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After pawning his waistcoat for money, sleeping in a
haystack, and traveling into the country near Dover for six days, David at last
reaches his aunt's home; he is filthy and tattered, and at first his aunt does
not recognize him, angrily ordering him to leave. But when she realizes who he
is, she weeps him indoors and orders Janet, her housekeeper, to draw him a bath.
Then she storms outdoors to chase off some men riding donkeys on her lawn. Miss
Trotwood writes to the Murdstones about David's situation, and David spends some
time with Mr. Dick, a strange friend of his aunt's. One day the Murdstones come
to speak to Miss Trotwood about David. David is very frightened that he will be
sent back to live with them, but Miss Trotwood is not in the least intimidated.
In the end, Miss Trotwood does not send David back to the Murdstones, and
Murdstone announces that his doors are closed to the boy forever. Miss Trotwood
sends the Murdstones away. She and Mr. Dick agree to become his new guardians,
and decide between them that David shall be known as Trotwood Copperfield from
this day forward.
Miss Trotwood takes David to Canterbury, where he will
now attend school. In the town, they visit Mr. Wickfield, a lawyer, and Mr.
Wickfield's unpleasant redheaded clerk, a pale young man named Uriah Heep. Mr.
Wickfield advises Miss Trotwood on what school she ought to choose for David,
and it is agreed that David will board with the Wickfields. He meets Mr.
Wickfield's daughter Agnes, who is his own age, and bids farewell to his aunt.
All seems to be well; David's only slight concern is that he notices that Mr.
Wickfield drinks a huge quantity of wine after his dinner. Also, when he shakes
Uriah Heep's hand that night, its cold clamminess upsets and alarms him. But
Agnes seems to radiate peace and goodness even though David reassures himself
that he is still in love with Em'ly.
David begins life at a much more pleasant school, where
he is taught by Dr. Strong, an aging academic working on a massive dictionary.
Dr. Strong is married to a pretty young woman named Annie, for whose lazy
cousin, Jack Maldon, Mr. Wickfield is trying to find a job. Dr. Strong has only
recently married Annie, and he also supports her selfish mother, Mrs. Markleham,
whom the boys at school call "the Old Soldier". After Mr. Wickfield at last
finds a job for Jack Maldon in India, a dinner party is held in his honor, at
which the Old Soldier reminisces about the days when Maldon was a boy and in
love with Annie. Annie seems upset, and is unable to sing a duet with Jack
Maldon. Later, David sees Maldon with Annie's bow.
David learns in a letter from Peggotty that the
Murdstones have moved away from the house where David grew up, and will either
sell it or rent it. Mr. Dick comes to visit David every other Wednesday, and on
one visit he confides a mystery to his young ward: he has occasionally seen Miss
Trotwood in the company of a strange man, who seems to frighten her, and to whom
she gives money; but he does not know who the man is. David goes to an
unpleasant tea with Uriah Heep and Mrs. Heep, Uriah's mother. Mr. Micawber,
coincidentally walking down the street, sees David through the doorway, and
David introduces him to Uriah. Micawber becomes friendly with Uriah, to David's
displeasure, but is soon carted back, along with his family, to the debtors'
prison. Time passes this way and years go by, and David does well at Dr.
Strong's school. At seventeen, he grapples with the question of what to do with
his life. His aunt suggests that he visit Peggotty in Yarmouth while he
considers. Stopping in Canterbury to say goodbye to Mr. Wickfield and Agnes,
David discusses with Agnes her father's growing drinking problem, and reveals
that whenever Mr. Wickfield drinks the most, Uriah Heep seems to appear. Calling
on Dr. Strong, David learns that Jack Maldon is returning from India--largely,
it seems, at the behest of the Old Soldier. In London, David runs into
Steerforth, who now attends Oxford. David goes with Steerforth to visit
Steerforth's mother, who dotes obnoxiously on her handsome son. Mrs. Steerforth
is with her helper, Rosa Dartle, who has a scar on her lip because as a young
boy, Steerforth threw a hammer at her. David is still impressed with Steerforth,
and invites him to visit the Peggottys. Condescendingly amused by the prospect,
Steerforth accepts. During his stay at the Steerforth house, David is most
impressed with the dignity of the infinitely respectable servant, Littimer. At
Yarmouth, David goes to visit Mr. Omer, who tells him that Em'ly is now a
seamstress in his store. He says that she has grown exceptionally beautiful.
Arriving at the Barkis household, David discovers that Mr. Barkis is now
confined to bed with severe rheumatism. Steerforth arrives soon after, and the
two set out for Mr. Peggotty's strange houseboat. As they arrive, an engagement
has just been announced: Em'ly is going to marry Ham. After the celebration,
Steerforth mocks Ham, but the good-hearted David assumes he must be joking. The
two stay in Yarmouth for two weeks, during which time David pays a nostalgic
visit to his old house, while Steerforth buys a boat and names it the Little
Em'ly. Two visitors arrive from Steerforth's mother, Littimer and Miss Mowcher,
a dwarf who styles the hair of upper-class women. Steerforth tells Miss Mowcher
that Em'ly is the prettiest girl he has ever seen.
At the Barkis' house, Em'ly meets with Martha Endell,
who is, as Ham tells David, a fallen woman. Em'ly is meeting with her secretly
at the Barkis household because Mr. Peggotty would not have approved had he
known. Ham gives Martha some money so she can travel to a new life in London,
and Em'ly, crying, says that she is not as good a girl as she ought to be. David
and Steerforth leave Yarmouth. David asks him for advice on choosing a career.
He is thinking of becoming a proctor, but Steerforth says that it would be a
boring job. David goes to meet his aunt in London, he tells her that he would
like to become a proctor. Miss Trotwood says that it will cost a thousand pounds
to find a job for David with a respectable firm. At first David is quite aghast
but Miss Trotwood reminds him that she can well afford it, as he is her adopted
child.
Click here for part 3 of the
summary of David Copperfield |
