"Let him deny it," said Steerforth. (1872). Eighth illustration by Fred Barnard (engraved by the Dalziels) for the Household Edition of David Copperfield (Chapter VI, "I Enlarge My Circle of Acquaintance," p. 41). 9.4 cm high by 13.7 cm wide (3 ⅝ by 5 ⅜ inches), framed. Headline for page 41: "Mr. Creakle Comes Home." The incident occurs eight pages later in the text, in Chapter VII, "My "First Half" at Salem School." [Click on image to enlarge it. Mouse over text for links.]
Passage Illustrated: Creakle Holds Court, Favouring Steerforth over Mell
If Mr. Mell looked homely, in my eyes, before the handsome boy, it would be quite impossible to say how homely Mr. Creakle looked. "Let him deny it," said Steerforth.
"Deny that he is a beggar, Steerforth?" cried Mr. Creakle. "Why, where does he go a-begging?
"If he is not a beggar himself, his near relation’s one," said Steerforth. "It’s all the same."
He glanced at me, and Mr. Mell’s hand gently patted me upon the shoulder. I looked up with a flush upon my face and remorse in my heart, but Mr. Mell’s eyes were fixed on Steerforth. He continued to pat me kindly on the shoulder, but he looked at him.
"Since you expect me, Mr. Creakle, to justify myself," said Steerforth, "and to say what I mean, — what I have to say is, that his mother lives on charity in an alms-house."
Mr. Mell still looked at him, and still patted me kindly on the shoulder, and said to himself, in a whisper, if I heard right: "Yes, I thought so." [Chapter VII, "My "First Half" at Salem School," 50]
Commentary: Partiality for the Head Boy
The masters all live in fear of the headmaster's wrath, but Creakle himself is ill-inclined to take the part of any master, let alone the hapless Mr. Mell, against the aristocratic head boy, James Steerforth. For instance, when Steerforth ridicules Mr. Mell in front of his own class as an "impudent beggar," because Mell's mother is in an almshouse on community charity, Creakle fires Mell on the spot. David, despite his hero-worship of Steerforth, feels guilty about the injustice since it was he who revealed this detail about Mrs. Mell to Steerforth; nevertheless, David merely observes and ruminates. He fails to speak up. In Barnard's realisation of the confrontation, David stares forward as Mell, mortified, pats his shoulder as the entire room regards him. The look of contempt on Steerforth's face and his defiant gesture are echoed in Creakle's scowling as he raises his rod of chastisement. The boys are curious and even a bit puzzled as to what is transpiring.
Other Illustrators' Depictions of David's Salem House experiences (1849 to 1910)
Left: Phiz's July 1849 serial illustration depicts an uproarious classroom scene at Salem House: Steerforth and Mr. Mell (Part 6, Ch. 19). Right: Harry Furniss's contribution to the Salem House chapters underscores the essential injustice of the regime: Mr. Mell is Dismissed from Salem House (1910).
Related Material
- David Copperfield (homepage)
- Phiz's 40 serial illustrations for David Copperfield (May 1849 - November 1850)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 1, 1862)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 2, 1862)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 3, 1862)
- Sol Eytinge, Junior's 16 Diamond Edition Illustrations (1867)
- W. H. C. Groome's 7 illustrations for the Collins Clear-type Pocket Edition, Vol. I (1907)
- Kyd's five Player's Cigarette Cards, 1910
- Harry Furniss's 29 Illustrations for Dickens's The Personal Experience and History of David Copperfield in the Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910)
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Dickens, Charles. The Personal History of David Copperfield, illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). The Centenary Edition. London & New York: Chapman & Hall, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911 [rpt. from 1850]. 2 vols.
_______. David Copperfield, with 61 illustrations by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. 3.
_______. David Copperfield. Illustrated by W. H. C. Groome. London and Glasgow: Collins Clear-type Press, 1907. No. 1.
The copy of the Household Edition from which this picture was scanned was the gift of George Gorniak, Editor of The Dickens Magazine, whose subject for the fifth series, beginning in January 2010, is this novel.
Created 17 August 2016 Last modified 12 July 2022