In Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, the title protagonist narrates and recollects events right from birth, through to his coming of age as an adult. What is interesting about his novel is that Dickens included similar events from his own life into the story told by David, such as his painful experience of working in the Blacking Factory as a child (“Charles Dickens”), which was mirrored by Copperfield’s time at the wine factory. Dickens also had a history in helping with the “fallen women” in the 19th century. A friend of his, Angela Burdett Coutts, convinced him to help her with a venture: the “Urania Cottage” (“The Biography Of Charles Dickens”). This showed his sympathy in trying to help these women, which even went so far as the portrayal of some characters in his novels as well. Consequently, within the novel, David Copperfield describes them as sympathetic victims who have been deemed outcasts. Nevertheless, he enlists a rich variety of characters; among them are two female characters that are especially relevant to this discussion, Little Emily and Martha Endell.
Little Emily appears early in the novel and quickly becomes one of David’s strongest childhood crushes. As time goes on, David, begins to feel infatuated with her, and starts to wish that time would be able to stand still so that they would be able to stay in this fantasy forever; “[…] as if Time had not grown up himself yet, but were a child too, and always at play” (Dickens, 36). This quote shows the innocence of childhood and the perception of Emily still in her purity and untainted. Dickens does well in foreshadowing, then, Emily’s misfortunes early in the story, during one of their games by the sea. Emily endangers herself, which David can only comment in one way, since this imprinted itself on him so strongly: “The incident is so impressed on my remembrance, that if I were a draughtsman I could draw its form here […] and little Em’ly springing forward to her destruction […] with a look that I have never forgotten, directed far out to sea.” (36). When Emily jumps we can interpret it as Emily’s step motion towards falleness, David being helpless except to look on, not being able to do much about it once that first action had been taken as she descends upon the outskirts of society, just as her position on the log she folloed. When Copperfield recollects the memories from that day, in comparison to her actual fall later in life, David wonders if it might have been better for her sake, if she had drowned that day (36).
Furthermore, Little Emily’s decent is all her own doing because of her own strong ambitions of no longer wanting to be just a fisherman’s daughter: “‘I’m not afraid in this way,’ said little Em’ly. ‘But I wake when it blows, and tremble to think of Uncle Dan and Ham, and believe I hear ‘em crying out for help. That’s why I should like so much to be a lady’” (36). Her fear of losing those who care for her in the same way she lost her father, is one of her strongest driving forces in life. Therefore, it was not Steerforth’s charms and good looks or any form of manipulation that caused Emily to fall, but rather the possibility of him being a means of her achieving her goals, as she says about him about not returning from their elopement “unless he brings me back a lady” (387). However, this scenario fits perfectly into the popular cliché: a working-class girl caught up with an upper-class man who views her as a distraction for a short period of time. Emily falls into this category since from the beginning Steerforth is an impulsive man who puts no consequence on his actions. Furthermore, the possibility of Steerforth marrying Emily was unlikely, since that would have meant a step down the social ladder, something Mrs. Steerforth explains to Mr. Pegotty: “He would disgrace himself. You cannot fail to know that she is far below him” (402). This causes Emily the main blunt force of social ridicule following the relations between the two.
Next, Martha’s fall is also foreshadowed as she is described by Dickens to be closely woven with Emily’s character, when Martha is described as a shadow that follows Emily; “‘That is a black shadow to be following the girl” (208). Although how she became a fallen woman is not explicitly stated, there is a very similar scenario that we find: she became an orphan at an early age, and the lack of a family was often believed to contribute to moral ruin (585). Still, Martha has had to put up with social ridicule from everyone in town, as Ham points out, “‘It’s a poor wurem, Mas’r Davy, […] as is trod under foot by all the town’” (288). This social neglect has proved to make it difficult for her to find work, so the only alternative was to seek the help of Emily and escape to London and be able to start fresh: “No one knows me Works Cited
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Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. New York: Knopf Group, 2008. Print.
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