David Copperfield Questions and Answers
David Copperfield
What is a short summary of David Copperfield?
Like most of Charles Dickens’s novels, David Copperfield is long. The 2004 Penguin Classics edition of David Copperfield is just shy of 900 pages. The following is a short summary of Dickens’s...
David Copperfield
What is the moral lesson of David Copperfield by Charles Dickens?
Because of the complexity and scope of Dickens's bildungsroman, it is difficult to identify a single moral lesson the author worked to impart. It is the story of a boy's journey to manhood and the...
David Copperfield
How did Mr. Micawber exposed Uriah Heep in David Copperfield?
Mr. Micawber went to work for Uriah Heep who had taken over active control of Wickfield's business. After this occurs, Mrs. Micawber sends David a letter saying the Mr. Micawber is not acting like...
David Copperfield
What is the main theme of David Copperfield?
One of the themes of David Copperfield is the way in which the poor suffer but conduct themselves with great honesty and nobility. For example, Ham lives in a house made out of a boat and has...
David Copperfield
Describe David's first visit to Yarmouth in David Copperfield.
Peggotty invites David to spend a fortnight with her at her brother's place in Yarmouth, a seaside town on the coast of Norfolk. She paints a wonderfully idyllic picture of the place, with its...
David Copperfield
How does Charles Dickens's narrative techniques impact the unfolding of the life of his eponymous protagonist in...
In David Copperfield, Dickens uses first-person point of view, an autobiographical style, and careful characterization of his protagonist as his key narrative techniques. These techniques are...
David Copperfield
David Copperfield is a Bildungsroman, which indicates a development and some kind of learning. What does David learn?
A bildungsroman can actually be called a novel of education. It depicts the struggles and challenges that a protagonist faces and how they develop and mature as a result of those challenges until...
David Copperfield
What happened while David and Peggotty were in Yarmouth?
David and Peggotty travel to Yarmouth in chapter three of David Copperfield to stay with Peggotty’s brother, Dan, for two weeks. They are met by Ham, who takes them back to the Peggotty home....
David Copperfield
Who is Mr. Murdstone in David Copperfield?
David Copperfield first meets Mr. Murdstone as early as chapter II, "I Observe." He describes him as a large man with black hair and whiskers. From the beginning, David doesn't like him and...
David Copperfield
In David Copperfield, how was David treated at Salem House?
Poor young David's treated abominably at Salem House. But then, that was always the idea. His wicked stepfather Mr. Murdstone sent him there precisely because he knew it would be a living hell for...
David Copperfield
How do I compare and contrast David’s two wives, Dora and Agnes, in David Copperfield? How are they different? How...
Dora represents the idealized figure of female beauty, while Agnes is a practical beauty. David’s first wife, Dora, is angelic. She is young, small, cheerful, helpless, and pretty. She is also...
David Copperfield
Is David Copperfield realistic fiction, fantasy, or science fiction?
David Copperfield is realistic fiction, because the events could happen in real life. Fantasy usually involves magic, and science fiction uses technology we do not really have yet. Realistic...
David Copperfield
Describe David's mother and Pegotty in David Copperfield. How did David spend his childhood with these two ladies?
David's mother marries very young, has David when she is young, and is widowed when she hardly more than a girl. She is childlike, gentle, and full of kindness—in other words, ill fitted for the...
David Copperfield
In David Cooperfield, how does David behave at the first bitter experience at Salem House? How does he endure it ?...
David is miserable at Salem House. He describes it as desolate and depressing. When he first arrives, the students are on holiday. He is also forced to wear a sign saying that he bites. The...
David Copperfield
How would you give an outline of David Copperfield in about 150 words?
Wow! You do realise that this is one of the longest novels by Charles Dickens! Any attempt to summarise it in 150 words is going to miss out a number of details, so I have included a few links...
David Copperfield
When did David's father die in David Copperfield? What did David's mother see outside the window that made her...
David lost his father before he was even born—six months before, and only a year after his mother had married the man. The rest of the novel David Copperfield deals with the repercussions of the...
David Copperfield
Describe David's new school at Canterbury in David Copperfield.
