Betsey Trotwood

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Betsey Trotwood is a fictional character from Charles Dickens' novel David Copperfield.

[edit] Role in novel

She is David's great-aunt and has an unfavorable view of men and boys. She appears in the first chapter where she demonstrates her uncommon personality and her dislike of boys when she storms out of the house after hearing that David's mother is having a son.

She plays a bigger role in David Copperfield's life by taking him in after he has run away from where his stepfather Edward Murdstone had stationed him to work at. She provides him with school and opportunities for work, thus showing her complex character.

The character is based on Miss Mary Pearson Strong who lived at Broadstairs, Kent. Her former home now hosts Broadstairs' Dickens House Museum.

In the 1999 adaption Aunt Betsey is played by Maggie Smith.

There is a pub in Clerkenwell, Central London called The Betsey Trotwood. It adopted the name in 1983, having previously been The Butcher's Arms[1].