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David Copperfield - Group Read 1
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May - June 2020: David Copperfield: chapters 45 - 64
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France-Andrée
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Jun 25, 2020 04:29PM
I wonder what Ham would have done if he had had the choice to go to Australia too, I think he wouldn’t have gone because after Emily ran away, he realized that he had pressured her and she never loved him. In a way, she was as much running from him as running towards Steerforth. So I’m not sure that it is love that as broken him, it is more about guilt and not wanting to live with it anymore.
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Lori, keep "going on". Steerforth is an incredible character for Dickens to have written. He has so many facets that we could go on discussing him for some time yet. He's actually fascinating. As Sara says, he's someone who it would be very hard not to like, and perhaps be swooned by, if met in real life. It would be difficult to see how much he could hurt one, until it was too late.
Sara: I have had a very difficult time with Steerforth as the story has progressed. I’m a little puzzled by my own reaction to be honest. But, I truly am frustrated with the fact that Steerforth had an enabler at every turn. What Steerforth did to Mr Mell was despicable but it was David who betrayed Mr Mell’s secret in the first place. I guess I’m starting to wonder if Steerforth was one who crossed the line but hoping deep down that someone would push back.
Petra wrote: "Is that not a grave sin (the throwing away of life & potential)? Did Ham not do this as consciously as Steerforth played with others and used them?..."Yes, I think Ham was weak. It's definitely more romantic for the story, to have him pining for his lost love, but in actuality, she cheated on him (in her heart) and abandoned him! If it were me, I would want to show her that not only was I going to get back on the horse, but in record time, too! Granted, he'd probably have to lower his expectations a bit. There probably weren't too many beauties who could pass for high-born ladies in the fishing village, but there were probably plenty of young ladies who would be eager to help him forget his problems. It reminds me of Leonard in The Big Bang Theory when he tells his friends, "Don't let anything happen to Penny--I'll never get another girlfriend that pretty." Maybe Emily couldn't face a lifetime of Ham's saintliness and ran off with the bad boy, Steerforth. Despite everyone's fondness for Emily, what she did was a huge step over many lines. Not only was it considered a sin on the religious front, but it was ruinous socially. Even the inhabitants of this little fishing village, considered peasants by the upper class, turn their noses up and give a girl like Martha a wide berth. And finally, Emily knew that her decision to run off with Steerforth would be like a knife in the hearts of all of those who loved her--but she did it anyway. Did she believe, as Lydia Bennett seemed to, that the initial journey would end in a marriage ceremony? It doesn't seem so. Her letter certainly declares her intention of never returning unless he makes her a lady, but she doesn't seem to believe this is guaranteed.
Petra, your ruminations on Ham's weakness made me think of The Count of Monte Cristo, which I'm reading right now. Dumas captures Ham's situation perfectly when the Count is talking to Franz d'Epinay about the injuries that can be dealt to a man:
"But are there not millions of sufferings which can rend the entrails of a man without society taking the slightest heed of them or providing even the inadequate means of reparation that we spoke of just now [execution]? Are there not crimes for which impalement a la torque, or Persian burial alive, or the whips of the Iraqis would be too mild a torment, but which society in its indifference leaves unpunished?" (385).
He goes on to speak specifically of having a mistress or wife seduced away. I feel like that perfectly captures what happened to Ham. Too bad he is not more like the Count! And I haven't finished it yet, so no spoilers, please! :)
Jean, I immediately thought of Miss Havisham when Mrs. Steerforth's retirement to her son's room is described. Surrounded by his boyhood belongings, she has retreated to a different time, one where he is still her little boy.
Sara and Petra: Thanks for your indulgence! Dickens certainly created some unforgettable characters!!
France-Andrée wrote: "I wonder what Ham would have done if he had had the choice to go to Australia too, I think he wouldn’t have gone because after Emily ran away, he realized that he had pressured her and she never lo..."Excellent observation, France-Andrée, his pressuring Emily to marry him has set up the dissolution of the family and you are right, she was running away from as much as toward.
Cindy--the part of Emily's actions that bothered me the most was her disregard for what it would do to Mr. Peggotty and Ham and her cowardice in not facing them. DO enjoy The Count (another of my favorites!)
Mod
Sara - Consistent with your view of Steerforth might be the idea that he is deceiving himself, as well as others. Perhaps it is only when he was a little older, and planning to run away with Emily, that he learned self-knowledge. His final words to David seem to indicate that he felt guilt at what he was about to do. At this point he is culpable. As we all know, just because you know you can do something, and you would like to do it, does not mean that you necessarily should.
In a way this is not just "David's journey", but that of several others too. Emily and Steerforth stand out, and in these terms Uriah Heep has stayed in exactly the same place morally.