It is following his adoption by his long-lost Aunt, Betsey Trotwood, that David is sent to a new and infinitely better school than the one he was sent to in London by the Murdstones. This event...
David Copperfield
Why do you think Steerforth tells David to think well of him in David Copperfield?
Steerforth has treated a friend of David’s terribly, but he wants to be remembered as he was before. He needs people to think well of him. Steerforth is a childhood friend of David’s that he met...
David Copperfield
Compare Salem's House and Dr. Strong's schools in "David Copperfield".
On the most basic level, Salem's House is a pretty awful school while Dr. Strong's school is a fine school. Salem's House essentially treats its pupils like inmates at a prison. The master takes...
David Copperfield
How did Miss Trotwood inform Copperfield about his schooling?
David knows his aunt likes him—especially after she begins calling him Trot—but he wonders about his schooling. Then one night at the beginning of chapter 15, as they are playing backgammon, Miss...
David Copperfield
What idea influenced David's boyish mind to make him leave school without much regret in David Copperfield?
At the beginning of chapter 19 of David Copperfield, the title character candidly informs us of his lack of regret upon leaving school. Although David had been very happy at Doctor Strong's and had...
David Copperfield
What is Miss Trotwood's old disappointment?
Betsey Trotwood is David Copperfield’s father’s aunt. This ”formidable person” is a sharp-tongued, rigid widow who thinks highly of her own opinions. Miss Betsey’s strength of character is shown...
David Copperfield
In David Copperfield, Chapter 12, why did David decide to run away from London?
When Charles Dickens was a boy he was sent to work in a grotty old blacking factory to help pay off his father's debts. The work was long, hard, and utterly soul-destroying, and marked Dickens for...
David Copperfield
Describe Miss Betsey Trotwood from David Copperfield.
Miss Betsey Trotwood shows up in the beginning pages of the novel before David is born, and she doesn't appear again until David runs away to her. David initially learns about her through his...
David Copperfield
How did David feel as his stepfather prepared to test him on his lesson in David Copperfield? What was it about Mr....
David Copperfield says that his lessons with Mr. Murdstone, his stepfather, were "the death-blow of my peace, and a grievous daily drudgery and misery." He was extremely apprehensive before being...
David Copperfield
Why is Peggotty angry with David's mother in David Copperfield?
David Copperfield gets the idea that Peggotty, his family’s live-in servant, is “cross” with him when he asks her about marriage (Chapter 2). The boy is trying to find out if a person can remarry...
David Copperfield
What did David feel about Uriah Heep in David Copperfield?
Uriah Heep in David Copperfield is one of the least appealing characters that Charles Dickens created. Although he does not, on the outside, seem evil, Uriah’s obsequious personality hides his...
David Copperfield
How is the use of "memory" applied in the narrative technique in David Copperfield?
Although a work of fiction, David Copperfield purports to be a memoir or autobiography penned by Copperfield himself. Therefore, memory is highly important to the book. A clue as to how memory...
David Copperfield
What is the climax of the novel David Copperfield?
The climax is the turning point of a story, and the most exciting part. In David Copperfield, the climax occurs when David witnesses the aftermath of a shipwreck and Steerforth’s death. In the...
David Copperfield
In David Copperfield, why did Miss Trotwood come to see David at school?
The answer you are looking for can be found in Chapter 17 of this amazing classic Dickens novel. Having shifted educational establishments to Mr. Strong's school, much to his relief, David reports...
David Copperfield
Why did David marry Dora in David Copperfield?
It is important to remember that this book is a bildungsroman, or a novel of education, which features a protagonist and his or her journey towards maturity and finding his place in society. As...
David Copperfield
In David Copperfield, why did Miss Betsey come to see David at school?
After Miss Betsey Trotwood decides to take charge of her grand-nephew David's education, she enrolls him at Doctor Strong’s school in Canterbury. She also decides he should be called Trotwood, as...
David Copperfield
How is Charles Dickens' David Copperfield a story about growing up?
One of the best ways you can tell that this is a story about growing up is by reading the first sentence, which I think is one of the best openings in all of literature. Whether I shall turn out...
