NOTES 1-26
1.
(15) All of the references from David Copperfield
are taken from the Oxford Illustrated Dickens edition:
Dickens, Charles. The Personal History of David
Copperfield. Intro. R.H. Malden. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1987.
2.
For further reading on the subject of general
religious beliefs of the Victorian period a good source
is Walter E. Houghton's The Victorian Mind especially
the sub-chapter "Moral Earnestness and the Religious
Crisis" found on pages 228-262.
3.
Questions on Dickens' faith still continue in some
circles today. Steven Rost in a recent issue of
Christian History writes "While certain statements about
Christ appear orthodox, the overall picture that Dickens
paints cannot be considered orthodox when measured by
Scripture or the historic creeds of Christianity" (41).
4.
The importance of this particular scripture to
David Copperfield is that it is a verse which like the
novel emphasizes the responsibility of those who misuse
the influence they hold over those around them. The
fact that Steerforth drowns without reason seems to tie
in with Christ's comment that an individual who causes
one of his little ones to stumble would find it better
"that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were
cast into the sea" (Mark 9:42 KJV). Of course,
Steerforth is one of the characters whose influence is
markedly pernicious both on Little Em'ly and David. And
his death by drowning differs from the drowning of the
various relatives within the ark-home of Daniel Peggotty
in that all of them were in pursuit of a livelihood
while he was in pursuit of pleasure. And Ham, who
drowns with Steerforth, does so in an purposeful attempt
to save another's life. Only Steerforth's drowning
seems especially out of sync with his role in life and
therefor appears more providential in its source. It is
one more reminder that David's recollection of his life
is one which is set upon a stage strongly controlled by
biblical patterns.
It is interesting also that David was born with a
caul which was supposed to protect him from drowning,
and perhaps this demonstrates that he will be kept from
developing the qualities of his hero Steerforth which
led to that young man's death in the sea after seducing
a young girl.
5.
A number of critics have noticed that even in the
development of David's art the emphasis of his narrative
is not on the struggle of creation but on his monetary
rise in fortune. Note David's own comments in chapter
xliii: "I have come out in another way. I have taken
with fear and trembling to authorship. . .Now I am
regularly paid for them. Altogether, I am well
off. . ." (627). Guiliano and Collins observe that this
characteristic stands in sharp contrast with Thackeray's
semi-autobiographical Pendennis which is "far more
informative about the experiences and emotions of a
young man of this period who wants to live by his pen"
(418).
6.
William O. Aydelotte's comments in his article
"Marx and Mill in Fiction" are very helpful in
reminding the reader of the "basic insecurity" within
Dickens because of his close brush with poverty which is
"quite apparent in" both his life and work (55). This
leaves Dickens with the contradictory qualities in his
personality of being aware of the perverse affect money
can have on an individual's sense of self yet at the
same time perpetually striving to attain that very
status through wealth.
7.
This vision of Em'ly as utterly separate from the
novel's action was obviously not the opinion of Dickens'
audience. In addition to the public response to the
novel, it is interesting to note that the most popular
version of David Copperfield enacted upon the Victorian
stage was the "highly successful" play, Little Em'ly,
"which was revived at least eight times, and which
inspired numerous imitations and secondary piracies"
(Bolton 321).
8.
The ark-like quality of Peggotty's home is actually
hidden in Hablot Browne's (Phiz) illustration since he
drew the boat upside down even though in the text "the
inference is that the vessel stood upon its keel"
(Kitton 103). In fact Fred Barnard's illustration for
the Household Edition of the 1870s depicts the boat
clearly ark-like and right side up. See Appendix,
Figure One for examples of both.
9.
Ms. Raine, a colleague of mine, wonders if there is
any significance in the fact that the letter "I" (which
signifies the concept of self) is usually left out of
Em'ly's name. My initial response is to doubt it,
noting Dickens' realistic rendering of the Yarmouth
accent--"I thowt so" and "I'm a going to seek my niece
through the wureld." On the other hand, considering
some of Dickens' concoctions in names--"Miss Havasham,"
"Mr. Murdstone" or "Ebenezer Scrooge"--such a pun is not
unlikely. Much of Janet Vogel's work examines such
playing with words. So I submit the idea of Em'ly's
lost "I" as lost self for the reader's consideration.
10. Note how well Em'ly fits into Dickens' description
of a fallen individual even to the point of being an
orphan herself. Guiliano and Collins comment in The
Annotated Dickens that being without parents is "A
common fate in this novel. . .and often, as here, an
excuse for mistakes of misbehavior" (454). It is true
that many characters in David Copperfield function
either without any parents or especially without the
guidance of one of their own sex. David, Agnes,
Steerforth, Traddles, Em'ly, Ham, Martha, Dora, Annie,
Mrs. Micawber, and even Uriah Heep all suffer from the
loss of at least one parent. However, it is probably an
inaccurate word choice to see this as an "excuse for
mistakes." In fact several of the above characters
function as channels of grace in the novel--avoiding
making poor choices themselves while helping others
correct theirs. Instead, Dickens is within this work
very realistically portraying the great void which is
left within individuals' lives when one or more parents
are lost--especially within the sphere pertaining to the
development of a healthy concept of self, the lack of
which plagues so many pilgrims.
