David Copperfield Dev Patel is born to his widowed mother, Clara Copperfield Morfydd Clark, and begins saving noteworthy quotes from his life on scraps of paper. As a child, he visits his nanny Peggotty's family in their upturned-boat house in Yarmouth. When David returns home, he discovers Edward Murdstone has married his mother, a stern and callous factory owner who imposes a harsh discipline on the household. After being beaten by Murdstone and bullied by Murdstone's sister Jane Murdstone, David is sent to work in Murdstone's bottling factory in London, where he lodges with the Mr. Micawber family, cheerful but constantly pursued by their creditors.
As a young man, David still toils at the factory while the [Micawbers] endure eviction and debtors' prison. Informed of his mother's death only after her funeral, David wreaks havoc in the factory and departs for Dover to find his wealthy aunt Betsey Trotwood, his only living relative. Her lodger, the eccentric Mr. Dick, believes himself to be burdened with the late King Charles I’s thoughts and, like David, jots them down. David attaches these notes to a kite for Mr. Dick to fly, which helps clear his mind. David then meets Betsey's accountant, Mr. Wickfield, and Wickfield's daughter, Agnes, beginning a new circle of influence in his life.
Admitted to a school for boys, David is befriended by his classmate, James Steerforth, who calls him Daisy and believes him to be a gentleman. Later, a butcher's lad mocks the two friends and David challenges him to a fight — David gets knocked out. Agnes tends to his wounds but David disappoints her by saying he thinks of her as a sister. Mr. Micawber briefly joins the school as a teacher, but is exposed by Steerforth as a former convict and fired. Uriah Heep, Mr. Wickfield's clerk, who has previously been mocked by the boys, tries to blackmail David with knowledge of his past. At a farewell party at school, David meets Steerforth's mother, ignores his future employer, and falls in love with a somewhat ditsy girl named Dora Spenlow. He is hired as a trainee lawyer with Dora's father's firm in London, where he lives the life of a "young gentleman" and courts Dora.
Betsey arrives in London with Mr. Dick, having lost her fortune and home, and David is forced to decamp with them to a slum dwelling offered by Uriah, who has been keeping Mr. Wickfield drunk and persuaded him to make him a partner. Uriah is also courting Agnes. David visits Peggotty's family in their boat-house with Steerforth, who runs away with Peggotty's adopted daughter Emily, leaving her longtime fiancé Ham [Anthony Welsh]. Mr. Micawber now lives on the streets with his family and has pawned his beloved concertina, which he asks Mr. Dick to buy back. Instead, Mr. Dick steals it for him, and David invites the Micawbers to move in with him, Betsey, and Mr. Dick.
David begins to write the story of his life as a book, using the fragments he has saved since childhood. Agnes asks David, Micawber, Betsey, and Mr. Dick for a letter written by Mr. Wickfield as evidence of Uriah’s misdeeds. They confront Uriah, who has been embezzling funds — including Betsey’s missing fortune — by forging Mr. Wickfield's signature, presenting the letter as proof. David punches Uriah after the villainous clerk strikes Betsey, and dismisses him. Recognising that she no longer fits in David's "story", Dora calls off their engagement, asking him to write her out of his book.
Emily is spotted in London and confronted by Steerforth’s mother, but rescued by David and Peggotty’s family. She reveals that Steerforth abandoned her in France, but he will return the following day to Yarmouth. When a storm wrecks Steerforth’s boat off the Yarmouth beach, Ham swims out on a line, but Steerforth refuses to be rescued and is drowned. Mourning his feckless friend’s death, David realises he is in love with Agnes, who reciprocates. He publishes his book to great success, performing public readings of his story. His new career as a writer allows him to buy back Betsey’s home for her and Mr. Dick and continue to support the Micawbers, and he and Agnes marry and have a daughter.
