Discussion Questions | davidcopperfield

David meets Aunt Betsey for the first time

Discussion Questions to Develop the Reader's Understanding

How does the marriage between David and Dora develop the theme of "disparity in marriage"? How does David feel and react as he discovers that he is mentally much more advanced than his "child-wife"?
Throughout the story, various characters like Uriah seem to have good intentions at first but later turn out to be deceiving and careless about others' feelings. What were Dickens's intentions when he demonstrated that contemptuous characters have a bad future such as ending up in jail? What lesson about trust was David taught after his encounters with such characters?
The novel begins by David questioning whether or not he will end up being the hero of his own life. Why do you think that Dickens chose to begin his book in this style instead of directly writing the story? Who do you believe was the hero in his life? Why?
As the story progresses, David gets to know many other orphans that have all passed similar hardships in their lives. What do you think may have influenced Dickens to include so many orphans in his writing? What are some of the hardships that most of the depicted orphans have gone through?
The story of David Copperfield takes place during the Industrial Revolution. As a result, Dickens illustrated the miserable lives that David's friends such as Mr. Micawber were going through. How does Dickens show migrating as one of the options that people used in order to escape from their poverty-stricken lives? Do you think that migrating is the only option that people have in order to escape penury? Why or why not?

David meets Aunt Betsey for the first time

Discussion Questions to Develop the Reader's Understanding

How does the marriage between David and Dora develop the theme of "disparity in marriage"? How does David feel and react as he discovers that he is mentally much more advanced than his "child-wife"?

The novel begins by David questioning whether or not he will end up being the hero of his own life. Why do you think that Dickens chose to begin his book in this style instead of directly writing the story? Who do you believe was the hero in his life? Why?

As the story progresses, David gets to know many other orphans that have all passed similar hardships in their lives. What do you think may have influenced Dickens to include so many orphans in his writing? What are some of the hardships that most of the depicted orphans have gone through?