11. In spite of the earlier mentioned discrepancy about
Daniel's boat-home, this study will from time to time
make references to the illustrations included with the
novel's text. It is recognized by most critics that, as
Jackson puts it, "Dickens, of course, collaborated with
Hablot Brown [Phiz] on the illustrations and approved
the final design" (68). Thus, especially in a study
about Dickens' use of Christian typology, the appliance
of visual Christian cues approved by the author is
important.
12. The line between Dickens and David becomes a bit
blurred here. Certainly, as has been already mentioned,
it is David who is recollecting his life and building
the pattern so important to him. However, these details
are from Daniel's mouth and are therefore Dickens'
creation. In the final analysis, however, it must be
maintained that this entire work by Dickens is passing
through the artificial filter of David's perspective.
13. Dickens' depiction of Christ saying that "The
Angels are all children" is a rather interesting
interpretation of the scripture which says about
children "of such is the Kingdom of God" (Mark 10:14).
14. It is interesting to remember, that Christ himself
was accused of committing sacrilege when, as recorded in
Mark 2:2-11, he offered the man sick of palsy
forgiveness before healing. Daniel would be paralleling
Christ even if his character were accused of impiety.
15. The significance of Christ's writing in the sand
found in John 8:3-11 is vague in scripture. Some
traditions suggest that he wrote a list of specific sins
applicable to the woman's accusers. Dickens in his
version stays fairly simple: "Jesus stooped down, and
wrote with his finger in the sand on the ground, `He
that is without sin among you, let him throw the first
stone at her.' As they read this, looking over one
another's shoulder, and as He repeated the words to
them, they went away, one by one, ashamed, until not a
man of all the noisy crowd was left there; and Jesus
Christ and the woman hiding her face in her hands alone
remained" (64). An interesting note about Dickens
perception of this event is that in his Life of our Lord
the story of the woman caught in adultery comes right
after the parable found in Matthew 20:1-16 of the
generous landowner and the vineyard workers who complain
because the landowner pays the same wage to everyone no
matter when they were hired during the day. This
parable, of course, describes the shared reward all will
receive no matter when they claim God's gift of eternal
life. After the parable Dickens comments to his
children (in the passage already quoted in this study)
that it is never too late to return to God's grace. The
point is that Dickens purposely places the parable, his
commentary, and the incident of the woman caught in
adultery together. For him the event seems to have
helped illustrate the parable of constant, open love
which may be why--along with the sexual overtones--the
event was utilized to help describe Em'ly. Yet, in
point of fact, the two source scriptures of the New
Testament are not only not close to one another in any
gospel narrative, they are not even found in the same
gospels.
16. Some might doubt Martha's position as a pilgrim
within the cycle as it has been described here,
especially since the reader is exposed first
hand to only the middle and latter part of her progress-repentant and post repentant. Certainly it could be
argued that she functions in the novel primarily as a
channel of benevolence for Em'ly and therefore could be
placed with Daniel Peggotty and Betsey Trotwood--both of
whom reveal some pilgrim elements in their lives while
functioning primarily as channels of grace. However, in
Martha's narrative there is an emphasis on her
progression from lost to redeemed. And, unlike Daniel
and Aunt Betsey, her story--told at times in past
tense--does complete the cycle of loss and reclamation.
17. The fact that the Strong marriage is described in
such Edenic terms is especially potent for David since
in the earlier narrative about his own home (before the
coming of Murdstone) he had also used imagery suggestive
of the first paradise. The fall from Eden will trouble
David in one form or another all through his history.
18. When describing Mrs. Micawber's loud verbal
affirmations of her decision never to leave her husband,
I do not wish to appear unaware of how funny her
character is. There were many times when reading her
boisterous protestations that I said with Gertrude of
Hamlet, "The Lady doth protest too much, me-thinks"
(III, ii). One wonders whether she has a better offer
in the wings somewhere. Still, the fact remains that
all through the novel, in the midst of some very trying
situations, she does remain true to her spouse. And
since Mrs. Micawber is like her husband a lover of
language, it may be that her affirmations of loyalty-which would be over-statements in other characters--are
true reflectors of the faithful heart of Emma Micawber.
19. In Martha Endell's story, Daniel, the best of men,
must fill this role since he is not just innocently
aware of Martha's condition, but instead--as Ham
comments--could not bear to "see them two together, side
by side, for all the treasures that's wrecked in the
sea" (337). Such active condemnation must stand along
with gossip as an act of perdition. It is notable that
Daniel later comes to repent it: "`Martha,' said Mr.
