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Chapter 16

Wow. What action in last week’s reading. Nicholas has a temper when roused to a boiling point, and yet his anger is tempered with kindness. I really enjoyed how Dickens balanced the anger of Nicholas with his kindness towards Smike. As a duo, they will form a very interesting friendship and I predict Dickens will make much more of their character interrelationship.

Chapter 16 is one that contains many threads of plot and setting. I am going to break the chapter down into its various compartments for this commentary. In this way, we can separate all the events that occur.

Nicholas’s New Home

Nicholas and Smike’s accommodation was horrid at Dothaboys. In London, they have not advanced much up the property ladder but it is their home, and that makes a great difference. Nicholas hires “a few common articles of furniture from a neighbouring broker�� by converting some spare clothes into money. Nicholas resolves to look for a job and so he sets off into the teeming streets of London and finds himself in front of a job agency which he looks upon as a “temple of promise.��

Thoughts

The chapter’s introductory paragraphs establish a new setting for the novel. Nicholas and Smike have transitioned from Yorkshire to London. We will see in this chapter how the two areas are both similar and different. Nicholas and Smike are now in a position to control their own destiny. Did you find any very early indications of how their new life will unfold?

Nicholas Hunts for a Job

I’ve only been to a temporary job agency once, many many years ago. It was horrid. Do you have any remembrances of such an experience? For Nicholas, and thus for Dickens’s readers, we get a feel for how a job agency works, and thus a look at how the world of employment worked in Victorian England. One person was a young lady of about 18 who was seeking employment as a governess or companion to a lady. She was dressed poorly, but she did have with her an attendant, a “red-faced, round-eyed, slovenly girl�� who was her servant-of-all-work. In our earlier discussions we have discussed occupations and servants. Here we see that even among the class of person who sought employment as a governess or companion it was not unusual to have a maid. When we reflect to the beginning of this chapter to where Nicholas pawned some clothes to get a weekly rental of furniture, we see two incidences of the vastly different economic and social world that functioned in Victorian times. In Dickens’s novels, or any novel of the Victorian times, we experience that what was commonplace and unremarkable to the initial readership is surprising, if not shocking, to a 21C readership.

There is one job that appears to suit Nicholas’s qualifications, and that is to be the secretary to a Mr Gregsbury, who is a member of parliament. Gregsbury is a “tough, burly, thick-headed gentleman, with a loud voice, a pompous manner, a tolerable command of sentences with no meaning in them, and in short every requisite for a very good member indeed.�� Gregsbury greets a constituent and what follows is a volcanic spewing of nonsense language. I imagine Dickens heard his fair share of such verbiage when he was a parliamentary reporter. Nicholas learns that as Gregsbury’s secretary he would need to be “crammed,�� which means become fully informed, of everything happening in England and the world. A living Encyclopaedia Britannica, so to speak, for 15 shillings a week which, Nicholas comments, “is not much.�� Nicholas chooses not to become a secretary and is shown the door. To Newman Noggs Nicholas comments “I have undergone too much ... . I see little to choose, between the assistant to a brutal pedagogue, and the toad-eater of a mean and ignorant upstart, be he a member or no member.��

Thoughts

Dickens first levelled his pen against the educational system and now he takes on a generic Member of Parliament. Which attack did you find more effective? Why?


Nicholas Back to School ... Again

Newman Noggs has discovered a possible job opening as a private tutor for Nicholas and spun a story about Nicholas being involved in a misfortune and who goes by the name Mr Johnson. Mrs Kenwigs decides to hire Nicholas and so, for five shillings a week, Nicholas (now Mr Johnson) becomes a private tutor.

Thoughts

As the chapter ends Nicholas finds himself a teacher again. What early indications are there that Nicholas will find more satisfaction in teaching this time?

I would term this chapter one of setting up future events. Nicholas has experienced the travails of finding a job, he and Smike are setting up their new home, and, very importantly I believe, Dickens is weaving Newman Noggs further into the events of our unfolding plot. In your mind, what did you find most important in this chapter?

What threads or hints of future events did you find emerging in this chapter?

Chapter 17

As this chapter opens we find Kate on her way to her new job with Madame Mantalini. She, like the other early workers encountered on the streets, are off to work with “patient toil�� for the rich who are “thoughtless.�� Arriving at Mantalini’s Kate learns that there is “workers�� bell. As we move through the next few chapters Dickens will constantly reinforce both the subtle and the clear divisions that exist among the various classes of society.

It appears that the Mantalini household had a party last night as Kate sees the remnants of trays of food and glasses strewn about. Next, she hears the Mantalinis�� quarrelling. Apparently, Mr Mantalini has a roving eye and was, according to his wife, flirting last evening, an accusation he denies. After some trivial conversation they make up. Our first impression of these two is one of how shallow they appear. To reinforce this opinion we read that Mr Mantalini has his heart set on a new horse that will cost a mere “hundred guineas.�� Apparently the purpose of this horse is to make others jealous as he rides through the park.

Mr Mantalini takes one look at Kate and calls her a “pretty creature�� and soon after makes “several feints to attract [Kate’s] attention.�� Kate then meets Miss Knag who is described as “a short, bustling, over-dressed female, full of importance ...��. Kate’s role at the shop appears to be to assist with the showing and fitting of dresses. Madame Mantalini’s reasoning is that Kate is attractive. The conversation quickly dissolves to a discussion of the size of Miss Knag’s feet. A delightful Dickensian touch.

Thoughts

First Nicholas, and now Kate have set out on their first jobs to support the family. Nicholas’s went poorly, and the early indications are that Kate’s will not be smooth sailing either. Why would Dickens create tension and disharmony in their attempts to help their family?

Ralph Nickleby has been behind the scenes in both incidences of Kate and Nicholas obtaining work. How might this account for their apparent lack of success in employment?

Dickens gives his readers fair warning that all will not be well with Miss Knag when he observes of her that with people like her “you may trust them as far as you can see them, and no further.�� When Kate is asked by Miss Knag about her opinion of Mr Mantalini’s charm she replies “he does not strike me as being so, by any means.�� Such candour tells us much about Kate and those who work for Madame Mantalini.

Thoughts


The superficiality of those who work for Madame Mantalini is best evidenced in the fact that appearance appears to be everything to the entire staff. To what extent do you think Dickens consciously framed their superficiality by setting the workplace at a dressmakers, an occupation that is meant to create outward appearances for individuals? Can you suggest other incidences in this chapter or section where superficiality and the projection of alternate versions of the self are found?

Earlier, Miss La Creevy commented that many of the miniatures she creates are for people who dress up to play or project another role. Looking back to what we have read so far, how frequently has Dickens been employing the motif of appearance versus reality? This may be a theme we should keep in mind as we move through the novel.

Whatever our original opinion of Madame Mantalini’s establishment, the employees ate better than Nicholas did at Dotheboys. After lunch a rich lady appears at Mantalini’s door and Kate gets her first chance to work. Things do not go well, and later Kate is in tears and, for the first time, felt “humbled by her occupation.�� Kate leaves her first day of work to join her mother for the walk home and must “disguise her real feelings, and feign to participate in all the sanguine visions of her companion.�� I would think listening to her mother must be as wearying as any other occupation, but Kate is a good daughter. Kate’s mother, of course, goes on flights of imagination and fantasy and sees a future in partnership with Madame Mantalini.

Thoughts

Well, I’ve tipped my hand on my thoughts of Mrs Nickleby. What are your early impressions of Mrs Nickleby?

So far, Dickens has shown that both Kate and Nicholas’s first jobs have been less than successful or enjoyable, although Nicholas’s tutorials with the Kenwigs offers some promise. Did you notice that any job created by Ralph Nickleby has been tainted, but the one found by Newman Noggs seems to hold some promise? What might such occurrences suggest?

