Children and Their Treatment
Dickens apparently is fascinated with children, and this novel examines in detail how children are treated. The narrator mentions near the beginning of the novel how impressive it is that children can remember so many details so clearly, and he claims that he is proud to have such a childlike memory himself.
Furthermore, the simpler, more childlike characters are among the sweetest in the novel. For example, Tommy Traddles is very simple and sweet in demeanor, and he goes on to be a successful lawyer, engaged to a beautiful, generous woman. Dora Spenlow may not know how to do household chores, but her devotion to David is extremely touching and admirable, and it wins David's heart. Finally, Mr. Dick, very simple-minded, is perhaps the best-liked character in the novel.
Childlike simplicity and innocence thus are valued in the moral world of the novel. When Dickens writes scenes that show cruelty to children, he most likely is demonstrating an evil to raise readers’ passions against such cruelty.
Female Empowerment
The novel explores feminine power to some degree, seeming to favor strong, powerful women, such as Peggotty and Miss Betsey. In contrast, women who do not hold much power or who simply exist in their marriages, such as Clara Copperfield, do not fare very well. Miss Betsey, an admired character throughout the novel, fights against her husband and manages to acquire a divorce, a feat that was not simple for women at the time (although he continues to bother her for money some time afterward). Mr. and Mrs. Micawber, however, are a good example of a married couple in which each spouse holds almost an equal amount of power, and they are a very happy couple, even though they are broke. Thus, Dickens seems to be a proponent of feminine power in the sense of basic equality in institutions such as marriage.
The Role of the Father
The role of the father figure is one of the first issues that comes up in the novel, for David is born six months after his father dies. Dickens is apparently suggesting that a father figure is essential for happiness and developing a good character. Still, not all fathers or father figures fit the norm or are even beneficial. Peggotty seems to be David's father figure growing up, for he describes her as large and "hard." Thus, he has a disciplinary figure along with his warm, loving mother to give him a balanced childhood. Little Em'ly and Ham have Mr. Peggotty, and both turn out to be very good people, especially Ham. Little Em'ly is simply seduced by Steerforth, who, as it turns out, never had a father figure and even admits that he regrets that and wishes that he could have had a father figure so that he could be a better person. Uriah has no father mentioned either, and he is one of the most evil characters in the novel.