Peggotty, `God forbid as I should judge you. Forbid as
I, of all men, should do that, my girl! You doen't
know half the change that's come, in course of time,
upon me, when you think it likely. . .'" (684).
20. I am endebted to my wife, Loretta A. Rearick, for
the reminder that in especially the protestant tradition
that "the wages of [any] sin is death" (Rom. 6:23 KJV).
21. Milton Millhauser, according to Guiliano and
Collins, "plausibly suggests that Dickens had changed
his mind while writing the novel" (440), that originally
Annie was going to really be guilty of a wrong doing.
If this were so Millhauser believes that her betrayal or
near-betrayal of Dr. Stone would have paralleled
Steerforth's betrayal of Em'ly. There is some
credibility to this. However, it seems to me that to
have an individual whose reputation is darkened more by
rumor than by sin seems to just as likely tie in to
Dickens' multiple examinations of the dangers effect
self-righteous judgment has on those it is aimed at-such as its influence on Martha or on David, himself,
especially when living under the gloomy religion of the
Murdstones.
22. It is no accident that in the cases of Annie
Strong, Wilkins Micawber and even, in part, Mr.
Wickfield what they are in danger of losing is centered
in the peace of their homes. Similarly, David's
satisfied lifestyle at the end of his narrative focuses
around the joys of the family hearth.
23. The earlier mentioned affinity of Dickens' readers
to Pilgrim's Progress would certainly have been stirred
by this vision of Martha's intense, suicidal distress
described on the page entitled "Giant Despair." In
Bunyan's work, Christian and Hopeful are tempted to
self-destruction by a terrible giant actually named
Despair. According to the narrator, after the giant had
thrown his captives into "a very dark dungeon, nasty and
stinking to the spirits of these two men" (154-155), he
tells the two pilgrims,
. . .that since they were never like to come
out of that place, their only way would be,
forthwith to make an end of themselves, either
with Knife, Halter, or Poison: For why, said
he, should you chuse life, seeing it is
attended with so much bitterness. (157)
Martha's nearness to self-destruction inspired by her
terrible surroundings and Rosa Dartle's earlier
described tempting of Em'ly to suicide would have been
not at all surprising to readers familiar with
Christian's pilgrimage in which the dreadful effects of
Despair are treated. One other echo from Pilgrim's
Progress which should be mentioned is that when Martha
later rescues Em'ly from the house of prostitution,
those who are in charge attempt to stop her. However,
Martha "heeded no more what they said, than if she had
had no ears" (729). This stopping up of the ears in the
face of opposition also occurs in Bunyan's work both at
the beginning of Christian's journey, for as his friends
and family try to stop him he "put his fingers in his
ears, and ran on crying Life! life! eternal life!" (21),
and later when Christian and Faithful are assaulted by
the sights and sounds of Vanity Fair, it is noted that
they "put their fingers in their ears, and cry [ed],
`Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity'" (122).
Such echoes along with the already described scriptural
references reenforce the vision of a Christian cycle of
Loss and Reclamation.
24. Although Wickfield is an interesting portrait of a
man who endangers all that is valuable to him through
substance abuse, Dickens never supported the popular
teatotal movement of his day. Norris Pope notes that
Dickens' writings reveal his "usual contempt for. . .
temperance advocates" (76). And he quotes Dickens' fury
about arguments for the closing of public houses on
Sunday because of the drunkenness they encouraged by
saying "That a whole people. . .should be judged by, and
made to answer and suffer for the most degraded and
miserable among them, is a principle so shocking in its
injustice, and so lunatic in its absurdity, that to
entertain if for a moment is to exhibit profound
ignorance of the English mind and character" (76). For
Dickens moderation was the key for most when dealing
with alcohol consumption.
24-A. THIS NOTE IS NOT INCLUDED WITHIN THE TEXT ON FILE
WITH ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL OR IN THE URI LIBRARY: It
is, however, the basis for my first attempted article
"Mr. Dickens' Dirty Dick Joke."
Although Betsey Trotwood's relationship with
Mr. Dick is certainly one more manifestation of her
unquestionably benevolent character in David
Copperfield, many critics have noted her goodness has a
dark side--an almost pathological fear and hatred of men
based, in part, upon the abuse she experienced within
her own marriage. What is interesting is that her
relationship with Mr. Dick makes complete sense within
the parameters of such a mental scar, and it is
emphasized by a possible pun in her charge's name.