Chapter 18

This chapter opens with one of Dickens’s meditations which serve to inform, amuse, vent, introduce, or revisit a topic of interest or concern to the reader. Suffice to say, Dickens will continue to follow the life and fortunes of Kate Nickleby in this chapter, and so will we.

We begin with Miss Knag complimenting Madame Mantalini on her choice of Kate as an employee. Madame Mantalini sees Kate as awkward, but Miss Knag comes to Kate’s defence. Knag, evidently, liked Kate’s failings, and also because, in part, Kate was attractive. Dickens is creating an interesting psychology here, and we will see how it plays out by the end of the chapter. The Epigraph for this chapter hints at the final result, but let’s follow the scene to its conclusion. Miss Knag tells Kate that she will never be a success in this job but Kate need not worry because she will shield Kate as much as possible. Knag tells Kate that “she has taken quite a lively interest in [Kate], my dear soul, upon my word.�� Knag seems delighted when Kate’s second day of work is as unsuccessful as the first and mentions to Kate “how very awkward you have been.��

Thoughts

Dickens has set up a very interesting dynamic between Miss Knag and Kate. How would you explain their - at least on Miss Knag’s part - friendship?


Miss Knag leaves work with Kate on the second day, and soon we find Kate, her mother, and Miss Knag walking together. After Kate’s mother delivers a long soliloquy about Kate’s excellence Dickens comments that she “stopped to breath.�� Clearly, Dickens is over-writing the scenes and speeches of Mrs Nickleby, but is, nevertheless, enjoying every moment. Next, Miss Knag begins her own recollections and so we find both women adding stories. How Kate avoided a primal scream being in the middle of these women I’ll never know. They finally arrive at Miss Knag’s brother who turns out to be a circulating library keeper. From our earlier discussions it was a wonderful surprise to come across this coincidence. Next came another link to our earlier discussions. The Knag’s have a servant, although they were by no means wealthy. The chairwoman “employed in the absence of the sick servant, and remunerated with certain eighteenpences�� to be deducted from the ill servant’s wages is upbraided for wearing a bonnet. A humourous dialogue follows where the roles, wages, and expectations of employers and servants unfolds. In the conversation we learn that one week’s wage as a servant in this household is nine shillings. I love it when our Curiosity discussions link so much with the text in new ways for us to discover and enjoy.

Thoughts

To me, one of of the great joys of our discussions comes when we find an area of interest to pursue that I, as a moderator, have neglected. For instance, in NN we have developed an interest in who could afford a servant, what the cost of such a servant would be, and then later discussed the cost of books, the costs involved in belonging to a lending library, and thus who could afford to buy a novel, or the separate parts of a novel. I hope everyone continues to raise their own questions as we move through the book together.


Miss Knag has an irritating habit of clearing her throat with constant “hem’s�� which we can add to other characters�� identifiable vocal markers and dialects in this novel. What reasons could there be to give characters their own identifiable verbal markers?


Miss Knag’s close friendship with Kate lasted three days which was a wonder to the other employees at Madame Mantalini’s. Then one day “an old lord of a great family�� came to the shop. The old lord’s new young lady comments that “I hate being waited upon by frights of elderly persons. Let me always see that young creature [Kate] I beg, whenever I come.�� She further comments “Everyone is talking about her.�� To this, Madame Mantalini says to Miss Knag “send up Miss Nickleby. You needn’t return.�� These comments trigger two events. First, Miss Knag is insulted that Madame Mantalini finds her both old and indispensable, and second yet another man leers at Kate. Dickens has some fun with this scene as he notes about the old lord that it is hopeful that the old lord was going to lead a new life since it was “evident that his old one would not last him much longer.�� As the lord leers at Kate as he leaves the shop Madame Mantalini remarks “however he gets into a carriage without thinking it a hearse, I can’t think.��

When Kate makes her way back to the work area and Miss Knag she discovers Miss Knag in tears and all the other young female workers administering to her. Apparently, she has taken great offence at being dismissed by Madame Mantalini in favour of Kate. Miss Knag is disgusted that after 15 years in the service of Madame Mantalini she was dismissed in favour of Kate. In short, the once-friendly Miss Knag claims that she now “detests and hate[s]�� Kate. As the chapter Kate is again reduced to tears.

Thoughts

Kate has been repeatedly described as being attractive, but in each interaction with others her beauty has been a liability to her, her success, and her association with other people. What possible reasons would Dickens have to make one’s attractive appearance such a liability?

To date, have you found this novel to a good balance of the somber and the humourous or has it been significantly weighted either way?

Chapter 19

Kate’s life of misery in the last chapter would be enough for most people, but Dickens has yet more stress and horror for her in this chapter. Once again, it is Ralph Nickleby who is the author of her discomfort. Indeed, if we had any doubt about the vile nature of Ralph Nickleby this chapter will dispel them.

We begin with Ralph Nickleby meeting her after work and we notice that Kate shrinks from his “cold glistening eye.�� Kate finds out that she is to dine with him, and Mrs Nickleby appears to be delighted at the prospect and then launches into yet another of her flights of fancy and fantasy. Ralph Nickleby is having a little party of gentlemen with whom he is “connected in business�� and Kate learns that she will “keep house�� for her uncle.

Dickens first gives us a description of the home that Kate and her mother occupy. Words and phrases such as “gloomy,�� “dim,�� “colony of mice,�� and “dark corners�� shed light on the depressing state of Kate’s life. The next setting is the hackney coach ride to Ralph’s home. Here, we see how Dickens transitions and prepares us for Kate’s evening. Dickens writes that the hackney coach ride to Ralph’s home “rattled, and jangled, and whipped, and cursed, and swore, and tumbled all together. Here, words of speed, pain, and aggression link us to the home of Ralph Nickleby. Next we learn that his home is a place of “the softest and most elegant carpets, the most exquisite pictures, the costliest mirrors; articles of richest ornament , quite dazzling from their beauty ... as though the house was brim-full of riches.�� Who would expect such a private residence for Ralph Nickleby after reflecting on his office and his secretary Newman Noggs. From the dreary world of Kate and her mother through the bullying aggressiveness of the hackney coach driver to the opulence of Ralph’s home we have, in a few short sentences, the essence of Ralph’s worlds, his power, and his private life. When Kate sees her uncle, her first question is “pray Uncle ... are there any ladies here?�� In what can only be a double-entendre Ralph answers “No ... I don’t know any.��

Thoughts


One of Dickens great skills is his description of both persons and places. Please share any short description from this chapter that you find most effective in terms of word choice, style, or use of any literary technique.

How surprised were you that the mean and crusty Ralph Nickleby lived in such splendour?


Ralph soon introduces Kate to two men. One is Lord Frederick Verisopht. His is dressed as a dandy and it does not take long for Dickens to ascribe to him a speech trait or marker. Verisopht has a slight stammer and seems to enjoy repeating the word “deyvle.�� It also does not take too long for him to comment that Kate is “deyvlish pitty.�� It seems every man finds Kate attractive. Kate then meets a friend of Verisopht’s by the name of Sir Mulberry Hawk. If there ever was an appropriate name it is Sir Mulberry Hawk. Two more men by the names of Pyke and Pluck are introduced as well. With the introductions complete, Ralph leads his niece to a seat but “glanced warily around as though to assure himself of the impression which [Kate’s] appearance had created.�� To me, this is the most heinous sentence of the novel so far. It is obvious that Kate was brought to Ralph’s house not to enjoy a meal, or even be a hostess for a dinner party, but rather to be the main course of the dinner. She is the prey and one man’s name is Hawk, which suggests a predator . The direction this chapter is taking is unsettling. The presence of Hawk “roused in her gentle breast such disgust and burning indignation�� that we, as readers, know that Kate realizes she has been lead into a trap, that she is the bait, and that her uncle the opportunistic hunter. We also now know that Ralph is willing to let, loan, or even sell his own niece for profit.

