Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of English
and American Studies



English Language and Literature



Daniela Nmcov


Approaches to Childhood in Novels
by Charles Dickens
Bachelors Diploma Thesis




Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph. D.
2011























I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently,
using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.


.
Daniela Nmcov
























I would like to thank Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph. D. for his helpful advice.
Table of contents
Introduction ........................................................................................ 5
1 The Concept of Childhood and Historical Background ...................... 9
1.1 The concept of childhood and its changes .............................. 10
1.2 Children in Victorian England ................................................. 16
2 Oliver Twist ............................................................................... 19
2.1 The main protagonist and other child characters ..................... 21
2.2 The childs perspective......................................................... 24
2.3 The portrayal of the family in relation to childhood .................. 25
3 David Copperfield ....................................................................... 29
3.1 Davids childhood and his development ................................. 31
3.2 The childs perspective......................................................... 35
3.3 The portrayal of the family and its function ............................ 37
4 Great Expectations ..................................................................... 41
4.1 Pips development ............................................................... 42
4.2 The relationships between Pip and other characters ................ 45
4.3 The portrayal of the family in Great Expectations .................... 47
4.4 Approches to childhood......................................................... 49
Conclusion ........................................................................................ 53
Bibliography ...................................................................................... 57
Resume ............................................................................................ 59
Resume in Czech ............................................................................... 60


5

INTRODUCTION
The main topic of my thesis is the theme of childhood in the novels Oliver
Twist, David Copperfield and Great Expectations. Each of the novels has one
main child protagonist and many other child characters which play subordinate
roles in the plot and in the construction of the whole novel. The novels were
selected because of the fact that the theme of childhood is crucial for them.
Let me now briefly introduce and describe the structure of the thesis.
The aim of this thesis is to examine the approaches to childhood in the
novels mentioned. Certainly the reader will be interested in the way in which
Dickens depicts the main heroes of his novels. How he portrays them in their
childhood and at the beginnings of the stories can tell us quite a lot about the
future development of their characters. In the pages that follow it will be shown
that the story of the main protagonist in each novel is formed by his family
situation which is the key factor which determines the approach to the child in
the novel. However, not only the description of the heros family is important in
Dickens. The contrast between families in different social strata may tell us a
lot. Some similarities can be found among all three protagonists Oliver Twist,
David Copperfield and Pip. They are orphans and this fact predestines their
fates. However, the family situation and family background from which these
characters originate differ in the novels. Oliver Twist is an orphan born in the
workhouse and lives without any relatives from the very beginning of the story.
He is portrayed as abandoned orphan without any living siblings or other
relatives. However, David Copperfields family situation at the beginning of his
6

story is different. Although he is born as a child without a father, he spends
part of his early childhood with his own mother and at the very beginning of the
story his aunt is present on the scene. Similarly, Pip has his own family around
him. He lives with his older sister and her husband Joe. We will see that the
family situation and social status have a big influence on the development of
the stories.
It seems clear that we cannot look at the main protagonists separately
and that we must at least briefly point out some other child characters that play
important and relevant roles in the stories. The character of Oliver Twist is
certainly related to other children in the novel. The gang of young thieves and
children in the workhouse in Oliver Twist play as important role as for example
the character of Estella does in Great Expectations. Therefore also these
characters will be briefly mentioned and commented on.
The analysis of the characters in the novels should not be done without
regard to a wider context. All the characters are related to the environment in
which they exist and behave in some ways. The settings of the novels, as well
as the social status of the children, are probably related to the main characters
and therefore some space will be devoted to these aspects of the novels.
When analysing the aspects of childhood in the novels it might be useful
to mention the social situation in the Victorian society and mainly its
consequences for the children. Due to the fact that Dickenss works were
extremely popular and widely read in his time, it might be useful to take into
account the socio-historical context of the period. There might be some
7

connections between the literature and reality and the writer might be
influenced by the reality to some extent. Therefore a chapter dealing with
historical background of Victorian England is included. Moreover, the first
chapter of this thesis examines the concept of childhood because it might be
useful to see how the concept of childhood has been created and how it has
changed.
The whole thesis includes four chapters. These are divided into smaller
parts in accordance to the topics. The following chapters seek to introduce the
historical context of Victorian England and consequently to show that the child
characters are depicted in relation to other characters and that the author
depicts his heroes in relation to their family background and examines their
family situations. The first chapter is called The Concept of Childhood and
Historical Background and deals with the society of Victorian era and especially
with the living conditions of children. My sources dealing with the historical
situation are used for this chapter. I have used Readers Life in Victorian
England
1
and The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800
2
by
Lawrence Stone. This chapter also contains a brief view on concepts of
childhood and family and on the changes which these concepts had to undergo.
The three following chapters deal with the novels in chronological order and are
named after the novels they deal with. At the beginning of each chapter the
novel and plot are mentioned in general to provide a general overview of the
novel and to introduce specific aspects of the childhood in particular novel,

1
Reader, William J. Life in Victorian England. London: B.T. Batsford, 1964. Print.
2
Stone, Lawrence. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800. Abr. ed.
Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1977. Print.
8

which are relevant to the topic. Then the secondary sources related to the
chapter concerned are mentioned and evaluated. Mainly printed books and
electronic sources such as articles are used. The chapter called Oliver Twist
shows how Dickens criticised society in his novel and the main protagonist is
depicted in relation to the description of society in which he exists and with
which he has to struggle. The following chapter deals mainly with the
development of the main protagonist David, because the theme of his maturing
plays an important role in the novel. Similarly, the chapter Great Expectations
deals with the topic of ones maturity and development. In this chapter, the
power of an adult influence on children characters is emphasised. Finally, in the
conclusion the approaches to childhood in the novels selected are compared
and contrasted.


9

1 THE CONCEPT OF CHILDHOOD AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
As already mentioned in the introduction, in this chapter the concept of
childhood and the way of life of children in Victorian England are examined. It is
very difficult to define the concept of childhood, but it might be at least useful
for the reader to mention some ideas concerning childhood. Chris Jenkss book
Childhood
3
is used in this chapter. Jenks is primarily a sociologist and although
we do not attempt to examine childhood from a sociological point of view, it
might be interesting to see how sociology defines it because sociology
examines society, and literature is an inseparable part of society and culture.
Then we focus on how the concept of childhood has changed and these
changes are well described in the work Centuries of Childhood
4
was a medieval historian who focused on childhood and although
his book primarily deals with French culture, his notions are applicable to
western culture in general. Another source used in this chapter is the book The
Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 by Lawrence Stone. This book
is used because it is focused on England and it explains the changes in family
life in the period leading up to the nineteenth century. Despite the fact that the
reader must be aware that this book does not deal with the Victorian era, it is
useful for us. If we want to examine life in Victorian England, we should know
what changes preceded the situation of the Victorian era. A lot of useful
information about the social situation can be found also in Life in Victorian
England by W. Reader.

3
Jenks, Chris. Childhood. London: Routledge, 1996. Print.
4
, Phillipe. Centuries of childhood: a social history of family life. Trans. Robert
Baldick. New York: Vintage Books, 1962. Print.
10

