tender scene.

Pamela wrote: "I found Barkis' death scene really touching, I love the way he talks of Peggotty and calls her C.P. Barkis - it seems quite gruff and abrupt, but his affection is genuine. Sweet too that his last w..."

I feel exactly the same way.

Emily's behaviour has changed since David's previous visit. Is she afraid of something-or someone?

Mr. Omer situation is a little outside society. People use is services and are grateful for them, but he reminds them of death and so his inquiry about someone dying will be seen as seeking the job. It reminds me how it is perceived when you ask about someone who is dying that everybody know you didn't like; the undercurrent can be that you are "glad" is some way when that is not in your mind at all.

I think reading the chapter a day format makes the death of Barkis more impactful, we have known him it seems for a while and we have seen the years go by. I think, Jean, that you are right a side character death is treated more peacefully than a main character where everything has to be very dramatic. I love all the little details about Barkis' leaving. I couldn't help myself shedding a little tear at his last words and what beautiful poetry to think you can only go with the tide.

Dickens is putting a lot of salt on Little Em'ly, it is hard to not see something is coming by all that seasoning of foreshadowing.

I have nothing to add that hasn't been said already.

This is such a touching, tender chapter. Barkis deserved the peaceful passing that he got. It is so sad to see him depart, though.

I do wish that we had heard Martha's story. I do hope she's doing well (as can be). Whatever happened to her, she deserves a happy life.

I'm a bit on pins & needles waiting to hear Emily's story and learn what's on her mind.

I’ve just finished reading all the posts. I am not too fond of sentimentalism, but I also was touched by Barkis’s death. I agree with France-Andrée that dedicating the whole chapter (albeit a short one) to the death of Barkis has as a result, a more powerful effect. I loved that Barkis’s last thoughts are for his C.P. Barkis, “no better woman anywhere.” And with those last words, “Barkis is willing,” he goes back forever to the first day he met her.

I didn´t think Barkis´ death sentimental, but a lovely way to "go with the tide" to another place. I guess he doesn´t cling to his box anymore then.
And I wondered too about tobacco being "prescribed" against asthma!

I agree with everyone about Barkis and his last moments. I was very touched by that scene as well.

I beg indulgence for this, but Dickens has won me over with his poetic prose. I absolutely love his use of water as a symbol of the natural life cycle. He just took my breath away with Barkis having this biological connection with the tide. I hope I’m making sense here. It’s so beautiful- this thought that Barkis was bound together with the natural world- that a man and the earthly elements that surround him are linked.

A special thanks to Jean for the heads up about Dickens’ use of water in his novels.

We see Mr. Omer struggling with his asthma, smoking his pipe and drinking his "srub and water" (syrup and water) which he claims is "softening to the passages by which this troublesome breath of mine gets into action," as David observes him "gasping at his pipe as if it contained a supply of that necessary, without which he must perish."

I discovered that, although controversial even in their day in the 1800's, once a diagnosis of asthma was established, one of the effective treatments was inhalation of smoke from burning Datura stramonium leaves (also known as the thorn-apple plant) which became popular as early as 1811 in England and acted to reduce asthmatic spasms. The plant leaves could be obtained and the asthmatic could produce his own treatment. It is possible that Mr. Omer is smoking the stramonium; or, as Dickens himself did for his asthma, smoking opium which was also popular for relieving asthma.

I don't remember that Dickens is specific about what Mr. Omer is smoking, but our modern day assumption that he was smoking a
tobacco product could be challenged - even though tobacco is thought to have been brought to England in 1586 by Sir Walter Raleigh.

Lori - I love your enthusiasm for Charles Dickens's imagery and poetry. I feel that way too :)

Elizabeth - that's fascinating information, and a sound theory. Thanks for sharing it!

Chapter 31:

Barkis has been buried near to David's mother Clara, Peggotty's "sweet girl", and David is attending in his professional capacity to Barkis's will, which he is happy and proud to do. The box had contained a lot of money and a few mementos, as well as his will. Barkis had remembered Dan Peggotty, Emily and David, with small bequests and had left everything else to Peggotty. In all it amounted to nearly three thousand pounds.