If Kate is the main course of the hungry Hawk, Pyke and Pluck are his jackals. They eagerly consume all the available food and drink they can, and further dine on crumbs of innuendo while serving a banquet of fawning to Sir Mulberry Hawk.

Thoughts

Do you wish to comment further of the actions of Ralph Nickleby?

What are your first impressions of Lord Verisopht, Sir Mulberry Hawk, and the hangers-on Pyke and Pluck?

Did you notice the many references to money, betting, and pricing of an object in this chapter? What do you think Dickens’s design might be?


Kate flees the room and finds some solace in reading a book. In a short time, however, Sir Mulberry Hawk has tracked her down. Again, he is leering, and at one point calls her a “sweet creature.�� As Kate attempts to flee his presence he “caught her dress, and forcibly detained her.�� To me, these phrases suggest and reinforce the predatory nature of a Hawk. Kate continues to struggle against Hawk and is finally rescued by her uncle who says to Hawk “Your way lies there sir ... in a suppressed voice, that some devil might have owned with pride.�� Sir Mulberry Hawk eventually backs off when ordered by Ralph Nickleby.

Ralph and Sir Mulberry Hawk continue to spar with words but this scene clarifies much about Ralph Nickleby and his associates. Nickleby is a money lender, a man without scruples who happily will use others to further his own financial gain. Kate, it appears, was indeed little more than human bait to attract Lord Verisopht. She was, in Ralph’s own words, “a matter of business.�� Kate is understandably shocked with what she has seen and witnessed and begs to go home. Her wish is granted, but as she is leaving a comb falls from her face and as her uncle looks at her he believes he is looking at “the face of his dead brother�� and this face makes Ralph stagger and makes it seem that he “had seen a spirit from some world beyond the grave.��

Thoughts


A deep breath first. To me, the workhouse in Oliver Twist and the Dotheboys Hall school in our present novel both pale in comparison to what we have just read about in this chapter. Ralph’s home, one of wealth and opulence, has been built on the exploitation of others, on loan sharking, on the planned) impoverishment and destruction of others, and, horridly, the desire to use his own niece as an unwilling pawn in his schemes. Dare I say Ralph acts almost as a pimp? What are your feelings about the new male characters we have met in this chapter for the first time, and of Ralph, Kate, and Mrs Nickleby?

Do you find this Chapter as unsettling as I do?

Chapter 20

This chapter opens with Miss La Creevy on her way to Madame Mantalini’s to inform her Kate is too ill to work the day after her dinner with her uncle. She correctly guesses that Ralph Nickleby is the cause of Kate’s distress, but does not know yet the exact details of the previous evening. One her way back home Dickens further sketches Miss La Creevy’s character and thus moves the reader from the gloom of the previous chapter with Kate to the more innocent and witty personality of Miss La Creevy. At breakfast, her servant Hannah announces that a gentleman has come visiting and this person turns out to be Nicholas Nickleby. She notices that Nicholas is thinner and paler and Nicholas tells her he is poorer and has suffered much in his recent past. Nicholas and Miss La Creevy head of to meet his mother and sister where Nicholas intends to confront his uncle. When they arrive Ralph Nickleby is just completing his comments on how Nicholas has disgraced himself at Dotheboys and how he, Ralph Nickleby, finds Nicholas to be a criminal. At this point, Nicholas bursts through a door, and calls his uncle a liar. This shocks Ralph, who falls back a few paces “taken off guard by this unexpected apparition.�� To prevent any violence, Kate and Miss La Creevy position themselves between Ralph and Nicholas.

Thoughts


In terms of setting and structure Dickens has moved us from the opulence of Ralph’s home to the much humbler residences of first, Miss La Creevy, and then to that of Kate and her mother. The scene is very interesting. Here, we have Ralph claiming Nicholas is a disreputable thief who should be arrested. How ironic that Kate is in the room and is fully aware of Ralph’s own despicable behaviour. To what extent do you think Dickens wants the reader to dislike Ralph even more in this chapter?

Did you notice that Miss La Creevy has a servant named Hannah? Again, as we track the social strata and employment of characters we see that Miss La Creevy makes enough to have a servant. What I find most interesting is that the sentence that Dickens writes in no way (to me at least) suggests anything but the logical setting of the scene. Unless you were frightfully poor, even those of the lower classes seem to have employed servants. What other scenes or settings can you recall that establish the simple facts of 19C life that we find remarkable in the 21C?

We have, of course, Mrs Nickleby’s reaction to the events occurring in the room. Do you find her conversation to be humourous, annoying, or somewhere in between?


The language that Nicholas uses when upbraiding his uncle is very melodramatic and would suit a stage production very well. Kate asks her brother to calm down a bit and “refute these calumnies�� and Nicholas does so. Mrs Nickleby can only say “Oh dear me! ... I don’t know what to think, I really don’t.�� At this point in the proceedings I hoped that Mrs Nickleby would fall silent. Nicholas then gives an account of his leaving Dotheboys with Smike and states “I would that I knew on whom [Smike] has the claim of birth; I might wring something from his sense of shame, if he were dead to every tie of nature.�� Nicholas threatens and promises much in this novel. These lines bear remembering.

Ralph Nickleby accuses Nicholas of being “headstrong, wilful and disorderly�� and states he will have nothing more to do with the family which awakens Mrs Nickleby to plead for her son. Nicholas announces that he is leaving London, but before he leaves the room he steps up to his uncle and warns him that “There will be a day of reckoning sooner or later, and it will be a heavy one for you if they are wronged.�� And with those words Nicholas leaves the room. At his own residence with Smike Nicholas breaks into tears and Smike offers to leave Nicholas since Smike believes he is the cause of Nicholas’s sadness. Nicholas responds to this by commenting “My heart is linked to yours. We will journey from this place together.�� And so the chapter concludes. At this point we see Dickens invoking one of the classic motifs of literature. A young man sets out from his home to find his way in the world and perhaps his fortune. With him will go a trusted companion.

Thoughts

To what extent do you think Dickens overwrote this chapter’s dramatic confrontations and dialogue?

The future is before Nicholas and his faithful companion. Can you recall any other pairings like this in literature who set out on an adventure into an unknown future?

Why do you think Kate did not speak up more forcibly to both defend her brother and recount her own knowledge of how horrid Ralph Nickleby is?

Peter wrote: How Kate avoided a primal scream being in the middle of these women I’ll never know.

Growing up with Mrs. Nickleby, Kate has undoubtedly learned to tune her out. I know I would. Notice how when Ralph came to reveal Nicholas's actions in Yorkshire, Kate begged her mother several times to be quiet. Regrettably, she was so busy talking that she didn't take the time to listen to her daughter.

They eagerly consume all the available food and drink they can, and further dine on crumbs of innuendo...

What a turn of phrase, Peter! When will we read your novel?

Regarding Nick's interview with the MP -- sententious filler!

I don't know if Dickens got better at moralizing as he matured as a writer, or if I've just been studying him enough with this group to notice it more now that we're circling back to his earlier works. Or maybe I'm just growing tired of it. Either way, I was really irritated by the Gregsbury scene. It did nothing to move our plot along - in fact, I thought it deterred from the story, in that Nicholas was poor, hungry, and hoping to support three other people, and still turned down employment. Granted, it wasn't the ideal job, but beggars can't be choosers, as they say. For me, this was just Dickens being overtly sanctimonious, while at the same time fulfilling his word count. I wouldn't tolerate it in a modern author, and I'm having less and less patience with it when it comes to Dickens.

Again, perhaps I've just missed it in later books, or perhaps Dickens grew out of it, but am I correct in noticing a lot more sexual innuendo in NN? In OT, we had (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) Master Bates. Now Dickens has Nick and Fannie talking about whether she likes soft or hard nibs on her pens, and is naming one of the randy dinner party guests Verisopht.... I'm just waiting for the banana reference.