1.1 The concept of childhood and its changes
The image of childhood has changed over time as well as the modes of
the recognition and reception of childhood. The recent approaches to the study
of childhood suggest that childhood should be understood as a social
phenomenon (or cultural product) not as a natural (or biological) one. And
Jenks in his study proposes that: The social transformation from child to adult
does not follow directly from physical growth and the recognition of children by
adults, and vice versa, is not singularly contingent upon physical difference
(Jenks 7).
When we examine childhood and its changes we should always bear in
mind the relation between child and adult because the attitude towards children
has changed in accordance to the way in which the adults have recognized
children. As Stone points out there were several different attitudes towards
new-born children in the seventeenth century. The traditional Christian view
saw children as sinful creatures. Stone explains how these children were
treated according to this view:
The first, and the most common, was the traditional Christian view,
strongly reinforced by Calvinist theology, that the child is born with
Original Sin, and that the only hope of holding it in check is by the most
ruthless repression of his will and his total subordination to his parents,
schoolmasters and others in authority over him. (Stone 255)
The environmentalist view considered children not to be bad and not to be
good. The child was viewed as tabula rasa which is formed by future
11

experience. In the eighteenth-century England the environmental theory
tended to supersede the Calvinist in middle- and upper-class circles, before it
was overwhelmed again in the nineteenth century. (Stone 256). Others
claimed that character qualities and abilities are genetically determined and that
education can only strengthen the good ones and restrain the bad ones. And
finally utopians suggested that the child is born good and is corrupted by its
experience in the society.
The sources used for this chapter suggest that the manner of childrens
recognition by adults and patterns of child care changed through the passage of
time. Accordingly we might have the impression that in the Middle Ages until
the twelfth century there was no place for childhood in art and in society in
general. It seems that society was not aware of the existence of the concept of
childhood. When it is suggested that the concept of childhood did not exist in
early medieval society, the adults were not fully aware of the difference
between them and children. The first evidence that the society became aware
of the childrens difference is the fact that children came to be portrayed and
depicted in paintings and literature. With the only exception of Jesus children
were scarcely portrayed in medieval paintings. And they were not portrayed as
children in modern times, but they looked like adults.
They were apparently considered of such little importance that they did
not warrant representation in a unique and particular form. Where such
images do occur, as by necessity in the motif of the Madonna and child,
the baby Jesus appears uniformly, from example to example, as a small
12

shrunken man, a wizened homunculus without the rounded appeal and
vulnerability of the latter-day infant. (Jenks 64)
he situation changed in the seventeenth century when
children became central themes of family portraits:
No doubt that the discovery of childhood began in the thirteenth century,
and its progress can be traced in the history of art in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. But the evidence of its development became more
plentiful and significant from the end of the sixteenth century and
throughout the seventeenth 47)
Another important change concerning childhood took place in the
seventeenth century. Until the seventeenth century children had been dressed
as adults. However, from the seventeenth century onwards we can see portraits
of children dressed in childrens clothing. In this we can see another aspect in
which the children were distinguished from adults. This change was more
observable in boys clothing because girls were dressed from childhood as little
women. Clothes worn by adults looked very similar to children clothes. Children
wore on their clothes special ornament which distinguished their clothes from
the clothes of their parents. In case of little babies it was hard to distinguish
between boys and girls with reference to their clothes. It should be mentioned
that all these differences in clothing were related only to middle and upper
classes of the society. Children in the lower classes were dressed in the same
way as adults.
13

We can see that the seventeenth century played a crucial role in the
changes of attitudes towards children in some ways. The eighteenth century
was even more important in some aspects. The development of the notion of
childhood is manifested by the fact that in the second half of the eighteenth
century and in the early nineteenth century we can already find writers who
produced books for children. Jigsaws, games and various toys became available
for children. In the eighteenth century we can also notice that a great change
in parent-child relations took place in the upper classes of the society. More and
more children in the upper classes started to call their parents mother and
father instead of Sir or Madam. Until the eighteenth century parents had
not spent much time with their children and these were often left to their
governesses and wet-nurses. As Stone claims, in the eighteenth century
relations between parents and children in higher classes became more
affectionate, more permissive and families became more child-oriented. Mainly
mothers changed their priorities and became strongly attached to children:
Many wives and mothers, when faced with the choice of personally
supervising their children, or leaving them to servants, nurses and
governesses and accompanying their husbands on pleasure or business,
unhesitatingly chose the former, despite the recognized probability that
the decision would drive their husbands into the arms of a prostitute or
mistress. (Stone 288)
We should bear in mind that this was the case of upper classes. In lower-
middle class families strict discipline was demanded and we might gain the
14

impression that the children were not treated so affectionately in lower class
families throughout the whole eighteenth and early nineteenth century. It might
seem reasonable to presume that in families of the poor the situation was even
worse. The poor were much more affected by their living conditions and
consequently their attitudes towards children were different. As Stone suggests,
cruel behaviour towards children was not exceptional. They were in the habit
of treating their children occasionally with rough, even extravagant affection in
good times, and with casual indifference, and not infrequently with great
brutality, when in drink or in bad times. (Stone 295). In these families
contraception was not widely used. Women who had to look after the children
were unable to work and earn money. Consequently the poverty of these
families increased and children were often exposed to malnutrition. It might be
like that the children were often needed to increase the income of the family
and therefore they were forced to work from their early age. Many illegitimate
and also legitimate children were left abandoned in the streets. Therefore
foundling hospitals and workhouses were established to look after them. Stone
proposes that despite the fact that these institutions saved the children from
the death in the streets, their life in these institutions was miserable:
During the eighteenth century rapidly increasing numbers of infants were
simply abandoned in the streets, and left to become a charge on the
parish. Most of them were sent off to the parish workhouses, which were
built after 1722, and where the death rate was almost as high as if they
had been in the streets. (Stone 297)
15

The prospects of these children were miserable. Girls were sometimes
used for prostitution and boys could be enslaved by various criminals. The
atmosphere of these miserable conditions is depicted in Dickenss novels, as
will be shown.
Another contribution of the eighteenth century was that it also brought
change to teaching methods. These were less brutal and less violent. Flogging
and other brutal practices were not recommended any more.
From what we have known about the situation of children in the
eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth century, we can probably
understand why Stone claims that the eighteenth century is recognized as
Golden Age of Childhood. All these changes that took place in the eighteenth
century pre-empted the development in the nineteenth century.
Theme of childhood also appeared in English literature. The first poets
who brought it into literature were William Wordsworth and William Blake.
The theme of child care and education was also subject of philosophical
writings of the whole seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. One of the
philosophers who were interested in this topic was John Locke. He published his
Some Thoughts Upon Education in 1693. Stone points out that beyond other
issues he expressed his opinions on physical punishment:
He approved of physical punishment, in moderation, at an early age
before a child had developed powers of reasoning. After that, however,
he insisted on the almost exclusive use of psychological stimulus of
competition and emulation and the psychological punishment of shame
16

at failure. He flatly declared that flogging was wholly ineffective as a
means of moral or intellectual improvement. (Stone 280)
In the eighteenth century Jean Jacques Rousseau produced another important
and influential work on educational theory. In his mile: or, On Education he
recommended education for children adapted to their age. Rousseau was not
an advocate of corporal punishments and he preferred learning through
experience as we have already mentioned (Stone 256).
We can see that many changes concerning the attitude towards childhood
and child rearing practises took place in the seventeenth and eighteenth
century. Therefore when we talk about the Victorian period and nineteenth
century this development should be taken into account.

1.2 Children in Victorian England
Let us move on and examine the conditions to which children were
exposed in the Victorian era. By Victorian era we understand the period of
Queen Victorias reign from 1837 until 1901. Also in the nineteenth century the
living conditions of people were dependent on their social status. The prospects
of children from well situated families were different from the expectations of
children whose parents were at the bottom of the social scale.
From reading about life in Victorian England we might have the impression
that the gentry could afford to live quite a comfortable life. Their children were
educated privately at home or they attended local grammar schools. During
Victorias reign boarding schools became very fashionable.
17

School education was a part of life for middle-class children as well. They
also attended grammar schools and private schools and the educational
institutions varied according to their prestige. Cheaper schools naturally
considered to be worse than the more expensive ones. J.W. Reader remarks
that attitudes towards education for boys and girls were different.
Requirements for girls education were specific in some ways:
They were generally supposed to be less in need of mental cultivation
than boys, and less capable of it, and too much education was thought to
ruining their prospects in the marriage market. On the other hand they
were expected to have certain accomplishments, particularly music and
drawing, and a smattering of ill-assorted, undigested general knowledge,
ranging from the dates of the Kings of England to the origins of guano.
(Reader 121)
Children coming from working class families also attended schools if their
family situation allowed them to do so. In many cases the education meant
better start for their lives and future careers.
Children from poor family backgrounds were not usually so lucky and
they could not spend their time at schools. Both parents usually had to work
and support the family and therefore small children were often looked after by
their older siblings. Also the work of small children in poor families was needed.
They had to work to earn money and also at home. We might notice in various
sources that children were often employed for example in textile industry. In
the 1840s this work was regulated by law, but there still remained unregulated
18

trades exploiting children. Young boys were often employed as chimney
sweeps. The profession of chimney sweeper is mentioned also in Oliver Twist.
According to Reader, only young and tiny boys were suitable for this work and
the job was very dangerous and hard. The job meant climbing up long,
twisting soot-covered flues, and the brutality required to get a boy to do it was
sickening. (Reader 87).
As will be shown in the following chapters, Dickenss children characters
are set into similar conditions and therefore the world of his books stood very
close to the world of the readers in his time. This fact probably helped to
increase his popularity among his contemporaries.