The other is, that I now think Charles Dickens kept Steerforth off-stage quite deliberately for so long, because he knew it would lead to us having multiple viewpoints of him from other characters, as well as bringing our own experience of life to the equation. We cannot know how much (or little) soul-searching Steerforth did, after he left David. Littimer's account is hardly impartial but would Emily have stayed with him so long if they had not been happy? She does not criticise Steerforth either (until the end, when he left her to Littimer's "care") but only ever talks of herself, her feelings for her family, and her guilt. Steerforth probably did love Emily, but was bound by his class, as Lori says (you make some excellent points here Lori!) and not brave enough to take the step of marrying her, and as Dan Peggoty said, "raising her up".
I'd like to have heard Steerforth's own defence; I think we have heard enough of Rosa's already! (For the first time ever I feel the urge to add OMG!)
Pondering on what might happen to Mrs Steerforth and Rosa Dartle, I predict that they are destined to live together, in their bitterness and grief, perhaps becoming more crazed and intense, in the dark and chill of an old decrepit house, from which all the servants gradually leave... Authors of their own destruction and madness, they deserve each other.
Great thoughts regarding why Steerforth comes to us only through others for so much of the book, Jean. I wonder if Dickens himself wasn't conflicted about Steerforth...much like David, he may have cast back to that image of him innocently sleeping. Complex characters make for much richer stories, so Steerforth adds much to this one.Your predictions for Mrs. Steerforth and Rosa would parallel my own. They do indeed deserve one another.
Cindy wrote: "Yes, I think Ham was weak. It's definitely more romantic for the story, to have him pining for his lost love, but in actuality, she cheated on him (in her heart) and abandoned him! ...."Right?!!
I would have pined away and maybe wallowed for a bit. It's an unexpected blow. But eventually, one has to pick oneself up and get back to life.
As Jean says, Ham doesn't seem to have friends outside the family home. It does seem odd that he never looked outside the Peggotty family unit to find friends, a love, a life. He was stuck in a bubble of that life.
In the Bible, Ham is cursed. I suppose that was Dickens big hint to us by naming Ham in this book.
Mod
David decides that those emigrating to Australia should not be told about the death of Ham and Steerforth; that is would be better if they were left in "happy ignorance". He tells Mr Micawber, who promises to try to keep the secret, and not them see any newspapers which might report it.
The Micawbers are temporarily at Hungerford Stairs, on the river Thames, "lodged in a little, dirty, tumble-down public-house, which in those days was close to the stairs, and whose protruding wooden rooms overhung the river".
Hungerford Stairs from a drawing in 1851. Charing Cross Station is now on this site
Mr Micawber has now taken the role of an Australian farmer to heart. Both his dress and his bearing have a "bold buccaneering air". The rest of the family are similarly dressed in solid functional clothes rather than genteel or business ones, suitable now for work in the outdoors, on the land. Also keen to say goodbye are Peggotty, Betsey Trotwood, and Agnes, all of whom are helping them with their preparations and attire. They must be on board ship before 7 am the next morning, where it was to sail to Gravesend before leaving England. Mr Micawber mixes a final treat of excellent punch for everyone, "peeling the lemons with his own clasp-knife, which, as became the knife of a practical settler, was about a foot long; and which he wiped, not wholly without ostentation, on the sleeve of his coat". Ignoring the wine glasses, true to his new character, he selects "a series of villainous little tin pots".
There is lofty talk about Emma Micawbers family, and when a visitor is announced, they are sure that it must be a relative. However, David then receives a note from Mr Micawber to say that he has been arrested again and:
"Was in a final paroxysm of despair; and ... begged me to send him his knife and pint pot, by bearer, as they might prove serviceable during the brief remainder of his existence, in jail. He also requested, as a last act of friendship, that I would see his family to the Parish Workhouse, and forget that such a Being ever lived."
Of course David pays the bill, and when Mr Micawber carefully notes it down, David catches sight of his pocket book. In it is meticulously recorded every penny that Mr Micawber owes anyone, with future repayments set out, including interest and compound interest. With a flourish, Mr Micawber hands an IOU of the new amount to Traddles. Mrs Micawber again speak at length on one of her favourite topics, the possibility of her husband "feel[ing] his position, and be[ing] fully understood and appreciated for the first time [in this] distant country". By "wielding the rod of talent and of power in Australia", the eminence of his position should then be reflected in England, the country of his birth. This, she feels, would be important to History. They said their goodbyes to everyone, and there was a lot of sorrowful sobbing and weeping. The next morning at 5am. David goes to Hungerford Stairs, to find that they have departed by boat to Gravesend:
"although my association of them with the tumble-down public-house and the wooden stairs dated only from last night, both seemed dreary and deserted, now that they were gone."
After this, David and Peggotty make their way to Gravesend, (Kent) from where the ship is to embark. Dan Peggotty was waiting for them on deck, and told David that Mr. Micawber had just been arrested again, in Uriah Heep's case, and that Mr Peggotty had paid the bill with the money, as David had said.
