The Influence of Female Characters on David Copperfield’s Growth Abstract This paper studies the influence of female characters on the male protagonist in Dickens’ David Copperfield. Dialectic theory is used as an underlying principle of this paper to elaborate the different roles female characters played in three stages of David’s growth. Based on spiritual analysis, Dickens’ characters don’t belong to E. M. Forster’s “flat character”. Female characters around David have complicated influence on David’s personality, view on marriage and view on life. Moreover, the influence is also not simple and unchangeable. The analysis of female images of mother, wife and friend in David Copperfield is an efficient way to find out Dickens’ inheritance and breakthrough of traditional view on female and to get access to overall status of Victorian women and the developmental trend of feminism in Britain. Women are not just symbols of innocent “ angel in the house”, but models of new women. Admittedly, their values don’t just lie on their abilities of taking care of household, but on their influence on man’s self-development as independent human being. Keeping some traditional features, Victorian women start to become new women with independence and dignity.47381

Keywords: female characters; view on female; David Copperfield; Victorian era; influence

女性角色对大卫科波菲尔成长的影响

摘  要本文以狄更斯的大卫科波菲尔为例，研究其作品中女性角色对男性主角成长的影响。运用辩证分析理论，一分为二地分析大卫周围的女性在他的三个成长阶段中所发挥的不同作用。从精神层面看狄更斯的人物，她们并不是属于福斯特的“扁形人物”。她们对于大卫的性格、婚姻观、人生观都有着亦正亦负的复杂影响。而且这种影响在大卫的成长过程中并不是单一不变的。通过对大卫科波菲尔中母亲、妻子、朋友三个形象的女性的具体分析，可以更全面的看到狄更斯对当时维多利亚时期的传统女性观的继承与突破，也能够由此看到维多利亚时期女性的整体地位和当时女性主义的发展趋势：女性已不只是单纯无知的家庭天使形象，而是出现了独立坚强的新女性。女性的价值不是在于照顾家庭。而必须承认她们的价值更在于作为独立的人对男性的自身发展所起的影响。维多利亚时期女性既保持着传统的女性形象特点，同时也出现了独立自尊的新女性的特征。

毕业论文关键词：女性角色；女性观；大卫科波菲尔；维多利亚时期：影响

 Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. David’s growth and female characters around him 2

2.1 Main stages of David’s growth 2

2.2 Female characters around him 3

3. Impacts of female characters on David’s growth 4

3.1 Image of mother in David’s growth 4

3.1.1 David’s mother Clara 4

3.1.2 David’s servant Peggotty 5

3.1.3 David’s aunt Miss Betsey 6

3.2 Image of wife in David’s growth 6

3.2.1 First wife Dora P598 6

3.2.2 Perfect wife Agnes 7

3.2.3 Other image of wife: Mrs. Micawber and Mrs. Gummidge and Mrs. Strong 7

3.3 Image of friend in David’s growth 8