Abstract

This thesis comprehensively analyzes David Copperfield’ s dual personality and reaches the conclusion that David has the dual personality of Self-reliance Vs dependence, kindness Vs cold-heartedness, unselfishness Vs self-centeredness. Through thorough exploration, it can be found that the factors forming David’s dual personality are closely associated with the general social environment and the author’s writing purpose and style. David is kind, sincere, studious and proactive, who faces adversity with confidence and never feels content with his achievements even in favorable times. At last, he attains a successful career and a happy family. However, due to the constraint of the times and environment and the author’ writing purpose and style, David’s character is not perfect, but has a dual nature.

Key words:  David Copperfield, dual personality, cause analysis

摘 要

本文从性格的双重特点出发对大卫•科波菲尔作了整体的性格分析, 阐述了大卫•科波菲尔所具有的自立与依赖性、善良孝顺与冷酷无情、无私与以自我为中心的三个性格特点，并且全面、客观地分析了大卫双重性格形成的原因，指明了小说主人公的性格形成与当时的时代环境以及作者写作特点之间的关联性。大卫真诚善良、积极进取，在逆境中满怀信心，在顺境中加倍努力，终于获得了事业上的成功和家庭的幸福。但是由于时代背景、社会环境以及作者创作意图等原因，大卫的性格也不是完美无缺的，而是具有两面性。

关键词：大卫•科波菲尔；双重性格；成因分析

1 Introduction
Charles Dickens is a literary master of realism in the 19th century. He is the only one who can match Shakespeare in the literature history. If Shakespeare’s drama is the peak in renaissance literature, then the Dickens’ fiction is the precious treasure of criticism literature in the 19th century. A great many of Dickens’ works still enjoy popularity today, many of which play a fundamental role in the development of the world literature. Hence, the English regards Dickens as a milestone in the history of English literature.