The Emigrants on board ship - Phiz
Mr Peggotty and Mr Micawber are getting along well together, as if they are already great friends. The scene on ship, in steerage class, is like a painting by the Dutch artist Ostade. People crowded "among the great beams, bulks, and ringbolts of the ship, and the emigrant-berths, and chests, and bundles, and barrels, and heaps of miscellaneous baggage—‘lighted up, here and there, by dangling lanterns; and elsewhere by the yellow daylight straying down a windsail or a hatchway". All manner of people are "making new friendships, taking leave of one another, talking, laughing, crying, eating and drinking", and all crammed into the small space allowed.
David thought he could see Emily, and perhaps Agnes taking her leave of her, and then comes across Mrs Gummidge and Dan Peggotty - and is astonished to find Martha with them, with Mr Peggotty:
"I could speak no more at that time, but I wrung his hand; and if ever I have loved and honoured any man, I loved and honoured that man in my soul."
David and Peggotty leave the ship, and look back to see, against the "calm, radiant sunset ... a sight at once so beautiful, so mournful, and so hopeful, as the glorious ship". A great cheer bursts out from all those watching, and all those travelling too, and at he sees someone waving, at her uncle’s side:
"Emily, beautiful and drooping, cling to him with the utmost trust of thy bruised heart; for he has clung to thee, with all the might of his great love!"
Mod
Will Mr Micawber be able to fit the part he is playing? And what lies ahead for the others? Perhaps the reason Emily was so elusive at the end was because of her condition, and not wanting anyone to see her.
Oh but the very best part of the chapter for me was that Martha went with them! I know several here suggested that she might, but I had actually mis-remembered that part, and thought they tried to find her, but she had disappeared again, and in the meantime she had thrown herself in the river! It seemed so in keeping, somehow, after doing this great good deed, that she would then go to her death at peace. But I'm so glad she didn't!
Mod
Martha Endell
A little earlier I mentioned "Urania Cottage": the home for "fallen women" that Charles Dickens had set up with his friend Angela Burdett-Coutts. (I think Robin referred to it too.) The idea began a couple of years before this serial, in 1846, when Charles Dickens sent her a fourteen-page letter about his plan for setting up a safe house for women and girls working the London streets as prostitutes.
His idea was to begin with about thirty women:
"What they would be taught in the house, would be grounded in religion ... a system of training established, which, while it is steady and firm, is cheerful and hopeful. Order, punctuality, cleanliness, the whole routine of household duties - as washing, mending, cooking - the establishment itself would supply the means of teaching practically, to every one. But the ... monotonous round of occupation and self-denial ... would end ... in happy homes of their own."
A property was found and a matron was appointed, and in October 1847, Charles Dickens published a leaflet which he handed out to prostitutes encouraging them to apply to join Urania Cottage. Charles Dickens used to trawl the streets looking for women to enter Urania Cottage, and wrote about his "nightly wanderings into strange places". He interviewed every single one who responded to the leaflet, and if accepted she would be told that no one would ever mention her past to her.
They started with four, quickly rising to eight, again in Charles Dickens's own words:
"Among the girls were starving needlewomen, poor needlewomen who had robbed... violent girls imprisoned for committing disturbances in ill-conducted workhouses, poor girls from Ragged Schools, destitute girls who have applied at police offices for relief, young women from the streets - young women of the same class taken from the prisons after under-going punishment there as disorderly characters, or for shoplifting, or for thefts from the person: domestic servants who had been seduced, and two young women held to bail for attempting suicide."
Charles Dickens wanted them to wear bright colours, be well fed, and taught reading, writing, sewing, domestic work, cooking and laundering. His plan was that each of them would live at the cottage for about a year, and then be placed on an emigrant ship, by which time they would be much improved and able to manage their lives. The first three went, but after the six month voyage they disappeared.
In February 1849, just 3 months before the publication of the first installment of David Copperfield, Isabella Gordon arrived at Urania Cottage. Charles Dickens was very taken with her high spirits. She had a spark and vivacity, and was not at all intimidated by him. He enjoyed her company and wrote about my "friend Isabella Gordon".
However eventually Isabella went too far with her rebellious streak, and was sent away. Charles Dickens recalls:
"The girl herself, now that it had really come to this, cried, and hung down her head, and when she got out at the door, stopped and leaned against the house for a minute or two before she went to the gate - in a most miserable and wretched state. As it was impossible to relent, with any hope of doing good, we could not do so. We passed her in the lane, afterwards, going slowly away, and wiping her face with her shawl. A more forlorn and hopeless thing altogether, I never saw."
