Christian Lehmann
David Copperfield, Nos. I-II, Chs. 1-6
Christian got his PhD in Classics from USC. He currently teaches at Bard High School Early College in Cleveland and is a member of the teaching faculty at the Dickens Universe. Feel free to get in touch with Christian on twitter @BuffyAntiqua
Hello, Mr. Lehmann I really enjoyed your thoughts and value your connection to the book David Copperfield. To start my observations I really enjoyed how you give a history on how Dickens’s book was published back before it was made into the gigantic book we have now. Anyways I also liked your connection between Oliver Twist and David Copperfield where you said both contain the words streaky bacon that was actually very interesting and I never knew as I have not read Oliver Twist though this intrigues me to want to read it. Also where you talked about how this book based on the verbs indicates that there’s a present and past David speaking which I remember talking about in my AP Literature class and how it’s so very true you just have to pay close attention to Dickens words. Lastly, when you talked about how Mr. Murdstone beat Davids mom and called it subliminal i felt you were completely right as I myself didn’t really catch that because of the word choice and how it’s barely described and how Dickens hints at the bite. Overall I feel this video really helped me understand how I am supposed to view this book with a more analytical and engage in its context and diction a lot more to catch every single detail that Dickens is trying to portray.
Thanks for this great response, Martin. I hope you continue to enjoy reading Dickens’ glorious novel and pick up on the different registers of language.
Hello, your form of elaborating on the way elder Copperfield goes back to the past in the form of a child’s perspective is illuminating more to the fact that helps me understand the way Copperfield’s takes in his writing and makes it from a real life story using his past young self to not only choose whether he is speaking from his present self or younger self which makes me have to figure out which one is speaking. Another form of insight that engaged me with your form of understanding was when you spoke about young Copperfield’s revenge on Mr. Murdstone for putting hands on his mother which really came to embark me because of the way elder Copperfield comes to be so brief about the incident and doesn’t want to give up the innocence that he has come to show throughout the book as a young Copperfield.
Question: How do you feel the older Copperfield takes in his past and not regret his actions and the journey that he went through?
That is a great question, Marvin, but one I don’t want to answer quite yet. I encourage you to try to identify any instances when you think the older narrative Copperfield might be trying to gloss over how he feels about something. Humor is one such tool. Keep the idea of regret with you as you keep reading. It will bring you to some interesting places.
I now find it fascinating that it was actually a conscience decision to make the tenses of certain parts of the book past and present. I initially thought that it didn’t mean much and Dickens chose whether to use either tenses for whatever fitted best for the situation. The use of past and present tenses makes the story much more complex. Another aspect I found interesting is how people had to wait monthly for access to read David Copperfield. I see parallels from that with comic books on how people had access to comic book issues monthly and I wonder if that was inspired by the way books were accessible in the past. I would like to ask when the book pages were sent monthly in the past, how many pages were sent monthly because I wonder how long it took for people to finish the entire book.
Hey Alonza,
Thanks for the question and for taking a new interest in the tenses. Originally people would receive 20 installments of a novel when it was published monthly for 19 months (the last month had two installments). Each one was 32 pages long with two illustrations plus several pages of ads. The reason there were So you are absolutely right to think about it like a comic book! Or like a TV show before our current binge-era.
The DickensProject has a really nice website with more information: https://dickens.ucsc.edu/resources/faq/by-the-word.html
Enjoy your reading!
Hello, Mr. Lehmann I really enjoyed your video on the many aspects you gave from the first two numbers some that i never caught. First off i really liked how you started your video by introducing a bit of history on the book and how it was published during Dickens’s time which was basically month by month. Next, the connection that you made between Oliver Twist and David Copperfield really caught my attention as I have never read Oliver Twist but to see that both have the same words” Streaky bacon” within their context is nothing but amazing. Another thing that I enjoyed was when you talked about there being a big David and a small David but its a bit hard to catch but if you look closely at the verbs you can clearly see whos talking which is ainly when its in present tense its little David and when its in past tense its older wiser David which actually something we were discussing in my AP Literature class. Finally, the last thing you mentioned about Mr. Murdstone and Davids’s mom where i believe you said it was subliminally introduced that she had been beaten was a very fantastic find because i did not see that. This video really helped reflect on my reading and that I should be reading and keep certain events in mind as well as analyze everything Dickens puts into context. My question is Why is it that this book wasn’t published all together like it is today? Was it because the writer made more money or was it physically producing the entire book much harder?
Hi Martin,
Thanks for these added questions. The easy answer is that it was the convention to publish this way and Dickens had been doing it his whole career. Money is certainly an issue as well because after all the parts have been published, he (and his publishers) could put out fancy editions of the complete work for lots of money or cheap editions for less. Another result of monthly publication is that he can gain readers as time goes on…if people like what they are reading! The opposite can also happen and did a few times. The idea of difficulty and Victorian book publishing is interesting and I don’t want to give too much away, this would be something fun for you to look into on your own!