There is good reason to believe that Mr. Dick's name may
be one of the first double-entendres in print in which
the author is also referring to the male member. The
joke of a spinster keeping under tight control a man
whose name is "Dick"--which she happily notes is a
shorter version of his name--underlines the sexual
phobia combined with unconscious attraction Aunt Betsey
struggles under in the first part of the novel. Most
importantly, however, what comes from an awareness of
Miss Trotwood's sexual fears twisted in with her unadmitted erotic attraction and fascination for men is an
enhanced cognizance of how much her own nature is
redeemed during the course of the novel's action.
One has only to look at Miss Havisham of Great
Expectations to realize the dark peril in which Aunt
Betsey's hatred of men has placed her. Like Miss
Havisham, Miss Trotwood could have wasted her life
torturing herself and others. In many ways they are
parallel characters. Like the wasted bride of Satis
House, Miss Trotwood is a wronged woman. David notes
that Miss Trotwood's husband was "strongly suspected of
having beaten Miss Betsey, and even of having once, on a
disputed question of supplies, made some hasty but
determined arrangements to throw her out of a two pair
of stairs' window" (3). Also like Miss Havisham, Aunt
Betsey's original method of dealing with her pain is her
renunciation of all men and an isolation to some distant
home.
The narrator's treatment of the incident is light,
separated as he is by the chasm of time which makes
anything occurring before one's birth part of the world
of "wild legend" (3) and fairy. David gives the
illusion that the whole matter is tied up neatly with
the conclusion that Betsey decides to pay her husband
"off, and effect a separation by mutual consent" (3).
But the reader is quick to realize that the
ramifications of this incident reverberate deep into the
David's own experiences for his aunt is so deeply
scarred from her experiences that she originally can not
deal with David, the infant, except as a representative
of the hated male species.
Betsey's antagonism to "male-kind" appears several
times within the text--sometimes overtly and sometimes
subtly. David is rejected by Betsey as an baby simply
because he is male; she even takes a swing at poor Dr.
Chillip when he announces that David is "a boy" (12).
And when David finally makes his pilgrimage to Dover
from London, he learns that she has been taking in a
series of young ladies as servants always intending to
educate them "in a renouncement of mankind" (194).
Again the similarity to Miss Havisham who brings up
Estella "to wreak revenge on all the male sex" is
striking (166).
On a more subtle yet more erotic level, Edwin
Eigner has pointed out that Betsey's on-going war with
Donkeys who dare come upon a little piece of green
(which the narrator is not at all sure is her property)
is probably sexually motivated. David records that "The
one great outrage that she had, demanding to be
constantly avenged, was the passage of a donkey over
that immaculate spot" (195). Eigner notes that
"Dickens' readers, living in an age without automobiles,
might have been familiar through observation: that the
erect penis of the donkey is proportionally longer than
that of any other mammal" (5). Also, recalling how most
male mammals react to cold, Aunt Betsey's repeated
tactics of dowsing the donkey rider and animal with cold
water becomes suddenly clear to the reader. With this
in mind, along with Betsey's brutal marriage, the verb
"avenged" makes great sense as does her desire to
protect "that immaculate spot." The green has become an
allegory for feminine purity which is forever in danger
of being despoiled and trodden upon by "maleness." Thus,
Aunt Betsey is trying to create an Amazon existence
without penises in which she can say "No boys here"
(191). And considering her dislike of the male member,
it is probably significant that her first motion towards
the eleven year old David is a "chop in the air with her
knife" (191).
However, the Betsey Trotwood whom David meets that
day in Dover is already subtly different from the one
who rejected the infant David years earlier. The
alteration is so well hidden that David does not see it;
she seems unchangeable to him. However, she has let a
man into her life, a Mr. Dick.
Mr. Dick, of course, is no danger to Aunt Betsey
erotically because he is not a sexual being but a child
in a man's body who flies kites and jingles coins in his
pocket. Guiliano and Collins remind the reader that
Dickens had originally in his manuscript planned to name
Betsey's charge Mr. Robert (143), but went instead with
the name "Dick," a name which by the writing of David
Copperfield he very likely knew was charged with sexual
meaning.
Of course even without going to the overt phallus
reference, the term "Dick" as an allusion to a man goes
back deep in the English history. According to
Partridge, such general use can be found as far back as
the late 16th century (304). However, it is probable
that Dickens was being even more overt.