The most likely thing was that Isabella Gordon would return to a world of prostitution. Just a few days later Charles Dickens wrote that month's episode of David Copperfield, where Martha Endell was returning to her life as a prostitute:
"Then Martha arose, and gathering her shawl about her, covering her face with it, and weeping aloud, went slowly to the door. She stopped a moment before going out, as if she would have uttered something or turned back; but no word passed her lips. Making the same low, dreary, wretched moaning in her shawl, she went away."
Now we know that in the novel Martha is emigrating to Australia, and maybe we will learn a little more too. But in real life, Isabella Gordon had lost her chance of this.
I wonder if here Charles Dickens was trying to make a sort of restitution. Certainly world-wide now, his readers would be alerted to the plight of London's prostitutes, and perhaps softened a little towards them.
Martha at the River - Sol Etynge
There's more about this in Claire Tomalin's biography, Charles Dickens: A Life and also Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women by Jenny Hartley.
My happiest moment in this, as well, was finding Martha aboard. I would have hated having her just disappear from the narrative and I should have trusted that Mr. Dickens would not allow that to happen. I am hopeful that this entire group will have a good life (and some a better life) in Australia. As always, I truly appreciate the personal background that you give us, Jean. It adds so much to the appreciation of both the novel and an understanding of the emotions that drove Dickens to write certain characters as he did.
The scenes with Micawber are quite humorous and serve to remind us that Uriah is still out there practicing his craft of disrupting the lives of others as much as possible.
Oh, and I forgot to say that I was glad they decided not to tell the family about Ham or Emily about Steerforth. It would have made the journey all the more difficult and might have affected Emily's health. Perhaps being charged with this responsibility will also serve to bring Micawber closer to the Peggotty family and give him a sense of his own worth that is more serious than the one he has held up to now.
I'm so glad that Martha is on the ship. She truly deserves a lucky break. I have high hopes for this group and their new lives. Australia was a good opportunity for many. The Micawbers may have been held back from "aspirations" by the British class system. Perhaps not, but his options were limited. In Australia, the world is his oyster. The future is in his hands now.
I am encouraged by the fact that he did good work, of an accounting sort, for Uriah Heep and he is keeping a very detailed book with his debts & interest, etc. That says to me that he has the training and education to find a good job in Australia, if farming doesn't work out. He has good potential if he applies himself. Australia may give him the incentive to do so.
While I'm glad that Emily will be fine, I feel that somehow she's gotten to "have her cake and eat it, too". There are no consequences to her actions, nor does she make amends to those she hurt. She's sad about things, but she's getting the prize in the end. A new life, new home, the love of Dan Peggotty, no shame, no repercussions.
I wonder if Ham is a kind of romantic hero for the 19th century. They seemed to value the exaggerated, never-ending love. In some books, the young man commits suicide, in a way Ham does this because he doesn't care if he dies. Then there is the loyal friend in Vanity Fair, I don't remember his name, who can somehow be content as 2nd fiddle. Today we tend (at least in the US) to think of these guys as wimps and say, just get over it!
I really enjoyed the descriptions of how the Micawbers were dressed, including the knives and wooden spoons. 😂
Petra: I see Emily much the same way. I am glad she was not lost to prostitution or overly punished for being young and ambitious, but the person I am happiest for is Dan Peggotty who would have suffered the rest of his life if she had not been saved from ruin.
Mod
In general though I agree. Her actions had caused so much pain and harm :( But then what you say about Dan Peggotty is true Sara. What a wonderful reward he had :) Biblical connotations again - The lost sheep, The returned brother ...
I've added another slightly later etching of Martha Endell, which I'd been looking for :)
Jean wrote: “Oh but the very best part of the chapter for me was that Martha went with them! […]It seemed so in keeping, somehow, after doing this great good deed, that she would then go to her death at peace. But I'm so glad she didn't!I’m glad about it too. Martha has a good heart, and I’m sure she will do well in Australia. Besides, she is going to live with too loving people, who also are a good example for her. I am very optimistic about Martha.
“Jean wrote: Will Mr Micawber be able to fit the part he is playing?
I’m not so optimistic about the Micawbers though.
Jean wrote: “Mrs Micawber again speak at length on one of her favourite topics, the possibility of her husband "feel[ing] his position, and be[ing] fully understood and appreciated for the first time [in this] distant country". By "wielding the rod of talent and of power in Australia", the eminence of his position should then be reflected in England, the country of his birth. This, she feels, would be important to History.
This little speech reveals Mrs Micawber in her true colours, namely that she has a disproportionate ambition. Fortunately, Mr Micawber gives two answers to her wife that make me hope that he is going to keep his feet to the ground this time: the first is that he has no particular wishes that his race attains to eminence, the second is that he is not particularly interested in the kind of connection between himself and Albion that Mrs Micawber suggests. So, Mr Micawber, forget about the conquest of Australia, Julius Caesar, and the History of Albion. Do your best with the means you have, and finger crossed.
