The Female Characters in David Copperfield

【Abstract】Charles Dickens is the greatest representative of English critical realism in the nineteenth century.In his book David Copperfield，Dickens created dozens of female characters whose characteristics are all vivid and unique.This paper mainly analyzes some of the women characters in this novel compared with the ideal woman- the angel in the house- in Victorian period，and discuss Dickens’ attitudes towards women.

【Keyword】female characters； angel in the house； Victorian age

1.Introduction

Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic.He created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period.During his life，his works enjoyed unprecedented popularity，and by the twentieth century he was widely seen as a literary genius by critics and scholars.His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.

In the Victorian period in which Dickens lived in，the ideal wife/woman was called “the angel in the house”.The phrase “Angel in the House”comes from the title of an immensely popular poem by Coventry Patmore，in which he holds his angel-wife up as a model for all women.As Virginia Woolf put it in her essay “Professions for Women”，“angel in the house” should be “intensely sympathetic，immensely charming，utterly unselfish and pure”.As a matter of fact，“angel in the house” is the product of traditional European culture and the Industrial Revolution.In 1800s，with the advance in industrialization，the view of men outside and women inside has reached its peak.As a result，the women were requested to be beautiful，elegant，chaste，obedient and good at housework.Beauty and elegance enabled women to satisfy men’s sensation，chastity could make sure the purity of bloodlines，obedience was necessary for women in that they were supposed to reflect men’s powerfulness，mightiness and authority while being good at housework was the responsibility of every woman at that time.

Literature is the mirror of real life.Obviously，Dickens also viewed “the angel in the house” as the ideal woman.Judging from his novel，women shared the same virtue with “angel in the house” all had a happy ending，even though the course of their life may not be so smooth.This can also be proved by the destiny of the main female characters in David Copperfield.

2.The female characters in the book

First，let’s take a look at David’s mother-Clara.She is young，beautiful and innocently childish.The heritage her husband left to her was supposed to be enough to make both ends meet for her.However，the poor woman who was unable to bear lonely and finally fall for Murdstone，who was only interested in Clara’s beauty and wealth，and was tortured to death by Murdstone and his sister.The destiny of remarried widows are always miserable in English literature at that time，the most representative one is no doubt the queen Gertrude in Shakespeare’s distinguished tragedy-Hamlet.Even though in Victorian period the society is relatively more open and tolerant，but there still existed strong prejudice against remarried women.Queen Victorian was also a firm supporter to those “angels in the house” and she detested extremely the remarried widows.She herself didn’t remarry after her husband’s death，neither.This is another important reason why the English required women sacrifice everything for the family and view the sex purity as a morality.

Other female characters in the novel，namely Miss.Betsey，Mrs.Micawber，even though they may also suffer a lot in their marriage or in their life，but they all tried to keep their purity and guard against vulgarity，they all received a happy ending.

Dora is the adorable but foolish daughter of Mr.Spenlow，who became David's first wife.She is described as being completely impractical and has many similarities to David’s mother.David’s first year of marriage to her is unhappy due to her ineptitude in managing their household，but after he learns to accept this failing，they grow to be quite happy.Dora is simple，easily provoked to tears and laughter，and childishly fond of her annoying lapdog，Jip.She is not unaware of her failings，and asks David，whom she calls “Doady”，to think of her as a “child wife.”In addition to her beauty，she had nothing the same as “the angel in the house”，that’s why she can’t be David’s lifelong wife-the writer gave her a peaceful death and remove her from David’s life.

Finally，David found Agnes.She is Mr.Wickfield’s mature and lovely daughter and close friend of David since childhood.Agnes nurtures an unrequited love for David for many years but never tells him，helping and advising him through his infatuation with，and marriage to，Dora.After David returns to England，he realizes his feelings for her，and she becomes David’s second wife and mother of their children.She has often been blasted by critics for her seeming lack of characterization （David often refers to her as an“Angel”and rarely moves beyond that description except to associate her with a“stained-glass window”） but more recent research has been more favorable to her.She does in fact show the effects of being a parentified child，which helps explain her selflessness and seeming“perfection.”We can obviously see that Agnes is a perfect model for “the angel in the house”- she is “intensely sympathetic，immensely charming，utterly unselfish and pure”.She met all the criteria the society set for ideal wife.So it is not surprising that she became David’s soulmate in the end.

3.Conclusion

Dickens created his own standard for“the angel in the house”by creating Agnes.From different destinies of different female characters in David Copperfield，we can see clearly and vividly the standards people set for women at that time.Although women in his novel were still live in the shadow of men，the merits they bear set a good example for all the readers today at the same time.

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