The narrator can hardly bring himself to write the next part:

"A dread falls on me here. A cloud is lowering on the distant town, towards which I retraced my solitary steps. I fear to approach it. I cannot bear to think of what did come, upon that memorable night; of what must come again, if I go on.

It is no worse, because I write of it. It would be no better, if I stopped my most unwilling hand. It is done. Nothing can undo it; nothing can make it otherwise than as it was."

David makes his way to the boathouse, where all are to meet later. Everything looks comfortable, with Peggotty in her old place, working with her needle as always. Dan Peggotty welcomes him, and they talk a little about Barkis, and Mrs Gummidge is "lone and lorn, and so contrary" as ever.

Dan Peggotty speaks cheerfully, and talks of the light he puts in the window every evening, for "little Em'ly", and he knows that when she sees it she thinks:

“Theer’s home! ... My uncle’s theer!” 

and it gives them both comfort. His thoughts run on and he talks of "that theer pritty house" of hers, and how nice she has made it. All the delicate things she has created remind him so much of her that he likes to take them up and look at them. He reminisces about the past, and says that even when she is married and living in her new house, he will still put the light in the window every night. He talks "gleefully ... with delight", and David and Peggotty enjoy seeing him so happy, in expressing his love of little Em'ly.

A sound at the door makes Dan Peggotty think she is there, with Ham. But Ham is alone and wet, as a storm has sprung up. He asks David to come outside, and there breaks down in grief and tears. Emily has gone; she has run away, and Ham fears even more:

"I pray my good and gracious God to kill her (her that is so dear above all things) sooner than let her come to ruin and disgrace!"

He asks David how he can ever break it to Mr Peggotty, but Dan Peggotty is already in the doorway, and from his face he guesses some of what has happened.

For the older David, there is a snapshot in time he will never forget:



David, Ham, Mrs Gummidge and Peggotty at Dan Peggotty's - Fred Barnard

"I remember a great wail and cry, and the women hanging about him, and we all standing in the room; I with a paper in my hand, which Ham had given me; Mr. Peggotty, with his vest torn open, his hair wild, his face and lips quite white, and blood trickling down his bosom (it had sprung from his mouth, I think), looking fixedly at me."

David reads the letter aloud. Emily says in a tear-blotched letter, how much she loves them all, how wicked she feels herself to be, but she stresses that she is "never to come back, unless he brings me back a lady".

The shock renders everyone speechless for a good while, until Mr Peggotty says "in a low voice:
‘Who’s the man? I want to know his name.’"

Ham glances at David, and David feels a great shock.

As Ham reveals more and more, about a "gen’lm’n" and his servant who had been seen around for about a week. Before daybreak, the gentleman had waited outside town in a chaise and horses, and his servant was seen to go to him, with Emily accompanying him. Everyone by now has realised who Ham means. Peggotty sees how shocked David is, and puts her arm around him:

"‘For the Lord’s love,’ said Mr. Peggotty, falling back, and putting out his hand, as if to keep off what he dreaded. ‘Doen’t tell me his name’s Steerforth!’"

Ham has urged David throughout to go outside and not hear this, and David feels that he "could not have moved if the house had been about to fall upon me".

Dan Peggotty gets his coat and hat, determined to go and destroy and sink Steerforth's boat, (wishing he were in it), and then look for Emily:

‘Anywhere! I’m a going to seek my niece through the wureld. I’m a going to find my poor niece in her shame, and bring her back. No one stop me! I tell you I’m a going to seek my niece!’

In the midst of the frozen shock everyone feels, it is Mrs Gummidge who has the presence of mind to stop him:

"Seek her in a little while, my lone lorn Dan’l, and that’ll be but right! but not as you are now."