Sara wrote: "..the person I am happiest for is Dan Peggotty who would have suffered the rest of his life if she had not been saved from ruin.."I'm also happy about Dan Peggotty, Sara. He deserves a little peace of mind after all he's gone through.
I don't understand how they think they can keep the truth from Dan Peggotty... or is it only while he is traveling? At some point, wouldn't he expect news from Ham? I think Dan doesn't read, but someone would read for him. Also Peggotty will learn it too, I think she'll agree with what David's did, but wouldn't she have missed her own nephew's burial? That would be upsetting. Maybe we will hear more on this situation later on.As everyone said I am glad for Martha, she gets her clean slate like Emily though I feel she deserves it more. Maybe Dickens felt Emily had suffered psychologically enough to be redeemed.
What I like about modern life is how we can research things immediately, didn't know who Ostade was, I went and look at his work on the internet and now I know the atmosphere Dickens was trying to convey.
Talking about research, that was really enlightening Jean. I also love all the background you are giving us.
I assumed that Micawber would quietly break the news to Dan Peggotty, at some point soon.
I also think the point was only to spare them while they are at sea. They obviously will have to know Ham is dead, but perhaps they will not need to know that Steerforth was involved in any way.
Hurrah for Martha! I couldn’t be happier for Martha. Australia is a chance for her to start a new life altogether. I’m also glad that Emily will have Martha and Mrs Gummidge for female companionship. I do wonder if Dickens developed Martha’s character in order to promote the idea of fallen women reforming themselves at establishments like Urania Cottage. His popularity as an author gave him a voice and perhaps he also hoped that Victorians would come to accept the idea of reformed prostitutes re-entering society.
Jean: I almost forgot to thank you for all the background info on Urania Cottage. It made me wonder if Dickens ever got more than a couple of hours of sleep.
Mod
Maybe Charles Dickens cloned himself? That would explain a lot ;)
Edit: Another image by Phiz of the emigrants added, plus a photo of a dramatised Dora.
Mod
David travels away from England, as he had planned, but his thoughts are filled with those he has lost:
"The desolate feeling with which I went abroad, deepened and widened hourly."
He mourns Dora, and Steerforth as he had been, and for all the times in the boathouse with Peggottys. He feels grief for those who have died, and the life they might have had, and those who have gone from his life by emigrating. The intensity of his nostalgia and grief is such that:
"When this despondency was at its worst, I believed that I should die."
David goes through Europe, through Italy and into Switzerland, visiting the tourist sights. He just feels a "brooding sorrow [and] listlessness", until one evening, he is struck by nature's tranquility, into feeling there may be a glimmer of hope, and that:
"some better change was possible within me.
I came into the valley, as the evening sun was shining on the remote heights of snow, that closed it in, like eternal clouds. The bases of the mountains forming the gorge in which the little village lay, were richly green; and high above this gentler vegetation, grew forests of dark fir, cleaving the wintry snow-drift, wedge-like, and stemming the avalanche. Above these, were range upon range of craggy steeps, grey rock, bright ice, and smooth verdure-specks of pasture, all gradually blending with the crowning snow."
He has brought with him a packet of letters from home, and reads one from Agnes.
Agnes in a dramatisation
She speaks so wisely in this letter, of the sorrow he must bear and the strength he has, and how proud she is of him, that David is immeasurably comforted by her goodness:
"the night was passing from my mind, and all its shadows clearing, there was no name for the love I bore her, dearer to me, henceforward, than ever until then."
Agnes's letter stays in his mind, and David settles in Switzerland for three months, to write, and to be what Agnes tells him he can. He makes friends in the area, and works hard at his writing, and then sends a story to Traddles, who has it published for him in England. Finding that this has energised him. David begins a third work of fiction, and when it is well underway, begins to think of home. He is by now much stronger.
The older David, narrating, now says that he must reveal a secret thought, which has been burgeoning in David for a long time:
"I might have set its earliest and brightest hopes on Agnes ... in my wayward boyhood, I had thrown away the treasure of her love."
David thinks he may have first had a vague thought of what he had lost, when it first became clear to him that in his marriage there was "something never to be realized ... But the thought came into my mind as a new reproach and new regret, when I was left so sad and lonely in the world."
But alongside this realisation is the knowledge that he had orchestrated how Agnes now must feel towards him. By placing her firmly within the role of sister, he cannot now take a different course:
"I had bestowed my passionate tenderness upon another object; and what I might have done, I had not done; and what Agnes was to me, I and her own noble heart had made her."
David does not know if Agnes ever loved him in a different way, and fantasises about a time when he may marry her, but comes back to thinking it is impossible. If she had ever truly had feelings for him, he thinks of:
"the sacrifice she must have made to be my friend and sister, and the victory she had won. If she had never loved me, could I believe that she would love me now?"