The chapter at Ralph's home is, indeed, disturbing. The lasciviousness is right there for all of us to see. Nancy, in OT, made her living as a prostitute, and yet Sikes never felt as much like a pimp as Ralph does in this chapter. I find it interesting that Dickens seems to be much more bold about lust in this novel.

As for romance, do we have some foreshadowing with the girl in the employment office? I was sure that Nicholas would return to the office the next day to run into the girl, but now he seems to be escaping London. I wonder if she'll turn up again.

Peter wrote: "Why do you think Kate did not ... recount her own knowledge of how horrid Ralph Nickleby is?..."

I had this question. I guess the revelation would have made the book much shorter. :-)

Kate received unwanted attention from Hawk and the others, and discovered her uncle's a pig (with apologies to swine everywhere), but let's be honest -- the only thing that actually happened was that she was leered at and Hawk grabbed her dress and prevented her from leaving the room. Now, if Ralph hadn't walked in it may escalated, but he did and it didn't. My question, then, is how much of a delicate flower is Kate that she was so traumatized that she had to miss three days of work?? (Yes -- this warrants TWO question marks!!) Seriously, are these people poor and hungry or not? Between this and Nicholas rejecting the job with Gregsbury, it certainly seems as if the Nicklebys don't take their situation seriously.

Mary Lou wrote: "Regarding Nick's interview with the MP -- sententious filler!

I don't know if Dickens got better at moralizing as he matured as a writer, or if I've just been studying him enough with this group t..."

Hi Mary Lou

I agree, the Gregsbury scene was way many words and not enough plot advancement or enjoyment. Filler indeed, I imagine. Of course we might meet Gregsbury again, but, as you so correctly noted, one gets a sense of what Dickens is doing the more one reads him and is able to place his work in some form of chronological context.

There is some very evident (to me anyway) sexual innuendo in NN. The pencil scene was quite funny, and I can imagine Dickens and Forster having a chuckle or two over it. I must confess I fret over pointing out the sexual innuendo when I perceive it in the novels as it may upset some of our fellow Curiosities. I studiously avoided pointing out the Bates name in OT. Perhaps I should be bolder in the future.

As we read through the novels I think Dickens did tone down his obvious sexual innuendo. That said, I think Major Bagstock in “Dombey and Son�� is well, when we get there I will gently urge everyone to consider his character and appearance closely. :-))

Oh, dear. I hope I didn't offend anyone! I'm usually the biggest prude in the room, so I figure if I notice these things it must be blatantly obvious to others. Of course, that doesn't mean it has to be discussed. I generally try to keep things G or PG rated. My apologies to anyone who may not have wanted to travel down that road.

Now you've got me thinking back on Major Bagstock... seems to me he was the one who referred to himself in the 3rd person, wasn't he? As I recall, he admired the 2nd Mrs. Dombey (or was it her mother?), but I've lost any other details. Now I'm very curious. :-)

Mary Lou wrote: "Oh, dear. I hope I didn't offend anyone! I'm usually the biggest prude in the room, so I figure if I notice these things it must be blatantly obvious to others. Of course, that doesn't mean it has ..."

Mary Lou

I am certain you did not offend anyone. Indeed, you have opened a few new lines of thought and consideration. Thank you.

As for Major Bagstock. You have a good memory. He was quite interested in Mrs Skewton, Edith Dombey’s mother. Now I won’t tease you too much, and we will keep our minds focussed on NN, but ... let’s just say for now Major Bagstock has an explosive personality. :-))

Nicholas Engaged as Tutor in a Private Family

Chapter 16

Phiz

Text Illustrated:

‘How do you mean?�� asked Nicholas.

‘Do you consider it a good language, sir?�� said the collector; ‘a pretty language, a sensible language?��

‘A pretty language, certainly,�� replied Nicholas; ‘and as it has a name for everything, and admits of elegant conversation about everything, I presume it is a sensible one.��

‘I don’t know,�� said Mr. Lillyvick, doubtfully. ‘Do you call it a cheerful language, now?��

‘Yes,�� replied Nicholas, ‘I should say it was, certainly.��

‘It’s very much changed since my time, then,�� said the collector, ‘very much.��

‘Was it a dismal one in your time?�� asked Nicholas, scarcely able to repress a smile.

‘Very,�� replied Mr. Lillyvick, with some vehemence of manner. ‘It’s the war time that I speak of; the last war. It may be a cheerful language. I should be sorry to contradict anybody; but I can only say that I’ve heard the French prisoners, who were natives, and ought to know how to speak it, talking in such a dismal manner, that it made one miserable to hear them. Ay, that I have, fifty times, sir—fifty times!��

Mr. Lillyvick was waxing so cross, that Mrs. Kenwigs thought it expedient to motion to Nicholas not to say anything; and it was not until Miss Petowker had practised several blandishments, to soften the excellent old gentleman, that he deigned to break silence by asking,

‘What’s the water in French, sir?��

‘L’eau,�� replied Nicholas.

‘Ah!�� said Mr. Lillyvick, shaking his head mournfully, ‘I thought as much. Lo, eh? I don’t think anything of that language—nothing at all.��

‘I suppose the children may begin, uncle?�� said Mrs. Kenwigs.

‘Oh yes; they may begin, my dear,�� replied the collector, discontentedly. ‘I have no wish to prevent them.��

This permission being conceded, the four Miss Kenwigses sat in a row, with their tails all one way, and Morleena at the top: while Nicholas, taking the book, began his preliminary explanations. Miss Petowker and Mrs Kenwigs looked on, in silent admiration, broken only by the whispered assurances of the latter, that Morleena would have it all by heart in no time; and Mr. Lillyvick regarded the group with frowning and attentive eyes, lying in wait for something upon which he could open a fresh discussion on the language.

There came into the office an applicant in whose favour he immediately retired, and whose appearance both surprised and interested him

Chapter 16

Fred Barnard

Household Edition

Text Illustrated:

As Nicholas opened his mouth, to request the young man to turn to letter S, and let him know what secretaryships remained undisposed of, there came into the office an applicant, in whose favour he immediately retired, and whose appearance both surprised and interested him.

This was a young lady who could be scarcely eighteen, of very slight and delicate figure, but exquisitely shaped, who, walking timidly up to the desk, made an inquiry, in a very low tone of voice, relative to some situation as governess, or companion to a lady. She raised her veil, for an instant, while she preferred the inquiry, and disclosed a countenance of most uncommon beauty, though shaded by a cloud of sadness, which, in one so young, was doubly remarkable. Having received a card of reference to some person on the books, she made the usual acknowledgment, and glided away.

She was neatly, but very quietly attired; so much so, indeed, that it seemed as though her dress, if it had been worn by one who imparted fewer graces of her own to it, might have looked poor and shabby. Her attendant—for she had one—was a red-faced, round-eyed, slovenly girl, who, from a certain roughness about the bare arms that peeped from under her draggled shawl, and the half-washed-out traces of smut and blacklead which tattooed her countenance, was clearly of a kin with the servants-of-all-work on the form: between whom and herself there had passed various grins and glances, indicative of the freemasonry of the craft.

This girl followed her mistress; and, before Nicholas had recovered from the first effects of his surprise and admiration, the young lady was gone. It is not a matter of such complete and utter improbability as some sober people may think, that he would have followed them out, had he not been restrained by what passed between the fat lady and her book-keeper.