She talks to him soothingly, showing her gratitude:

"give me your forgiveness for having ever been a worrit to you, Dan’l—what have my contraries ever been to this!"

and saying what a good heart he has, looking after them all for so many years. Eventually Dan Peggotty is calmed, and settles to crying, and David does too. He had wished to "ask their pardon for the desolation I had caused, and curse Steerforth", but what remains with him now is sorrow.

"his name is Steerforth, and he’s a damned villain!"

Steerforth - you cad sir! Oh Emily, you silly, weak, vain girl!

"A Greater Loss" is all about reactions, both in the book and our own. So I'll not destroy its power by over-analysing it :)

But I do love the tableau by Fred Barnard that I've included.

I was proud of David for being able to execute the will.

"I pray my good and gracious God to kill her (her that is so dear above all things) sooner than let her come to ruin and disgrace!" - very Victorian, but rather disturbing today, reminding me of "honor killings". At least the family wants her back.

From David's first visit, this family and its unique house have been a kind of Garden of Eden. Steerforth is the serpent who has led Emily astray, and David the one who brought him in.

It was good to see Mrs. Gummidge trying to calm down Mr. Pegotty, who could really have grave health consequences if he went out into the rain.
My heart goes out to Ham.

Rosemarie wrote: "It was good to see Mrs. Gummidge trying to calm down Mr. Pegotty, who could really have grave health consequences if he went out into the rain.
My heart goes out to Ham."

Yes, that was quite a speech for Mrs Gummidge wasn't it?

In his position, Littimer has to do what Steerforth directs him to do. But I'm wondering now if Littimer showed up unexpectedly at David's rooms in Chapter 28 to plant a seed in David's mind that there was trouble brewing. It could have prompted David to question Steerforth about what he was doing in Yarmouth. It seemed so strange that Littimer showed up that evening, and it foreshadowed the trouble we are seeing in Chapter 31.

It does seem strange that Littmer showed up, an indirect warning could certainly be implied in his manner to David.

David thought Steerforth was in Oxford and Littimer told him no, he was in Yarmouth. But Littimer is in a bad position no matter what he might think of Steerforth's behavior.

Robin, the Garden of Eden analogy is spot on.

Mrs. Gummidge does, as many people do, rise to her best when Dan'l is in trouble. She puts herself aside to take care of him.

What a heartbreaking chapter.

Poor Ham. My heart goes out to him. He's a good man, following his heart in all things and now his world comes crashing down.

This chapter explains Littimer's strange appearance in the earlier chapter. That incident was so out of place. He was, I'm sure, trying to warn David within the capacity that he could (needing to be loyal to his employer, Steerforth).

I suppose that Littimer's looks and actions towards David (those that David has seen as looking down on him for being so young) were looks of warning and trepidation. Littimer may have been worried that Steerforth would mold David into someone he wasn't meant to be.

Robin, the Garden of Eden idea is perfect.

Poor Emily. This won't turn out well for her.

I do wonder, in the background, why Steerforth set his sights on Emily in this manner. I mean, he could have just seduced her & left her. He looks down on her for being socially under him, so why look to build a future with her? Or does he intend to use her for awhile, without marriage, then desert her?
We'll find out. These are merely redundant questions. I just wonder about Steerforth's train of thought throughout this development. He's not the type to "settle down" or the type to make himself think that he wants to settle down.

I would certainly not see Steerforth's mind bending toward a marriage with anyone as beneath him as Emily, which leaves that he will take her away, have his sport, and leave her to her own devices. I hate to be ungenerous toward Steerforth, but I can see nothing redeeming in his attentions to Emily, who is swept off her feet by his charm and position. How she could bear to be so cruel to her uncle and to Ham is beyond me...consideration of them alone should have kept her chaste, however as we know, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Agreed.
I realize that Steerforth is "in the moment" with any of his wishes. That kind of makes his interest in Emily confusing. If, "in the moment", he wants a beautiful, young, lovely woman for his own pleasures, he would also forget about her in the next moment and move onto another such young woman.
In order to be interested, to this degree of manipulation, means an interest beyond "in the moment".
Or perhaps not. Perhaps, for Steerforth, the chase means nothing, no matter how long it takes. What matters is the conquest.
That's probably more true.