David thinks often of how Dora had said to him that he would tire of her eventually, and comes to believe she was right. He makes a concerted attempt to be "more self-denying, more resolved, more conscious of myself, and my defects and errors". Over three long years, he had come to accept that he can never marry Agnes. Now he stands on the deck of a ship to take him back to England:
"And home was very dear to me, and Agnes too—but she was not mine—she was never to be mine. She might have been, but that was past!"
Mod
His mind also runs on those people, places and events, but not on those who are still here, such as his good friend Traddles. Also, he remembers people at their best, such as Steerforth when he was a boy and young man. David does not seem to recollect that Ham gave his life, we assume, in trying to save Steerforth, or at least some others in the shipwreck. His mind just dwells on gloomy nostalgia for a duplicitous Janus of a friend.
He never seems to think of Aunt Betsey or Mr Dick, who are also central to his life. I think this is realistic too, that those who are lost come uppermost in one's mind, and that it is part of the grieving process.
To me, David seems to have a kind of spiritual awakening, through the beauty of nature. Charles Dickens's description of it is wonderful :)
And we certainly find by the end of this chapter that David has matured, hopefully into someone a little less self-seeking. Whether his passivity stays the same, we'll just have to see.
This chapter seemed like a necessary transition chapter for me. I like that Dickens spans three years and does not allow David to immediately move on to other things and other loves. In life, there must be a grieving period for anyone that we care for, and David needs this time to mature into the solid man he very much needs to be.I also appreciate that Dickens does not make Agnes someone that David thinks he can take for granted to be there and return his feelings. He is beginning to see that perhaps she had feelings that he ignored in preference to his own. That he resolves to accept her as a friend, if that is where her feelings lie, is another sign of maturity and growth.
I wonder how David's new outlook on life is reflected in his works?
I love Agnes' letter. She sees the positive, strong things about David that he might not be able to see himself. It prompts him to live up to her expectations as he matures.
Sara wrote: "I also appreciate that Dickens does not make Agnes someone that David thinks he can take for granted to be there and return his feelings."Yes, I like that too. David’s respect for Agnes’s feelings shows that he’s growing up to be a good man.
Jean wrote: “To me, David seems to have a kind of spiritual awakening, through the beauty of nature. Charles Dickens's description of it is wonderful :)"I also like the description. For me it’s almost like watching a Romantic painting. I love the phrase: “All at once, in this serenity, great Nature spoke to me.”
In the beginning I had hoped that David would marry Agnes, but he was too immature then. Now I´m glad he didn´t, as he didn´t deserve her. Wonder what she was thinking about him? More in the sisterly direction or of more?
Michaela wrote: "In the beginning I had hoped that David would marry Agnes, but he was too immature then. Now I´m glad he didn´t, as he didn´t deserve her. Wonder what she was thinking about him? More in the sister..."I think she always loved him, so much so that she was willing to give him up and to conceal any feelings other than sisterly. She is a bit too good to be true in her devotion and patience to her father, David, and Dora.
An awakening chapter. It does sound very genuine this way of going through the grieving process, grieving for who was, what was and what could have been. I also think it's nice that in his realizing that Agnes used to love him, he doesn't take it for granted that she still feels this way.I thought of John Forster when David sent his manuscript to Traddles, that is exactly what Dickens was doing with Forster. I think it might be a wink to his friend even though Traddles is based on another person.
“By imperceptible degrees, it became a hopeless consciousness of all that I had lost—love, friendship, interest; of all that had been shattered—my first trust, my first affection, the whole airy castle of my life;...”This shortened passage gave me hope that David is ready to start making decisions based on his life experiences rather than impractical notions. I immediately thought of “castles in the air” when I read this. David put a lot of time and energy into a life with Dora and a friendship with Steerforth and both were doomed because they were based on, dare I say it, delusions.
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David arrives back in England and is struck by how much it has changed in three years, although he knows that this is just an impression. He wonders what has happened to his friends there, who know he is coming home, but not expecting him just yet.
It is a wintry evening, and he decides to go to Grays Inn, where David knows Traddles now has chambers. He visits a local coffee house, and, expecting that Traddles may have established himself by his reputation, asks about him. A waiter knows Traddles's address, but calls a senior waiter for more details. The older man haughtily asks how long Traddles has been in practice there, and on learning that is is just three years, clearly thinks this is too insignificant a time for him to be concerned with it.
David begins to feel a little sorry that Traddles is not better known, and slowly becomes aware of the "prescriptive, stiff-necked, long-established, solemn, elderly air" of the place, and fears Traddles can never rise to be noticed in such a place. It is a long time since David has seen anywhere like this, or been in a city with such a climate of fog, mud and general dinginess. He wants to see his friend as quickly as possible.
