david copperfield / alicia floriach
TRANSCRIPT
Alícia Floriach Pigem
Universidad Isabel I de Castilla
Máster de Formación del Profesorado
Curso 2014-2015
Introduction
Genre
Themes
Plot summary
Characters
Narrator
Film, TV and theatricaladaptions
Sources
Its full title is The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery
It was published between 1848 and 1849
Many elements follow events in Dickens' own life, it is probably the most autobiographical of his novels
Dickens wrote, "like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield.“
We can see various criticisms of English society and system.
It is a classic coming-of-age story, as
we watch David grow from a boy to
a man.
And since almost all of the drama in
the novel comes from family stuff –
David's abusive stepfather, Annie Strong's infidelity, David's unsuitable
first marriage, Emily's flight from her
family, and so on –"family drama" is
a pretty good description of what
goes on in David Copperfield.
The novel has all of the power and resonance of Dickens' social critique of a Victorian society that had very few safeguards against the mistreatment of the poor and, particularly in its industrial heartlands.
Suffering, poverty, youth, society and class, family, guilt and blame, education, gender…
We get Dickens' most realistic and touching portrait of a young man growing up. Although it certainly portrays Dickens' comic touch to the full, it also has a real seriousness that is not always apparent in some of Dickens' other books. The difficulty of being an adult, of marrying, of finding love and of getting on feel very real and shine from every page of this delightful book.
David had a difficult life from the
beginning. His father died before
he was born so he lived with
Peggoty and his mother. His
great-aunt refuses to be his
godmother because David is a
boy instead of a girl and his
mother is childlike and easily wounded: not a strong parent
figure.
David is born into a fractured family
Things don't really get wonky until a dark-haired, handsome gentleman enters his mother's life. This is Mr. Murdstone, and David is the last to know that Mr. Murdstone has designs on David's mother. David is sent away to visit his housekeeper's family for two weeks, and when he comes back, his mom's remarried.
David's mother marries the abusive Mr.
Murdstone
They send David away to a terrible
boarding school, where he is frequently whipped by his headmaster. Then,
worst of all, David is away from home
when his mother and his baby brother
dies.
Mr. Murdstone sends him to London to
work in his factory. So now, David is
about as far from a happy family as he
can possibly get: he is an orphan living alone in London, with no future and no
prospect for improving his life.
David's mother dies and Mr. Murdstone
turns David out of his house
David is unhappy working at the
warehouse and runs away to his
Aunt Betsy. David writes to
Peggotty, his old nurse, and finds
out that Miss Betsey is living in Dover. After a mishap with a thief,
he has to start selling his clothes
piece by piece so that he can eat
on his way. Finally, he turns up at his
aunt's house, and she takes David
in. When the Murdstones come to
collect David, she sends them away with a few rude word.
David finds a new family by running away to
his great-aunt, Miss Betsey Trotwood
When Miss Betsey goes broke,
David has enough skills and
dedication to support her. His affectionate heart leads him to fall
in love with a lady who is
completely not right for him, Miss
Dora Spenlow. He's a stubborn, honorable guy, so he marries her
and tries to make it works. We
know that he has had sparks with
Agnes Wickfield since around the
time he first met her when he was
11, but now there is Dora in the
way.
David seems to have ruined his life again by
marrying Miss Dora Spenlow
David realizes that he doesn't want
to be married to Dora after he marries her. He tries to change her, to
make her more serious, but it hurts
her feelings. So he gives up and
resigns himself to being as happy as
he can be with the wrong woman.
But Dora dies.
Dora passes away, leaving David free to marry
the woman who really suits him: Agnes
Wickfield
In David's search for a happy
family, the resolution comes when he marries Agnes, the woman he
has meant to be with. After David
and Agnes marry, they set up in a
house and Agnes bears David
many children. They name one of
their children Betsey Trotwood
Copperfield, so Miss Betsey finally
gets the goddaughter she was
expecting when David was born.
David and Agnes live happily ever after
David Copperfield: The
protagonist and narrator of the
novel. David is innocent, trusting,
and naïve even though he
suffers abuse as a child. He is idealistic and impulsive and
remains honest and loving.
Agnes Wickfield: David’s true
love and second wife, the
daughter of Mr. Wickfield. The
calm and gentle Agnes admires
her father and David.
Little Em’ly: Peggotty’s
unfaithful niece, who is sweet
but also coy and vain. Little Em’ly’s desire to be a lady
causes her to disgrace herself
by running away from her
family.
Clara Peggotty: David’s nanny
and caretaker. Peggotty is
gentle and selfless, opening
herself and her family to David
whenever he is in need. She is
faithful to David and his family
all her life.
Miss Betsey Trotwood: David’s
eccentric, kind-hearted aunt.
Dora Spenlow: David’s first wife.
Dora is foolish, more interested in
playing with her dog, Jip, than inkeeping house with David.
Tommy Traddles: Young David’s simple, goodhearted schoolmate. Traddles works hard but faces great obstacles because of his lack of money and connections.
Clara Copperfield: David’s mother. The kind, generous, and goodhearted Clara embodies maternal caring until her death.
Mr. Edward Murdstone and Miss Jane Murdstone: The cruel second husband of David’s mother, and Murdstone’s sister.
David Copperfield is the hero of our novel. He is also our narrator. David is looking back on the events of his own life.
David becomes the focal point through which we see a wide selection of mid-nineteenth century character types.
David is literally all over this novel: he really draws our attention to the overpowering influence of the narrator to shape the reader's perception of his characters.
David Copperfield has been filmed on several occasions:
1911, directed by Theodore Marston
1913, directed by Thomas Bentley1922, directed by A. W. Sandberg1935, directed by George Cukor1956, a 13 part TV serial shown on BBC.1966, a 13 part TV serial that aired in 1966.1969, directed by Delbert Mann, featuring
numerous English classical actors.1974, directed by Joan Craft1986, directed by Barry Letts, shown on BBC
1986/871993, animated, shown on NBC1999, shown on BBC2000, directed by Peter Medak
DICKENS, Charles. Oliver Twist, David Cooperfield. Ediciones Nauta. Obras selectas (1972)
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/copperfield/characters.html
The personal history of David Copperfield onOpenLibrary.com
http://es.slideshare.net/alfonsosolersananselmo/david-copperfield-1?next_slideshow=1
http://www.shmoop.com/david-copperfield/genre.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Copperfield#Film.2C_TV_and_theatrical_adaptations