times. However this begins to change when Mr Murdstone is introduced. David
immediately becomes jealous that his mother becomes focussed on Mr
Murdstone and also because his mother is being treated in a way, that he
believed only he could treat his mother” When Clara and Mr Murdstone marry
the novel introduces the aspect of Marriage in Victorian Life. Mr Mudstone is
an example of a strict Victorian husband and although his ways are slightly
exaggerated and extreme in the novel they portray how the average Victorian
husband acts towards his family. Mr Murdstones role in the family, allows him
to introduce his strict beliefs and regimes of what a family should be like, and
how he wants his family to be, so he enlists in his sister, Miss Murdstone, to
become a housekeeper, because he believes Clara to be “inexperienced and
artless”, to have any duties imposed upon her, despite the fact that Peggotty, a
nanny and friend to David, already does most of the household tasks anyway.
The arrival of Miss Murdstone begins to illustrate how the average family in
Victorian times operated, as the new husband is already making decisions about
how the house should be run. The joint belief of Mr and Miss Murdstone, that
children should be brought up with “firmness” is set into place, despite
unsuccessful intervention from Clara when she ”runs towards the door” only to
begin crying after being told she is a “perfect fool” by miss Murstone. Clara
does try another attempt to protest that she is “sure I managed very well
before we were married", but she is scared of her husband and falters This
shows us that although the family is changing, it is still not how the average
Victorian Family operates, as Clara is disobeying her husband by questioning
his methods of communication with David. David’s once happy life, with his
mother and Peggotty, is transformed into a firm and loveless environment. The
Murdstones take it upon themselves to educate David and influence him "like
two snakes on a wretched young bird". Their "firmness" affects David and
turns him into a "sullen and dogged young boy". David is unable to efficiently
learn in this manner, and is beaten by Murdstones cane as a result of his
failures
Mr Murdstone is represented by Dickens' way of criticizing the
patriarchal society of the Victorian era. He illustrates a man utilizing his
powers as head of the house, which is typical of men of this time. The strict
nature that the Murdstones thrusts upon David is seen to make him a depressed
and trapped child. Dickens clearly believes that there should be equality
within a family, and that their parents as demonstrated by Clara and Peggotty
earlier on in the novel should love children.
Education in the Victorian era was only for the rich and
was therefore seen as a privilege; children were expected to be grateful of
their fathers for sending them to a school where they were to be well educated
and successful in life. Poor children had to work to help their family
financially, and therefore they had no future. Mr Murdstone had wanted David
to learn at home, as he was not prepared to pay for a child who was not his son
to receive a good education. David was unable to learn from the rigid lectures
of Murdstone, and Murdstone took it upon himself to “correct” David,
resulting in the Beating of David by Murdstones cane. David was not used to
this form of punishment and bit Murdstone on the hand. This enraged Mr
Murdstone, making him send David to Creakles Academy; a school with a
particularly bad reputation. The teachers abused their authority, and the
children taught by "The awful Mr Creakle" were scared into learning and
consequently did not learn much. On one occasion Mr Creakle gets up out of his
chair, and David becomes so scared that he runs away “...Never once stopping
until I reached my own bed-room, where, finding I was not pursued, I went to
bed”
Dickens uses this theme to observe the abusive behaviour of teachers
towards children in schools. He criticises the way children are taught and
implies a more supportive and caring attitude towards teaching would enable
the children to benefit from a good education where they are allowed to
express their thoughts freely. Throughout the novel, Dickens suggests that
children are mistreated and that the result of the abuse that David was forced
to endure throughout his childhood is what have made him a caring and sensitive
adult. This allows us to question whether the abuse David suffered was so bad,
or that the love David received from Peggotty, Clara and Betsey Trotwood had
already made him the person he was to be.
Love and marriage is a significant issue in the novel. Dickens portrays the
different views and feelings towards marriage in the Victorian time. There are
many instances of love and marriage in this novel that reveal to us many
different attitudes towards marriage of the time and how important marriage
was. Two of the less important characters portray that love and marriage can
be good ( eg peggotty and barkis, which contrasts to Clara and Mr Murdstones
claustrophobic marriage. David is portrayed as an emotional man who loves
being in love. As a stereotypical man, he feels passion for every beautiful
woman he meets. He falls in love with Emily, Dora and Agnes, however for most
of the novel the latter is considered his ‘sister’, rather than at the end as his
soulmate. He loves Emily as a child and is heart broken when she falls in love
with steerforth; she runs from Ham to escape marrying him as she has always
considered ham as a brother. Dora, his first wife dies shortly after the birth
and death of their first child. David realises that his close friend and ‘sister’,
Agnes, is his true love and marries her at the end of the novel.
Dickens illustrates the characters to show the different types of homes and
marriages. Ill-fated Dora, despite her constant efforts, was a bad housewife,
while Agnes seemed perfect in everyway; she always listen and was sensitive
towards David. Dickens implies that love conquers all and those who suffer are
eventually rescued by love and care, (as seen when David goes to live with
Betsey Trotwood).
Dickens’ purpose for the novel was to express his beliefs of what life was like
in the Victorian period by showing us a large scale of character, all of which
have experiences that can be catagorised into themes, and it is here that
Dickens expresses his opinion. The characters he uses in the novel are no more
than examples used to the extreme in some cases or softly in others, but
nevertheless they are still examples and they are divided into Good, Bad, and
the others are the characters who add entertainment to the novel.
