David Copperfield | The Darker Characters
Perkins is a professor of American and English literature and film. In this essay, she focuses on the darker characters in the novel and their effect on David Copperfield.
Several of the characters in David Copperfield, like Mr. Macawber and Peggotty, are so memorable because they are lovable and warm-hearted, offering support and comfort as they help David in his journey to adulthood. They also are valuable to him as they help counter the effects of the darker characters in the novel. Dickens provides a rather pessimistic view of human nature in his depiction of Mr. Murdstone, Mr. Creakle, James Steerforth, and Uriah Heep, who impede David’s journey to selfhood and expose him to a world of cruelty and corruption. In his portrayal of these four...
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