One thing that I found very interesting about your video is that you explained the naïveté of young David Copperfield. When I read that part, I never interpreted it as David Copperfield trying to protect us and keep the innocence he once has. My question to you would be why did David Copperfield not explain when Copperfield’s mother was beaten and only touched on it briefly? I feel like it was hard for David Copperfield to reminisce this experience which is why he kept it short and right to the point, Another aspect I found interesting from the video is the fact that we’re constantly having to shift our minds from reading young Copperfield and elder Copperfield. It’s fun reading and now noticing the tense shifts through the chapters of both young and elder Copperfield. Now I try to actually decipher when whichever Copperfield is speaking. I hope to learn how to know who is speaking at what time, and how to detect the humor aspect of the book.
Crystal, I am so pleased that you are having this reading experience and I was able to help you find another way to enjoy this most wonderful novel!
Your idea that it is hard for DC to reminisce about the memory is really profound and helps characterize the older figure as sympathetic. I hope you are marking up your text with all sorts of marginalia about the tense shifts!
I too, noticed how Dickens wrote the book to make David Copperfield to be integrated into his own life. By this, I mean Copperfield is not only remembering back to the times when he was young, it is as if he went and stepped in the past himself and is pointing out every little detail that he encountered as a young person. I also agreed with you on the chance that Mr. Murdstone beat Clara Copperfield. Based on the text, whenever she trie to show affection to her son, she is stopped by both Murdstones and is told to “control herself”. She instantly listens, as if she had been ‘trained’ to do that. Her fear of being hurt made her complacent to the Murdstones. As you said, there are subliminal messages in this book, and this is just one of them. My question about this book, is do you think that the message of the book travelled more effectively to readers when it was serialized in the newspaper, or having all the chapters compiled together?
Those are great observations, Emmanuel. I am glad you are paying such close attention. That level of detailed reading will really pay off in pleasurable intellectual ways. I like your image of DC as some sort of time traveler pointing things out to us in the “present” of the reading experience.
I don’t have a specific answer to your question as I think it depends. One advantage to the serial publication is that people would read it several times over the course of the month and talk to others about it. The newspapers even ran reviews! Basically if you were in London and a new Dickens came out, you could talk to anyone about it. This would include sharing observations. One advantage of reading the complete novel, of course, only really appears upon rereading when you might be looking out for things.
Christian Lehmann brings up a great point that I had not yet noticed myself. Mr Lehmann mentions how comedy and tragedy both are used as a combination throughout the novel. As David Copperfield narrates his tragic past life events, he also uses humor to demonstrate that he was naive and didn’t know any better as a child. Another important aspect that stood out to me from the video was the alternating of the past and present narrations. As the reader we have to be able to distinct the moments from when he’s done speaking about his past to when he throws in a line of commentary, as the present David, about an event that happened in the past.
I’m glad I expressed myself clearly, Emily, and that you now have this new approach to thinking about the novel. I hope you have found continued to find other moments of these alternating forces!
Hello, I want to I appreciate the introduction of history involved with the novel you have presented. The description of little David and older David in the novel is seen as a shift of character and narrator throughout the memories that David holds. The significance of his life is told by David as more of his experience but not of asking for pity. I feel that looking closely to the context of how Charles Dickens is writing the book to shift between the character and narrator is important to understand as you explain how David reflects on his past. The minimal mentions of actions in this part of the novel with Murdstone and Clara kind of go into play with David not wanting to mention the fear he had when his mother was beat in my opinion. David holds true to finding his mother a beautiful angel and protected her costing his relationship with the Murdstones. My question would be if you think David is in the right and if Clara should be subjected the world of hatred by Mr. Murdstone?
HI Heidi,
What an important question. I want to say first that I appreciate your idea that DC is not asking for pity. We could easily imagine another version of this book where he would seem to be saying to the reader “pity me, I was mistreated.” Your question really gets into the idea of ethics and the novel and of empathy. I absolutely *do not think* that Clara should be subjected to the world of hatred, yet because of the tactic DC is taking in writing the story of his life, she must be. It is a fascinating area of ambiguity and I hope you are having the conversation with others.
Hello, I just want to thank you for taking the time to explain to us. One of the things that helped me was when you explained the different aspects in the novel being past and present and tragedy and comedy. The reason why this is important to me because I can see and understand the novel in two different aspects. Another thing i really enjoyed you doing was how you explained how in the beginning of the novel we notice David Copperfield talks about his past self and towards more forward of the novel David Copperfield talks more about his present self.