Oh, no! Great comments and I pretty much agree with everything that has her said.

I do fear that Em’ly is blind to Steerforth’s character flaws, much as Clara was blind to Murdstone’s.

Dan Peggotty is such a good adoptive father, we might call him uncle but the reality is he is a doting father who only want what is best of Emily and I think he was right in thinking she couldn't do better than Ham, but, ah, Emily has always had the ambition to be a lady.

My heart broke for all of them but Mr. Peggotty is the one whose lost just got to me. His lines made me cry.

I thought of Lydia Bennett for a while there, Emily is maybe not as silly as her but they do make the same mistake. The big difference is that Lydia runs aways with someone from her own class so all is not lost, but Emily... The willingness of finding their lost lamb is there in both stories.

Perhaps Steerforth has deluded himself into thinking this is more than a seduction, but the reality is it would never be accepted by his mother or his peers and he is not one to be willing to suffer for another, so for Emily the outcome is the same.

Excellent point, Sara.

France-Andree: My thoughts turned to Jane Austen characters as well. I was thinking of Isabella Thorpe in Northanger Abbey.

After further thought, I am thinking that it is David whose love for Steerforth has been blind.

There is no way Steerforth intends to marry Em’ly. Poor misguided girl. No doubt Steerforth will soon forget her as he forgot Traddles.

Jean: I do love the illustration, thank you.

I did notice at the end of this chapter Steerforth’s name is separated, “...and curse Steer—forth,...” Is this just in my copy, or is David acknowledging that Steerforth has led Em’ly astray?? It’s almost like David can barely think of the name, Steerforth.

Sara wrote: "I would certainly not see Steerforth's mind bending toward a marriage with anyone as beneath him as Emily, which leaves that he will take her away, have his sport, and leave her to her own devices...."

I agree, Steerforth is unlikely to marry anyone at this point in life, and definitely not someone like Emily. Probably he has already seduced other girls. He may have implied marriage or even promised it to her, it's all part of the game to him. She is a pretty girl, and trusting, in spite of the example of Martha, and he plays into her fantasies of being a lady. Maybe he promised her nice clothes, society parties, etc. I can't help wondering if he is attracted to this wholesome part of David's life, which he has been denied, never having a warm family setting. This is his way of entering into it, but he ruins it for everyone.

He has obviously implied that he will marry her, but she has some doubts, thus the note saying "never to come back, unless he brings me back a lady".

I agree, Sara. My best guess is Steerforth convinced Em’ly to elope with him.

Robin - I too like the "garden of Eden" analogy.

France-Andre and Lori - Emily is very similar to Lydia Bennett in temperament, (though not in class) and yet Lydia has so many good examples to follow, which she chose not to. Isabella Thorpe too - yes, good observations. Jane Austen often seems to have silly young women in her books who are prone to "fall", yet they don't seem to fall all the way ... or at least if they do they are rescued! There doesn't seem to be an "underworld" in her books ;)

The splitting of the name "Steer forth" is not in my copy, but it's a nice idea :)

Several have now commented on Littimer's unexpected arrival at David's lodgings, but I think an interpretation of this is ambiguous.

Chapter 32:

David is devastated by what has happened. He feels the loss of his friend keenly, and it is a sort of grief. Ironically, and yet naturally, he values the memory of Steerforth as he once was, even more:

"I did more justice to the qualities that might have made him a man of a noble nature and a great name, than ever I had done in the height of my devotion to him."

Their Yarmouth friends and acquaintances are also shocked, but they are respectful and supportive to the Peggottys, rather than showing any hostility or harsh judgement:

"Many were hard upon her, some few were hard upon him, but towards her second father and her lover there was but one sentiment. Among all kinds of people a respect for them in their distress prevailed, which was full of gentleness and delicacy."

