Dickens� Exploration of Marriage and Relationships in the Victorian Era
By: Tim Gilbertson, Nicki Wadsley, Cassie Young
In the book David Copperfield, Dickens writes about multiple lifestyles, environment, the Victorian era, and experiences of David Copperfield. Dickens focuses extensively on family, especially on structure and the effect of marriage on others involved around and within the marriage.
The first marriage Dickens writes about is David Copperfield�s mother Clara and Mr. Murdstone. David�s mother is very young and easily manipulated by other people, especially the Murdstones. When she marries Murdstone her life changes in several ways. He treats her as if she was a child, whose opinions and wants don�t matter to him. He also wants to mold Clara into a helpless, obedient creature with no mind of her own. The reader is shown when David writes, �I knew as well that he could mould her pliant nature into any form that he chose, as I know, now, that he did it,� (56). Murdstone also changes Clara so much that he takes away her spirit and, as implicated by David�s Aunt Betsy, is the indirect cause of her death. Aunt Betsy states, �Mr. Murdstone�You were a tyrant to the simple baby, and you broke her heart. She was a loving baby � I know that; I knew it, years before you ever saw her � and through the best part of her weakness, you gave her the wounds she died of,� (224). Not only does Mr. Murdstone want to change Clara, but he wants to change David as well. Mr. Murdstone treats David harshly by beating him and comparing him to an animal. �If I have an obstinate horse or dog to deal with, what do you think I do? I beat him,� (57). The quote shows that Murdstone will do anything to discipline a child. In addition, Mr. Murdstone attempts to change David. The sight of Murdstone becomes enough to make David tremble in fear. When Mr. Murdstone attempts to give David his lessons, David gets so terrified that he forgets them. In regards to the Murdstones, David writes, �The very sight of these two has such an influence over me, that I began to feel the words I have been at infinite pains to get into my head, all sliding away, and going I don�t know where,� (64). Mr. Murdstone, as head of the household, thinks greatly of himself as the �man� and therefore, will do anything to get that respect. The marriage of Clara and Mr. Murstone illustrates to us that women and children in the Victorian era were expected to listen and obey.
The second marriage that takes place in the story is Mr. Barkis and Peggotty, David�s childhood nurse. In this relationship, he seems to be writing that since Peggotty had no social status, she had to get married. She had lost her job after the death of Clara, and therefore, had to find something in order to survive. In the household of Clara Copperfield, Peggotty says, �Don�t ask me. I wouldn�t have him if he was made of gold. Nor would I have anybody,� (122). She says she would never get married no matter who the person is. However, she does get married to Barkis after she is discharged from the Murdstone�s service. She says, ��I think I should be more independent altogether, you see; let alone my working with a better heart in my own house, than I could in anybody else�s now. I don�t know what I maybe fit for, now, as a servant to a stranger,� (149). This tells us that since she has been left alone, there is nowhere for her to go, and therefore, marrying is her best option. When she marries, it is a loss to her because she doesn�t have the independence that she did when she was with David and Clara. However, as the years past and after Barkis� death, she gains a sense of class and independence of the self, and becomes a stronger woman.
The relationship of Aunt Betsey and Mr. Dick is a central part to this book. Although they are not married, they seem to have a relationship that no one else has in the book. Aunt Betsey took in Mr. Dick when she found out his family was going to him �put away� due to his apparent �madness�. Over the years, they have developed a mutual relationship with each other; they respect, trust and admire one another. When Aunt Betsey needs some advice, she consults with Mr. Dick�s before proceeding. Their relationship of equitable reliance provides a ground for David, and reflects the stability of their �family� base. Mr. Dick treats David with a fondness while Aunt Betsey treats him like a son. This is a possible reflection of Dickens� own views on Victorian society�s emphasis on marriage, pointing out to the reader that two people don�t necessarily have to be married to be considered a family.
The marriage of David and Dora constitute another aspect of the discussion. Dora is the daughter of Mr. Spenlow, David�s boss in the Doctor�s Commons. He instantly falls in love with Dora when he meets her. He, describes her, as �a Fairy, a Sylph,� (397). To start, one must be introduced to the character of Dora. David�s Aunt Betsy and Dora�s aunts treat her as if she were a child. On page 608, David says, �[Miss. Levina] treated Dora just as if she had been a toy.� The selection suggests that Dora�s aunts couldn�t resist but treat her like a toy because she was very child-like. The characteristics of Dora also suggest that because of her personality, their marriage was very much different from reality. While Dora�s child-like qualities are much like that of David�s mother Clara, David and Dora�s marriage is very different than that of his mother and Mr. Murdstone. They have a very juvenile marriage, where they are in the entirely infatuated with one another. He dotes upon her, despite her �childish actions.� When he first meets Dora, David says, �I was a captive and a slave,� (397). He means her beauty has captured him and he is now a �slave� to her love. A truer statement could not be made in regards to their union than the words of Aunt Betsey, �Ah, Trot! Blind, blind, blind!� (509). The description lends that David and Dora�s relationship was more child-like than a �reality� marriage. At the end of their marriage, Dickens seems to suggest that weak women within marriages will eventually �die� off, or they aren�t in reality as they should be. For they, in the end, lack a sense of independence.
The most important marriage, at least in the evolution of David�s character, is that of David and Agnes. After the death of Dora, David decides to leave on a three year trip. He grows and evaluates his life, and finally comes to realize that he does love Agnes. The long absence and failure of his first marriage has allowed David to put his life in perspective. �I owed her so much gratitude, she was so dear to me, that I could find no utterance for what I felt. I tried to bless her, tried to thank her, tried to tell her (as I had often done in letters) what an influence she had upon me; but for all my efforts were in vain. My love and joy were dumb,� (884). The maturation of David through the book has led him to this moment. Agnes is the realization of everything he has been led to believe a woman, in these times, should be, and she is everything he has never known in a woman. In the course of years, Agnes has always been an intangible, unchanging figure for David and now that he has found his own sense of self, he seeks to solidify that bond. �Clasped in my embrace, I held the source of every worthy aspiration I had ever had; the centre of myself, the circle of my life, my own, my wife; my love of whom was founded on a rock!� (869).
The differences in the marriages themselves lend to Dickens� indictments against marriage and the rare inherent triumphs. Mrs. Copperfield and Mr. Murdstones marriage arose out of the domineering male attitude of the time, or possibly any time for that matter, of the man controlling the pretty, desirable wife. Peggotty and Barkis� wedding was more out of a search for mutual companionship; Peggotty felt it was her best option and granted her a home of her own and Barkis, as we all know, �was willing.� The relationship between Aunt Betsey and Mr. Dick was a shared balance of equitable admiration. Aunt Betsey admires and respects Mr. Dick�s level-headedness, while Mr. Dick enjoyes her independence and believes her to be the greatest woman alive. David�s first marriage is Dickens� example of the faults of young love; the impetuous natures of young lovers leading to a clouding of their collective realisms. This culminates with the success of David�s marriage to Agnes. This conclusion to the story is really the explanation of the life�s journey to find balance. Agnes completes David�s life; he has a career, he has family, and in the end he finds happiness as she continues to �point him upward.