Commentary:

Well might John Carey claim that Dickens spends "more time describing clothes than describing people". But, curiously, in this respect the author has nothing to say about Nicholas. It is clear only that the young hero strikes other characters, like Squeers, not to mention Squeers's enamored daughter Fanny, as looking like a gentleman. Squeers, for example, senses immediately that he will be out of place at Dotheboys Hall. So "unprepossessing" himself, Squeers is, in fact, "perplexed with such an application form a youth of Nicholas's figure". For all his vicissitudes, then, and in strong contrast to Squeers, to Noggs at the beginning, and also to fops like Lord Verisopht in Ralph Nickleby's London circle, Nicholas is unremarkably but suitably attired. This might remind us of Tommy Merton at the end of Sandford and Merton, who divests himself of his flashy buckles and other accoutrements to indicate his new seriousness of outlook and dignity of character. Nicholas too gets rid of some of his wardrobe. He not only has his own change of clothes when he gets to London; he has more to spare which he sells in order to relieve Noggs of the burden of hospitality, and pay for lodgings for himself and Smike. In a narrative packed with references to money, clothes have been seen as a form of currency already: new boys were required to bring various garments to Dotheboys Hall, for Mrs Squeers to purloin. Nicholas's dealings, however, are above-board, and show not simply that clothes or of secondary importance to him, but that he is resourceful and considerate. Above all, the cash will enable him to be independent. It is a propitious start.

Madame Mantalini Introduces Kate to Miss Knag

Phiz

Text Illustrated:

On Madame Mantalini calling aloud for Miss Knag, a short, bustling, over-dressed female, full of importance, presented herself, and all the young ladies suspending their operations for the moment, whispered to each other sundry criticisms upon the make and texture of Miss Nickleby’s dress, her complexion, cast of features, and personal appearance, with as much good breeding as could have been displayed by the very best society in a crowded ball-room.

‘Oh, Miss Knag,�� said Madame Mantalini, ‘this is the young person I spoke to you about.��

Miss Knag bestowed a reverential smile upon Madame Mantalini, which she dexterously transformed into a gracious one for Kate, and said that certainly, although it was a great deal of trouble to have young people who were wholly unused to the business, still, she was sure the young person would try to do her best—impressed with which conviction she (Miss Knag) felt an interest in her, already.

‘I think that, for the present at all events, it will be better for Miss Nickleby to come into the show-room with you, and try things on for people,�� said Madame Mantalini. ‘She will not be able for the present to be of much use in any other way; and her appearance will—��

‘Suit very well with mine, Madame Mantalini,�� interrupted Miss Knag. ‘So it will; and to be sure I might have known that you would not be long in finding that out; for you have so much taste in all those matters, that really, as I often say to the young ladies, I do not know how, when, or where, you possibly could have acquired all you know—hem—Miss Nickleby and I are quite a pair, Madame Mantalini, only I am a little darker than Miss Nickleby, and—hem—I think my foot may be a little smaller. Miss Nickleby, I am sure, will not be offended at my saying that, when she hears that our family always have been celebrated for small feet ever since—hem—ever since our family had any feet at all, indeed, I think. I had an uncle once, Madame Mantalini, who lived in Cheltenham, and had a most excellent business as a tobacconist—hem—who had such small feet, that they were no bigger than those which are usually joined to wooden legs—the most symmetrical feet, Madame Mantalini, that even you can imagine.��

I don't forget you, my soul, and never shall, and never can," said Mantalini, kissing his wife's hand

Chapter 17

Fred Barnard

Household Edition

Text Illustrated:

‘And what about the cash, my existence’s jewel?�� said Mantalini, when these endearments ceased. ‘How much have we in hand?��

‘Very little indeed,�� replied Madame.

‘We must have some more,�� said Mantalini; ‘we must have some discount out of old Nickleby to carry on the war with, demmit.��

‘You can’t want any more just now,�� said Madame coaxingly.

‘My life and soul,�� returned her husband, ‘there is a horse for sale at Scrubbs’s, which it would be a sin and a crime to lose—going, my senses�� joy, for nothing.��

‘For nothing,�� cried Madame, ‘I am glad of that.��

‘For actually nothing,�� replied Mantalini. ‘A hundred guineas down will buy him; mane, and crest, and legs, and tail, all of the demdest beauty. I will ride him in the park before the very chariots of the rejected countesses. The demd old dowager will faint with grief and rage; the other two will say “He is married, he has made away with himself, it is a demd thing, it is all up!�� They will hate each other demnebly, and wish you dead and buried. Ha! ha! Demmit.��

Madame Mantalini’s prudence, if she had any, was not proof against these triumphal pictures; after a little jingling of keys, she observed that she would see what her desk contained, and rising for that purpose, opened the folding-door, and walked into the room where Kate was seated.

‘Dear me, child!�� exclaimed Madame Mantalini, recoiling in surprise. ‘How came you here?��

‘Child!�� cried Mantalini, hurrying in. ‘How came—eh!—oh—demmit, how d’ye do?��

‘I have been waiting, here some time, ma’am,�� said Kate, addressing Madame Mantalini. ‘The servant must have forgotten to let you know that I was here, I think.��

‘You really must see to that man,�� said Madame, turning to her husband. ‘He forgets everything.��

‘I will twist his demd nose off his countenance for leaving such a very pretty creature all alone by herself,�� said her husband.

‘Mantalini,�� cried Madame, ‘you forget yourself.��

‘I don’t forget you, my soul, and never shall, and never can,�� said Mantalini, kissing his wife’s hand, and grimacing aside, to Miss Nickleby, who turned away.

Appeased by this compliment, the lady of the business took some papers from her desk which she handed over to Mr. Mantalini, who received them with great delight. She then requested Kate to follow her, and after several feints on the part of Mr. Mantalini to attract the young lady’s attention, they went away: leaving that gentleman extended at full length on the sofa, with his heels in the air and a newspaper in his hand.

Mr Alfred Mantalini

Illustration by Harry Furniss for the Charles Dickens novel Nicholas Nickleby

The Testimonial Edition published 1910

"A miserable wretch," exclaimed Mr. Knag, striking his forehead. "A miserable wretch"

Chapter 18

Fred Barnard

Household Edition

Text Illustrated:

With another sigh Mr. Knag took up the kitchen candles from the counter, and preceded the ladies with mournful steps to a back-parlour, where a charwoman, employed in the absence of the sick servant, and remunerated with certain eighteenpences to be deducted from her wages due, was putting the supper out.

‘Mrs. Blockson,�� said Miss Knag, reproachfully, ‘how very often I have begged you not to come into the room with your bonnet on!��

‘I can’t help it, Miss Knag,�� said the charwoman, bridling up on the shortest notice. ‘There’s been a deal o’cleaning to do in this house, and if you don’t like it, I must trouble you to look out for somebody else, for it don’t hardly pay me, and that’s the truth, if I was to be hung this minute.��

‘I don’t want any remarks if you please,�� said Miss Knag, with a strong emphasis on the personal pronoun. ‘Is there any fire downstairs for some hot water presently?��

‘No there is not, indeed, Miss Knag,�� replied the substitute; ‘and so I won’t tell you no stories about it.��

‘Then why isn’t there?�� said Miss Knag.

‘Because there arn’t no coals left out, and if I could make coals I would, but as I can’t I won’t, and so I make bold to tell you, Mem,�� replied Mrs Blockson.

‘Will you hold your tongue—female?�� said Mr. Mortimer Knag, plunging violently into this dialogue.

‘By your leave, Mr. Knag,�� retorted the charwoman, turning sharp round. ‘I’m only too glad not to speak in this house, excepting when and where I’m spoke to, sir; and with regard to being a female, sir, I should wish to know what you considered yourself?��

‘A miserable wretch,�� exclaimed Mr. Knag, striking his forehead. ‘A miserable wretch.��

‘I’m very glad to find that you don’t call yourself out of your name, sir,�� said Mrs. Blockson; ‘and as I had two twin children the day before yesterday was only seven weeks, and my little Charley fell down a airy and put his elber out, last Monday, I shall take it as a favour if you’ll send nine shillings, for one week’s work, to my house, afore the clock strikes ten tomorrow.��

With these parting words, the good woman quitted the room with great ease of manner, leaving the door wide open; Mr. Knag, at the same moment, flung himself into the ‘warehouse,�� and groaned aloud.