19

2 OLIVER TWIST
This chapter deals with the novel Oliver Twist which first appeared in the
magazine Bentleys Miscellany in 1837. An immense and quite complicated plot
is developed in this book as well as in all Dickenss novels. Characters of the
novel come from all classes of society and mainly the lots of people living in the
lowest positions in society and the reality of their daily life are presented in the
novel. In this novel the readers might witness authors strong social
commentary. Particularly the conditions of living in the streets and workhouses
or other charitable institutions are depicted and criticised. On the other hand,
country life is strongly idealized and the picture of the countryside seems to be
very contrastive to that of the city life. The main protagonist of the novel is
Oliver Twist, an orphan born in an unnamed workhouse in an unnamed town.
The chapter aims to elaborate on the relationships among the characters
and to show how they influence each other. It also attempts to explain how
Dickens works with childs perspective and the portrayal of the family. All these
aspects are analysed to provide a wider insight into the approaches to
childhood in the novel mentioned. The analysis presented in this chapter is
divided into several sections and each section deals with its own topic. Firstly
the observations have been made and these are shown on the textual evidence
from primary literature. Also the information from secondary sources support
the ideas presented in the chapter.
Because Olivers story is related to many other characters and it might be
useful for further analysis of the novel to outline its plot very briefly at first.
20

Olivers story begins in a workhouse where he is born and where his mother
dies giving a birth. There he spends the first nine years of his life and later he is
apprenticed to Mr Sowerberry, an undertaker. After his escape from
Sowerberry, he fleets to London where he joins a gang of young thieves
overmastered by an old Jew, Fagin. After being caught at picking pockets, he
lives at Mr Brownlows where he recovers from an illness and where he
experiences kindness and love for the first time in his life. Consequently he is
kidnapped back to Fagins gang and involved in a burglary. When injured and
almost killed, the inmates of the house which he tried to rob take him inside
and they all live together for some time. Then many things from his past are
revealed and the reader is told about Olivers background. It is brought to light
that one of the thieves is Olivers half-brother and that he tried to destroy all
evidence about this fact. The story of a girl from the gang, Nancy, is finished
when she is killed by one of Fagins pals. At the end, Oliver comes to a big
fortune, he inherits some money from his father and is adopted by Mr
Brownlow. It also comes to light that Rose Maylie, the girl who takes care of
Oliver in the country, is his aunt (a younger sister of his deceased mother).
Fagin is imprisoned and consequently hanged. Oliver lives together with Mr
Brownlow in the country near to their friends.
The whole story is set into the 1830s England, so time of the story is
closely related to the time in which the novel was written and published.


21

2.1 The main protagonist and other child characters
The first section of this chapter examines the depiction of the main
character and also some interesting issues related to secondary child
characters. Unlike in the novels David Copperfield and Great Expectations, the
main protagonists story in this novel does not continue to his adulthood.
Olivers story begins with his birth and ends when he is yet a boy or a young
man. A great deal of space in the novel is devoted to the description of Olivers
miserable living conditions, his sufferings and inner feelings of terror. When the
reader witnesses the scenes from the workhouse also a strong and harsh social
criticism should be taken into account. The rules on which the workhouses are
based, as well as the laws concerning the poor valid in England, are not only
described, but also judged there with irony. What a noble illustration of the
tender laws of England! They let the paupers go to sleep! (Oliver Twist 13).
This quote comments on the end of the day when Oliver goes to sleep after
picking oakum together with other children.
A realistic description of the workhouse conditions is gained through
describing various kinds of sufferings that children had to undergo. Apart from
the fact that they were beaten and had to work hard, they suffered from
starvation as shown in the first part of the novel: Oliver Twist and his
companions suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months... (Oliver
Twist 15). Children were not abused only physically but also mentally. Adults
consider Oliver and other children inferior and they often and strongly express
that they look down on such beings as children. There is not any hope for
22

children in adults behaviour and comments on childrens future destinies.
Current social conditions of the orphans in the workhouse are considered
satisfactory and Oliver is considered to be of a rebellious character. The child is
intentionally terrified about his future and his prospects. Even the authorities do
not seem to deal with children as with valuable human beings:
I know that boy will be
hung. (Oliver Twist 16).
Despite these miserable conditions which are described in the former
paragraphs, the reader might gain the impression that the character of Oliver
Twist does not endure the inner development in the same way as for example
the main protagonist of Great Expectations does. Instead of that, Olivers
moral qualities seem not to be damaged by the influence of his background.
Even after his life with thieves he is presented as a naive, pure and innocent
child, who, despite his life experiences and tortures, still believes in good:
The darkness and the deep stillness of the room were very solemn; as
they brought into the boys mind the thought that death had been
hovering there, for many days and nights, and might yet fill it with the
gloom and dread of his awful presence, he turned his face upon the
pillow, and fervently prayed to Heaven. (Oliver Twist 98)
The main protagonist does not seem to undergo significant changes of
character. The reader might have the impression that the author seems to be
concerned in the description of protagonists living conditions and injustices
rather than in the portrayal of his character development.
23

From this point of view, the character of Nancy can be interpreted in a
similar way. She is a girl whose life is also miserable, she lives among the
thieves and she is something like a prostitute for Sikes. However, her good
character qualities do not seem to be much harmed by her surroundings. She is
presented as a compassionate young girl, who tries to do her best to protect
Oliver from beating and who dares to disobey Fagin: I wont stand by and
see it done, Fagin, cried the girl. Youve got the boys, and what more would
you have? Let him be let him be or I shall put that mark on some of you,
that will bring me to the gallows before my time. (Oliver Twist 143). In fact,
Nancy sacrifices her own life to protect and save Oliver.
On the other hand, some of the child characters seem to be already
accustomed to their way of life in bad society and this is the case of the young
thieves in Fagins gang, who seems to be quite conciliated with their lots and
convinced that this way of life is not so bad and uncomfortable after all.
Although we do not have much information about their former way of life, it
might be supposed that they come from the poor family backgrounds.
Lanckford
5
regards them as victims of the society in fact: By the plots
subliminal logic these are the workhouse boys again, grown older, no longer
asking for more but taking it, and at least partly justified by the corruption and
injustice of the society on which they prey. (Lanckford 22).



5
Lanckford, William. The Parish Boys Progress: The Evolving Form of Oliver
Twist.
PMLA 93. 1 (1978) : 20-32. JSTOR. Web. 1 April 2011.
24

2.2 The childs perspective
The narrator of the novel describes the world through childs eyes in
some situations. He is well aware that children do not think in the same way as
the adults do and that they do not understand everything. Oliver for example
does not know the meaning of the word orphan and it must be explained t
, listen to me. You
know that youre an orphan, I suppose? Whats that, sir? inquired poor
Oliver. (Oliver Twist 12). The narrator can put himself in childs place and
accept his way of thinking. Consequently also the reader can easily identify
himself with the child.
The author emphasizes childs feelings and his point of view in the novel
very much. As Lanckford points out, the narrator is focused on childs feelings
especially at the beginning of the novel:
Throughout the early chapters Oliver has been the psychological and
moral center of the action. While the other characters are presented
almost exclusively in a theatrical mode, their identity established only as it
is indicated by their actions and appearance, Olivers inner feelings are
described directly by the narrator. (Lanckford 23)
As an example, the author shows how children are terrified in the environment
that is not suitable for them. And Oliver has to face many situations that are
not convenient for childs psyche. When he is left at Sowerberrys to sleep
among the coffins, a feeling of horror and scare appears: Oliver, being left to
himself in the undertakers shop, set the lamp down on a workmans bench,
25

and gazed timidly about him with a feeling of awe and dread, which many
people a good deal older than he, will be at no loss to understand. (Oliver
Twist 36). The authors concentration on Olivers feelings might be an attempt
to show how childrens feeling and thinking are different from adults. And if
children think differently they should not be treated as adults.

