Charles Dickens’s autobiographical novels David Copperfield (1850) and Great Expectations (1861) reflect elements of the author’s childhood, upward mobility and romantic hopes. Compare Dickens’s changing recollections & reformulations of his fictive past.
P.D. James wrote that ‘all fiction is largely autobiographical’ and Charles Dickens’s novels David Copperfield and Great Expectations certainly support this claim. Both books are Bildungsromane, fiction that depicts the growth morally and psychologically of its central character. Both David Copperfield and Great Expectations draw on aspects of Dickens’s own life, from his experience of paternal improvidence, childhood employment in a blacking factory, early romantic rejection, through to literary success and financial security. Thematically, these novels share concerns around isolated children, physical and psychological violence, social status, financial setbacks and the need for a happy marriage.
In these novels, however, we find differing experiences and outcomes. If both books are autobiographical, which is truer to Dickens’s life? This course will draw upon aspects events of Dickens’s life to consider what can be claimed in the pursuit of an autobiographical reading. We will follow the progress of David and Pip and their attempts to make their way in the world. We will also enjoy the eloquence of Dickens’s language and his ability to weave laughter, love and loss into the adventures of his two protagonists, while considering how we interpret these stories of human development.
This course is part of the Oxford University Summer School for Adults (OUSSA) programme.