# Mrs. Steerforth — David Copperfield character guide

> Mrs. Steerforth in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Dear Mrs. Steerforth

**First appearance:** 0023-xx-steerforth-s-home

## Snapshot

A handsome, imperious widow who has made her son James the center of her universe and mistakes her pride in him for love.

## Who they are

Mrs. Steerforth is a commanding presence at her seaside home, doting on James with a devotion that brooks no criticism and treating his friends, including David, with gracious condescension. Her pride in her son is the organizing principle of her life, and she cannot imagine a version of him that would disappoint her. That blindness is the quiet engine of the Steerforth tragedy, and it makes her a figure to watch whenever James is on the page.

## In the story

### [Steerforth's Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/david_copperfield_se/chapters/xx-steerforth-s-home)

Steerforth's mother, proud and devoted to her son, gives David a stately welcome.

### [My First Dissipation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/david_copperfield_se/chapters/xxiv-my-first-dissipation)

Mrs. Steerforth welcomes David to Highgate and talks with him about Steerforth's popularity in Yarmouth.

### [XXIX: I Visit Steerforth at His Home, Again](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/david_copperfield_se/chapters/xxix-i-visit-steerforth-at-his-home-again)

Steerforth's mother; engages in tense exchanges with Rosa Dartle and shows affection for her son.

### [LVI: The New Wound, and the Old](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/david_copperfield_se/chapters/lvi-the-new-wound-and-the-old)

Mrs. Steerforth is overcome with grief, sitting like a stone figure and moaning inarticulately.

### [A Last Retrospect](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/david_copperfield_se/chapters/lxiv-a-last-retrospect)

A bent lady with traces of old pride and beauty, now querulous and wandering in mind, mourning her son.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/david_copperfield_se/characters/mrs_steerforth
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/david_copperfield_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/david_copperfield_se/characters