Analysis of Charles Dicken's David Copperfield - Book Report/Review Example

Introduction Every century has its typical hero concept and the thinkers Samuel Smile and Thomas Carlyle has their specific opinion regarding a hero.These thinkers have given a framework of the hero of Victorian era. The two kinds of heroes which can be identified according their theory are Byronic hero or ideal hero. For Smile, Character is the main characteristics of a hero and he needs to have traits of self – help and perseverance. For Smile an industrious person is a hero and he needs to work hard to be successful. However, Carlyle has a perspective on a hero who is Byronic. The Byronic hero is one who distinguishes himself from ideal hero by being intensely passionate, solitary and has obscure nature. “We can say that, David Copperfield of Charles Dickens is an ideal hero who has made his life through hard work and moral values”. (Thesis). Thomas Carlyle has opinion about a hero. He thinks a hero is a person who has something different from common men. For him, the hero is a person who strives to find the inner truth and has a gentle heart. For Carlyle, “A hero of man letters” is one with originality, sincerity and genuineness. Hero is the one who lives in an inward sphere truly in a divine form. Carlyle classifies heroes as divinity, poet, prophet, priest and king. All these traits can be seen in David Copperfield due to its moral values. However Carlyle thinks a Byronic hero is a public seducer and has many virtues and vices which makes him different form ordinary person. In the novel “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens, David Copperfield is the hero of the story and also the central character. David Copper field suits the ideal hero status as explained by Smile and Carlyle. This is because ,David Copperfield after going through a painful path in life finds a niche in the society confronting many clashes, social pressures and conflicts. His faced all challenges in life like a true hero and becomes successful in life. He is not a person who has Byronic characters as he is not deceiving or a violent person. He has no Byronic hero characteristics like Steerforth who was an extravagant, womanizer and short – tempered. David Copperfield tells us that earnestness is the prized quality of a Victorian hero. A hero in Victorian era means someone who works hard, be truthful and fair in life. My meaning simply is that whatever I have tried to do in life, I have tried with all my heart to do well . . . I have always been thoroughly in earnest.1 Copperfield tells us that a person who strives for righteousness receives rewards in life. Even through perils of life, David Copperfield attains education and creates friends and opportunities for himself. He tells us that a person who confronts moral uncertainties of time and receives rewards in later life. He has money troubles, debt and marital problems but he overcomes everything and presents an image of Victorian hero which is a struggler. Many of the character traits that Smiles was advocating could be perceived in those who undertook act of everyday heroism. 2 1.Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1st edn ( New York : Sheldon and Company,1863) 2.John Price, Everyday Heroism: Victorian Constructions of the Heroic Civilian, 1st edn (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2014), p. 7. David Copperfield is the central character of the novel and has transformed throughout the story. He is a man with tender heart and falls in love and become foolish at one point in life. But later he matures in life and face challenges and grows up in life. David has the quality of innocence and compassion and has integrity and honesty opposed to other characters like Steerforth and Uriah. He is a classic example of learning and development. He has used his God given talent to succeed in life and create a happy family life . Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.3 James Steerforth is a character who is known for his witty and romantic personality. He is a strong character in the story and has a complex and interesting personality. He is seductive, charming and has influence on his friends and associates. However, he has the tendency to be dismissive to others and be irresponsible. This is evident in his relationship with Emily and her family. He as a child had a violent temper and had faults in his personality. Steerforth is self – deceptive and pernicious. The gentle heart of Copperfield in opposite to that of Steerforth who is short tempered. Steerforth is a seriously harmful person unlike Copperfield. Copperfield was drawn to the wealth, good looks and power of Steer forth. 3.Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1st edn ( New York : Sheldon and Company,1863) In the novel, we can see a form of Byronic heroism and here the character who displays this quality is James Steer forth. He is a Byronic hero for his aristocratic status, power and wealth. He is not so because of his act or social climbing nature but because he was made so by his mother. His mother brought him in such a way that he reflects an attitude of a hero and regal personality. Steer forth is a person with individualism, high spirits and rebelliousness. He was cynical and a self destructive person .He has a mysterious inner personality which is hidden from outer world. He has ego and shows his energy more often towards the female sex. The way he assaulted Rosa left a scar on her face shows his violent nature. When David contemplates Rosa Darlte’s face he sees the remarkable scar. 4 A Byronic hero is intelligent, passionate and sophisticated but is moody and arrogant. Like Steer forth they are deceptive, cynical, mysterious, seductive and self – critical. Like steer forth they are hypersensitive and tend to have a personality which is “larger than life”. The steer forth has the typical characteristic of a Byronic hero as he is egoistic, charming and has superiority complex. He is a person with violence and sexual aggression. Nevertheless, David has an immense admiration for him. David‘s character is in contrast with Steerforth as latter is a person who despise world and put other things above work. He has a reckless life and lives for the excitement of the moment. He is inconsiderate of others but is a long time friend of David and is a social mentor for him. I know that there is not a joy or sorrow, not an emotion, of such people, that can be indifferent to you. And I admire and love you for it, Steerforth, twenty times the more. 4 4.Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1st edn ( New York : Sheldon and Company,1863) Both the characters Copperfield and Steerforth are heroes of contradicting nature. Still, the both these people are close with each other. They are friends from childhood and later David Copperfield develops a homosexual passion for Steer forth. Even though Steer forth is a man of violence and ego, Copperfield loves him in the entire story. Steer forth is a man who keeps having infatuation with women but Copperfield is one who respects women and loved only one woman in his life. There were many women in his life and he had respect and admiration for them and has influenced him in many ways to come up in life. One of the prominent women in Copper field’s life is Dora his love interest. He has a cordial relationship with Dora and has a happy married life with her. However Dora is a childish person and lacked the responsibility to handle a marriage still Copperfield loved her. She soon disappears from Copper field’s life as she dies due to illness. Copperfield was raised by his Aunt Miss Betsey and she encourages him to be strong and bold in life. She corrects him when he makes mistakes and he shared a motherly relationship with her. She helps him to be a matured person and helps him to face hardships in life. She asks him to face problems by himself and hence make him a self – sufficient man. Actually she has helped him to be a better man in life. He always loved and respected her and she has been the foundation for his heroic attitude towards life. Betsey is a woman of loyalty and is his only companion after the death of his mother. After his mother’s death and the inert period at Blunder stone, David’s drifting and orphaned personality suffers the deep wound of apparently endless neglect and oblivion. 5 5.Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1st edn ( New York : Sheldon and Company,1863) His mother did not have much role to play in upbringing him even though she was a good lady. Another person who has taken care of Copperfield in younger years is his nurse Miss Piggott. She was a caring female and continues to be his friend throughout his life He also had his first wife Dora who was impractical like his mother but dies due to illness. However, his true love had been his second wife Agnes Wick field. She is calm and has been patient with him and is an angel. Agnes is a perfect woman but David did not realize her love and does not marry her until the end of story. David has been insensitive to Agnes and explains to her about all of his crushes and infatuations and she listens quietly. Agnes was an angel for Copperfield whom he loved more than Dora. “ Dear Agnes , Said I “ What would I do without you? You are always my good angel.5 Copperfield is a person who has grown in his life from a sensitive child to mature and bold gentlemen. He has faced many challenges and obstacles in life. He learned some important lessons in life. One of the biggest lesson he learned is that never judge a person by appearance buy make a shrewd analysis of a person before trusting them. He tells his story and points out the naivety in youth and his sexual passion for Steerforth. He sees that he had been wrong in understanding people and commits that he had been foolish like a common man. The hero is not an extra – ordinary person but a man who face life with determination and strength. This is what Smile and Carlyle looks forth in a Victorian hero determination, strength and courage like Copperfield David has treated women with love and respect even though he did not received any motherly love. He was given good lessons by his aunty Betsey and he remembers it all of his life. He is a hero because unlike Steer forth he did not mistreat women. For Steerforth women are more of a sexual pleasure and he did not respect them same as David Copperfield did. His wife was not given respect or love and was even treated with abuse. Copperfield is a hero not because he was doing something superficial but he faced life like a man and built his life against all obstacles. The author is not proving that Copperfield is a typical hero as people think but he is a human who has learned to live with high principles. Dickens wants to show that Copperfield made his life in a hard way. Dickens has plenty of matters here – David has to earn his living and to make his way in the world again with false starts. 6 When comparing the two characters Copperfield and Steer forth we can see that they have opposing personality. Copperfield had no family, wealth, power or social status but he constructed his life as a common man. He proved to be a hero because he never compromised his values for anything. But Steer forth being a wealthy person always used his power to indulge in pleasure and never understood the real value of humanity. So being hero is necessarily not becoming charming, good looking or wealthy. To be a hero one need to be a good human being, be hard working and sensitive. So, Dickens is trying to show the readers the real features of a hero which is his nature and not looks like that of Steerforth. 6. Philip Collins, Charles Dickens ; David Copperfield, 1st edn (London: Edward Arnols, 1964), p. 14. Conclusion For Dickens, heroism is a social quality and a person’s ability to live within a society in harmony. Hero is a person who has troubles in life like Copperfield not a person like Steer forth who lives in comfort and does not understand difficulties of life. Dickens wants to show that a real person is not one who is charismatic and romantic. The instances of men, in this and other countries, who, by dint of persevering application and energy, have raised themselves from the humblest ranks of industry to eminent positions of usefulness and influence in society, are indeed so numerous that they have long ceased to be regarded as exceptional. 7 Copperfield never had a charming nature but he never mistreated women or handled them as a sexual object. Copperfield throughout his life met many people but he never adopted any bad traits from them. He lived his life in his own way and proved to be successful against all odds of life. He never treated women with disrespect and loved children. He was an ideal man in a society and matured as the life passed. Copperfield wanted to be a hero of his own life and he made it happen. The Victorian hero is a person with values but not a person who is romantic and chases a love to win her. 7.Samuel Smile, SAMUEL SMILES, SELF HELP; WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHARACTER AND." , THE ONLINE LIBRARY OF LIBERTY , , (2005), 1 - 205 Work Cited Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1st edn ( New York : Sheldon and Company,1863) John Price, Everyday Heroism: Victorian Constructions of the Heroic Civilian, 1st edn (London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2014), p. 7. Philip Collins, Charles Dickens ; David Copperfield, 1st edn (London: Edward Arnols, 1964), p. 14. Samuel Smile, SAMUEL SMILES, SELF HELP; WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHARACTER AND." , THE ONLINE LIBRARY OF LIBERTY , , (2005), 1 - 205. The authors name should be given as it appears on the title page. Forename followed by surname. E.g. Francesco Casettie The title should be given as it appears on the title page. A colon should always be used to separate title and subtitle, even where the punctuation on the title page is different. Capitalize all principal words throughout the title. e.g. 67-82 Leave blank if 1st e.g. 2nd Thomas Carlyle, Lecture V. The Hero as Man of Letters. Johnson, Rousseau, Burns (1840) [accessed 9 April 2014]. (s) of Article Title of Article Year of Publication Distributor Director Read More