2.3 The portrayal of the family in relation to childhood
The picture of the family is closely related to the theme of childhood. A
portrait of an ideal and functional family cannot be found in Oliver Twist. The
main hero comes from the workhouse and when the reader learns something
about his family background he realizes that Oliver can be called a bastard. In
fact he is a child born out of an extramarital relationship. In addition, there
does not appear a typical family consisting of two parents and children in the
whole novel. Instead of this classical family model, other types of families can
be found there. Other people attempts to substitute parents and play their roles
for Oliver Twist. The authorities in the workhouse, Mr Bumble and Mrs Mann,
substitute the parents in some aspects. They have a big influence on children in
the workhouse and try to bring them up. However, it is clear that this
substitution is not successful at all. Mr Brownlow and Mrs Bedwin, who take
really parental care of Oliver when he is ill, also substitute his parents for some
time. However, their tender care seems to be very contrastive to the behaviour
of the authorities of the parish workhouses. As a result of their devotion,
Olivers feelings change from fear and misery into grace and feelings of
26

tranquillity. His sojourn at Mr Brownlows is depicted as something completely
different to his up to now life experience: They were happy days, those of
Olivers recovery. Everything was so quiet, and neat, and orderly; everybody
was kind and gentle; that after the noise and turbulence in the midst of which
he had always lived, it seemed like Heaven itself.(Oliver Twist 116). As
Frederick
6
suggests in his article, the same feeling of safety are typical for
Oliver sojourn at Mrs Maylies: We recognize at once the crucial role of Mr.
Brownlows and Mrs. Maylies homes as havens in the uncompromisingly
dichotomized world of the novel. Only here can Oliver breathe, only here does
he know kindness and civility. (Frederick 465). These quotes demonstrate how
important the author considers even the illusion of a functional home for a
child.
From one point of view it might be said that although there are not typical
families in the novel, groups of people who might be regarded as families in
some aspects can be found there. The inmates of the house that is robed can
be regarded as a kind of family. Also Fagins gang of thieves might be
regarded as a substitution of a real family for the boys. Frederick considers
Fagins gang to be a parody of domestic life. (Frederick 467)
The marriages in the novel are unhappy and damaged. Olivers first
experience of domestic life is represented by Sowerberrys family. The
marriage and subsequently the family life of Mr Bumble and Mrs Corney are
presented is a similar way. The tone of its description is strongly ironic. Their

6
Frederick, Kenneth C. The Cold, Cold Hearth: Domestic Strife in Oliver Twist. College
English 27. 6 (1966) : 465-470. JSTOR. Web. 1 April 2011.

27

marriage is not the marriage based on mutual love and respect. It rather looks
like a constant fight for supremacy. This indicates that the marriages which are
not based on love and could never be happy and satisfactory. Even the
relationship of Olivers parents is depicted as problematic because of external
influences and the reader might suppose that the split-up of Olivers parents
brought his mother to the life on street and consequently this background
destroyed a happy start of his life.
The theme of the importance of blood ties among the relatives and family
ties generally seems to be presented in the novel as well. Two people to whom
Oliver inclines became his relatives at the end of the novel. The reader realizes
that Rose Maylie is in fact Olivers aunt and Mr Brownlow adopts Oliver as his
son. From the development of the novel it seems that a real value of human
relationships is not dependent on blood ties. It seems that more important are
the opinions shared and social and family background in which the characters
live. Despite the fact that Monks is Olivers half-brother, they do not share any
positive emotions for each other. On the contrary, Olivers warm relationship
with Rose and Mr Brownlow are formed on the basis of his life experience with
them.
In conclusion, it could be said that in Oliver Twist the author examines the
way of life of the orphans, who are dependent on social institutions, and their
living conditions are strongly criticised. Although the novel is narrated by the
omniscient narrator, the main heros point of view is crucial and the whole
society is depicted in relation to the main child character and its story. The
28

classic model of the family is broken in the book and the uneasiness of life
without functional family background and support is depicted. Therefore it
might be reasonable to presume that by this the importance of family for
children is emphasized. Through the description of Olivers feelings the
importance of a child and its point of view are highlighted. The main child
protagonist seems not to be so active in life than for example Pip in Great
Expectations. Olivers adventures and experiences seem to happen more or
less without his active participation. The ending of the novel, that is totally
different from the destiny of a poor child at the beginning, might lead the
reader to an agreement with Lanckford who suggests that Oliver might be seen
as an allegoric character rather than a real boy (Lanckford 20).

29

3 DAVID COPPERFIELD
This chapter considers the novel David Copperfield which was published in
its serial form in 1849 and a year later published as a novel. Many literary critics
consider this novel to be based on Dickenss own life experiences and the most
autobiographical one of all his novels. Likewise other Dickenss novels it gives
an elaborated depiction of childhood as it shows a life progress of the main
child character. This chapter attempts to show the depiction of childhood, child
characters and their family background. Although the social institutions are not
criticised in the novel so openly and directly as they are for example in Oliver
Twist, still a disorder of the world and its rules are presented here. The main
character is a boy named David, who is also a narrator of the whole story. The
novel follows his life experiences from his childhood till his maturity and deals
with his adulthood as well as with his childhood.
The analysis of the novel aims to examine the development of the main
protagonist, the relationships among him and other important characters and
also the portrayal of the family in David Copperfield. Separate sections deal
with the topics mentioned and textual evidence supporting the ideas and
coming from both primary and secondary literature are employed.
Obviously Davids story is related to many secondary characters which
influence his development and therefore the plot of the story might be briefly
outlined. The novel begins when David is born as a fatherless child and lives
with his childish young mother and with his nurse Pegotty. This period of
Davids life is portrayed as a very happy and cheerful period. The situation
30

changes when his mother marries Mr Murdstone and he and his sister begin
overmastering his mother and a whole house. David is separated from his dear
Pegotty and sent to a school where he is not treated very kindly. His mother is
exhausted from the living with the authoritative Murdstones and she dies soon
after the birth of Davids younger brother. David is sent to work in wine-
bottling industry. Because he cannot bear the conditions there he escapes to
his aunt Miss Betsey Trotwood who had visited his mother on the day of his
birth and disappeared after the recognition that David is a boy. Surprisingly,
this woman takes care of him and settles their affairs that David can stay with
her forever. He lives together with his aunt and Mr Dick for some time and then
he goes to a school run by Doctor Strong. While at school he is lodged at Mr
Wickfield and his daughter Agnes. There he also meets Uriah Heep. After his
graduation David goes to Yarmouth to visit Pegotty and her family with which
he is associated. On his journey he meets Steerforth, a schoolmate from his
first school. He still dotes on him, visits him at his home and then persuades
him to join him on the journey. After their return David is apprenticed at Mr
Spenlow, a lawyer, and falls in love with his daughter Dora. Then some space is
also devoted to the destinies of Tommy Traddles, a schoolmate of his and
Steerforth, and Little Emily, Davids childish love. Emily runs away with
Steerforth who promised her to make her a lady. Mr Pegotty who brought her
up is grief-stricken and decides to find her and bring her back. Mr Wickfield,
Miss Betsey and other people fall into financial problems because of a cheater
Uriah Heep. David marries Dora and feels generally happy despite their
31

troubles. Mr Pegotty and David find Emilly with her friends help. Steerforth live
at an unknown place. At the end of the novel Steerforth is killed by the sea
storm, Mr Pegotty, Emilly and the Micawbers go to Australia. Dora dies as a
result of her miscarriage and David marries Agnes with whom he lives in a
happy family. An unfortunate boy Tobby Traddles makes a fortune and lives
quite comfortably with his wife and family, too. Both he and David reach
successful career.

