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Passage Illustrated: Uncle and Niece Reunited at Last

I heard a distant foot upon the stairs. I knew it, I was certain. It was his, thank God!

She moved slowly from before the door when she said this, and passed out of my sight.

"But mark!" she added, slowly and sternly, opening the other door to go away, "I am resolved, for reasons that I have and hatreds that I entertain, to cast you out, unless you withdraw from my reach altogether, or drop your pretty mask. This is what I had to say; and what I say, I mean to do!"

The foot upon the stairs came nearer — nearer — passed her as she went down — rushed into the room!

"Uncle!"

A fearful cry followed the word. I paused a moment, and looking in, saw him supporting her insensible figure in his arms. He gazed for a few seconds in the face; then stooped to kiss it — oh, how tenderly! — and drew a handkerchief before it.

"Mas’r Davy," he said, in a low tremulous voice, when it was covered, "I thank my Heav’nly Father as my dream’s come true! I thank Him hearty for having guided of me, in His own ways, to my darling!"

With those words he took her up in his arms; and, with the veiled face lying on his bosom, and addressed towards his own, carried her, motionless and unconscious, down the stairs. [Chapter L, "Mr. Peggotty's Dream comes True," 725]

Commentary: Furniss removes David as Observer of "The Prodigal Daughter"

This scene marks the climax of the domestic melodrama involving the consequences of Em'ly's becoming a fallen woman after the novel's rake, James Steerforth, abandons her in Europe. Although Phiz in the original serial realisation of this climactic scene includes a shocked observer, David Copperfield himself, Furniss obviously felt the moment would be more affecting and effective if David were excluded. Furniss's principal figures are now the burly Dan'l Peggotty and his slight niece, who, engulfed in her uncle's embrace, becomes a figure in skirts rather than an individual. Thus, Furniss shifts the emphasis in his handling of the topos of the Fallen Woman away from the outcast or victim herself and towards her male deliverer.

As in Phiz's original illustration Mr. Peggotty's Dream comes true the small room which Em'ly has rented contains personal decorations that recall her innocent past in Yarmouth, pictures of ships above the two figures; but here, suggests the illustrator, the pictures are not large-scale, framed paintings, but small-scale drawings, perhaps in pen-and-ink (as would become a woman of limited means). This room, too, is in obvious disarray, with hats and clothing merely thrown down rather than hung up or stored, and the bed is only roughly made, as if the occupant is suffering from immobilizing depression. Recognizing her fragile emotional state, Peggotty whispers tenderly to the slight girl, attempting to calm and reassure her.

Realisations of Em'ly's Moral Reclamation (1850 and 1872)

Left: Fred Barnard's Household Edition build-up towards this scene: "Oh, the river!" she cried passionately. "Oh, the river!" (1872). Right: Phiz's original version of this scene emphasizes David as the reporter and observer: Mr. Peggotty's Dream comes true (August 1850).

Relevant Illustrated Editions of this Novel (1849 through 1910)

• Hablot Knight Browne's Forty steel engravings for the Chapman and Hall Edition (May 1849 through November 1850)
• O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York Sheldon & Co. edition (Vol. 1, 1863)
• O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York Sheldon & Co. edition (Vol. 2, 1863)
• Sir John Gilbert's Frontispiece in the New York Sheldon & Co. edition (Vol. 3, 1863)
• O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York Sheldon & Co. edition (Vol. 4, 1863)
• Sol Eytinge, Junior's 16 wood engravings for the fourteen-volume Ticknor & Fields Diamond Edition, Vol. V (1867)
• Fred Barnard's 62 Composite Woodblock Engravings for the Household Edition (1872)
• Clayton J. Clarke's (Kyd's) Watercolours and Player's Cigarette Card Designs (1889)

Bibliography

Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford U. P., 1988.

Cordery, Gareth. "Remaking Miss Mowcher's Acquaintance." Dickens Quarterly 29, 1 (March 2012): 11-31.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.

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. 2 vols.

_______. The Personal History of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. Vol. V.

_______. David Copperfield, with 61 illustrations by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. III.

_______. The Personal History and Experiences of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. X.

Hammerton, J. A., ed. The Dickens Picture-Book: A Record of the the Dickens Illustrations. London: Educational Book, 1910.

Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978.

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Created 21 March 2022