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Mr. Murdstone
Wilkins Micawber is married to Mrs. Micawber, with whom he has several children. He is a "shabby" but "genteel" man who is perpetually in debt. He speaks in flowery language—a sign that he aspires to something beyond his lower-middle class life—and is prone to wild swings of emotion; visits from creditors tend to send him into fits of despair, but he typically recovers within a few hours in the certainty that "something will turn up." David first encounters the Micawbers when he rents a room from them while working at the counting-house. He grows deeply attached to them but soon realizes that Mr. Micawber cannot be trusted to manage money. David suggests, however, that Micawber's financial difficulties are not the result of laziness, since he is capable of working quite industriously when he knows that doing so will benefit other people. This becomes particularly clear when Mr. Micawber uses his position as Uriah Heep's clerk to expose his employer's wrongdoings. Ultimately, Micawber and his family relocate to Australia—a less rigid and stratified society, where Micawber is finally able to achieve success and stability as a magistrate.
Mr. Micawber Quotes in David Copperfield
The David Copperfield quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Micawber or refer to Mr. Micawber. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 11
Quotes
I set down this remembrance here, because it is an instance to myself of the manner in which I fitted my old books to my altered life, and made stories for myself, out of the streets, and out of men and women; and how some main points in the character I shall unconsciously develop, I suppose, in writing my life, were gradually forming all this while.
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Chapter 57
Quotes
"I wish Mr. Micawber, if I make myself understood," said Mrs. Micawber, in her argumentative tone, "to be the Caesar of his own fortunes. That, my dear Mr. Copperfield, appears to me to be his true position. From the first moment of this voyage, I wish Mr. Micawber to stand upon that vessel's prow and say, 'Enough of delay: enough of disappointment: enough of limited means. That was in the old country. This is the new. Produce you reparation. Bring it forward!'"
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Mr. Micawber Quotes in David Copperfield
The David Copperfield quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Micawber or refer to Mr. Micawber. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 11
Quotes
I set down this remembrance here, because it is an instance to myself of the manner in which I fitted my old books to my altered life, and made stories for myself, out of the streets, and out of men and women; and how some main points in the character I shall unconsciously develop, I suppose, in writing my life, were gradually forming all this while.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 57
Quotes
"I wish Mr. Micawber, if I make myself understood," said Mrs. Micawber, in her argumentative tone, "to be the Caesar of his own fortunes. That, my dear Mr. Copperfield, appears to me to be his true position. From the first moment of this voyage, I wish Mr. Micawber to stand upon that vessel's prow and say, 'Enough of delay: enough of disappointment: enough of limited means. That was in the old country. This is the new. Produce you reparation. Bring it forward!'"
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Related Themes:
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