When David talks to Mr Peggotty and Sam, he finds that Dan Peggotty is still resolved on finding his niece. Sam is to make sure that there is always a light in the boathouse window, so that Emily can feel a welcome home, and that Mrs Gummidge will be there on her own, quietly sewing, so the sight of Dan or Sam will not to frighten her away, with thoughts of what she has done.

"Let it be her—not you—that sees my fallen child!"

Ham seems dazed, and inexplicably:

"pointed confusedly out to sea.
... from over yon there seemed to me to come—the end of it like,"

David is fearful at this, but neither of them can make any sense of this strange feeling.

Mrs Gummidge is like a changed person. She looks after them; is both sympathetic and practical, working as hard as she ever can to get things in order for Mr Peggotty's departure. Only in the evening does she break down, and show her true feelings:

"Ever bless you, Mas’r Davy, be a friend to him, poor dear!"

David goes to see the Omers, and is told by his daughter Minnie (Mrs Joram) that Mr Omer is heart-broken and has taken to his bed. Minnie is cross with Emily, whom she calls a "deceitful, bad-hearted girl," but soon relents, and is as upset as anyone, to think of what will become of her. Minnie's own little daughter misses Emily dreadfully and cannot understand why she is no longer there.

David is sitting by the fireside as the tide goes out, musing on Ham's strange impressions earlier, when he hears a gentle tap at the door. To his amazement, he find Miss Mowcher is there, with an unusually earnest expression on her face. Relieving her of her huge umbrella, David invites her in. 



David and Miss Mowcher

Miss Mowcher is clearly upset, and feels the need to tell him something on her mind, so David attempts to encourage her:

"‘I am surprised,’ I began, ‘to see you so distressed and serious.’"

At once Miss Mowcher goes into a description of how she has to behave in order to survive in the world of work.

"What I am, my father was; and my sister is; and my brother is. I have worked for sister and brother these many years—hard, Mr. Copperfield—all day. I must live. I do no harm. If there are people so unreflecting or so cruel, as to make a jest of me, what is left for me to do but to make a jest of myself, them, and everything?"

David sees it all, and how she "can be cheerful and endure it all".

Miss Mowcher comes to the point of her visits, and confesses that she had suspected David himself had designs on Little Emily.

"He was crossing you and wheedling you, I saw; and you were soft wax in his hands, I saw."

She tells David that Steerforth and Littimer, who referred to David as “Young Innocence” capitalised on this mistake, and encourage her to believe it, and also that they were working to save David from doing anything about it.

"They were afraid of my finding out the truth ... because I am a sharp little thing—I need be, to get through the world at all!—and they deceived me altogether."

She was given a letter for Emily, and gladly passed it on, but now realises the letter was probably to assure Emily that Littimer was trustworthy. But as time went on, and Miss Mowcher noticed secret comings and goings via Norwich, she began to become suspicious.

David now does not know what to think, but Miss Mowcher points out that he would not feel that way if she was a full sized woman:

"Try not to associate bodily defects with mental, my good friend, except for a solid reason."

David feels ashamed of himself, and the two part good friends, Miss Mowcher saying that she suspects the pair are now abroad. He watches her go, feeling worried that she might topple over in the rain, and then goes back indoors.

Early the next morning, David goes with Mr. Peggotty and his old nurse, to the coach office, where Mrs. Gummidge and Ham were waiting to say goodbye. Ham stresses his hope that David will take care of Mr Peggotty, and that if he ever needs any money, Mr Peggotty can rely on him to help. Mrs Gummidge runs after the carriage for as long as she can "seeing nothing but Mr. Peggotty on the roof, through the tears she tried to repress, and dashing herself against the people who were coming in the opposite direction".

David takes them to his home for tea, despite Mrs Crupp's objections, and Mr. Peggotty confides that he intends to see Mrs. Steerforth. David thinks it is best if he is there too, to mediate, and lets her know by letter.

When they arrive, they find Mrs Steerforth seated "with a stately, immovable, passionless air", and Rosa behind her chair. Mr Peggotty can see the strong resemblance between her and her son James Steerforth.



