David Copperfield Essay

David Copperfield | November 16
2012
| Matt Huddleston |

` “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” (Charles Dickens) The film adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel “David Copperfield,” accurately depicts the Industrial Revolution. The film covers the aspects of the struggle of social class with the people during that time period. There is also a view of violence through different aspects. Labour of various social classes is shown with many diverse careers. The private lives of the characters in the film and the actual lives of many during the Industrial Revolution are very similar as well and have been accurately represent. Charles Dickens has done a superb representing the Industrial Revolution with his novel and film.
“Industrial Revolution came with intense social unrest.” (Garfield Newman, 250) This was very true, many people were either had a very high standard of living or were in a terrible economic situation. Few were middle class. The characters of “David Copperfield” live various lives of different social classes. The Peggotty’s are a lower class family. They have many family members in the household that aren’t directly related like a traditional family household. This was common for many families during the time. Many that would become widows or fall ill would go live with other family members if they could not support themselves. Betsy Trotwood was Copperfield’s great aunt and she was very wealthy. Betsy was in the upper social class. She had a servant and had many living very well with her. Now there were cases where a person could easily fall from their class and in rarer cases a person could rise in social class. Betsy Trotwood is an example of falling out of your upper social class. She was scammed out of her wealth and lost her home and had to live with David Copperfield in his apartment. Micawber was a man that struggled to maintain his middle class appearance every day. He sold many items and was in constant debt to appear middle class and it eventually caught up with him and he went to a debtor’s jail until his family was able to pay for him to get out. Eventually he was out and now a lower class citizen. After a major struggle to maintain middle class to be dropped to lower Micawber now came into a sum of money and moved to Australia for a new life and after time became a member of government and now an upper class man. The industrial revolution was a rollercoaster of social class and the struggle to maintain it.
Violence was everywhere during the Industrial Revolution. It struck on the streets, at the schools, and even in the homes. The violence was emotional, verbal, and physical and it affected everyone. David was sent to a school for boys; there he was verbally abused by his peers and physically beaten if he were to answer a question wrong during class. This wasn’t uncommon in the schools during the time. Many children were beaten every day for structure and discipline. Welts and scars were left on children for talking out during class or talking back to an adult. Thieves filled the streets and finding someone trustworthy was very hard. Homeless and pick pockets were everywhere. David was robbed on the streets by a man who appeared to be friendly and willing to give David a ride for money. Instead he stole all of his belongings and all of his money. The place where violence was most collective was the household. Many were neglected and abused most common were women and children. Some women did not experience this abuse if they were in a higher social class but “children faced the wrath of their father, regardless of social class.” (Garfield Newman, 255) David was beaten by his step father for not completing his studies and he was constantly undermined and treated as if he didn’t exist. He was send to his room for 7 days straight only to have bread and water to eat and drink. David’s step father was filled with rage when David’s mother passed away along with the new baby. He took out his angry on David by telling him that he should have died instead. Violence was everywhere no matter of who you were or what social class you were in. David Copperfield depicted this thoroughly.
Labour had many different aspects in David Copperfield just as it did during the industrial revolution. “One of the most contentious issues in the industrial revolution was child labour.” (Garfield Newman, 253) David was sent to work in a factory that was run purely by children. The conditions of this factory were very poor and David was constantly being hazed but the older workers. In the textile mills during the Industrial Revolution the conditions were terrible. The workers were treated as just another cog in the machine and did not have an identity when in the workplace. Not all jobs had conditions as poor as these ones. Many servants even though they were lower class had the privilege of working in middle class or higher homes that were safe and warm. “905 000 worked as domestic servants,” (Garfield Newman, 250) that’s just under a million people working for other families. Clara Peggoty worked for the Copperfield’s and was treated very well as if she was part of the family and that’s how it was for the most part. The servants would have been with the family for many years and become more or less a family member. There were different classes of labour that made a person more successful over another. The success was not purely based on the income but the title of the job added to the class. David in his older years moved on to become an accountant there he was seen as a proper man. He now was able to comfortably live by his self. Labour was constantly needed during the industrial revolution because of the growing need for products. David was part of several different types of labour.
The private lives presented in David Copperfield and the actual private lives of the people living in the industrial are very similar. One of the biggest battles during the Industrial Revolution was the battle between men and woman. This was presented in David Copperfield with David’s stepfather and Clara Copperfield, David’s mother. He was constantly reminding Clara that now because they were married that he was now in absolute control of everything. During the Industrial Revolution the Code Napoleon was in affect which granted the man of the house complete control in the household and his word was final. “Married woman had no legal rights,” (Garfield Newman, 255) this meant that the man of the house now had every right as a guardian for the children of the house. David was sent to a boy’s school and forced to work at a factory by his step father even though David’s mother was completely against it. She could do nothing but agree or be beaten. “Men had complete control of all family property,” (Garfield Newman, 255) and when Clara Copperfield remarried she lost all rights to her property. During the Industrial Revolution “the death rate exceeded the birth rate.” (Garfield Newman, 250) Characters of David Copperfield were constantly falling ill or dying but other means. David’s first love Dora became very sick and died. During the time they did not have the medical knowledge or help to make a person healthy again. The characters of the film and the lives of the people living in the Industrial Revolution were practically the same. The roles of men and women, life in the house, and death were all very similar.
The film adaptation of Charles Dickens’ novel “David Copperfield,” accurately depicts the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was full of crime, social unrest, and struggles in the home and “David Copperfield” showed that through the life of David. David witnessed many rise and fall in social class, was a victim of many different violence’s, and had a very complex life at home. Charles Dickens has done a superb representing the Industrial Revolution with his novel and film.