David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens, narrates the story of a young boy’s growth and maturity over the course of his life. David Copperfield was born fatherless in the arms of her young mother, Clara, and the care of his loyal servant, Peggotty. While David lives a carefree life at first, his life becomes a nightmare after his helpless mother marries Mr. Murdstone. After a few years of learning at Salem House, a cruel boarding school, David discovers that his mother was tortured to death by his evil stepfather, and is later sent to work at a factory in London. There, he meets the Micawbers, who are always in debt but are caring friends to David. After the Micawbers move, David runs to Hertfordshire, hoping to be adopted by his great Aunt Betsey Trotwood. He is luckily adopted and cared for by Aunt Trotwood and is sent to a good school run by Dr. Strong. There, David lodges with Mr. Wickfield and meets his daughter Agnes, who are both kind people. However, Uriah Heep, the clerk, tricks Mr. Wickfield and gradually takes away his fortune and business. With the help of his old friend Mr. Micawber, David manages to expose Heep’s wrongdoings and send him to prison. Meanwhile, David reacquaints with his old friend, James Steerforth, at Salem House, who goes on to seduce and abandon Little Em’ly, Mr. Peggotty’s niece. David also has his own romantic life: he is in love with Dora Spenlow and marries her, but their marriage turns out to be a bad match, and Dora soon dies. In the end, however, David realizes that he loved Agnes Wickfield all along, and they both rejoice in a happier and more successful marriage.
Bad and unsuccessful marriages in the novel are always remembered most dearly, though they didn’t end up well. Although the couple would’ve been long separated, each side of the relationship remembered the marriage for its memorable purpose, despite the painful flashbacks of past experiences. Aunt Betsey Trotwood is one of the characters in the novel who can’t seem to get past her former marriage life. When she was young, she was married to a handsome man and believed in him blindly, resulting in the deceiving of her money and fortune. Although Aunt Trotwood attempts to make it clear in her conversations with David about her former husband, it seems apparent that she still has feelings for him. Amidst her conversations, David included in his narrative that she has “an echo of her old pride and admiration in her tone” as she told him the stories of her youth. Similar to Aunt Trotwood’s case, Clara Copperfield was also unwilling to leave her marriage with Mr. Murdstone, no matter how cruel he was to her and David. Mr. Murdstone was a handsome man who seemed gentlemanly and respectable at first, especially to Clara. Completely unlike his attitude before his marriage, Mr. Murdstone often beat David and sometimes Clara herself in order to teach her “firmness”, and when David protested, Clara always supported her lover. Clara sacrificed her own family and son in order to chase someone who didn’t show any love towards her, and instead, used her as an advantage for himself. After Clara died from illness and grief, Mr. Murdstone took hold of her house and fortune. Later on, according to David, it was discovered that Mr. Murdstone married another young, innocent, and inexperienced girl much like Clara, and most likely treated her similarly to his former lover. People remember strongly and emotionally even the past relationships and experiences that have brought them pain and suffering.
People’s decisions and choices later in life are greatly influenced by their youth or childhood and past experiences. The childhood lives and people around one impact their future choices, and in this case, their marriage life. David was especially influenced by his mother, Clara Copperfield, and as he grew up, he sought women who had similar attributes to his mother’s. Unfortunately, those characteristics weren’t of much good use, as his mother couldn’t perform house chores, was inexperienced, and frail. For instance, when David visited Mr. Peggotty’s place during his early childhood, he immediately fell in love with the innocent and beautiful niece of Mr. Peggotty, Little Em’ly. However, it is later revealed that Em’ly was easily deceived by Steerforth and eloped with him only to get abandoned in London. As he grew into youthhood, David considered several women, most notably Miss Larkins, a woman of thirty implied to be a bit of a flirt, and he daydreamed of saving her from a house fire. Later, though, David discovers that Miss Larkins was marrying a hop-grower, leading him into grief and depression. David also fell in love once with a young girl named Miss Shepherd, who attended the same church services as him. The two had a romantic yet short relationship at one point before Miss Shepherd started preferring another boy. Later on in his life, David becomes extremely infatuated with Dora Spenlow, and the two eventually marry. However, their marriage was not as expected, with little fortune in hand. Moreover, David started to find Dora’s uselessness in chores and differences in interests frustrating. Therefore, he tried to change and shape her into a more womanly and mature female figure, which caused her to become distressed with herself and die later on. David Copperfield’s preferred woman figure during youthhood was largely influenced and impacted by his mother, Clara Copperfield.
At some point in their lives, most people are able to find and fulfill a successful marriage, sometimes through trial and error. Eventually, people learn from their experiences and make better choices in their lives, and improve their conditions in all situations. After falling in love with multiple women who later proved to be unsuitable for him, David finally realized that he loved Agnes Wickfield all along, someone he had always considered as just a friend. During youthhood, the two became good friends growing up together, and David often saw Agnes as a sister. Meanwhile, Agnes did have deeper, romantic feelings for David, although she hid them away quite well. As David grew up, he told Agnes of all the women he fell in love with, including Little Em’ly, Miss Shepherd, Miss Larkins, and Dora Spenlow. Later, Agnes is also reflected to be unhappy after discovering David’s marriage to Dora, not only because she liked him herself, but also because she knew the marriage would be unsuccessful. Waiting patiently for a long time, Agnes is finally rewarded after David becomes aware of their love for each other and marries her. Unlike all the other women before her, Agnes proves to be a devoted, supportive, and virtuous wife, the same figure as the ideal Victorian woman. In addition to David and Agnes’ marriage, the Strongs’ marriage also proves to be successful and everlasting. Although their early marriage encountered many obstacles, it still managed to hold together as a strong relationship. As Annie Strong had a childhood romance with her cousin, Jack Maldon, many people suspected her of having an affair. However, it is later discovered that she loved her husband and had no idea of dishonorable intentions, and she was only too nervous to share those feelings with Dr. Strong. Although many people tried taking their ‘unsuccessful’ marriage to their own advantage, everything gets cleared once Mr. Dick solves the problem. Most successful and happy marriages can only be fulfilled through trial and error.
David Copperfield tells of the life of a fatherless child, David, narrated by his grown, older self. Throughout the course of the story, multiple marriages are shown, both good and bad. For instance, Clara Copperfield’s marriage with Mr. Murdstone and Aunt Betsey’s marriage with her former husband are examples of notable marriages one couldn’t forget or leave. Although both marriages made the women unhappy, they still either continued with it or couldn’t forget and admire it. Later on, Clara’s young and innocent character influences David’s choices in marriage later in life; David most notably prefers women with similar figures to his mother’s, such as Little Em’ly, Miss Shepherd, Miss Larkins, and Dora Spenlow, all proving to be bad matches. However, through trial and error, David manages to find a lover whom he would be happy with, Agnes Wickfield, who is later shown as a devoted and idealistic Victorian wife.
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