Mr. Peggotty and Mrs. Steerforth, David and Rosa - Phiz

Dan Peggotty asks if Stterforth will keep his word and "raise her up" to his position in society, but she says is is impossible, as she is so "uneducated and ignorant". Also, that her connections (Mr Peggotty) were the same, and that this would also prevent it. Mr Peggotty promises that none of her family would ever come near her again, if she were married to Steerforth, but Mrs Steerforth again refuses, and offers "compensation" (money) which offends him deeply.

Mrs Steerforth is then offended in turn, as she says this has driven a wedge between her and her child, to whom she has devoted all her life. She will only accept Steerforth back if he renounces Emily.

David now feels he understands Steerforth's character:

"While I heard and saw the mother as she said these words, I seemed to hear and see the son, defying them. All that I had ever seen in him of an unyielding, wilful spirit, I saw in her. All the understanding that I had now of his misdirected energy, became an understanding of her character too, and a perception that it was, in its strongest springs, the same."

The two leave in a dignified manner, Mr Peggotty saying that he had not expected that anything could come of this meeting, but he felt that he had to try. However Rosa is there, blocking their way and she defames all Mr Peggotty's class in a high temper:

‘They are a depraved, worthless set. I would have her whipped!’

Rosa becomes more and more vehement, although she speaks softly. Dan Peggotty takes no notice, and walks off, saying simply:

‘I’m a going, sir, to seek my niece.’

Nothing is said to Peggotty when they arrive back and she has made them a good meal. After this Dan Peggotty accept a little money form his sister, and sets out on his "pilgrimage":

‘I’m a going to seek her, fur and wide. If any hurt should come to me, remember that the last words I left for her was, “My unchanged love is with my darling child, and I forgive her!"

Gosh - a long chapter, which is full of events, revelations, and hints of what is to come.

David has grown up a little, and the thought that the memory of Steerforth is so precious, is a wise one for him to learn. He also has the maturity to see Miss Mowcher in a new light.

We also see that Mrs Steerforth is now aware of the consequences of indulging her son, and broken by her own pride. The illustration by Phiz shows how upright and rigid her bearing is, which reminds us of Miss Murdstone and her belief in "firmness" which blights her life.

It is interesting to compare Edward Murdstone's influence over Clara Copperfield with that of James Steerforth and Emily Peggotty. In both cases there is a stronger, older man, and a weak, pretty and impressionable young woman. Is either a blueprint for what Charles Dickens believed?

He was not to meet Nelly Ternan for another seven years, when he wrote these sentences. I wonder if his views on the relationships between older men and young women changed at all, in the meantime.

A little more ...

This is the point I mentioned at which Charles Dickens began to change the part Miss Mowcher would play in the novel, and the way he viewed her character.

Apparently his original intention had been for her to help in Steerforth's plan to elope with little Em'ly, but he switched and made it Littimer who did that.

Then towards the end of the novel she has another important part to play, which again alters the course of the action.

At around the same time, three quarters through the novel, Charles Dickens's daughter Dora Annie was born, and she was called after the character in David Copperfield. The real-life Dora died after just a few months.

It's quite clever I think how Dickens managed to completely rewrite and switch about the character of Miss Mowcher. After her remonstrances of David, about not taking her at face value, with all the repetitions of "Ain't I volatile!" and eccentric behaviour, and to consider what fate she and other members of her family also affected by dwarfism might otherwise suffer, he (and we) are now left with a completely different impression of her:

"Take a word of advice, even from three foot nothing. Try not to associate bodily defects with mental, my good friend, except for a solid reason."

His mentor and biographer John Forster notes:

"That he felt nevertheless he had done wrong, and would now do anything to repair it. That he had intended to employ the character in an unpleasant way, but he would, whatever the risk or inconvenience, change it all, so that nothing but an agreeable impression should be left. The reader will remember how this was managed, and that the thirty-second chapter went far to undo what the twenty-second had done."

‘I’m a going to seek her, fur and wide. If any hurt should come to me, remember that the last words I left for her was, “My unchanged love is with my darling child, and I forgive her!"