Although the 1989, second edition of The Oxford
English Dictionary's first reference to "Dick" as penis
in print is the 1891 allusion from Farmer's Slang and
its Analogues (2:997), Eric Partridge's Dictionary of
Slang and Unconventional English records that by 1880 it
was already common among military men (304). Rawson in
Wicked Words reminds us that "the origin of the term is
obscure" (116). So it is not difficult to imagine that
Dickens may have heard the "dick" used this way by the
time he was writing David Copperfield in 1849. However,
even more interesting, the name "Dick" was always
connected with Aunt Betsey's anathemas--Donkeys. In
fact, the original full word used by fastidious people
within the 18th century who did not like the term "Ass"
for the hard-working farm animal was "Donkey-Dick" which
was a simply a name like "Dunkin" or "Dobbin" often
given to the beast (See Mr. Micawber's song in
Copperfield on page 171 for an example of the
familiarity of the name). Partridge also point out,
however, that the animal quickly gained a sexual
reputation, noting that another way to describe a man as
being "well hung" in the 18th century was to say "hung
like a jack donkey" (1316), or, if you will, hung like
a "Donkey-Dick." Also, what many scholars seem to have
forgotten is that a great number of solders, the source
of Partridge's "military" reference to dick as penis,
were originally farmers. Thus it seems likely that the
military use came originally from farm-boys in the
British service. The connection of the farm animal and
the military references suggest not only a single source
but also a longer history to the slang term's use than
usually given--certainly making it well established
enough for Dickens to have been aware of it.
Eigner also mentions in footnote eighteen that his
colleague John Jordan notes that Aunt Betsey's servant's
name is Janet, the diminutive of which is "Jenny." And
"Jenny" is an old term for a female donkey. Thus,
within her own home Betsey keeps two individuals whose
names carry strong sexual overtones connected with farm
animals. That she allows this shows her sexual
fascination, but her scar could only tolerate Mr. Dick's
presence if he were safe. Of course, the only thing
which keeps Aunt Betsey (and Jenny for that matter)
sexually safe is Mr. Dick's idiocy which makes him
prefer the life of a child. Therefore, there is a
special significance to Betsey's statement about Mr Dick
to David that "you are not to suppose that he hasn't got
a longer name, if he chose to use it" (201). Again her
actions reveal what may be an unconscious fascination of
hers. For those who know the etymology of some of the
words, the joke seems very clear.
What makes this more than just some off-color tidbit (that I'm sure some might wish had never been
revealed) is that the sexual potency of Mr. Dick's name
in contrast with his sexual neutrality emphasizes the
terrible mental state in which Betsey Trotwood begins
the novel. Understanding how twisted she is shows not
only how dark her mind was originally it also emphasizes
the progress she makes. At first all Betsey can deal
with are women, then all she can stand are mentally
castrated men. Yet, the letting into her home of Mr.
Dick encourages Aunt Betsey to become a force of good
and push against her fear of mankind. Even young David
comments that the "generosity of her championship" for
Mr. Dick builds hope in him that she may to do good for
him as well (206). And so she does. Because David will
someday be a man, he is by far more dangerous to
Betsey's scarred mind than any other person in need she
has faced since her renouncement of males, but having
been expanded by helping Mr. Dick, she can still accept
David the boy (Of course it helps that he is still a
sexually safe as a child himself). However, as David
matures and enters into the active pursuit of the
opposite sex, Aunt Betsey, because of her love for him,
is finally able to pull away from her mania, and in the
end gives David sound advice of how men and women should
live with one another. She also develops an awareness
of from what she had been.
Betsey shows an understanding of how badly she had
been hurt when she tells her husband: "You stripped me
of the great part of all I ever had. . .you closed my
heart against the whole world" (688). In particular he
had closed her heart to all men. And also when she
tells David that "you and I have done one another some
good" (638) an awareness created by the double-entendre
of Mr. Dick's name along with Aunt Betsey's phobia helps
the reader to realize how much good being kind to Mr.
Dick and later David has been for Miss Betsey Trotwood.
The world and the men in it are again open to her--even
if she is still unable by the end of the novel to abide
Donkeys on her green.
25. Other examples of the comic-wise character exist
all through David Copperfield. Micawber's quality of
being a wise fool has already been covered. (It is
significant that McCarron begins his article with the
same scripture (1 Cor. 3:18) in which Paul advises the
one who wishes to be prudent to "become a fool, that he
may be wise," already used in this study's discussion of
Micawber.) However, in David's life two of his most
important channels of grace are also wise fools. Of his
nurse, Peggotty, David says that he felt for her
"something I have never felt for any other human being.
It was a sort of comical affection too" (61). He makes
this confession after describing his first pivotal
experience in loss and reclamation discussed later in
this study. Peggotty is absolutely invaluable for his
spiritual health, and yet she also, in her love, makes
herself look ridiculous trying to kiss David through a
keyhole. Similarly, Betsey Trotwood also has no regard
to how she looks when she is pursuing her objective to
do good. One of the ways she completely befuddles the
Murdstones is by her total disregard of social niceties
in telling them what she really thinks of them. Betsey
is also an extremely funny character, especially in the
war she wages against donkeys on her lawn. And yet her
and Peggotty's ability to entirely forget convention to
show love would surely have reminded some readers of
Christ who broke all etiquette the night he gave up his
role as Rabbi and washed his disciples feet as a
servant.
