Hungerford Market is associated with Daniel Peggotty’s search for Emily Peggotty: above a little chandler’s shop, he keeps a lodging that serves as a point of return amid his wandering through London. Its significance lies less in any description of the market itself than in the room he maintains there, prepared in hope that his niece may come home.

Setting and Lodging

Daniel Peggotty’s lodging is over a little chandler’s shop in Hungerford Market. He is often moving from place to place, usually in London, with the single purpose of recovering Emily; the lodging gives that unsettled search a fixed address. It is also the point from which he first set out on his mission of mercy.

A Room Kept Ready

When David Copperfield visits, Daniel Peggotty is reading by a window where he keeps a few plants. The room is neat and orderly, and its care has a specific purpose: David understands at once that it is always being kept prepared for Emily’s reception. Daniel has not heard the knock; he looks up only when David lays a hand on his shoulder. The small domestic details make the room feel less like a temporary stop than a welcome that has been patiently preserved.

The Search and Its Emotional Stakes

The lodging stands against the scale of Daniel Peggotty’s ongoing search. He wanders London’s streets at night, looking among the few people still outdoors for the person he fears he may find. Yet his room expresses the hope that governs this pursuit: he continues to imagine bringing Emily home, and keeps the space ready for that possibility. When David arrives with news, he cautions Daniel not to expect too much, bringing the uncertainty of the search directly into this carefully maintained refuge.

Narrative Significance

Hungerford Market gives a concrete domestic shape to Daniel Peggotty’s forgiveness and persistence. Elsewhere, he tells Emily’s family that, whatever her disgrace, they will not turn against her; the room’s readiness makes that promise tangible. In the midst of a city through which he searches without settling, the lodging preserves a place for her return. Its order is not evidence that the family’s pain has ended, but a practical expression of the welcome Daniel refuses to withdraw.