David Copperfield
Write an essay about the recollection of childhood in David Copperfield.
In writing an essay about the recollection of childhood in David Copperfield, it is important to bear in mind that David's recollections are not always completely accurate. On the whole, the...
David Copperfield
Where and when does the story take place? What is the story about?
David Copperfield starts in Blunderstone Rookery, a house in Suffolk England, but really is set all over. At different parts during the novel, Copperfield is in London, Yarmouth, Canterbury, and...
David Copperfield
What comparisons can be made between these two books by Charlies Dickens: David Copperfield and Great Expectations?...
1. Both novels are categorized in Dickens' orphan series. Pip from Great Expectations and David are children who have lost one or both parents and who experience abuse at the hands of someone who...
David Copperfield
Briefly describe David's first day at the Wickfield house in David Copperfield.
In chapter 15 of David Copperfield, Miss Betsey Trotwood takes her great-nephew to the house of Mr. Wickfield, her lawyer. Her intention is to ask Wickfield's advice concerning David's education....
David Copperfield
In David Copperfield, David is afraid for Emily as she runs toward the water. Do you think David's fears forebode...
When they are both children, Emily notes David's fear of the ocean, and says she is not afraid of it in "that way." (She is not afraid of the waves.) She says she is afraid of the power of the wind...
David Copperfield
What does "Each in his narrow cell for ever laid, / The rude forefathers of hamlet sleep" mean (as written by Mr....
Mr. Micawber, as you will have noticed and as David more than once observes, is more than a little dramatic. In this section, Mr. Micawber has just finished conversing (with some effort) with David...
David Copperfield
To which school was David sent? How did they treat boys in that school?
Young David is sent by his wicked stepfather, Mr. Murdstone, to school at Salem House. It's a grim-looking place in an advanced stage of decay. There are no boys there; they've all gone home for...
David Copperfield
Why is David sent to Salem House?
David Copperfield, originally titled The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (Which He Never Meant to Publish on Any...
David Copperfield
What was strange about the name of David Copperfield's house?
When Aunt Betsey Trotwood shows up at the Copperfield home, she asks why it is called "the Rookery." David's mother explains that that was what David's father, who is now deceased, named it. She...
David Copperfield
Did Annie have an affair with Jack Maldon in David Copperfield?
It is in Chapter 45 that we find the final answer to all of the suspicion and curiosity concerning the exact nature of the "friendship" between Annie Strong and Jack Maldon, when Annie has a...
David Copperfield
How can I compare Mr. Wickfield and Mr. Spenlow in David Copperfield?
There are several interesting points of comparison: both men are fathers of women David eventually marries, for instance, and both men are to an extent defined by their relationship to money. While...
David Copperfield
What events in David Copperfield mirror events from Dickens's own life?
There are many autobiographical elements in David Copperfield. First of all, look at the protagonist's initials: "D.C." They are an inversion of Dickens's own initials. As a small boy, poor David...
David Copperfield
What are the themes and symbols in David Copperfield?
Clearly, a work that is as long as this novel is will have a number of themes and will contain a number of different symbols. The answer given above refers to a number of the themes, so I will...
David Copperfield
We are introduced to two of David's friends at school: Tommy Traddles and Steerforth. Which of the two do you like...
This is an entirely subjective answer, of course, but I would say that Tommy Traddles is easily the more likable of the two. Although he comes across as a bit of a clumsy clodhopper, Tommy has a...
David Copperfield
In Dickens' David Copperfield, what does Peggotty tell David about Yarmouth?
Peggotty told David that he was going to see her family in Yarmouth and it would be fun, and nothing about his mother's wedding. Peggotty did not tell David that his mother was getting married; she...
David Copperfield
Compare and contrast the characters of Dora and Emily in David Copperfield.
Dora and Emily are both attractive women who have poor judgment; and David Copperfield falls in love with each of them, although Emily is a child crush. Dora's poor judgment comes out in her...
David Copperfield
If you wanted to give a different ending to the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, what would it be and why?
What has always bothered me about David Copperfield is that it is too idealistic. Dickens presents a picture of David marrying a girl who is really all wrong for him, but then David is released...
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