Micawberism
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Wilkins Micawber is a fictional character in
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
's 1850 novel ''
David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...
''. He is traditionally identified with the optimistic belief that "something will turn up."


His role in the story

Micawber was incarcerated in
debtors' prison A debtors' prison is a prison for people who are unable to pay debt. Until the mid-19th century, debtors' prisons (usually similar in form to locked workhouses) were a common way to deal with unpaid debt in Western Europe.Cory, Lucinda"A Histor ...
(the
King's Bench Prison The King's Bench Prison was a prison in Southwark, south London, England, from the Middle Ages until it closed in 1880. It took its name from the King's Bench court of law in which cases of defamation, bankruptcy and other misdemeanours were he ...
) after failing to meet his creditors' demands. His long-suffering wife, Emma, stands by him despite his financial exigencies that force her to
pawn Pawn most often refers to: * Pawn (chess), the weakest and most numerous chess piece in the game * Pawnbroker or pawnshop, a business that provides loans by taking personal property as collateral Pawn or The Pawn may also refer to: Places * Pa ...
all of her family's
heirloom In popular usage, an heirloom is something that has been passed down for generations through family members. Examples are a family bible, antiques, weapons or jewellery. The term originated with the historical principle of an heirloom in ...
s. She lives by the maxims, "I will never desert Mr. Micawber!" and "Experientia does it!" (from ''Experientia docet'', "One learns by experience.") Micawber is responsible for a major financial setback to another character. The hardworking, reliable Tommy Traddles, who is saving to furnish a home for the young woman he hopes to marry, allows his optimism to overcome his common sense. He "lends his name" to Micawber by co-signing for his rent, and when Micawber fails to pay, Micawber's creditors seize all of the Micawber family's furniture and personal effects, along with those of Traddles. Although Traddles eventually recovers the little round table and flower pot that symbolize his hopes for future happiness, he hampers himself financially by paying off Micawber's debt. Micawber is hired as a clerk by the scheming Uriah Heep, who assumes wrongly that Micawber's debts arise from dishonesty. But working for Heep allows Micawber to expose his boss as a forger and a cheat. To start anew, Micawber and his family emigrate to Australia with Daniel Peggotty and Little Em'ly, where Micawber becomes manager of the Port Middlebay Bank and a successful government
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...
. Prior to leaving, Micawber repays the money Traddles spent settling his loan. In
Hablot Knight Browne Hablot Knight Browne (10 July 1815 – 8 July 1882) was a British artist and illustrator. Well known by his pen name, Phiz, he illustrated books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever, Augustus Septimus Mayhew and Harrison Ainsworth. Early life Of Fr ...
's illustrations for the first edition, Micawber is shown wearing knee-breeches, a
top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally made of black silk or ...
, and a
monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens placed in front of the eye and held in place by the eye socket itself. Often, to avoid losing the monoc ...
. Micawber was modelled on Dickens' father,
John Dickens John Dickens (21 August 1785 – 31 March 1851) was the father of British novelist Charles Dickens and was the inspiration for the character Mr Micawber in his son's semi-autobiographical novel ''David Copperfield''. Biography The son of Will ...
.


