David is born after his father's death; Miss Betsey storms out upon learning the baby is a boy.

Mr. Murdstone marries David's mother and moves his cruel, domineering sister into the family household.

David retaliates against a beating by biting Mr. Murdstone's hand and is sent away to Salem House boarding school.

David's mother and newborn baby brother both die, and Mr. Murdstone sends David to work at a London bottling factory.

David walks alone from London to his Aunt Betsey's cottage, where she and Mr. Dick agree to take him in.

Miss Betsey enrolls David at Dr. Strong's Canterbury school and arranges for him to live with the Wickfield family.

David takes Steerforth to visit Peggotty's family in Yarmouth, where Ham and Little Em'ly announce their engagement.

Uriah Heep maneuvers his way into a business partnership with Mr. Wickfield and begins defrauding clients.

Little Em'ly vanishes from Yarmouth, and a devastated Ham reveals she has run away with Steerforth.

David and Dora Spenlow secretly become engaged through the assistance of Dora's friend Julia Mills.

Miss Betsey arrives unexpectedly at David's apartment with all her luggage, announcing she has been financially ruined.

Martha leads Mr. Peggotty to Little Em'ly's London lodging house, rescuing her from destitution.

Mr. Micawber publicly exposes Uriah Heep's fraud, and Traddles works to recover the stolen money.

A violent storm batters Yarmouth, and both Ham and Steerforth drown in the same tempest.

Dora loses a child and dies from the complications; after grieving abroad, David returns and marries Agnes.

David Copperfield begins with his turbulent childhood, marked by the arrival of his abusive stepfather Mr. Murdstone and ending with his mother's death and his forced labor in a London bottling factory. His aunt Betsey rescues him and provides an education in Canterbury, where he meets the loyal Agnes Wickfield and the scheming Uriah Heep. David's misplaced loyalty to the charming Steerforth causes disaster when Steerforth seduces and abandons Little Em'ly, tearing apart Peggotty's family and destroying a decades-long friendship. Meanwhile, Uriah Heep's fraud ruins Miss Betsey's fortune and threatens the Wickfield household until Mr. Micawber bravely exposes him. A violent coastal storm claims both Ham and Steerforth, and David's first wife Dora dies in childbirth, sending him into grief abroad. Returning a wiser man, David finally recognizes his love for Agnes, and their marriage brings the novel to a hopeful close.

The defining milestones of David Copperfield's journey from birth to happiness.

Peggotty takes David to visit her family's converted boathouse in Yarmouth, where he meets Little Em'ly and Ham for the first time.

Mr. Barkis the mail carrier asks David to inform Peggotty that Barkis is willing to marry her.

David arrives at Salem House forced to wear a sign on his back reading 'TAKE CARE OF HIM. HE BITES.'

David befriends the loyal Tommy Traddles at Salem House while becoming deeply fascinated by the older, wealthy Steerforth.

Peggotty and Mr. Barkis quietly marry in a church ceremony during David's holiday visit to Yarmouth.

David works long hours at the Murdstone and Grinby bottling factory, earning the nickname 'the little gent.'

Mr. Micawber is thrown into debtors' prison, and creditors seize his family's meager possessions.

David visits Steerforth's home and meets his doting widowed mother and the scarred, obsessive Rosa Dartle.

David drinks too much at a theater outing and stumbles into Agnes, who urges him to go home.

David takes on secretarial work with Dr. Strong and begins publishing short stories to earn extra money.

Miss Murdstone presents Dora's father with a bundle of love letters between David and Dora, exposing their secret romance.

Mr. Spenlow dies in a sudden carriage accident the very night after confronting David about his secret romance with Dora.

Mr. Dick quietly mediates a conversation between Dr. Strong and Annie, helping them repair their troubled marriage.

Mr. Peggotty, Little Em'ly, Martha, and the Micawbers board a ship and emigrate together to Australia.

Mr. Peggotty pays a final visit to David and reports that Em'ly, Martha, and Mr. Micawber have all prospered in Australia.

This pool traces the secondary relationships and events that give David Copperfield's world its rich texture. David's early friendships—with the loyal Traddles at school and with the working-class Peggotty family in Yarmouth—shape his character long before his adult adventures begin. The Micawbers' ongoing financial struggles and Mr. Barkis's quiet devotion to Peggotty offer contrasting portraits of love and hardship in Victorian England. David's professional life slowly takes shape as he finds secretarial work with Dr. Strong and begins the writing career that will eventually make him successful. Key secrets are uncovered—including Dora's father's discovery of their hidden romance—while the wise and gentle Mr. Dick unexpectedly repairs a marriage that more astute characters could not fix. The pool closes with the emigration of the novel's most battered survivors to Australia, followed by a final hopeful report of the new lives they have built there.

The supporting relationships and secondary events that fill David's world.

David secretly overhears Mr. Murdstone telling a friend about his plans to court and marry David's mother.

Steerforth manipulates David into spending his last remaining shillings on wine and food for older boys at school.

Steerforth publicly exposes teacher Mr. Mell's poverty to headmaster Creakle, resulting in the sympathetic teacher being dismissed.

David arrives at Miss Betsey's cottage dirty and ragged; Mr. Dick simply advises her to wash and keep him.

Agnes warns David that Steerforth is a 'bad angel' whose influence over his choices is dangerous and corrupting.

Agnes confesses she urged her father to make Uriah a business partner and now fears she has become his enemy.

Uriah Heep follows David home from a dinner party and confesses his obsessive plan to marry Agnes Wickfield.

Mr. Barkis dies as the tide goes out, and his locked box is found to hold over three thousand pounds.

Mr. Wickfield drunkenly declares before David that Uriah has forced him to abandon his name, reputation, peace, and home.

Rosa Dartle reveals that Steerforth abandoned Little Em'ly after trying to arrange her marriage to his servant Littimer.

David eavesdrops and discovers that Miss Betsey's estranged husband is the mysterious man who has been extorting money from her.

During the confrontation with the Heeps, Uriah drops all pretense of humility and snarls that he has always hated David.

Agnes emerges from Dora's upstairs room and quietly tells a waiting David that Dora has just died.

David receives an encouraging letter from Agnes while grieving in Switzerland and realizes he has loved her all along.

Agnes tearfully reveals to David that her long-kept secret love has always been him, and they agree to marry.

This pool focuses on the pivotal moments of discovery and decision that redirect the course of David Copperfield's life. From young David's chilling eavesdrop on Mr. Murdstone's courtship plans to Steerforth's early manipulations at school, the seeds of the story's central conflicts are planted in childhood. The middle events expose the dangerous ambitions of Uriah Heep, Miss Betsey's hidden marriage, and the brutal fate that befell Little Em'ly after Steerforth abandoned her. The dramatic confrontation with Heep strips away his false humility, while Dora's death marks the close of one chapter of David's life. David's time of mourning abroad becomes a turning point when Agnes's letter reveals a love he has long overlooked within himself. The pool ends with Agnes's tearful confession, completing the emotional arc of the novel's central romance.

The revelations and turning points that reshape David's understanding of his own life.