David Copperfield: A Study of the Impact of Capitalism

Abstract

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens is a result of author’s keen observation and bitter experiences of capitalism. It features child labour, prostitution, poverty, hunger, unemployment as well as the miseries of lower working class people. Its cruel impacts can be seen on the life of David, the protagonist and the other characters– Agnes, Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, Uriah Heep, etc. Everyone is under the heavy influence of capitalism and is the root cause of everyone’s unhappiness and degradation. David, since his birth, experiences hardship in life and struggles his whole life to keep things in a perfect balance and so do the other characters. Everyone represents a different mode of life.Through the variable picture of life of working class people,David Copperfield demonstrates the evil impact of capitalism. Everyone in the novel is trapped in the whirlpool of capitalism and is fighting hard for their survival in it but never once trying to break out of it.