Hi Diana,
Thanks for taking the time to watch my video and for appreciating what I was trying to say. I hope you find other moments of the comedy and tragedy shift as well as that of past and present. Enjoy your reading experience!
Dr. Lehman, I would like to thank you for your support in reading David Copperfield and for the insight you offered. I was fascinated by the way in which the novel was published, in monthly numbers rather than the complete book at once. I also found it helpful to know that when reading, it is important to remember that there are two speakers in the book: younger David and older David. Also, the parts of the story told by younger David will be limited to the knowledge of a child. In addition, the comparison you made between Oliver Twist and David Copperfield about both mentioning “streaky bacon” is very interesting especially since both novels follow the lives of orphan children. Lastly, do you think that by subtly mentioning the violence as seen by a child, Dickens ironically emphasizes the gender roles at the time?
Ernesto,
What a thoughtful response you have written. I think it is completely the case that by choosing to show the violence through a child’s eyes Dickens might be thinking about gender roles. You are right to suggest that not only is it a child’s eyes, it is a *male* child’s eyes. A girl likely would have been subjected to different types of abuse and would make different observations. (PS, if you want to think about the Victorian novel and the issue of the young girl, I recommend “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte and the early chapters of “Bleak House” by Dickens).
*PS I love that you already know part of the story of Oliver Twist!
Hello Mr.Lehmann,I found it interesting and useful on how you gave us background information,I did not know that Dickens wrote two letters stating that he is in the midst of writing his newest work.Also really liked how you gave us more knowledge of the time period by explaining how people had to wait for every monthly just to read the novel and how similarly it looks to todays modern novel. In the novel we are presented to a line that really can identify what the novel is about and how the narrator and character go back to back, “whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show”.Dickens uses tone and changes up the tense’s to bring about this phrase, he uses a firm and assuring voice to state that somehow someway we are going to know about his story and also he plays on both the view of the narrator and the charactor.Within this he plays on the ideas and concepts of heroism and states as a hero.My question to you is how do you view David Copperfield as a hero, and what are some aspects of heroism both in the novel and the time period ?
Thanks for your comments, Sophia, I really appreciate how much you got from my video. Dickens actually wrote more than those two letters about how excited he was to get started on the book! It is like anyone who is in the early days of something that fascinates them.
Something else to think about with that first line is the various meanings of the word “station.” He could have picked something like “role,” but did not. I think that is because different periods will have different definitions of hero. For some, it might just mean a protagonist, or even main character of the novel. But others, like you, are more sophisticated in their analysis. One thing to look out for is who DC seems to find heroic. The early stages at school are a good example of this.
Personally, I find DC heroic in the way that I find any writer heroic: brave enough to put their words out for other people to engage with.
Your question about Victorian heroism is really compelling. I would encourage you to ask Prof. Griffin about it next time he comes to the class. Like most situations, there are different levels of heroism based on class and behavior and gender and…and…and.”
Note as well the small humility of “hero of *my own* life.” This is not a narrator wondering if he will be heroic in other people’s lives.
Sorry to not give a direct answer, but those are no fun!
Keep thinking and observing and finding passages that you can work with around your idea.
Hello Mr. Lehmann! I want to thank you for contributing to the big picture of the David Copperfield novel. I appreciated the historical background of the classic book as to how Dickens’s story distributed to the world. Moreover, I fancied the idea of the innocence element used throughout the story and how Dickens provides a perspective of a child, which tends to be quite subtle than being profoundly detailed. For instance, the beating of his mother by Mr. Murdstone.
Furthermore, I enjoyed how you acknowledge the transition in verbs, which is now helpful for me to identify which position David Copperfield places. Dickens tends to mix the various points of view in one voice so, identifying the tense of the verbs can now guide me to locate his perspective. Question: Do you any strategies to define humor or comedic points in the novel?
Hi Kizzyah.
I am glad my comments were helpful to you! Reading for comedy always seems so subjective, but I have three strategies. The first is to look at the illustrations by Phiz. Do they seem exaggerated at all in certain places? The idea of exaggeration (both in illustration and in prose) is usually a good sign of comedy. Second, pay attention to punctuation. Are there exclamation marks or shouts? These might also help you. Finally, pay attention to the way the scene is set up. Does it seem like there is a lot of dialogue and it could be some kind of play or farce?
Another thing to keep in mind is “dark” humor and “cruel” humor. The former is when there may be some kind of bitter recognition of the darkness of a situation and that laughter is the only way to engage with it. Cruel, is when a “bad” character thinks they are being funny.
Keep marking passages that you find worth discussing around these questions!
The connection between the past David and the present David was intriguing. I never noticed the importance of the tenses of the verbs. Similarly, I found the connection between their points of view and how the older David gives us the perspective of the younger David (such as in the Murdstone scene you mentioned) to be interesting since, as you mentioned, the details must be inferred.
