I. Chapter III

Pages 34 to 45: Yarmouth

3: Clara Peggotty

6: David Copperfield

New characters:

name	Daniel Peggotty	Ham Peggotty	Mrs Gummidge	“Little Em’ly”
number	2	1	4	5
relationship to other characters	Peggotty’s brother	Clara and Daniel Peggotty’s nephew	widow of Mr Peggotty’s partner	Mr Peggotty’s niece
job	fisherman	fisherman	X	X
main features	Ÿ generous Ÿ modest	X	Ÿ depressed Ÿ pessimistic	X

Who is “Mrs Peggotty” (p. 38)? – She is actually Mrs Gummdige. David did not know her, so he supposed her to be another relative of his nurse.

From reading page 41, what can you imagine about future events in the novel? – The reader can imagine that Little Em’ly will be very unhappy. This is because, in retrospect, the narrator wishes she had died as a child, so she must have a terrible fate.

Note: “The house” (p. 44) means a workhouse, run by the parish (Fr: paroisse), for paupers (= poor people).

Pages 45 to 47: Back at Blunderstone Rookery

What happened while David and Peggotty were in Yarmouth? – David’s mother married Mr Murdstone.

What does Mr Murdstone order his wife to do (p. 46)? – He orders her to “control herself”, that is to say not to show her son too much affection.

Who does “Him” (p. 47) refer to?– Mr Murdstone.

II. Chapter IV

Notes: “distract” (p. 48): upset. “Wants manner” (p. 50): is not polite enough. “Calling (someone) names”: insulting.

New character:

Jane Murdstone (Mr Murdstone’s sister).

Striking physical features: dark skin, thick eyebrows

The narrator conveys the impression of a very “metallic” lady by mentioning “hard brass nails”, a “steel purse”, “heavy chain” and “numerous little steel fetters”.

In “our youthful humours” (p. 49), who does “our” refer to? – David

Summary:

Miss Murdstone pretends to “help” Clara keep house but that she actually does it all by herself, replacing her as housewife and depriving her of any authority or freedom.

Mr Murdstone and his sister take control of the house and isolate Clara, David and Peggotty from each other. They monitor David’s education, in which he is less and less successful. His only comfort is reading the novels that belonged to his father.

One day, after a lesson, Mr Murdstone wants to cane David for being such a poor student. David tries to prevent him by biting his hand.

David is punished by confinement to his room for five days, at the end of which he is sent away to a school.

The scene between Mr and Miss Murdstone and David’s mother appears to the reader as an example of the Murdstones’ perversion and manipulativeness. Mr and Miss Murdstone make decisions about the house without consulting Clara. However, when she mentions that it is her house, her husband reproaches her. Eventually, she calls it his house and even apologizes to her sister-in-law for her behaviour!

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