Summary — Preface
In the preface written to accompany the first single-volume
publication of David Copperfield, Dickens tells
us that the completion of the novel is, for him, both a regret and
a pleasure. He rejoices in the completion of the novel because the
novel was a long time in coming, and he is satisfied that it is
finished after two years of hard work. He mourns its completion,
however, because it marks the end of his association with a cast
of characters to whom he has become intensely attached. Dickens
remarks that David Copperfield is his favorite
of all his novels and that, of all the characters he has invented
over the years, David Copperfield is dearest to him.
Summary — Chapter I. I am born
An older David Copperfield narrates the story of his life.
He begins by saying that only the writing that follows can tell
who the hero of his story is. He tells of his simple birth, which
occurred at the stroke of midnight on a Friday night. An old woman
in the neighborhood has told him that the time of his birth indicates
he will be unlucky and will be able to see ghosts and spirits.
David’s father is already dead when David is born. David’s
aunt, Miss Betsey Trotwood, appears on the day of David’s birth
and speaks with David’s mother, Clara. Miss Betsey informs Clara
that she intends to take custody of the girl Clara is about to bear.
Miss Betsey wishes to raise the girl so that men never take advantage
of her the way Miss Betsey has been taken advantage of in her own
life.
When David is born and Mr. Chillip, the doctor, informs
Miss Betsey that Clara has had a boy, Miss Betsey storms out of
the house and never returns.
Summary — Chapter II. I Observe.
David’s earliest memories are of his mother’s hair and
his nurse, Clara Peggotty, who has very dark eyes. He remembers
the kitchen and the backyard, with the roosters that frightened
him and the churchyard behind the house, where his father is buried.
Both David and his mother submit themselves to Peggotty’s kind direction.
In particular, David recalls one occasion when he sits up late reading
a book about crocodiles to Peggotty while waiting for his mother
to return home from an evening out. David’s beautiful mother returns with
Mr. Murdstone, a large man with black whiskers and a deep voice.
David and Peggotty both dislike Mr. Murdstone, and Peggotty warns
David’s mother not to marry someone her dead husband would not have
liked.
Mr. Murdstone returns later and takes David on a short
trip to meet two business acquaintances, one of whom is named Mr.
Quinion. Mr. Murdstone and Mr. Quinion joke about David’s dislike
of Mr. Murdstone and Mr. Murdstone’s intention to marry David’s mother.
When they get home, Peggotty proposes that she and David go to visit
her brother and his family in Yarmouth.