26. The woolsack is a large symbolic cushion sat upon
by the Lord Chancellor, "when presiding over the House
of Lords" (Guiliano and Collins 358). Dr. Gutchen
reminds me that this reference means that Micawber sees
himself as Lord Chancellor of England, the highest judge
in the land.
27. Besides those critics already mentioned in the
first chapter, Graham Storey has a helpful chapter on
the use of fairy tale elements in his book David
Copperfield: Interweaving Truth and Fiction (92-99), and
he, himself, gives special notice to Harry Stone's work
"David Copperfield: The Fairy-Tale Method Perfected," in
his Dickens and the Invisible World.
28. Besides reminding the reader of the above point,
Guiliano and Collins also helpfully defines a caul as
the "thin tissue enclosing the foetus; sometimes a
fragment of it emerges on the baby's head" (12). The
1989, Second Edition of The Oxford English Dictionary
in the "b" section of the fifth definition describes
the caul as the "amnion or inner membrane inclosing the
faetus before birth: esp this or a portion of it
sometimes enveloping the head of the child at birth,
superstitiously regarded as a good omen, and supposed to
be a preservative against drowning" (2:997). The first
written references goes back to 1547. Dickens' use in
David Copperfield is the fifth entry listed.
29. Dr. Gutchen also reminds me that Latin for left is
"sinister."
30. An indication of how much Dickens envisions David
hating Murdstone, even while writing this account, is
indicated (as Guiliano and Collins point out) by the
fact that in both Dickens' "number plan. . .and
manuscript the phrase [about his ill omened eyes
actually] ran `his damned black eyes'" (31). This would
have been still another religious cue of Murdstone's
nature. But it is not needed with all of the other
diabolical references within this first stage.
31. In all of the narrative David never calls Miss
Murdstone "aunt" and more pointedly he never calls Mr.
Murdstone "father." Perhaps even more telling, neither
of the Murdstones encourage him to do use these
appropriate titles of his connection to them. This is
just one more example of the process of isolation which
begins with the coming of the Murdstones into David's
life.
32. The reference to a condemned service re-emphasizes
the theme of death since such a service was conducted
for those about to be executed.
33. The reduction of human beings into dogs occurs
often in David Copperfield. Biblically no animal has a
more foul and lowly reputation than a dog, demonstrated
by scriptural references ranging from Goliath's raging
cry "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?" (1
Sam. 17:43 KJV) to Paul's warning to his readers to
"Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the
concision" (Ph'p 3:2 KJV).
Except for the one case with Mr. Dick, dogs are
consistently used as an image of degradation, usually
created by one character's attitude towards another. As
noted here, Murdstone beats David like a dog and David
responds like a dog by biting him. Later Murdstone
writes ahead to Salem House about what his step-son had
done, and Creakle makes a placard which reads "Take care
of him. He bites" (78). When David sees the placard he
assumes it is about a dog. "Isn't is a dog sir?" he
says to his teacher, Mr. Mell, "That's to be taken care
of, sir; that bites?" (78). The negative effect this
has on David's self-image will be covered later. While
at Salem House, David describes the way Creakle crushes
the spirit of the boys under his control as he "cuts a
joke before he beats him [a boy with a less than perfect
exercise], and we laugh at it--miserable little dogs, we
laugh" (90). David refers to Heep still later as a
"Hound" (369). And Miss Dartle when commanding the, by
then, disgraced Mr. Littimer to relate to David what he
knows about Em'ly's escape, commands him to come forward
"as if she were calling to some unclean beast'" (667).
In the final scene of the Heeps' defeat, David refers to
Heep as a "mongrel cur" who "growled" in defiance"
(759). In light of how he himself is wounded by such
dog treatment, David's application of the term to Heep
brings up some disturbing questions about his state of
mind.
Only with Mr. Dick, who is compared with a
Shepherd's dog" (759) in this same scene and whose
loyalty to the Doctor and Mrs. Strong is like that which
"is borne towards man, by one of the lower animals"
(623), is the dog image used positively. The reason may
be that as a channel of grace he is the great shepherd's
(Christ's) dog. And even a dog in the service of
benevolence is a force for good.
34. This vision of the wharf by the river as being
Hellish will also play a role later in Martha's story,
and this experience of David's may explain why he, in
particular, views the landscape Daniel and he find her
in as especially foul. Of course it may simply be that
the riverside of the Themes was especially foul.
35. Edwin M. Eigner in "David Copperfield and the
Benevolent Spirit" also makes a good case that Betsey
Trotwood would have been immediately recognizable to
Victorian audiences as a generous and good figure
because she matches "a character in the nineteenth
century Christmas pantomimes. . .[known] as the
Benevolent Spirit" (3). In fact, Eigner notes that the
name "Dame Trot" was actually a common name for this
figure.
36. This peaceful appearance seems to further support
the earlier mentioned connection of Mr. Dick's kite
flying to prayer.
