JOURNAL ARTICLE

Dickensian Divisions: David Copperfield's "Hero[ine] of my own life".

  • Published In: Dickens Quarterly, 2023, v. 40, n. 1. P. 45 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Ford, Kathryne 3 of 3

Abstract

This article explores how Charles Dickens's failed romance with Maria Beadnell–which drove him to burn his early autobiographical attempt–haunts his fictional life-writing novel David Copperfield. Maria's rejection intensified Dickens's previous traumas of the blacking warehouse and his father's imprisonment–subsequently producing a type of Freudian split self that I term the Dickensian hero/protagonist split. David is the novel's protagonist, but Agnes is its hero/ine. These divisions underscore Dickens's overarching preoccupations with legacy, and his notoriously fraught relationship with the life-writing genre. Agnes may not be a figure modern readers can admire; however, her position as hero/ine in David Copperfield's history nonetheless illuminates Dickens's own traumas, manifested in David's insecurities about heroism and narrative legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Dickens Quarterly. 2023/03, Vol. 40, Issue 1, p45
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Literature and Writing
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0742-5473
  • DOI:10.1353/dqt.2023.0002
  • Accession Number:162032168
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