"I am afraid you have been giving her some of your wicked looks, my lord," said the intended.

Chapter 18

Fred Barnard

Household Edition

Text Illustrated:

But, pending the salutation, Miss Knag, who was tinged with curiosity, stepped accidentally behind the glass, and encountered the lively young lady’s eye just at the very moment when she kissed the old lord; upon which the young lady, in a pouting manner, murmured something about ‘an old thing,�� and ‘great impertinence,�� and finished by darting a look of displeasure at Miss Knag, and smiling contemptuously.

‘Madame Mantalini,�� said the young lady.

‘Ma’am,�� said Madame Mantalini.

‘Pray have up that pretty young creature we saw yesterday.��

‘Oh yes, do,�� said the sister.

‘Of all things in the world, Madame Mantalini,�� said the lord’s intended, throwing herself languidly on a sofa, ‘I hate being waited upon by frights or elderly persons. Let me always see that young creature, I beg, whenever I come.��

‘By all means,�� said the old lord; ‘the lovely young creature, by all means.��

‘Everybody is talking about her,�� said the young lady, in the same careless manner; ‘and my lord, being a great admirer of beauty, must positively see her.��

‘She is universally admired,�� replied Madame Mantalini. ‘Miss Knag, send up Miss Nickleby. You needn’t return.��

‘I beg your pardon, Madame Mantalini, what did you say last?�� asked Miss Knag, trembling.

‘You needn’t return,�� repeated the superior, sharply. Miss Knag vanished without another word, and in all reasonable time was replaced by Kate, who took off the new bonnets and put on the old ones: blushing very much to find that the old lord and the two young ladies were staring her out of countenance all the time.

‘Why, how you colour, child!�� said the lord’s chosen bride.

‘She is not quite so accustomed to her business, as she will be in a week or two,�� interposed Madame Mantalini with a gracious smile.

‘I am afraid you have been giving her some of your wicked looks, my lord,�� said the intended.

‘No, no, no,�� replied the old lord, ‘no, no, I’m going to be married, and lead a new life. Ha, ha, ha! a new life, a new life! ha, ha, ha!��

It was a satisfactory thing to hear that the old gentleman was going to lead a new life, for it was pretty evident that his old one would not last him much longer. The mere exertion of protracted chuckling reduced him to a fearful ebb of coughing and gasping; it was some minutes before he could find breath to remark that the girl was too pretty for a milliner.

Miss Nickleby introduced to her uncle's friends

Chapter 19

Phiz

Text Illustrated:

At length, the door opened, and Ralph himself, divested of his boots, and ceremoniously embellished with black silks and shoes, presented his crafty face.

‘I couldn’t see you before, my dear,�� he said, in a low tone, and pointing, as he spoke, to the next room. ‘I was engaged in receiving them. Now—shall I take you in?��

‘Pray, uncle,�� said Kate, a little flurried, as people much more conversant with society often are, when they are about to enter a room full of strangers, and have had time to think of it previously, ‘are there any ladies here?��

‘No,�� said Ralph, shortly, ‘I don’t know any.��

‘Must I go in immediately?�� asked Kate, drawing back a little.

‘As you please,�� said Ralph, shrugging his shoulders. ‘They are all come, and dinner will be announced directly afterwards—that’s all.��

Kate would have entreated a few minutes�� respite, but reflecting that her uncle might consider the payment of the hackney-coach fare a sort of bargain for her punctuality, she suffered him to draw her arm through his, and to lead her away.

Seven or eight gentlemen were standing round the fire when they went in, and, as they were talking very loud, were not aware of their entrance until Mr. Ralph Nickleby, touching one on the coat-sleeve, said in a harsh emphatic voice, as if to attract general attention��

‘Lord Frederick Verisopht, my niece, Miss Nickleby.��

The group dispersed, as if in great surprise, and the gentleman addressed, turning round, exhibited a suit of clothes of the most superlative cut, a pair of whiskers of similar quality, a moustache, a head of hair, and a young face.

‘Eh!�� said the gentleman. ‘What—the—deyvle!��

With which broken ejaculations, he fixed his glass in his eye, and stared at Miss Nickleby in great surprise.

‘My niece, my lord,�� said Ralph.

‘Then my ears did not deceive me, and it’s not wa-a-x work,�� said his lordship. ‘How de do? I’m very happy.�� And then his lordship turned to another superlative gentleman, something older, something stouter, something redder in the face, and something longer upon town, and said in a loud whisper that the girl was ‘deyvlish pitty.��

‘Introduce me, Nickleby,�� said this second gentleman, who was lounging with his back to the fire, and both elbows on the chimneypiece.

‘Sir Mulberry Hawk,�� said Ralph.

‘Otherwise the most knowing card in the pa-ack, Miss Nickleby,�� said Lord Frederick Verisopht.

Commentary:

These friends at whose dinner Ralph has asked his niece to preside (much to the delight of the class-conscious Mrs. Nickleby) are dissolute young aristocrats. Her devious uncle intends to swindle the gullible Verisopht, whose rakish companion, the inveterate gambler and womanizer Sir Mulberry Hawk, humiliates Kate by constantly making sexual advances towards her. Ralph intervenes, apparently to protect Kate from the seducer.

Three illustrations feature the upper-class villain, Sir Mulberry Hawk, and his foolish young follower, Lord Frederick Verisopht. These names are less Dickensian than they are Hogarthian, reminding one of Tom Rakewell, Moll Hackabout, and Lord Squanderfield, and while all three plates make use of extreme caricatural technique rather than the subtler character drawing of Hogarth, the first two use art objects emblematically, while the second and third express meaning through their disposition of forms. Thus, in "Miss Nickleby introduced to her Uncle's friends" (ch. 19), the introduction of Innocence to Lust is paralleled by the juxtaposition on the mantelpiece of what looks like an extremely modest and shrinking figurine with a decorative clock clearly representing Vulcan (or perhaps Bacchus) in his violent and lustful ascendancy with two fair maidens at his feet. A painting above Lord Frederick's head might be an emblematic depiction of a storm engulfing a ship (or a church?), but Phiz was less careful with such details in these early years than he later became, and the painting varies so greatly among the three steels that it is impossible to be certain.

But the young lady making a violent effort to disengage herself, he lost his balance, and measured his length upon the ground.

Chapter 19

Fred Barnard

Household Edition

Text Illustrated:

She started sometimes, when the sudden opening of the dining-room door let loose a wild shout of noisy revelry, and more than once rose in great alarm, as a fancied footstep on the staircase impressed her with the fear that some stray member of the party was returning alone. Nothing occurring, however, to realise her apprehensions, she endeavoured to fix her attention more closely on her book, in which by degrees she became so much interested, that she had read on through several chapters without heed of time or place, when she was terrified by suddenly hearing her name pronounced by a man’s voice close at her ear.

The book fell from her hand. Lounging on an ottoman close beside her, was Sir Mulberry Hawk, evidently the worse—if a man be a ruffian at heart, he is never the better—for wine.

‘What a delightful studiousness!�� said this accomplished gentleman. ‘Was it real, now, or only to display the eyelashes?��

Kate, looking anxiously towards the door, made no reply.

‘I have looked at ‘em for five minutes,�� said Sir Mulberry. ‘Upon my soul, they’re perfect. Why did I speak, and destroy such a pretty little picture?��

‘Do me the favour to be silent now, sir,�� replied Kate.

