David Copperfield: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

David announces his intention to relate his life story, saying that the narrative itself will ultimately show whether he is the "hero of [his] own life." He begins with his birth, which took place in his family home ("the Rookery") in Blunderstone, Suffolk. David explains that his father (also named David) had died six months before he was born, and that some of his earliest childhood memories are consequently of his father's grave. David's only surviving family members, then, were his mother, Clara, and his father's aunt, Betsey Trotwood.

David briefly describes his great-aunt. Miss Betsey, he says, had at one point been married to an abusive husband, but had separated from him by the time David was born. There was a rift, however, between her and David's father, since Miss Betsey disapproved of his marriage to Clara, whom she describes as a  "wax doll."

David sets the scene for his birth. One Friday afternoon, his mother, Clara, is sitting at home in mourning when she is startled by the appearance of a face pressed up against the window. Clara goes to the door, and the stranger brusquely introduces herself as Miss Betsey Trotwood: Clara recognizes the name as belonging to her husband's aunt. Once the two women are inside, an awkward conversation ensues: Clara, overwhelmed, begins to cry, while Miss Betsey remarks that Mrs. Copperfield is a "very Baby" and questions why her nephew (David's father) named the house the "Rookery," when there are no rooks. Nevertheless, Miss Betsey is not unkind to Clara, and instructs the Copperfield servant, Peggotty, to fetch tea for her when she faints after trying to defend her late husband's actions.

As Clara recovers, Miss Betsey explains that she has come because she wants to help raise Clara's child, which she assumes will be a girl. The two women then talk about Clara's marriage to the late David Copperfield: Miss Betsey says that the couple were "not equally matched," and Clara admits that she was not a good housekeeper, but that her husband was trying to teach her to keep accounts when he died. Clara further explains that her husband left her with a small annuity to live on, but is then forced to break off the conversation as it becomes clear that she is going into labor.

Peggotty sends her nephew, Ham, to fetch a doctor, who arrives to find Clara settled upstairs and Miss Betsey waiting in the parlor. The doctor, Chillip, is slightly unnerved by Miss Betsey's formidable appearance, but keeps her regularly updated on Clara's condition. When Miss Betsey learns that the newborn child (David) is a boy, however, she "[takes] her bonnet by the strings, in the manner of a sling, aim[s] a blow at Mr. Chillip's head with it, put[s] it on bent, walks[s] out, and never [comes] back."