David Copperfield
The narrator and protagonist. David is sympathetic but not always perceptive. His main flaw is trusting charm over character, and the novel is essentially the story of him learning to stop doing that.
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Characters
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Contents
Characters
Who matters and what they help you prove.
Agnes Wickfield
David's eventual wife and his most reliable friend. Agnes sees people clearly, including David, and she waits for him to see her clearly in return. She is the novel's moral center, which can make her feel passive, but her steadiness is the point.
Uriah Heep
The novel's primary villain. Heep uses performed humility as a weapon, constantly calling himself 'umble while scheming to take control of Wickfield's firm and Agnes herself. He is exposed by Micawber.
James Steerforth
David's school idol. Steerforth is charming, privileged, and genuinely fond of David in his way, but he treats people beneath his class as objects. He ruins Em'ly and dies in a storm off Yarmouth.
Dora Spenlow
David's first wife. Dora is sweet and genuinely lovable, but she is not capable of being a real partner. She knows this about herself, which makes her more sympathetic than she might otherwise be. She dies young.
Mr. Micawber
A cheerful, debt-ridden optimist who lodges with David in London. Micawber is comic but not useless. He ends up exposing Heep's fraud, emigrates to Australia, and finally finds the success he always predicted.
Betsey Trotwood
David's great-aunt. Abrasive, eccentric, and fiercely loyal. She rescues David from the warehouse years and funds his education. She is one of the few adults in the novel who acts decisively on David's behalf.
Peggotty
David's childhood nurse and lifelong friend. She represents unconditional loyalty. Her love for David never wavers regardless of his circumstances, and she connects him to his earliest, happiest self.
Mr. Peggotty
Em'ly's uncle, a Yarmouth fisherman. After Steerforth ruins Em'ly, Peggotty spends years searching for her across Europe. He eventually finds her and takes her to Australia. He shows that love can be stubborn and patient without being possessive.
Em'ly
Peggotty's niece, David's childhood friend. Em'ly wants to rise above her class and is seduced by Steerforth's promise of a better life. Her story shows the cost of that ambition when the person offering it has no real regard for her.
Traddles
David's school friend at Salem House. Traddles is unglamorous, steady, and kind. He works hard, marries well, and succeeds quietly. He is everything Steerforth is not, and the novel rewards him for it.
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