David Copperfield (character)

David Copperfield
David Copperfield character
David introduces himself to his aunt (Drawing by Hablot Knight Browne)
Created by	Charles Dickens
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	British

David Copperfield, Jr. is the protagonist after which the 1850 Charles Dickens novel, David Copperfield, was named. The character is widely thought to be based on Dickens himself, incorporating many elements of his own life.

Scholars believe that David Copperfield's childhood, career, friendships, and love life were highly influenced by Dickens' experiences, especially his time working in a factory as a child. David's involvement with the law profession and later his career as a writer mirror the experiences of Dickens. Many of David's acquaintances are based on people Dickens actually knew. David's first wife, Dora Spenlow, is believed to be based upon Maria Beadnell, whom Dickens loved in his early youth. David's friend since boyhood and his second wife Agnes Wickfield, the real heroine of the novel, is based on Dickens' sisters-in-law Mary and Georgina Hogarth; both of whom were very close to Dickens. Dickens keenly felt his deprived education during his time at the blacking factory, and according to the authoritative biography by his lifelong friend and literary advisor John Forster, it was from these times that he drew David's working period.

However, there are many differences in the lives of the two. Unlike Dickens, David grew up in the country as an only child; Dickens was a city boy with several brothers and sisters. Also there were never any wicked stepfather or any great aunt.

Throughout the novel, David is rarely called by his birth name (except by Mr. Murdstone). Instead, he is called alternately Davy, Trot, Trotwood, Copperfield, Daisy, and Doady. David Copperfield's birth name comes from Dickens inverted initials.

David Copperfield is the pivotal character of the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. He is first introduced in the novel when he is born on a Friday in March in the early 19th century. The pet of his mother Clara Copperfield and faithful housekeeper Peggotty, David lives an idyllic life for the first few years of his life, even though he is fatherless–his father, David Copperfield Sr., died 6 months before his son's birth. David's happy childhood is marred by the arrival of his tyrannical stepfather, Edward Murdstone, and David suffers both physical and mental abuse from his new guardian.