37. David underlines Creakle's malevolent nature by
using biblical typology. He recalls that he and the
other boys in Salem house were "Miserable little
propitiators of a remorseless Idol, how abject we were
to him! (90). To be guilty of idolatry is especially
pernicious in scripture. And because Creakle leads his
boys into this idolatry, his evil would be in the mind
of some readers as great as King Jeroboam's who, because
he led the children of Israel into idol worship is
condemned by the chronicler to his memory accursed,
"even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the face
of the earth" (1 Kings 13:34 KJV). It is not being
suggested here that Dickens had Jeroboam specifically in
mind, but he was aware that in biblical typology the act
of leading children into idolatry was especially
damnable. And his having David use such images to
describe Creakle emphasizes the pernicious influence
David suggests his old head-master had on his life.
38. Although the narrator undermines this thought by
immediately saying "I believe he only did it because
they [skeletons] were easy" to draw, the reference is
still before the reader's mind and is compounded with
David's later descriptions.
39. Like the earlier mentioned scripture Psalm 24:7,
this portion of prophesy would have been very familiar,
even to Victorian readers (like Dickens) who did not
favor the Old Testament, because of its role in a
powerful chorus within Handel's Messiah.
40. Note how Steerforth in even his attack on Traddles
attempts to undermine Traddles own sense of self. There
is a similarity here and in his treatment of Mell.
Destroy how an opponent values himself and he becomes a
less effective threat. In this case, however,
Steerforth does so through sexual questions rather than
class designations. However, that fact that he does
approach Traddles in this way clearly aligns him with
the forces of perdition. As it has been demonstrated,
one of the basic tools employed by evil all through
David Copperfield against David and other pilgrims is
the undermining of the sense of self so central to their
journey.
41. Raina also points out that in spite of David's
claim that most people were susceptible to Steerforth's
charms, Traddles clearly wasn't and neither will Agnes
be later. I would point out, however, that both
Traddles and Agnes function in the narrator's mind in
the rather exceptional role as pure channels of grace.
David's description of the school makes it clear that
Traddles is a minority of one. "The boys" were on the
whole were in agreement to exalt "Steerforth to the
skies" (94). Also there is validity in Raina's claim
that "Traddles' response to situations that include both
David and Traddles" means that he "functions as reliable
comment on David throughout David Copperfield" (84).
However, Raina's conclusion that Traddles undermines
David's defense of being misled because of his "tender
age and emotionally insecurity" because Traddles "is
only as old as David and also an orphan" (84), neglects
to take into account Murdstone's abuse and the fact that
David is younger than Traddles, for David was quoted
earlier comparing himself to Traddles and being "nothing
like so old" (92).
42. Raina makes the interesting suggestion that a good
part of David's instant and constant dislike for Uriah
Heep is based on class snobbishness against a man of low
rank attempting to rise beyond his means. Still, there
is a lot more to Heep's villainy than a desire to
eventually become a Wickfield's partner. And while
David, thanks to Agnes' pleas, tries to favor Heep,
Uriah's schemes and maneuverings confirm David's
original negative impressions.
43. Again Raina interprets David's behavior rather
harshly calling this treatment of Micawber an example of
"David's unpleasantly self-regarding and calculating
moral intelligence" (91). However, two truths within
the text should be pointed out. One, David is still
quit young, perhaps a little over eleven years old
having gone through one birthday in London, and so a
sense of uncertainty in how Micawber will affect his
very recently regained fortunes is understandable. The
second is that David very correctly senses that a flaw
in his past will be of great use to the socially
manipulative Heeps. His description of his conversation
with Uriah and his mother is filled with unpleasant
extracting images as he describes himself as a "tender
young cork" which had no "chance against a pair of
corkscrews, or a tender young tooth against a pair of
dentists" (255). Thus, Micawber's presence is a real
threat, and with that in mind it is laudable that David,
in spite of his misgivings, still responds open handedly
to his old debt stained acquaintance from London.
44. I am thankful to Rev. Ann Cubie Rearick for her
insight about the possible satanic connections to
David's "guiding-star" reference, her clarification of
the difference between overt evil and the angel of
light, and her listing of biblical echoes missed even in
my multiple readings.
45. Jackson also makes an interesting observation that
although there is not evidence in the actual text of a
stained glass window in David's Edenic period, the Phiz
illustration clearly depicts a stained glass window
behind the pew in which David, his mother and Peggotty
are sitting. Again the integration in Dickens' work of
text and illustration is supported.
