Comparison Of The Dickens And Eliot Excerpts That We Have Read With The Films Covering Those Chapters

David Copperfield
David Copperfield narrates his own story both in the movie and in the book. Even though there are many citations that the main character expresses exactly the same way they are stated in the book, such as “Whether I should turn to be the hero…,” there also are many palpable differences of telling the story between the book and the movie. Therefore, the perception the reader andthe watcher have is changed in a way as some scenes are left out while others are added.
The movie begins with the adult David Copperfield telling the story of his life. He looks well-off and he seems to live very decently. One of the first scenes is a confrontation with his step-father when he is an adult already, which is not described in the excerpts.
One of the most palpable things themovie shows and the excerpt does not even mention is David Copperfield’s aunt, who is very controlling, arrogant and actually never meets Clara until her husband’s death. She leaves after knowing the baby is a boy and not a girl. Since that moment, we appreciate how Clara is easily manipulated by other people.
Another thing we also discover in the movie is Peggotty’s real name is Clara, and thatDavid Copperfield’s mother apparently does have enough income to support her family, while in the excerpt, it seemed she marries Murdstone because of her son’s sake. Therefore, after we see the movie, we can infer Clara marries Murdstone because she is very dependent and wants to get the perfect family, not because she really needs money.
Referring to Murdstone, he does not really look like as he isdescribed in the excerpt. In the movie, he is not good-looking and his hair is brown, not black. This changes the way readers perceived this character as black color represents something evil. Bad omen is not mentioned either. Nevertheless, his personality is similar to the one described in the excerpt, as he appears very arrogant and self-righteous. However, I think his evil side was tooexplicit in the movie, while he almost looks as a good person at the beginning of the excerpt.
One significant thing the movie does not show, as the excerpt does, is Peggotty’s role in David’s education. As we know after reading the text, Peggotty plays the mother’s role in most of the aspects of his life. As a result, they were very close and she was actually considered as a second mother to him. Inthe film, this situation is hardly presented. Furthermore, the movie does not show either the discussion Peggotty and Clara have about marriage. I think it would have been important to show these aspects in order to understand Peggotty’s position in the family as much more than just a servant. The book, however, does show these aspects through descriptions and allusions to Victorian society.
Ithink the movie is shortened so much that we cannot really appreciate many essential aspects of the story. For example, we do not really see how wonderful David Copperfield’s life was before his mother gets married or how lovely Clara was with him before she is manipulated by Murdstone and his sister. Finally, I would like to mention one of the most relevant aspects, which is directly related to theVictorian Novel, and it is not even mentioned in the movie: the way David survives this terrible situation. In the excerpt, it is described that David escapes from his reality and gets in a fantasy world while he is reads his father’s books. He imagines he is the hero that fights against the evil ones, which in this case are Murdstone and his sister…
The most palpable differences between the bookand the movie are that the relationship between David and Peggotty, Clara and Peggotty, and David and Clara are very important in the book in order to understand the whole situation. On the contrary, these aspects are almost completely left out in the movie, as well as the way David Copper field escapes from his reality. The movie focuses more on David and the palpable changes at home.

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