The narrator in David Copperfield reveals that her mother easily got married to a second husband who became the narrator's step-dad. Towards the conclusion of the text, the narrator also reveals that he already had two marriage stints under his belt. The improved socioeconomic conditions also lead to increased birth rates during the period due to believe that people could then support large families. The narrator and his wife state that they were even uncertain of the number of children they had although one of whom was a daughter named after the narrator's aunt. .
The period was also characterized by remarkable improvements in healthcare and much wider availability for cures for diseases even though the mortality rates remained high due to the lackluster medical research and technology approaches of the period. It could be the primary cause why the text by Charles Dickens is characterized by various incidences of death especially of mothers and their children. In the novel, Dickens reveals that his own mother and her new born child passed away as he attended school probably as a result of post birth complications. Another fatality includes one of the narrator's wife's during a previous marriage, Dora who also passes on as a result of pregnancy complications. At the time of the novel writing, a killer cholera epidemic was reported in England which could be another reason why the novel contains such a big number of characters who die in the course of the character's narration. .
James Steerforth is one of the characters that Dickens develops in David Copperfield. Dickens paints the picture of a wealthy and egotistical young man who has obviously reaped the economic benefits of the industrial revolution, importantly, financial independence. The financial gains that came with the industrial revolution were accompanied with a much stratified society where one's social status gained prominence.