3.1 Davids childhood and his development
A pretty detailed description of Davids childhood experiences and
feelings is depicted in the novel, mainly in its first twenty chapters. These
chapters are narrated from a childs point of view and this might be the reason
why they have a strong emotional impact on the reader. David has a very warm
relationship with his mother and he considers their living alone only with
Pegotty to be the happiest time of his life. Although his mother is regarded as a
very naive and girlish person, she devotes all her life to David and his
upbringing. It is Davids mother who represents home for him and in the
opening chapters her irreplaceable role in Davids life in emphasized. When
David returns home from his trip with Pegotty and thinks of their home, he
becomes aware that without his mother his home would mean nothing: ...and
I felt, all the more for the sinking of my spirits, that it was my nest, and that
my mother was my comforter and friend. (David Copperfield 39). However,
their relationship is very soon harmed by Davids step-father and his sister. It
32

is shown how the child suffers from forthcoming changes in his life. His mother
marries without letting him know about it and he is very surprised and even
frustrated by the changes in her approach towards him which he cannot
understand at all. Although she always behaved affectionately, when David
returns home from the trip, he is welcomed in a surprisingly stoic manner: On
one side of the fire sat my mother; on the other, Mr Murdstone. My mother
dropped her work, and arose hurriedly, but timidly, I thought. (David
Copperfield 41). From this moment onwards everything in Davids home and
life is changed. Davids life with Mr Murdstone and their relationship is depicted
as a horrible experience for a small boy. He is treated with disregard to his
person and later also physically punished. For Murdstone David has the same
value as an animal, maybe even worse, and their conflicts become more and
more important. David, he said, making his lips th
I dont know. I beat him.(David Copperfield 43). From this quote
it is evident that David is worth for nothing in Murdstones eyes and his
existence is compared to the existence of an animal. However, despite all these
problems and sufferings with the Murdstones, David has another person who
cares for him beside his mother, and that is Pegotty. The reader might notice
that David realizes her importance for him when they have to separate for the
first time in his life:
From that night there grew up in my breast a feeling for Pegotty which I
cannot very well define. She did not replace my mother; no one could do
33

that; but she came into a vacancy in my heart, which closed upon her,
and I felt towards her something I have never felt for any other human
being. (David Copperfield 55)
Early in his childhood David has a very strong feeling of guilt as well as some
other Dickenss child characters. When he bites Mr Murdstone in a self-
defence, he is aware of the meaning of this action and reflects on in this way:
My stripes were sore and stiff, and made me cry afresh, when I moved; but
they were nothing to the guilt I felt. It lay heavier on my breast than if I had
been a most atrocious criminal, I dare say. (David Copperfield 53).
Davids suffering in childhood continues at school where the boys are
frightened by Mr Creakle and where David is humiliated by the sign he has to
wear on his back as a result of biting Mr Murdstone.
Although the deathbed scenes are not depicted directly in the novel, the
reader might probably feel that happy time of Davids life and the feeling of
safety ends with his mothers death. It can be also interpreted as an end of
one period and start of his new life. The mother who lay in the grave was the
mother of my infancy; the little creature in her arms was myself, as I had once
been, hushed for ever on her bosom. (David Copperfield 117)
Then the description of his life in a wine bottling factory follows, but the
reader is not informed about the horrors of this work in details. It is only
pointed out that David does not like it and decides to change his current
situation. Davids life at his aunts seems to be quite comfortable and here the
story moves to his adulthood.
34

To sum up, the terror of Davids life with the people who do not care
about him and who does not love him is depicted with all its horrors and
misery.
What should be commented on is Davids development. It might be
interesting to mention that, in comparison to the other novels elaborated on in
this thesis, in David Copperfield the bigger part of the book deals with Davids
maturity than with his childhood experiences. The childhood is depicted
colourfully with all its horrors and suffering. However, Davids graduation at
the age of seventeen is the turning point of the novel. Although he is already a
young man physically, David is not mature in terms of his behaviour and
thinking. Throughout the whole novel his mental development into an adult
man is described. Therefore we witness the development from a naive,
innocent and pure child into an adult who knows how to behave in the society
and how the world is ordered. As Hornback
7
points out in his essay, this
development is characterized by the fact that as a boy David is required to
relinquish his innocence (Hornback 663). Also secondary characters have an
influence on this development, but some of them are more important than
others. Steerforth definitely represents a negative influence on David. Even as
an adult, he admires Steerforth unlimitedly and it seems that he is not aware of
Steerforth negative qualities such as snobbery, arrogance etc. The following
quote, which contains Davids reaction on their meeting, demonstrates how
David dotes on Steerforth: I never, never, never, was so glad! My dear

7
Hornback, Bert G. Frustration and Resolution in David Copperfield. Studies in English
Literature 1500-1900 8. 4 (1968) : 651-667. JSTOR. Web. 1 April 2011.

35

Steerforth, I am so overjoyed to see you! (David Copperfield 248). On the
other hand, Agnes, who is depicted as an innoc
, Agnes, you
wrong him very much. He my bad Angel, or any ones! He is anything but a
guide, a support, and a friend to me! (David Copperfield 313).
The novel ends when David has a functional and happy family with Agnes,
when he has realized that Steerforth was not honest with him and only
exploited him.

3.2 The childs perspective
This novel is narrated in the first person instead of the omniscient
narrator. It is evident that the first part of the novel, which is narrated from the
childs point of view, deals with the childs feelings and impressions more than
the chapters in following parts of the novel. Sometimes, the narrator comments
on the events from his adult point of view.
In the beginning of the novel our attention is directed toward the
Adventures of young David because they are his, and David the narrator
is telling us about himself as a child in the world. Later, our attention is
redirected, and the narrator tells us to look at the world as David grew to
look at it, and as it affected him. (Hornback 664)
In the narrative, the childs perspective is juxtaposed with the adults point of
view. The narrative of David as a boy is changed with Davids retrospective
36

commentaries. And as Worth
8
points out, they differ in some ways: Young
Davids clear-eyed but necessarily imperfect perception of what is happening
alternates with the mature Davids retrospective musings in the significance of
these childhood events. (Worth 99). Dickens for example shows that children
reflect the world differently to adults. At the beginning of the novel when the
narrator informs us about the relationships among Doctor Strong and his young
wife Annie, child narrator is without any suspicion that Annie might have
another relationship with her cousin. On the contrary, the adult reader can
immediately recognize the hints of suspicion such as a lost ribbon.
That the chapters describing Davids work are depicted differently than
the rest of his childhood is evident from Worths commentary:
Dickenss treatment of Davids awful period in service of Murdstone and
Grinby is handled somewhat differently. We know it was awful because
the mature David tells us so (and because we know about its real-life
analog), but beyond a rather tame paragraph or two in Chapter 11 he
actually shows us nothing of its horrors. (Worth 101)
The fact that the episodes about his work at the factory are narrated from a
somehow detached point of view and the chapters of his early childhood are
more focused on his feelings and emotions might indicate that the author wants
to emphasize the meaning of emotional support and family background for a
child.

8
Worth, George J. The Control of Emotional Response in David Copperfield. The English
Novel in the Nineteenth century. Ed. George Goodlin. Urbana: University of Illinois
Press, 1972. 99-108. Print.

37

3.3 The portrayal of the family and its function
The pictures of the families in David Copperfield are not the portrayals of
the typical family units. The main character himself becomes an orphan. Little
Emily and Ham living with Mr Pegotty are orphans as well. Also Tommy
Traddles and Steerforth as well as other boys in school are children without
parents. Steerforth and Uriah Heep live only with their mothers and their
characters are influenced by that. The adult characters as Miss Betsey, Pegotty,
Mr Dick live alone without their own children and husbands or wives. It is clear
that the ideal of a typical family construction is broken in the novel. The only
complete family represented by the parents and children is Mr Micawbers
family. A great deal of attention is focused on the relationship between parents
and children in the novel. These can be divided into several types. The first
group is represented by the relationships between Agnes and her father and
between Mr Pegotty and little Emily. Although Emily is Mr Pegottys niece, he
adopted her and treats her like his own daughter. These relationships are both
full of love and devotion between a daughter and a father. It is evident from Mr
Pegottys reaction to Emilys runaway: Anywhere! Im a going to seek my
niece through the wureld. Im a going to find my poor niece in her shame, and
bring her back. No one stop me! I tell you Im a going to seek my niece!
(Dickens 387).
The situation is different in the case of relationships between Uriah and
his mother and between Steerforth and his mother. During his visit at
38

