Charles DIckens – Nicholas Nickleby
Author:
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth in 1812.
He used to spend his Childhood in London.
His father was imprisoned for unpaid debts and because of poverty Charles had to work at a very young age. Firstly he worked as a shoe polisher and then as a clerk. He didn´t enjoy both of them, he rather wanted to become a journalist.
In 1832 he was offered a job as a reporter and soon after that he married Catherine Hogarth. His big break came when publishers Chapman and Hall wanted him to write a series of stories. The story Papers of Pickwick Club was published in twenty monthly papers in 1836–37. By the end, the story had 40,000 readers.
Dickens became one of the most popular writers in England. He left a lot of novels and stories behind:
A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist and Great Expectations.
Summary of “Nicholas Nickleby”:
The Nicklebys (Nicholas, his mother, sister Kate) are penniless after the death of Mr Nickleby.
In their poverty and desperation they seek help from Nicholas’s Uncle Ralph, a moneylender. Nicholas accepts to work at Dotheboys Hall in order to provide for his family. He is upset by the mistreatment of the children there by Headmaster Wackford Squeers, and is disgusted by the cruel treatment given to a boy called Smike.
Nicholas beats Squeers and escapes to London with Smike, who becomes his close companion. In London, Nicholas continues his “fight” against the ill treatment of his family by Ralph and the persecution of his sister by Sir Mulberry Hawk. After Nicholas finally makes a home for his family.
Characters:
Here is a list of a few main figures of “Nicholas Nickleby”. It´s impossible for me to mention all of them.
Nicholas Nickleby (the Younger): The novel’s main character. He is a young man who wants to defend his family and others against the evils of society.
He is very self-confident, ambitious.
Nicholas Nickleby (the Elder): Young Nickleby’s father, who dies and leaves poverty behind.
Ralph Nickleby: Uncle of young Nicholas and the novel’s second most important character. Very heartless, cold and manipulative. Kate Nickleby: Beautiful and younger sister of Nicholas.
Mrs.
Nickleby: Mother of Kate and Nicholas. Wackford Squeers: Cruel headmaster of a boarding school, Dotheboys Hall. Mrs. Squeers: Wife of Wackford Squeers. She trashes the pupils in Dotheboys School. Wackford Squeers Jr.: Son of Wackford Squeers, he enjoys father´s beating up the children.
Fanny Squeers: Daughter of Wackford Squeers.
She has eyes for Nicholas. Matilda Price: Friend of Fanny Squeers. John Browdie: He marries Matilda. He dislikes Wackford Squeers and assists Nicholas. Smike: Victim of Squeers’s cruelty who becomes a friend of young Nicholas. Newman Noggs: Ralph Nickleby’s clerk, he insists to help Nicholas against Ralph. Sir Mulberry Hawk: One of Ralph´s best customers.
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