Thanks for your kind comments, Luis. I hope that you continue to pay attention to verbs. They are, after all, where the action happens!
I really enjoyed how Mr. Lehmann first started off his video with the two different editions on David Copperfield. The interesting thing from the original version was that the two illustrations from each monthly number was given right away and that way it would be easier for the reader to understand as Mr. Lehmann stated. It was interesting because that makes sense for the readers as it gave them an idea of what would come to them and it made them ponder perhaps on what would actually come as they read. And then Mr. Lehmann goes into the past and present David which makes sense as well because the older David is reflecting back on the younger David and that can be seen in the text such as “streaky bacon.” These two distinct details that Mr. Lehmann spoke about were intriguing.
Hi Arlene,
Thanks for taking time to watch my video. I’m glad you are thinking about ways that people engage with the illustrations and the text. I hope you take some time with some of your favorite illustrations to see what “maps” onto the text and how certain things are emphasized or even overlooked!
Hello Mr. Lehman, I now have a better understanding and now have a greater appreciation for the differences in the tenses that Dickens uses throughout the book. When first reading this book, it took me a great deal to understand why it keeps changing tenses, but now I understand the importance of it in this book, Another thing that I found interesting is how you gave us a historical background for the book, it really made me understand the context of the author when he was writing.
Hi Matthew,
I’m glad I was able to provide some clarity about these things. I hope you continue to think about verb tenses and even find some of your own favorite shifts.
Hello, Mr. Lehman! I would like to, first and foremost, thank you for your time.
Regarding your brief analysis on the verb tenses Dickens uses, I found that extremely helpful. Knowing that “younger David”‘s POV uses past tense as opposed to “older David”‘s POV, which is written in present tense. I like the scenario you exemplified where David was at his desk, writing al his stories and reminiscing on his past times, it really helped paint a picture.
I also found it interesting how you grouped the abuse scene with Mr. Murdstone and the waiter’s scene together. How I interpreted that, is that David will enter this cycle of abuses, some comical and some traumatic (or as they seem in the eyes of the reader).
My question to you is, regarding the cycle of abuses David encounters (or may encounter), what role does women play in it? And how do they worsen, or ease the pain of David?
Wow, Lindsay, these are great questions. I am glad you identified the phrase “cycle of abuses.” This also helps me clarify my thoughts to Sophia about heroism. Perhaps it has something to do with endurance?
I don’t want to give too much away with any thoughts about the female characters in DC, but keep your eyes out for them…especially one Miss Mowcher and, of course, aunt Betsey. You are already thinking about the gender dynamics in a really sophisticated way by thinking about how they have a role in David’s pain. David will also look at how they help or worsen his life. I want to turn the question a bit on you and ask what happens when you think of David’s expectations that women should have some role to play in his pain. Is it their responsibility to be involved with it?
That might not be clear, but I will keep thinking about your question and hope you keep thinking about it as well!
I appreciated how Mr. Lehmann described historical context regarding how Dickens releases sections of his book. I also enjoyed how Mr. Lehmann touched upon Present David vs. Younger David. The method in which David narrates his story with maintaining naivety and without intervening so much (his adult’s perspective), is very interesting I have to agree. I liked how Mr. Lehmann provides a short close reading, I didn’t realize how much detail Dickens included in this novel and how these small details can signify a broader idea.
Mr. Lehmann, thank you for taking the time to close read this novel. You touched upon several different aspects of the book that caught my attention and piqued my interest even more. I appreciated how you began with explaining the cover of the novel, and the first few pages. I never paid attention to small details such as the color of the book, but now I can see why a detail like that could be important. You also explained the pictures in the book, which are my favorite things to observe. Dickens seems to be a really good artist, and it’s essential to unpack each drawing and explore clues/hints.
I really liked how you gave us more knowledge of the time period by explaining how people had to wait for every monthly just to read the novel. In the novel we are presented to a line that really can identify what the novel is about and how the narrator and character go back to back. Lastly, as the reader we have to be able to notice these moments from when he’s done speaking about his past to when he shows us about about his present through commentary.
Hello, Mr. Lehmann. I enjoyed watching your video and I just wanted to say that I disagree with you when you say that i’m the novel, comedy and tragedy are divided. Yes they’re two separate concepts and ideas but I see that through the novel, Dickens uses comedy and tragedy together. He will bring up something tragic but within the tragedy, there will be something comedic for the audience to enjoy and keep the mood light. Personally I think his mix of comedy and tragedy is to remind the readers that whys happening is through the eyes of young David. Sometimes kids are so innocent it’s amusing and i think that’s why Dickens is trying to show.