Steerforth, David sees that Steerforths mother is devoted to her son in a
dangerous way:
It was no matter of wonder for me to find Mrs Steerforth devoted to her
son. She seemed to be able to speak or think about nothing else. She
showed me his picture as an infant, in a locket, with some of his baby-hair
in it; she showed me his picture as he had been when I first knew him;
and she wore at her breast his picture as he was now. All the letters he
had ever written to her, she kept in a cabinet near her own chair... (David
Copperfield 254)
From the quote it is evident that Mrs Steerforths love toward her son is almost
an obsession and later in the novel it is pointed out that this kind of care does
not do him good. Steerforth character qualities are probably spoilt as a result of
his mothers approach to him.
Consequently, it can be seen that in the novel the readers attention is
directed to the four different approaches to children. The first one is
represented by the Murdstones and Mr Creakle who neglect children and treat
them in a bad way. A completely different approach is that of Pegotty and
Davids mother to David. Their care is tender and very affectionate. However,
a motherly care can be also different and this is the case of Steerforths
mother. Her fondness of her son creates negative character qualities in him and
his character is consequently spoilt. And finally the attitude of people who are
not biological parents to their children is shown in the story. Mr Pegotty and
39

Miss Betsey treat children as well as they can and they attempt to fulfil all their
needs.
It might be probable that the obstacles in the life of the characters are
caused by their damaged family background. As Hornback suggests, the family
is a basic unit of the society and its failure has negative consequences: This
basic unit of love and order, the family, is almost non-existent in David
Copperfield, and it is against this symbolically significant disadvantage that the
characters all react. (Hornback 654). The decomposition of the family unit
might help to create a chaotic world without any stability in David Copperfield.
And the characters must face these changes: In order to overcome this
disadvantage, and to make contact again beyond this symbolic isolation of
orphanage, the characters must create new orders, new forms in which to live.
(Hornback 654).
To conclude, it is evident that the child characters in David Copperfield
come from incomplete families, some of them are even orphans. Their lives are
much influenced by their family background. Some similarities can be found
between the characters of David and Tommy Traddles. They both suffer in their
childhood, they both experience cruel behaviour from the adults and they both
have to fight for their place in the society. In the end, both of these characters
succeed in life, they both create happy and functional families and they have
successful jobs. It might be reasonable to presume that their suffering
strengthened their positive character qualities and their happy life in adulthood
might be seen as a reward for the suffering they had to undergo.
40

However, the family has another function in the novel. As mentioned,
Davids development into an adult man is depicted in the novel. In the end,
two new and complete families are created and this might be related to the
complement of Davids development. Only as a mature man, who gave up all
his naivity, he can start new life.


41

4 GREAT EXPECTATIONS
This chapter considers the novel called Great Expectations. This novel was
published in weekly magazine All the Year Round between 1860 and 1861.
When the readers look at the novel from a general point of view, they will
probably notice that there are several main themes in the novel that link
smaller episodes together. Ambitions and desires to improve ones life might
be considered as the main theme in this novel, because from the beginning we
observe main character Philip Pirrip (called Pip) on his way to his great
expectations and great future.
This chapter aims to examine the family backgrounds of the characters
and to show whether they are influenced by their family backgrounds and to
what extent. In addition, this chapter attempts to examine how the child
characters are depicted in the novel. We will also mention the development of
the main character and ways in which it is influenced by other characters in the
story and by its social position. The approach to family and home will be also
examined. The ideas are supported by textual evidence either from primary or
secondary literature.
For better orientation in the story it might be useful to outline the plot of
the novel briefly. The main child characterPip lives with his sister and her
husband who works as a blacksmith. From the beginning the reader is
persuaded that Pip has a much better relationship with Joe than with his own
sister Mrs Joe Gargery. The story begins with Pips adventure with a convict
who escaped from prison and whom Pip helps. Soon after Pip is hired to
42

entertain Miss Havisham, a rich and eccentric lady from the neighbourhood
living in a strange dilapidated brewery, he meets a girl called Estella that lives
together with Miss Havisham. Pip falls in love with her and admires her
instantly. Estella is the main cause of Pips wish to become a gentleman. After
an anonymous person provides Pip with a large sum of money for Pip, he goes
to London, begins his education and hopes to become a real gentleman. His
manners are changed and he feels that he is emotionally and financially far
away from his poor Joe. Pip and his young friend Herbert start to have financial
problems and debts. One day the convict from Pips childhood reappears and
Pip realizes that it was not Miss Havisham who had provided him with the
money. The real benefactor is Magwitch, the convict. In the course of time they
become friends and Pip helps him to evade the police. After meeting in the
marshes where Magwitchs enemy is killed, Magwitch is sentenced to death
and dies in prison. It also comes to light that Magwitch was Estellas father.
Estella is unhappily married and after some time when her husband is dead,
she again meets Pip in the garden where they met each other in their
childhood. At the end of the novel, they leave the garden hand in hand.

4.1 Pips development
We can observe Pips destiny in this book from his childhood till his
adulthood. The story does not begin as the previous novels when the child is
born, but Pip is already a small child when we meet him for the first time. This
character undergoes quite a complicated development that might be influenced
43

by the environment in which the character lives. At the beginning of the story
we see Pip living with his sister and Joe. Joe is a very important character for
Pip when he is a boy. From certain hints we can see how important Joe is for
him. Apart from Joe the child is not treated warmly at home. His sister and
friends who visit them treat him as inferior. The situation of the child in the
company of adults who are not his loving parents is described for example in
this way:
They seemed to think the opportunity lost, if they failed to point the
conversation at me, every now and then, and stick the point into me. I
might have been an unfortunate little bull in a Spanish area, I got so
smartingly touched up by these moral goals (Great Expectations 22).
From these lines we can see the insecurity the child feels and unhappiness
caused by his family. Only Joe represents safety for Pip. However, when he
meets Estella and falls in love with her, we can see that his character starts to
change and suddenly he feels that he is not noble and good enough for Estella.
And although he considered Joe his true friend he begins to feel ashamed for
him: ...I thought long after I laid me down, how common Estella would
consider Joe, a mere blacksmith: how thick his boots, and how coarse his
hands. (Great Expectations 60). These lines indicate that from this moment Pip
is ashamed for his social status and tries to see the world through Estellas
eyes. Estella stands higher in the society and he wants to be at the same
position as she is. However, he is well aware of his ungratefulness and he
regrets his feelings when he is already a man. Then we can see how he realizes
44

that Joe was his true friend and that Joes uprightness is nothing to be
ashamed of. He expresses this when comparing Joe to Mr Pumblechook: I
have never been struck at so keenly, for my thanklessness to Joe, as through
the brazen impostor Pumblechook. The falser he, the truer Joe; the meaner he,
the nobler Joe (Great Expectations 356).
When Pip is already an adult, he is well aware of the fact that his
character is changed and that his new life has not improved his character
qualities:
As I had grown accustomed to my expectations, I had insensibly begun to
notice their effect upon myself and around me. Their influence on my own
character, I disguised from my recognition as much as possible, but I
knew very well that it was not all good. I lived in a state of chronic
uneasiness respecting my behaviour to Joe. My conscience was not by any
means comfortable about Biddy. (232)
Therefore we might have the impression that Pip undergoes the
development from a naive small child to a boy who wants to enter higher
society and thinks that society measures people only by their possession and
wealth. And then he develops into an adult man who realizes that human
qualities are more important than wealth, money and social position. This is
evident from the fact that he still loves Estella although when they are adults it
is clear that Estella is Magwitchs daughter and consequently she has more
miserable origin than Pip himself. Despite this fact his feelings towards her
remain unchanged.
45

