《大卫·科波菲尔》读书笔记

《大卫·科波菲尔》读书笔记

David Copperfield

David Copperfield is written by Charles Dickens who is one of the most famous English critical realism fictionist of the Victorian Age. It is considered as an autobiographical novel that uncovered a great account of Dickens' early childhood upbringings.

David Copperfield is a poor boy whose father had been dead six months when his eyes opened on this world. Though he had not a father, he grew up healthily and happily with the company with his young mother and the kind servant Peggotty. But when Mr. Murdstone who became his stepfather later appeared in his life, his happiness was replaced with sadness. He and his mother were totally in Mr. Mudstones’ power. David’s life became very hard. David was sent to live with Peggotty for a time. There, he made good friends with Ham and Emily. At last, he was banished to boarding school. To his surprise and happiness, he made a lot of friends there and they helped him a lot. Unluckily, during his school times, his mother died. Then David was forced to work as a child labourer in a factory. Later, the poor David managed to escape to find his aunt, Betsy Trotwood. On his way to Aunt Betsey’s home, his money was robbed by a bad man. It was a struggle for him to find Aunt Betsey. Luckily, Aunt Betsey adopted him and then sent him to study in a school where he led a good life. At that time, he lived with a lawyer Wickfield and had a good relationship with his daughter, named Agnes. But Mr. Heep’s cold and hypocrisy left a deep impression on him.

When David returned from his graduation visit, he visited Peggotty’s family. He learnt that Emily who had been engaged to Ham ran away with Steerforth. The sad Peggotty swore to find her out. Soon, he began as an assistant in a law agency. One day, he happened to know that Heep tricked Mr. Wickfield’s possessions, which depressed him a lot. Besides, David married Dora, the daughter of his boss. Unfortunately, she was a beautiful girl but lacked maturity and their life after marriage was not very happy. When David met his friend Micawber again, who was Heep’s secretary at that time. David persuaded him to report Heep’s crimes and finally Heep was put into prison. Peggotty finally found Emily who had been dropped by Steerforth. On the way to Australia, Ham died to save a drowning man who happened to be Steerforth. With grief, Emily led a lonely life in Australia. Years later, David became a writer. But Dora’s death made him sad and he went aboard to free himself. When he came back, he realized that it was Agnes who loved him all the time and married her. In the end, they lived a happy life with Betsy and Peggotty.

Honestly speaking, I consider that David Copperfield is a bit dry in terms of plot development and dramatic climax. Of course, it is understandable that climax is hard to be defined when writing a story defined by time progress rather than events. From the story, we can easily learn that David is an unfortunate person, but he is so brave to overcome the difficulties. He challenges his bad life and stays optimistic. I admire him and cheer for him. Our life is full of difficulties, too. What we should do is not to complain our lives but deal with trouble with our true heart and face difficulties bravely.

《大卫·科波菲尔》读书笔记