‘No, don’t,�� said Sir Mulberry, folding his crushed hat to lay his elbow on, and bringing himself still closer to the young lady; ‘upon my life, you oughtn’t to. Such a devoted slave of yours, Miss Nickleby—it’s an infernal thing to treat him so harshly, upon my soul it is.��

‘I wish you to understand, sir,�� said Kate, trembling in spite of herself, but speaking with great indignation, ‘that your behaviour offends and disgusts me. If you have a spark of gentlemanly feeling remaining, you will leave me.��

‘Now why,�� said Sir Mulberry, ‘why will you keep up this appearance of excessive rigour, my sweet creature? Now, be more natural—my dear Miss Nickleby, be more natural—do.��

Kate hastily rose; but as she rose, Sir Mulberry caught her dress, and forcibly detained her.

‘Let me go, sir,�� she cried, her heart swelling with anger. ‘Do you hear? Instantly—this moment.��

‘Sit down, sit down,�� said Sir Mulberry; ‘I want to talk to you.��

‘Unhand me, sir, this instant,�� cried Kate.

‘Not for the world,�� rejoined Sir Mulberry. Thus speaking, he leaned over, as if to replace her in her chair; but the young lady, making a violent effort to disengage herself, he lost his balance, and measured his length upon the ground. As Kate sprung forward to leave the room, Mr. Ralph Nickleby appeared in the doorway, and confronted her.

‘What is this?�� said Ralph.

‘It is this, sir,�� replied Kate, violently agitated: ‘that beneath the roof where I, a helpless girl, your dead brother’s child, should most have found protection, I have been exposed to insult which should make you shrink to look upon me. Let me pass you.��

Mr. Ralph Nickleby's "honest" composure

Chapter 20

Phiz

Text Illustrated:

‘You are here already, are you, my gentleman?�� thought the little woman. ‘Then he shall announce himself, and see what effect that has on you.��

‘This is pretty,�� said Ralph, folding up Miss Squeers’s note; ‘very pretty. I recommend him—against all my previous conviction, for I knew he would never do any good—to a man with whom, behaving himself properly, he might have remained, in comfort, for years. What is the result? Conduct for which he might hold up his hand at the Old Bailey.��

‘I never will believe it,�� said Kate, indignantly; ‘never. It is some base conspiracy, which carries its own falsehood with it.��

‘My dear,�� said Ralph, ‘you wrong the worthy man. These are not inventions. The man is assaulted, your brother is not to be found; this boy, of whom they speak, goes with him—remember, remember.��

‘It is impossible,�� said Kate. ‘Nicholas!—and a thief too! Mama, how can you sit and hear such statements?��

Poor Mrs. Nickleby, who had, at no time, been remarkable for the possession of a very clear understanding, and who had been reduced by the late changes in her affairs to a most complicated state of perplexity, made no other reply to this earnest remonstrance than exclaiming from behind a mass of pocket-handkerchief, that she never could have believed it—thereby most ingeniously leaving her hearers to suppose that she did believe it.

‘It would be my duty, if he came in my way, to deliver him up to justice,�� said Ralph, ‘my bounden duty; I should have no other course, as a man of the world and a man of business, to pursue. And yet,�� said Ralph, speaking in a very marked manner, and looking furtively, but fixedly, at Kate, ‘and yet I would not. I would spare the feelings of his—of his sister. And his mother of course,�� added Ralph, as though by an afterthought, and with far less emphasis.

Kate very well understood that this was held out as an additional inducement to her to preserve the strictest silence regarding the events of the preceding night. She looked involuntarily towards Ralph as he ceased to speak, but he had turned his eyes another way, and seemed for the moment quite unconscious of her presence.

‘Everything,�� said Ralph, after a long silence, broken only by Mrs Nickleby’s sobs, ‘everything combines to prove the truth of this letter, if indeed there were any possibility of disputing it. Do innocent men steal away from the sight of honest folks, and skulk in hiding-places, like outlaws? Do innocent men inveigle nameless vagabonds, and prowl with them about the country as idle robbers do? Assault, riot, theft, what do you call these?��

‘A lie!�� cried a voice, as the door was dashed open, and Nicholas came into the room.

In the first moment of surprise, and possibly of alarm, Ralph rose from his seat, and fell back a few paces, quite taken off his guard by this unexpected apparition. In another moment, he stood, fixed and immovable with folded arms, regarding his nephew with a scowl; while Kate and Miss La Creevy threw themselves between the two, to prevent the personal violence which the fierce excitement of Nicholas appeared to threaten.

‘Dear Nicholas,�� cried his sister, clinging to him. ‘Be calm, consider—��

‘Consider, Kate!�� cried Nicholas, clasping her hand so tight in the tumult of his anger, that she could scarcely bear the pain. ‘When I consider all, and think of what has passed, I need be made of iron to stand before him.��

‘Or bronze,�� said Ralph, quietly; ‘there is not hardihood enough in flesh and blood to face it out.��

‘Oh dear, dear!�� cried Mrs. Nickleby, ‘that things should have come to such a pass as this!��

‘Who speaks in a tone, as if I had done wrong, and brought disgrace on them?�� said Nicholas, looking round.

‘Your mother, sir,�� replied Ralph, motioning towards her.

‘Whose ears have been poisoned by you,�� said Nicholas; ‘by you—who, under pretence of deserving the thanks she poured upon you, heaped every insult, wrong, and indignity upon my head. You, who sent me to a den where sordid cruelty, worthy of yourself, runs wanton, and youthful misery stalks precocious; where the lightness of childhood shrinks into the heaviness of age, and its every promise blights, and withers as it grows. I call Heaven to witness,�� said Nicholas, looking eagerly round, ‘that I have seen all this, and that he knows it.��

‘Refute these calumnies,�� said Kate, ‘and be more patient, so that you may give them no advantage. Tell us what you really did, and show that they are untrue.��

‘Of what do they—or of what does he—accuse me?�� said Nicholas.

‘First, of attacking your master, and being within an ace of qualifying yourself to be tried for murder,�� interposed Ralph. ‘I speak plainly, young man, bluster as you will.��

‘I interfered,�� said Nicholas, ‘to save a miserable creature from the vilest cruelty. In so doing, I inflicted such punishment upon a wretch as he will not readily forget, though far less than he deserved from me. If the same scene were renewed before me now, I would take the same part; but I would strike harder and heavier, and brand him with such marks as he should carry to his grave, go to it when he would.

Commentary:

Smike is important for eliciting Nicholas's first strong performance, and the reader's sympathy, and also for showing Dickens's insight into the psychological springs of human behavior. Critics sometimes fail to recognise the particularity of his case, and see Smike as the repository of Nicholas's inner life: he "exaggerates and makes visible the inner wounds that Nicholas suppresses," claims Paul Davis. But the childhood experiences of each have been totally different. Nicholas, as he himself never forgets, is the "son of a country gentleman"; his widowed mother, though comically lacking in judgement and even common sense, has not lacked affection. Indeed, she "still doted on her children". Smike's development, on the other hand, has been stunted by deprivation and cruelty, his "years of misery and suffering lightened by no ray of hope." Making his own psychological analysis here, Dickens surmises that in such a case "the chords of the heart, which beat a quick response to the voice of gentleness and affection, must have rusted and broken in their secret places, and bear the lingering echo of no old word of love or kindness"

Early in the narrative, Dickens had consciously separated his bold, gallant hero from all taint of the grave when he cut from the very end of Chapter 20 certain words with which Nicholas had originally comforted Smike by promising to share the same doom: "'I tell you,' said Nicholas, 'that the same fate shall be ours in life and the same grave shall hold us both in death'" (Slater, Appendix A, 939). Dickens was right to have cut these words; they are not consonant with the "buoyant and sanguine temperament" that Nicholas feels lucky to possess.

I like that Mantalini drawing by Harry Furniss. So much character in it.

I'm glad that Nicholas is going to tutor the Kenwigs. But why use a fake name? Could this get him in trouble down the line? Do the Kenwigs recognize him as the same guy who saved the baby the night before?