David makes his way to Traddles's chambers: a small set of rooms at the top of a badly lit and rickety staircase, where he trips over a gap in the floorboards. He thought he had heard, "a pleasant sound of laughter; and not the laughter of an attorney or barrister, or attorney’s clerk or barrister’s clerk, but of two or three merry girls", but when he enters Traddles's room, Traddles is sitting at a table, and poring over some papers. For some reason, Traddles seems out of breath, as does the boy who had shown David in.
Traddles is as delighted to see David as David is to see him, and their meeting is emotional on both sides. Before long Traddles mentions the letter he had sent to David, which had apparently announced his impending marriage at last to Sophy, "the dearest girl in the world". Sophy presents herself from her hiding place, "laughing and blushing," and soon Traddles asks all her five sisters to reveal themselves too. Since they had expected David to be a client, and it would not be professional if they were to be seen by a client, they had all gone to hide, and Traddles had pretended he was hard at work rather than "romping with the girls", as he had been doing.
Traddles and the girls - Sol Etynge
Traddles is in very good spirits to be in such company:
"The society of girls is a very delightful thing, Copperfield. It’s not professional, but it’s very delightful"
even though they all have to "rough it" for now. Sophy looks after all the girls, who are affectionate and bright, and make a lot of both Traddles and Sophy. Sophy is obviously devoted to her "Tom". Traddles points out the flower-pot and stand, and the table with the marble top of old, and say they are working towards getting better furniture. He had finally persuaded Sophy's parents, that just because she was useful in the house, was not a good reason for them to prevent her from marrying. They had been patient for a good many years, and were willing, if anything happened to the Reverend Horace or Mrs Crewler, to look after Miss Crewler, (The Beauty, Caroline), Sarah, Louisa, Margaret and Lucy.
David approves very much of Traddles's choice, who is the sort of female he admires. All of the them are "wholesome and fresh ... and pretty ... but there was a loving, cheerful, fireside quality in Sophy’s bright looks, which was better than that."
As he leaves, David muses that his spirits have been lifted so much by the pleasant company, that the thought of:
"those Devonshire girls, among the dry law-stationers and the attorneys’ offices; and of the tea and toast, and children’s songs, in that grim atmosphere of pounce and parchment, red-tape, dusty wafers, ink-jars, brief and draft paper, law reports, writs, declarations, and bills of costs; seemed almost as pleasantly fanciful as if I had dreamed that the Sultan’s famous family had been admitted on the roll of attorneys, and had brought the talking bird, the singing tree, and the golden water into Gray’s Inn Hall."
Their bright good nature has made David feel much more optimistic about Traddles's future. Back now in the coffee-house, he gazes into what feels oddly unfamiliar—a coal fire—and decides he must go to visit Agnes.He tells himself that he must be prepared for the fact that she may well, have suitors, and marry one of them:
"What I reaped, I had sown."
Glancing over to the opposite corner, David is surprised to see Mr. Chillip, the family Doctor when he had been born, and whom he remembers from his childhood. Mr Chillip had left Blunderstone six or seven years before, has married and had a daughter, and has now settled in Bury St. Edmund’s (also in Suffolk). The two settle into a familiar chat, and although Dr Chillip is keen not to disclose professional secrets, David soon learns that the Murdstones are their neighbours. Mr Chillip refers to Miss Murdstone as a "very decided character" and comments on the "strong phrenological developments of the organ of firmness, in Mr. Murdstone and his sister".
Knowing of Mr Murdstone's marriage, David asks about his new wife, to learn that because of his "firmness", and his severe religious doctrine, she is being treated much as his mother had been. Mr Chipp says that Mr Murdstone's second wife had been:
"as amiable ... as it was possible to be [but] her spirit has been entirely broken since her marriage, and that she is all but melancholy mad ... the brother and sister between them have nearly reduced her to a state of imbecility."
This is his wife's opinion, which he believes to be correct. David comments that he expects she also is "to be subdued and broken to their detestable mould".
Edward Murdstone has set himself up a public speaker:
"Mr. Murdstone sets up an image of himself, and calls it the Divine Nature ... the darker tyrant he has lately been, the more ferocious is his doctrine ... what such people miscall their religion, is a vent for their bad humours and arrogance." Mr Chillip feels that such people: "undergo a continual punishment; for they are turned inward, to feed upon their own hearts, and their own hearts are very bad feeding."
The conversation moves to Betsey Trotwood, whom Mr Chillip had only ever met once before, on the night David was born, when she struck at him with her bonnet. He had been made extremely nervous at the thought of her ever since, and David tries to tell him how tender-hearted his aunt really is, before they each retire to bed for the night.
Next morning David takes the coach to Dover, where his Aunt Betsey now lives, along with Mr. Dick, and Peggotty, who acts as their housekeeper. All are delighted to see him, Peggotty greeting him with "open arms and tears of joy". Aunt Betsey is amused to hear how she is regarded by Mr Chillip, and has "a great deal to say about my poor mother’s second husband, and ‘that murdering woman of a sister".
