This thesis argues that Charles Dickens's novel, David Copperfield, represents writing as an art whose success depends on a dynamic relationship between the mechanical and the creative. The representations of writing in the novel comment on David's and Dickens's work as novelists. In the last section of my thesis, I argue that the novel extends this idea of balance to the ethical dimension of writing. This study is valuable and relevant insofar as it extends recent scholarly insights about the complex work of authorship to moments in the novel that have been neglected.
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis argues that Charles Dickens's novel, David Copperfield, represents writing as an art whose success depends on a dynamic relationship between the mechanical and the creative. The representations of writing in the novel comment on David's and Dickens's work as novelists. In the last section of my thesis, I argue that the novel extends this idea of balance to the ethical dimension of writing. This study is valuable and relevant insofar as it extends recent scholarly insights about the complex work of authorship to moments in the novel that have been neglected.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Matthews, Ralph Frame"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Campus Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"English Language and Literatures","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Rebecca Stern"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:38:37Z","subjects":["Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":["© 2012, Ralph Frame Matthews"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/1086","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Rebecca Stern"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Matthews, Ralph Frame"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English Language and Literatures"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Campus Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Arts and Humanities","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© 2012, Ralph Frame Matthews"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/1086"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis argues that Charles Dickens's novel, David Copperfield, represents writing as an art whose success depends on a dynamic relationship between the mechanical and the creative. The representations of writing in the novel comment on David's and Dickens's work as novelists. In the last section of my thesis, I argue that the novel extends this idea of balance to the ethical dimension of writing. This study is valuable and relevant insofar as it extends recent scholarly insights about the complex work of authorship to moments in the novel that have been neglected.
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