4.2 The relationships between Pip and other characters
We can observe that the main character does not stand alone in the novel
and is widely influenced by other characters that play subordinate and different
roles in the plot. Relationship between Pip and Joe has been mentioned in the
previous section. Joe seems to be a true friend and companion for Pip. At the
end Pip realizes that Joes advice were true and well-meant. Biddy, a servant in
Pips home, stands in a similar position to Pip as Joe does. She also represents
for Pip another loving person in his cheerless home. Later he feels also
ashamed of her and her rural manners and way of life. In Pips eyes she stands
in contrast to Estella. Pip sees Biddy as his loving friend, but he is so charmed
by Estella that he is not satisfied with his life at all. I asked myself a question
whether I did not surely know that if Estella were beside me at that moment
instead of Biddy, she would make me miserable? (Great Expectations 110).
From this quotation it seems to us that Pip is well aware that Biddy is a part of
his safety at home and Estella comes from another world that might not be
suitable for him. Therefore he stands on the edge of two different worlds.
The relationship between Pip and Miss Havisham is no less interesting.
When Pip is a small child and meets Miss Havisham for the first time, he is
terrified by her and her house. Apart from the terror, he feels abjection,
because he is often insulted by Estella according to Miss Havishams orders.
However, when Pip is a grown-up man his position in this relationship is
changed. Pip is not a terrified child and Miss Havisham longs for his forgiveness
for her cruel behaviour towards him. She regrets and feels guilty for that Pip
46

loves Estella who is already married: What have I done! What have I
done!she wrung her hands, and crushed her white hair, and returned to this
cry over and over again. (Great Expectations 338).
Also Pips relation to Magwitch undergoes some changes in the course
of time. When they meet for the first time in the marshes and Pip is a small
boy, he feels terrified by Magwitch and describes him as the horrible young
man (Great Expectations 7). After Pip finds out that Magwitch had provided
him with the money and comfortable living as a gentleman, he decides that he
must help him. And when Magwitch is dying in the prison, the reader can
witness the scene when Pip feels as his true friend and prays for him. Mindful,
then, of what we had read together, I thought of the two men who went up
into
, be merciful to him, a sinner! (Great
Expectations 391). In his notes
9
in the edition of Great Expectations that is used
for this thesis John Bowen explains that this quote is adopted from Luke 18:13
and that its original wording is God be merciful to me a sinner. (423). This
commentary might lead us to the idea that Pip expresses not only his
compassion with dying convict, but also that he feels guilty about what he had
done throughout his life and it might be interpreted as an expression of guilt for
judging people based on their appearances. He had considered Magwitch to be
a cruel wretched convict but throughout his life he realized that this unfortunate
convict gave him a chance to start a new and better life.

9
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. 1992 Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd,
2007. Print.
47

It is evident that the child hero in Great Expectations is largely influenced
by other characters. His ambition to lead a better life in higher classes of the
society begins with meeting Estella and Miss Havisham. Through Miss
Havishams behaviour towards him, we see that the child hero in Great
Expectations can be easily manipulated by an adult person. Miss Havisham uses
Estella to revenge her own betrayal in love and poor Pip is a child that can be
easily manipulated, ill used and bad treated. Also Estella is just an object in
Miss Havishams game, because she is dependent on her and must do what
Miss Havisham wants. However, Miss Havisham is not the only person who
treats children as inferior creatures. In chapters that describe Pips childhood
with his sister we see that her behaviour towards him is not motherly and not
unselfish. Her behaviour and her friends treatment of Pip indicate that a child
is not very important to them and they do not care much about him.

4.3 The portrayal of the family in Great Expectations
When we look closer at Pips family background we see that he does not
live in a happy functional and typical family. He is an orphan without parents. It
might seem surprisingly, that the only person Joe who cares about him is not
his blood relative. However, Joes role in the family is not substitutable for Pip.
It seems to us that he plays the role of Pips mother in some aspects. This can
be supported by the scene from the novel in which Pip wants to leave Joe and
go to London and he describes Joes reaction: Joe laid his hand upon my
shoulder with the touch of a woman. I have often thought him since like the
48

steam-hammer, that can crush a man or pat an egg-shell, in his combination of
strength with gentleness. (Great Expectations 120). In this quote we can
recognize Pips need of motherly care of which he is deprived. Also the families
which Pip sees are not as functional as they should be. For example in Pockets
family the mother is more interested in her books and other affairs than in her
own children. She is presented as a mother who is not very familiar with
childcare and when the children are with her, they are not as safe as they
should be with their mother:
I was made very uneasy in my mind by Mrs Pockets falling into
discussion with Drummle respecting two baronetcies, while she ate a
sliced orange steeped in sugar and wine, and forgetting all about the baby
on her lap: who did most appalling things with the nut-crackers. (165).
From this the reader might have the impression that Pip is not surrounded
by happy and functional family models. We cannot find a child who lives in a
functional family in the whole story. Magwitch himself indicates some of his
childhood experiences and he advocates his crimes by saying that his position
of an orphaned child was extremely difficult: But what the devil was I to do? I
must put something into my stomach, mustnt I? (293). This part of his
speech can be also interpreted like that he thinks his crimes were only a
consequences of his living conditions.
Another child character that is influenced by her family background and
living conditions is certainly Estella. She is also manipulated by Miss Havisham
and she also claims that her character had been formed in living conditions
49

inconvenient for a child. In addition, also Joe admits Pip the truth about his own
complicated childhood an . My
father, Pip, he were given to drink, and when he were overtook with drink, he
hammered away at my mother, most onmerciful. (Great Expectations 38).

4.4 Approches to childhood
The story of Great Expectations is narrated by the first person narrator.
The narrator of the whole story is Pip and he tells about his life from his
perspective. His narrative is full of his own recollections and the reader might
have the impression that the book is narrated from a childs point of view
intentionally. The fact that the novel is narrated from first persons perspective
might evocate deeper impression of authenticity. And as Rawlins
10
suggests the
points of view of adults and children are presented as different in the novel. He
points out that it is Pip a small child who can see the world and the society in
their real appearance:
Miss Havisham and her household seem psychotic; the world sees only
eccentricity. And so with Jaggers, Pumblechook, and the entire crew: Pip
sees what is - and sees that things are terribly wrong; the world looks and
sees that all is well but we know that they see with lying eyes. (Rawlins
670).

10
Rawlins, Jack P. Great Expiations: Dickens and the Betrayal of the Child. Studies in
English Literature 1500-1900 23. 4 (1993) : 667-683. JSTOR. Web. 25 March
2011.

50

Dickens shows how a child character reflects the world. This reflection
shows that Pip is described as sensitive character that is well aware of his
situation and feeling despite the fact that he is just a child:
My sisters bringing-up made me sensitive. In the little world in which
children have their existence, whosoever brings them up, there is nothing
finely perceived and so finely felt, as injustice. It may be only small
injustice that the child can be exposed to; but the child is small, and its
world is small, and its rocking-horse stand as many high, according to
scale, as a big-boned Irish hunter. (Great Expectations 53)
In addition to what has been mentioned above, from this extract we can
see that Dickensian child in Great Expectations considers his own world as
important as the world of adults is although they are not the same. From the
quote above we might observe that Dickens portrays children as beings who
are valuable for the world and who deserve fair treatment. Rawlins points out
how the children in Great Expectations struggle with life and how Dickens
appreciates their value:
In most literature, children are things for molding and shaping; in the
opening chapters of Great Expectations, this child is a thing for defending
a thing that must battle with guts and spite against the adult forces that
constantly demand a renunciation of the self. (Rawlins 672)
So far it has been mentioned that the child character in Great Expectations
struggles with his ambitions to leave his contemporary way of life. He also
fights against his ungrateful behaviour and he feels guilty. He feels guilty for
51

being born as a child without parents who has been brought up by hand by
his sister. As Leavis
11
suggests this view characterizes parent-child relationship
in Victorian society:
Pips initial sense of guilt was inevitable, the result of the Victorian (or
Evangelical) theory of the relation between parent and child: Mrs Joe is
supported in her demand for gratitude from Pip by public opinion. Pip is
made to feel that he has committed a sin in being born... (Leavis 380).
Later he feels guilty for helping the convict and in adulthood he is
ashamed of his behaviour towards Joe and Biddy. However, these feelings are
not caused only by his behaviour. Pip realizes that his social status is much
different from Estellas position and this finding makes him even more
displeased with his life. Leavis suggests that ... shame as a product of social
distinctions, is really a further complication, deepening the guilt and moral
confusion by which Pip is already ravaged. (385).
In conclusion, we can see that neither of the characters in this novel has
(had) a happy childhood and neither of them lives in an exemplary family.
Therefore it might seem reasonable to presume that many of their troubles in
life may come from their suffering in childhood and in their own families. Social
distinctions are shown as overestimated by society. At the end of the story Pip
realizes that a family background and human feelings are more important than
wealth and social position. This might indicate that the author might want to
emphasize the importance of the family. Although the narrator tells his own

11
Leavis, F. R., and Q. D. Leavis. Dickens: the Novelist. London: Faber and Faber, 2008.
Print.
52

story with distance the reader will probably feel that Dickens emphasized
childs feelings, ideas and attitudes in the story. And as Leavis suggests
Dickenss approach to childhood and family values is mostly visible from the
character of Pip: Dickens is really showing the evolution of a self from the
contradictory influences of the various social, moral, religious and psychological
forces present in his age, and the daunting problems of adolescence like Pips.
(Leavis 394).

