# I Have a Change explained — David Copperfield > Chapter companion for David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. ## What happens David Copperfield visits Yarmouth with Peggotty, staying with her brother Mr. Peggotty in a boathouse home. He meets little Em'ly, Ham, and Mrs. Gummidge, and forms a deep bond with Em'ly, who dreams of becoming a lady to protect her family. The visit ends with David's painful departure, and upon returning home he finds his mother absent, replaced by a strange servant, hinting at change. ## Themes in this chapter ### Orphanhood and Self-Formation Both David and little Em'ly are orphans; Em'ly's father drowned, and David's father died before his birth, shaping their identities and desires. ### Social Class and Respectability Em'ly's dream of becoming a lady highlights class aspirations and the desire for security and respectability. ### Domesticity and the Ideal Home The Peggotty boathouse is portrayed as a warm, snug, and loving home despite its unconventional nature. ## Character check-ins ### David Copperfield Narrator and protagonist; visits Yarmouth, bonds with little Em'ly, and returns home to unsettling changes. ### Clara Peggotty David's nurse; takes him to Yarmouth to visit her brother, and acts nervously upon their return home. ### Little Em'ly Mr. Peggotty's niece; a beautiful, spirited girl who dreams of becoming a lady and shows a reckless fearlessness near the sea. ### Mr. Peggotty Peggotty's brother; a kind, hospitable fisherman who lives in a boathouse and cares for his orphaned niece and nephew. ### Ham Peggotty Mr. Peggotty's nephew; a gentle young man who works as a fisherman and is kind to David. ### Mrs. Gummidge A widow living with the Peggotty family; often melancholy, thinking of her late husband, and treated with sympathy by Mr. Peggotty. ## Key lines > If I was ever to be a lady, I’d give him a sky-blue coat with diamond buttons, nankeen trousers, a red velvet waistcoat, a cocked hat, a large gold watch, a silver pipe, and a box of money. Little Em'ly says that if she ever became a lady, she would dress her uncle in fine clothes and give him valuable gifts. _Em'ly's fantasy of wealth and generosity reflects her love for her uncle and her longing for a higher social status._ > I am a lone lorn creetur’, and had much better not make myself contrary here. If thinks must go contrary with me, and I must go contrary myself, let me go contrary in my parish. Dan’l, I’d better go into the house, and die and be a riddance! Mrs. Gummidge laments her loneliness and says she would rather die than be a burden, expressing her sorrow over her late husband. _Mrs. Gummidge's dramatic speech highlights her perpetual grief and the family's patient tolerance of her moods._ > I never hear the name, or read the name, of Yarmouth, but I am reminded of a certain Sunday morning on the beach, the bells ringing for church, little Em’ly leaning on my shoulder, Ham lazily dropping stones into the water, and the sun, away at sea, just breaking through the heavy mist, and showing us the ships, like their own shadows. David recalls that the name Yarmouth always brings to mind a peaceful Sunday morning with Em'ly, Ham, and the ships at sea. _This nostalgic memory encapsulates David's idyllic childhood impressions and his deep emotional connection to that time._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/david_copperfield_se/chapters/iii-i-have-a-change - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/david_copperfield_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/david_copperfield_se/chapters