46. A number of reasons have been suggested for David's
foolish choice to marry someone so unsuitable for an
adult union as Dora Spenlow. Of course, just as one of
Steerforth's primary admirable qualities was, according
to David, that he "was very good looking" (84), so David
is constantly drawn to women whose appeal lies in their
obvious attractiveness and flirtatious manner. Little
Em'ly is his first attachment, a child whom he describes
as "the most beautiful little girl" who "wouldn't let me
kiss her" (31). However there are others like Miss
Shepherd "with curly flaxen hair" (265), and the elder
Miss Larkins who teasingly calls him "a bold boy" at a
formal dance (271). All of these women demonstrate
David's tendency to be attracted mainly by appearance.
This emphasis on good looks would also wave red
flags before the eyes of Dickens' readers especially
tuned to religious imagery since such an emphasize on
the outer appearance has always been a quality of fallen
humanity. Many of Dickens' readers would know the verse
"Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh on the heart" (1 Sam. 165:7 KJV). Equally well
known and applying specifically to women would be Paul's
admonition that "women adorn themselves in modest
apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety not with
broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array" (1
Tim 2:9 KJV). Thus, David's emphasis on being
captivated by what is attractive to his eyes and not his
head would prepare such readers for his marriage
troubles later.
There is, of course, the psychological fact that
David may be, as Jackson and other critics have
suggested, looking for the mother he lost when a child.
All these overtly attractive women tie into the memory
which David records of his earliest recollections that
he knows that his mother was "proud of being so pretty"
(16). And this similarity with his mother who was
crushed by Murdstone is crucial since it also cues the
reader to the questionable approach David attempts when
he later tries to "form" his own wife's mind.
47. Interestingly in Phiz's illustration Agnes' hands
are clasped as she looks downward. However the
religious feeling the reader is supposed to associate
with her is still emphasized by the image of the cross
of St. Paul's seen through the window just over her
shoulder (See Figure Nine in Appendix).
48. Several critics like Raina have commented that
David's attachment to the fallen Steerforth shows that
he is still attracted to the evil system which his
friend is a part. However, as has been noted, it is not
the system David finds evil but its misuse in order to
abuse individuals of a lesser rank. Furthermore, such
complaints do not take into account the fact that
readers working with religious expectations would not be
surprised that David's love endures beyond Steerforth's
fall. The entire cycle of loss and reclamation, so
often described in this novel, functions on the premise
of the continued worth of a fallen individual. To
support this belief readers attuned to Christian
typology might point to the example of God who
"commendeth his love toward us. . .while we were yet
sinners" (Rom. 5:8 KJV). And there are innumerable
examples in the Bible of enduring love from the fallen
transgressor: the prophet Samuel's continued morning for
his disobedient King Saul (1 Sam. 16:1), King David's
wrenching grief over his rebellious son, Absalom (2 Sam.
18:33), and Christ's suggested grief for the lost
disciple Judas (Matt. 26:38). Therefore, to such
readers David's grief for Steerforth actually shows him
to have a spiritually healthy heart rather than a flawed
one.
49. Guiliano and Collins note that while Wordsworth's
Prelude, which affirmed the healing quality of nature,
came out "a few months before Dickens was writing this
chapter," it is not likely that he read it, having never
been a "devotee of Wordsworth's poetry" (539). They do
think it is possible that Dickens was aware of Byron's
Child Harold whose wandering protagonist among the Alps
helped in the process of "vulgarizing such Wordsworthian
notions" (539). And Guiliano and Collins also suspect
that Dickens could have just as easily picked up the
idea from Wordsworth's earlier published (and shorter)
work "Tinturn Abbey."
50. Arlene Jackson makes a good point that the last
Phiz illustration in the Copperfield series of
engravings is filled with Christian iconography (See
Figure Ten in Appendix). Quoting herself from Michael
Steig she writes "`The two angel statuettes on the
mantel remind us of Agnes' role for David throughout the
novel, and their centrality here suggest her ultimate
triumph. . .the rollicking cherubs adorning the clock
may imply the number and angelic status of the many
children this couple have produced in ten years.'"
She also notes how the Christian symbol of God's house
makes "a definite appearance on the floor of the room
where we see that the children have been constructing a
church, complete with cross placed on its roof" (64).
While we may differ on the interpretation of the meaning
of these images, I agree with Jackson that David
connects Agnes with a church leitmotif all through the
novel.
51. As was mentioned in the first chapter, Dickens'
faith was a private matter. While it is possible to see
David's working out of loss and reclamation as a
manifestation of Dickens' own faith, it is just as
possible to view the system of loss and reclamation
described in the novel as--in the term David uses to
describe Betsey's lie--a "pious fraud." As has been
demonstrated, Dickens' vision of loss and reclamation
does not rely solely on Divine intervention, but rests
heavily upon benevolent human interaction. Whatever
Dickens may have believed about Providence, he would
certainly encourage any system which helped humans treat
other humans in a humane way.
52. For an excellent full description of the many
manifestations of death in David Copperfield, see
Stanley Friedman's "Dickens' Mid-Victorian Theodicy."