53

CONCLUSION
The aim of this thesis was to examine the approaches to childhood in
three different novels by Charles Dickens. We have come to the conclusion that
there are some similarities and some differences among these novels and
therefore the approaches to childhood in the novels will be summarized,
compared and contrasted in the pages that follow.
All three novels contain a similar stratification of the adult characters
which are somehow connected with the children characters. The thesis has
argued that the adults usually treat children as inferior creatures and cause
them many troubles. And on the other hand, all three protagonists have also
the adults who take care of them and who either are (Joe, Miss Betsey and
Davids mother) or become (Mr Brownlow) their family members and who
represent the relics of their domestic stability.
The following similarity is also connected with the theme of family. The
author focuses on the portrayals of the families and he depicts the relations
between the members of the families mainly from the inner point of view.
The real families are usually broken in the novels examined and the groups of
people who are not related by blood ties substitute the families for children.
Blood relationships influence children as well as these substitutes of the real
families.
Although the protagonists either are or become orphans at the beginnings
of the plots, the theme of motherhood and the relations between mothers and
children are depicted differently. In Oliver Twist and Great Expectations the
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main characters are orphans from the beginning of the stories and the readers
could not learn much about their mothers. Children commemorate them with
devotion and their life stories are veiled by mystery. However, the evidence
from David Copperfield revealed that the theme of motherhood is depicted
completely differently in this novel. David has a living mother as well as some
other important children characters in the novel have. In addition, the influence
of mothers on their children is shown there. These findings suggest that the
author wanted to show how mothers (or parents generally) can influence and
form their children and how their influence is important for forming their
character qualities which can be either improved or totally spoilt. The mothers
can be also interpreted as basic elements for the family.
The novels also differ in the way of describing the living conditions of
children. Generally speaking it can be said that the author reflects on the
situation in society and he describes it in his novels. However, the description of
the living conditions of children is different in each of the novels. In Oliver Twist
mainly the poverty and the awfulness of child labour are depicted. As an
illustration that children had been apprenticed from their early age Dickens
employed the episode with chimney sweep or the description of the work in
workhouses. The situation in schools and different approaches to the pupils in
different schools are described in David Copperfield for a change. The
difference between living in the rural areas and in the cities is depicted in all
three novels. The description of the society corresponds with the facts
mentioned in the first chapter. In other words, the reality of the contemporary
55

society is depicted in all three novels and this might lead the reader to the
conclusion that it helped to increase Dickenss popularity among his
contemporaries.
The differences among the novels can be found in the manner in which
they are narrated. The narrator in David Copperfield changes his perspectives
and his narrative is sometimes closer to the childs point of view and
sometimes to the adults perspective. In this novel the narrator seems to be
more persuasive than in other novels. Oliver Twist is the only novel narrated
by the omniscient narrator and not in the first person. However, in all novels
childs feelings, psychic and point of view are taken into account.
The development of the main characters is also worked up in different
manners. In Oliver Twist the author is not focused on Olivers inner
development and we might have the impression that he makes Olivers story
improbable intentionally and he aims to criticise the society. Oliver remains
innocent in his manners despite bad society in which he is forced to live for
some time. On the contrary, Pip and David are strongly influenced by their
environment and they go through the development of their character qualities.
The main heroes in Great Expectations and David Copperfield therefore go on
the way full of various obstacles to find their real identity and their place in life
and society.
In summary, the theme of childhood appears in all the novels mentioned
in many aspects. Dickens shows his man child characters in relation to their
family background, in relation to their social position and he depicts their
56

development. Although the novels differ in some ways as mentioned, from all of
them it is evident that the emphasis is put on family background and its
importance for children.
57

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary sources
Dickens, Charles. 1992. David Copperfield. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions
Ltd, 2000. Print.
---. Great Expectations. 1992. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 2007.
Print.
---. Oliver Twist. London: Penguin Classics, 1994. Print.

Secondary sources
, Philippe. Centuries of Childhood: a social history of family life. Trans.
Robert Baldick. New York: Vintage Books, 1962. Print.
Frederick, Kenneth C. The Cold, Cold Hearth: Domestic Strife in Oliver Twist.
College English 27. 6 (1966) : 465-470. JSTOR. Web. 1 April 2011.
Hornback, Bert G. Frustration and Resolution in David Copperfield. Studies in
English Literature 1500-1900 8. 4 (1968) : 651-667. JSTOR. Web. 1 April
2011.
Jenks, Chris. Childhood. London: Routledge, 1996. Print.
Lanckford, William. The Parish Boys Progress: The Evolving Form of
Oliver Twist. PMLA 93. 1 (1978) : 20-32. JSTOR. Web. 1 April 2011.
Leavis, F. R., and Q. D. Leavis. Dickens: the Novelist. London: Faber and
Faber, 2008. Print.
58

Rawlins, Jack P. Great Expiations: Dickens and the Betrayal of the Child.
Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 23. 4 (1993) : 667-683. JSTOR.
Web. 25 March 2011.
Reader, William J. Life in Victorian England. London: B. T. Batsford, 1964. Print.
Stone, Lawrence. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500 1800. Abr.
ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1977. Print.
Worth, George J. The Control of Emotional Response in David Copperfield.
The English Novel in the Nineteenth century. Ed. George Goodlin.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1972. 99-108. Print.













59

RESUME
This thesis examines the approaches to childhood in the novels Oliver
Twist, David Copperfield and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. These
novels are analysed with attention to the central characters Oliver, David and
Pip, their development and their relations with other characters and society.
Also the portrayal of the family in the novels selected is analysed in the thesis
because it is closely connected with the theme of childhood. The main aim of
this thesis is to describe, compare and contrast the approaches to childhood in
the novels.
The first chapter assesses the historical background of Victorian England
and it depicts the situation in the contemporary society and particularly the
living conditions of children. It is also focused on the concept of childhood in
the society and its development. Then the chapters containing the analyses of
the novels follow. The first chapter deals mainly with the main character Oliver
Twist and his progress in life during his childhood. The second chapter
examines the development of Davids character, in particular. The chapter is
focused on the inner development of the main character and on the process of
his maturing. The chapter dealing with Great Expectations is focused also on
the main protagonist in the novel and it examines his life from childhood till
adulthood. However, in this chapter the analysis of the changes of Pips
character is most important.
The approaches to childhood in all three novels are compared and
contrasted in the conclusion.
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RESUME IN CZECH
Tato bakalsk prce se zabv romny Charlese Dickense Oliver Twist,
David Copperfield a Nadjn vyhldky (Great Expectations ) a pedevm
pstupy k dtstv v tchto romnech. V analze romn je prce zamena
pedevm na hlavn dtsk postavy, jejich vvoj a vztahy k ostatnm postavm
a spolenosti, v n se pohybuj. Vedlej postavy jsou zmnny, pokud maj pro
pojet dtstv v danch dlech zsadn roli. Prce se vnuje tak analze
zobrazen rodiny, nebo toto tma s dtstvm zce souvis. Hlavnm clem prce
je srovnn podobnost a odlinost v pojet dtstv v jednotlivch romnech.
Prvn kapitola je vnovna spoleensko-historickmu kontextu doby
viktorinsk Anglie a pedevm ivotnm podmnkm dt. Dle obsahuje
nahldnut do vvoje pojet dtstv ve spolenosti a jeho promn. Nsledujc
kapitoly jsou vnovny jednotlivm romnm, piem kapitola analyzujc
romn Oliver Twist se zamuje na Oliverv vvoj v dtstv. Nsledujc kapitola
se zamuje pedevm na vnitn vvoj postavy hlavnho hrdiny a proces jeho
dozrvn. Kapitola vnovan romnu Nadjn vyhldky sleduje vvoj hlavnho
hrdiny od dtstv a do dosplosti, piem je pedevm zamena na perod
jeho charakteru.
V zvru jsou pstupy k dtstv srovnny a zde je tak popsno, v em se
romny li a v em jsou si naopak podobn.



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