David Copperfield and Hard Times are Victorian-era novels written by Charles Dickens. This paper sets out to juxtapose the representation of family in the two novels with the real-life situation in 19th-century Britain and to discover whether Dickens presents us with the family as the nucleus of one‟s life, or as the possible cause of one‟s problems. Firstly, the historical background is provided, followed by the depiction of family in historical sources, representation of author‟s life and overview of domestic matters in his work. Dickens‟ private life, or more precisely, his familial affairs, may have prompted him to render certain families in these novels, such as the Micawbers. The central part of the paper refers to exploring specific family structures present in the two novels. The conclusion of this paper is that family patterns were multifarious and influenced by the Industrial Revolution. The ideology of separate spheres is brought into question in both novels. The definition of family does not necessarily include blood-relatedness since adoptive parenting is presented as more successful than the one of biological parents. The matter of divorce has proved that legal separation was difficult to obtain in this period, especially for women and the poor. Dickens seems to be arguing that family very often defines who we are and that we need to acknowledge familial dynamics. Successful relations within families depend on individuals and external factors.