I love the last quote from Dan Peggotty that Jean posted. Mr Peggotty is such a non-judgemental, dear man who loves and wants the best for Little Emily.

So much sadness in this chapter, so much determination and so much snobbery.
Sadness: It is heartbreaking to see the effect of Emily's behaviour on Mr. Pegotty and Ham.
Determination: Mrs. Gummidge shows her true, reliable colours
Snobbery:Mrs. Steerforth and Rosa have turned out to be despicable characters. With a mother like that, Steerforth didn't have a chance to become a responsible caring adult. It seems to me that Rosa is jealous of Emily, since she is so angry and disdainful towards Mr. Pegotty.

Such a sad chapter. I feel so sorry for Daniel and Ham.
What comes through, under all this sadness, is the unity and closeness shared by this family. Despite this disastrous happening, they still act as a unified family.

Mrs. Gummidge has shown her constitution. She's made of tough stuff and will be there to do what needs to be done.

I was surprised at the vehemence of Rosa. She really showed dark colours! Perhaps she had eyes on Steerforth (and the fortune & lifestyle he could have provided her) and is now disappointed?

Daniel Peggotty willingness to scour the earth to find his beloved niece is very touching. A lot of families would have already written her off, if other daughters were in the family they would have been ruined too, but I'm again thinking of Bennetts, the Peggottys don't care about the consequences of having Emily back... They couldn't live with her in Yarmouth because they would be ostracized (if not them then Emily for sure).

Mrs. Steerforth might not be the most welcoming to Mr. Peggotty, but she must feel the humiliation of this meeting. She cannot give any help and even if she tells that a marriage is impossible (and she is right), she knows that she doesn't have the power or influence on her son to convince him of anything. The reaction of Miss Dartle is pure jealousy, I had thought earlier that she is in love with Steerforth and now I'm convinced; it's always strange when the woman scorn seeks vengeance against the other woman, it still happens often now and I never get it, it's the fault of the false lover so why be angry at someone else?

I'm glad that Mr. Dickens bowed to pressure and changed Miss Mowcher. It is funny that she tells David not to link physical disability with mental corruption because in Dickens physical descriptions is often the first hint that a character is bad... example in this book: Uriah Heep! I also think one evil dwarf per career is enough and Quilp fits the bill.

Mrs. Steerforth states initially that James Steerforth would never marry Emily as such a marriage would "irretrievably blight my son's career, and ruin his prospects." When she becomes angry that Mr. Peggotty reprimands her about her offering money as compensation for the loss of Emily, her true thoughts are exposed. She is more angry that her son has hurt her after her devotion to his upbringing, as he has been "the object of her life" and "to take up in a moment with a miserable girl, and avoid me!"

"To repay my confidence with systematic deception, for her sake, and quit me for her! To set this wretched fancy, against his mother's claims upon his duty, love, respect, gratitude - claims that every day and hour of his life should have strengthened into ties that nothing could be proof against! Is this no injury?"

The forgiveness she would give to her son is contingent upon his relinquishing any devotion to Emily. "Let him put away his whim now, and he is welcome back. Let him not put her away now, and he never shall come near me." Mr. Peggotty's devotion is in spite of any of Emily's wrongdoing and his forgiveness is not dependent on anything except his love; the candle remains lit to welcome her home in Yarmouth. Mr. Peggotty describes the Steerforth home as "too evil a house fur me and mine"
Quite a contrast in these two instances about home and family!

Excellent points made by all. I also believed Rosa had feelings for Steerforth and her statement that she would like to see Emily whipped is definitely the ravings of a jealous huzzie.

Elizabeth--The difference is indeed stark between the two families and the love of Peggotty is for the person who is Emily, while the attachment of Mrs. Steerforth to her son is more about his reflection on her.

I wonder if we will ever see Emily again. And if David will come to love her again (the marrying kind of love).

How does Steerforth intend to support Emily? Surely his money will be cut off.