Popular culture

Micawber is known for asserting his faith that "something will turn up." His name has become synonymous with someone who lives in hopeful expectation. This has formed the basis for the Micawber Principle, based upon his observation in Chapter 12: Written in full, the expenditure amounts are nineteen pounds, nineteen shillings and sixpence (£19/19/6) and £20/0/6, the pre-decimal equivalents of £19.97 and £20.02 in modern British currency. The character was played by W.C. Fields in the 1935 screen classic, ''
Personal History, Adventures, Experience, and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...
''.
Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor and film director. Known for his intense but sensitive portrayals of "tough guy" characters, he began his career on stage before making his screen breakthrough pl ...
took the role in a 1999 BBC serial.
Peter Capaldi Peter Dougan Capaldi (; born 14 April 1958) is a Scottish actor, director, singer and guitarist. He portrayed the Twelfth Doctor, twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker i ...
played Micawber in the 2019
Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer and performer. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. St ...
film ''
The Personal History of David Copperfield ''The Personal History of David Copperfield'' is a 2019 historical comedy-drama film written and directed by Armando Iannucci, based on the 1850 novel ''David Copperfield'' by Charles Dickens. It stars Dev Patel as the title character, along wit ...
''.
Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...
of the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
named one of his guitars (an early 1950s Fender
Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...
with a Gibson PAF
humbucking Mains hum, electric hum, cycle hum, or power line hum is a sound associated with alternating current which is twice the frequency of the mains electricity. The fundamental frequency of this sound is usually double that of the local power-line fre ...
pickup installed in the neck position) "Micawber"; Richards is known to be a fan of Dickens. "There's no reason for my guitar being called Micawber, apart from the fact that it's such an unlikely name. There's no one around me called Micawber, so when I scream for Micawber everyone knows what I'm talking about." The character formed the basis of ''
Micawber Wilkins Micawber is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's 1850 novel ''David Copperfield''. He is traditionally identified with the optimistic belief that "something will turn up." His role in the story Micawber was incarcerated in debtors ...
'', a 2001 ITV drama series written by John Sullivan and starring
David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally as David Jason, is an English actor. He has played Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the drama series '' A Touch ...
in the title leading role. In the U.S. Supreme Court opinion of ''
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly ''Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly'', 550 U.S. 544 (2007), was a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States involving United States antitrust law, antitrust law and civil procedure. Authored by Justice David Souter, it established that para ...
'', 550 U.S. 544, 562 (2007), Justice Souter criticized the court for an approach to pleading that "would dispense with any showing of a reasonably founded hope that a plaintiff would be able to make a case; Mr. Micawber's optimism would be enough."


Entry into general English

The character of Wilkins Micawber has given rise to the English noun "Micawber" and the adjectives "Micawberish" and "Micawberesque." The ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' defines a Micawber as "one who is poor but lives in optimistic expectation of better fortune." Judge David Halpern described
Craig Whyte Craig Thomas Whyte (born 18 January 1971) is a Scottish businessman best known for his controversial spell as owner of Scottish football club Rangers. Whyte first entered business in a plant hire company, after which he moved into security, ...
's legal arguments in a case heard in 2013 as "pure Micawberism."


Quotations

Besides the Micawber Principle, Micawber is notable for a number of memorable quotations: * I have no doubt I shall, please Heaven, begin to be more beforehand with the world, and to live in a perfectly new manner, if—in short, anything turns up. (Chapter 11) * Every happiness and prosperity! If, in the progress of revolving years, I could persuade myself that my blighted destiny had been a warning to you, I should feel that I had not occupied another man's place altogether in vain. (Chapter 12) * You HEEP of infamy! (Chapter 52) * I trust that the labour and hazard of an investigation -of which the smallest results have been slowly pieced together, in the pressure of arduous avocations, under grinding penurious apprehensions, at rise of morn, at dewy eve, in the shadows of night, under the watchful eye of one whom it were superfluous to call Demon, combined with the struggle of parental Poverty to turn it, when completed, to the right account, may be as the sprinkling of a few drops of sweet water on my funeral pyre. I ask no more. Let it be, in justice, merely said of me, as of a gallant and eminent Naval Hero, with whom I have no pretensions to cope, that what I have done, I did, in despite of mercenary and selfish objectives, ''"FOR ENGLAND, HOME AND BEAUTY."'' Remaining always, &c, &c, Wilkins Micawber. * Welcome poverty!...Welcome misery, welcome houselessness, welcome hunger, rags, tempest, and beggary! Mutual confidence will sustain us to the end!


Film and television portrayals


Quotations from the 1935 film

* Boy, as I have frequently had occasion to observe: "When the stomach is empty, the spirits are low!" * Remember my motto "Nil Desperandum! -Never despair!"


Quotation from the BBC TV/''Masterpiece Theatre'' production

* (featuring
Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor and film director. Known for his intense but sensitive portrayals of "tough guy" characters, he began his career on stage before making his screen breakthrough pl ...
as Micawber) "I could not depart this metropolis without paying a valedictory visit to my dear friend Copperfield, in whose debt I shall forever remain (I speak metaphorically of course!)"


Citations


General and cited reference

* Bloom, Harold (1992)
''David Copperfield (Major Literary Characters Series)''
New York: Chelsea House Publishers. * Hawes, Donald (2002). ''Who's Who in Dickens. 2nd. ed.'' London: Routledge * Oddie, W. (1967). "Mr. Micawber and the redefinition of experience." ''The Dickensian'' 63:109.


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Micawber, Wilkins David Copperfield characters Fictional businesspeople Fictional clerks Male characters in film Male characters in literature Male characters in television Literary characters introduced in 1850