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Now this surprised me. Why does he call David "sir"? It used to be the other way round. In fact I get the impression here that David is "pumping" Mr Chillip for information. He never actually answers the question, and as before says "I waived that question". He deliberately diverts attention from himself, although Mr Chillip would probably love to have a little snippet to tell his family, from his conversation with the famous author. This seems controlling, and a little arrogant. Does he now look down on Mr Chillip? It feels as though he is humouring him.
Also, David here is surprisingly placid, given that he has just been told Mr Murdstone is repeating his tactic of marrying a bright and bubbly young woman, with a little property of her own, and bullying her to the end of her wits.
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This does seem to be a "tying up" chapter.I'm glad that Traddles is finally married to "the dearest girl in the world". They will always be happy, I think, and perhaps always "roughing it" but their lives will be exactly what they want it to be. That's a nice ending for anyone.
Jean, I agree that meeting Mr. Chillip is a bit of a coincidence and a bit contrived by Dickens but I enjoyed the encounter anyway.
Perhaps he addressed David as "Sir" because he's famous? Or maybe it's a professional habit and he addresses everyone as "Sir"?
If this is the last we hear of the Murdstones, they do seem to have gotten off easy for all the harm they've done.
The poor new wife. It does seem that Clara and this woman get the short end of the stick, while the Murdstones seem to get away with the terror they give/gave these two women.
Mr. Murdstone does seem to have become a fanatic. Does this open the door to him being confined in an asylum one day as a lunatic? Perhaps we'll never know.
I thought it was funny that Mr. Chillip is still terrified of Aunt Betsey after all these years just for being hit by her bonnet.
The chapter started with David seeing so many changes in London. This reflects, I think, more the changes made within himself over the three years. He's no longer the same person and sees things differently.
His homecoming at the end was terrific. He's with the people who love him again.
Milena wrote: "Jean wrote: “To me, David seems to have a kind of spiritual awakening, through the beauty of nature. Charles Dickens's description of it is wonderful :)"I also like the description. For me it’s almost like watching a Romantic painting. I love the phrase: “All at once, in this serenity, great Nature spoke to me.”"
I enjoyed this chapter too. Milena, I think you are on to something with the Romantic comparison, poets as well as painters - the notes in the old Penguin edited by Jeremy Tambling say that the chapter includes echoes of Wordsworth, Byron and Shelley.
Tambling says that there seem to be several half-quotations from Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey running through the chapter. He compares Dickens's "Nature, never sought in vain" with Wordsworth's "Nature never did betray/ The heart that loved her."
The notes also mention that Dickens spent June to October 1846 in Switzerland.
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Yes, nice point :)
I do see a kind of patronising complacency about David, occasionally. And he can tend to fall into the type of hero Charles Dickens is sometimes accused of writing, to whom things happen, rather than one who instigates them himself. His reactions to Mr Chillip's devastating information were very understated, almost insipid, and this is surprising since his personal memories of Mr Murdstone and his own mother were so painful.
By the way, in England doctors do not address patients as "sir" - although the police do! This often comes as a surprise to Americans in particular (I know you're Canadian Petra ... I'm not sure which way round it is for you, but I think in "Murdoch Mysteries" which is Edwardian Canadian, the police do address the public as "sir" and "madam". )
Apologies for getting off the subject a bit! But I think that by this sort of reaction from those who knew him as a boy, we are being told that David now is very - perhaps overly - conscious of his position as a gentleman.
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Thank you for finding that Judy, it makes a lots of sense! :)
If anyone wants to know more about Dickens in Switzerland, I've just found an article from the New York Times by someone who retraced his steps:https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/tr...
There is a lovely quote from one of Dickens's letters at the end: "Surely there is no such place as London. I seem to have heard of it in my childhood, but I am pretty sure it was a lie of the nurse’s. Mountains, valleys, lakes and vines and green lanes, are all I believe in.”
It's certainly very worrying to have a glimpse, via Chillip, of Mr Murdstone taking on another wife and doing the same to her as he did to Clara - Heep has been defeated, but the novel's other villain is still carrying on with his evil.
Traddles: A steady and stable man. Consistent in his life. I was pleased to see that Traddles married Sophy and still has the flower pot and stand. The Murdstones: Still as awful as ever. No surprise there. I expected more, or maybe something different. I wanted them to be in jail, or beggars on the street. Petra, mentioned an asylum, that would be great! Since Dickens is wrapping this up, is this the last we will hear of the Murdstones? If it is, it is a bit of a let down.
Dickensians!
Books mentioned in this topic
10 Novels and Their Authors (other topics)David Copperfield (other topics)
Little Dorrit (other topics)
Little Dorrit (other topics)
Little Dorrit (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
J. M. Wayfarer (other topics)Charles Dickens (other topics)
Charles Dickens (other topics)
Charles Dickens (other topics)
Robert Langton (other topics)
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