David Copperfield

Like many of Dickens’s other works, David Copperfield was originally published in serial installments, small sections that appeared in magazines over the course of many months. Dickens employs several methods to make the novel flow smoothly and to sustain his readers’ interest over the novel’s publication period. First, he uses strong imagery to make each character’s physical appearance and qualities easy to remember. Uriah Heep’s red hair, for example, reminds us of his fiery personality, while Dora’s silly dog, Jip, reminds us of Dora’s impetuous mannerisms. Also, the names Dickens gives his characters serve as keys to their personalities. Agnes, for example, whose name is rooted in the Latin word for “lamb,” is gentle and soft-spoken. Similarly, Miss Murdstone, whose name has a hard, metallic feel to it, is mean and petty.

Dickens also holds his readers’ interest by making the novel suspenseful, particularly through the use of foreshadowing. Because he was writing in installments and wanted to keep his readership hooked, Dickens ended each section with a strong hint of what was to come in the next section. By creating a number of intriguing plot strands involving various characters, he generated a devoted readership that waited expectantly to see how these multiple subplots would resolve themselves and how these familiar characters would end up. To contribute to the intrigue of each section, Dickens focuses chiefly on plot elements rather than character development or setting. As a result, David Copperfield is almost always lively and energetic—the kind of story a reader would want to continue to reading over an extended period of time.

Many of the characters in David Copperfield have foils—similarly situated characters whose characteristics contrast with, and thereby accentuate, those of other characters. One such pair of foils is Agnes and Steerforth, who are both well situated in society. Whereas Agnes shows complete devotion to her family and remains constant in her affections, Steerforth is ever-shifting in his allegiances. In the end, Agnes’s wholesome steadfastness gains her David’s love, while Steerforth’s restless, misdirected energy brings him an untimely death. By placing Agnes and Steerforth in close proximity in several places throughout the novel—as, for example, at the theater on the night of David’s dinner party—Dickens implicitly contrasts the two, creating an opposing pair that illuminates his view of good and evil. Similarly, Miss Betsey and Miss Murdstone, both old ladies in a position of authority over David, represent good and evil, respectively. Whereas Miss Betsey, for all her tough exterior, is caring and loving toward David, Miss Murdstone treats him cruelly. In these and other pairs of characters within the novel, the contrast between figures illustrates the contrast between good and evil characteristics.