The vocal markers are interesting. They probably reveal things about the characters. Miss Knag saying "hem" is like her job, because she hems dresses. Or maybe she "hems and haws." I'm not sure about the "demmits" and the "deyvles."

Alissa wrote: "The vocal markers are interesting. They probably reveal things about the characters. Miss Knag saying "hem" is like her job, because she hems dresses. Or maybe she "hems and haws." I'm not sure abo..."

Oh, the vocal markers! I love your connection to "hem" throat clearing, and hemming the clothes. Nice catch! This particular vocal marker is another indication that JK Rowling must be a big Dickens fan; her character, Delores Umbridge is constantly clearing her throat in the same way. (And Umbridge is surely one of her most Dickensian names!)

I usually love these - they help me keep the characters straight, and make them more interesting. But the "demmits" are the exception that proves the rule. That one is annoying me.

Kim

I’m glad you are back and posting these illustrations and commentaries. I agree with Alissa that the Furniss depiction of Mantalini is exceptional.

The commentaries always help me interpret the text better. I was especially drawn to the observation of how much of this novel pivots around clothing, and how clothing speaks so much about the character who is wearing it as well as using it for a specific purpose, whether that purpose is to show a level of wealth or poverty. For example, when Nicholas pawns some of his clothes for furniture.

Also, I always enjoy the insights of what the illustrations suggest. For example, the objects on Ralph Nickleby’s mantel and the picture in the background. I would like to add that when we compare Phiz’s illustration of the party at Ralph Nickleby’s home to that which appears next and shows Ralph at the home of Mrs Nickleby, we see the great contrast in clothing, furniture, room size and even the physical stances of the characters.

Mary Lou wrote: "This particular vocal marker is another indication that JK Rowling must be a big Dickens fan; her character, Delores Umbridge is constantly clearing her throat in the same way. (And Umbridge is surely one of her most Dickensian names!)"

Mary Lou, I think you're right about Umbridge! Thanks for bringing that up. Rowling has said in interviews that she was very influenced by Dickens. I noticed Colin Creevey, the boy who takes pictures all the time, seems based on Miss La Creevy, the portrait painter. It's been a while since I read the Potter series, so I'll have to look up the characters again. :-)

Alissa wrote: "Mary Lou wrote: "This particular vocal marker is another indication that JK Rowling must be a big Dickens fan; her character, Delores Umbridge is constantly clearing her throat in the same way. (An..."

Alissa

Fascinating comment. I have not read all the Harry Potter novels and I have no recollection of Colin Creevey. That said, it does make sense. Miss La Creevy paints portraits and Colin Creevey takes pictures. Seems like a possible connection to me.

Thanks for bringing the information to our attention.

Peter wrote: "Here we see that even among the class of person who sought employment as a governess or companion it was not unusual to have a maid...."

It's almost as if some people would pay a person to do nothing but tag along and open doors for the status of it all.

---------------------------

Olay, okay! Nicholas is a smart boy, so that was just a graduation paid vacation through Yorkshire before visiting the (un)employment office, right? Otherwise he would have gone there before traipsing all over England.

And Nicholas is getting smarter each day, because as bad as the MP's offer was, it paid twice more than what Squeers was paying, and Nicholas turned it down because he knew he could do better. He did better, right? Right!?!?

Who do you want peering over your shoulder less, Squeers with cane in hand or the very full of himself Merry-Meter-Reader/Tax-Collector/Cook-and-Bottle-Washer, uncle Lillyvick.

PS: Lillyvick must do all his meter reading and tax collecting at his niece's house. He seems to live there.

Alissa wrote: "I'm glad that Nicholas is going to tutor the Kenwigs. But why use a fake name? Could this get him in trouble down the line? Do the Kenwigs recognize him as the same guy who saved the baby the night..."

Oh, my goodness. I didn't think they didn't know. Surely they aren't that unaware of their surroundings, are they?

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Alissa wrote: "I'm glad that Nicholas is going to tutor the Kenwigs. But why use a fake name? Could this get him in trouble down the line? Do the Kenwigs recognize him as the same guy who saved the..."

Nicholas and Smike showed up at the Kenwig/Noggs house after their long journey from Yorkshire. I don't remember specifics, but feel sure they were dirty and disheveled. So maybe once he washed up, put on some clean clothes, shaved, had a bite to eat (and some of that excellent punch!), etc., he looked different enough out of context to get away with it. Remember, it was chaotic, what with the kid catching on fire and everything. I'm willing to give Dickens this one.

Alissa wrote: "I noticed Colin Creevey, the boy who takes pictures all the time, seems based on Miss La Creevy, the portrait painter. ...".

Really interesting association, Alissa! I wish I was more ambitious; I'd love to write a book on the similarities between Rowling and Dickens, both commercially, and his influences on her. But I'm not ambitious, so I'll have to wait for someone else to write it.

Mary Lou wrote: "I don't remember specifics, but feel sure they were dirty and disheveled. ..."

I thought they knew who he was; they just didn't know his name before. Did he give them his last name when he saved the children? But I admit to blowing through those last couple of pages. I was hungry :-)

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "I thought they knew who he was; they just didn't know his name before. ..."

Hahaha! That would be the easier explanation, wouldn't it? I'm so glad I can laugh at myself -- otherwise it would just be sad. :-)

Oh, I don't know. I can't remember. This is why I don't mind spoilers; I can't remember.

Mary Lou wrote: "Peter wrote: "Why do you think Kate did not ... recount her own knowledge of how horrid Ralph Nickleby is?..."

I had this question. I guess the revelation would have made the book much shorter. :-..."

I did wonder about Kate missing work.

I don't find it difficult to believe she wouldn't tell what happened, though. Yes, Ralph interrupted what Hawk was up to, but if it were a respectable household Hawk wouldn't even have been there, and he certainly wouldn't have been in a room alone with Kate. Reputation Is Everything. You don't want to advertise if your uncle is ready to pimp you to the world. Plus, Ralph does his very best to shut Kate up afterwards, not letting her go home until she's calmed down, swearing her to secrecy ("nobody must know of this but you and I"--if she weren't already worried about her reputation, that would seal it), and following up with a visit the next day where he offers not to spread the bad news about Nicholas if Kate will "preserve the strictest silence about the events of the preceding night." Kate is very young, very powerless, and has a lot to lose.

For me, where this starts to fall apart is when Nicholas shows up and Kate doesn't drop a hint even to him how badly she's being treated. Of course, partly Nicholas is too busy talking about himself to notice ("be a woman, Kate, and do not make me one while *he* looks on"). But still, presumably he would stop eventually and she could point out that the Ralph sponsorship thing is not going as well as he assumes--which by the way he ought not to assume maybe, given how his own Ralph sponsorship has gone. I'm really not happy with Nicholas. ANYWAY--I think Dickens knows this, which is why Kate has to faint at the end of the chapter to allow Nicholas to head off on his own and keep the plot wheels turning.

The utter lack of support from Mrs. Nickleby for either of her children doesn't help either.

Chapter 17

It may be further remarked, that Miss Knag still aimed at youth, although she had shot beyond it . . .

When I read a sentence like that in a Victorian era novel, I always wonder what age they mean? 23? 24? It's like nowadays when talking gymnastics or figure skating regarding women (girls actually) -- when are you over the hill? Before or after the age of consent?

Chapter 17 con't

What surprised me most was that Kate, Knag, and others had time to talk at all without being fired. As to Mrs. Nickleby, I have already stated my opinion. She must be all of what, 41?, and she acts senile. I guess that's what happens to some who overshoot youth.

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "She must be all of what, 41?, and she acts senile. I guess that's what happens to some who overshoot youth."

I think Mrs. N was born like that.

Mary Lou wrote: "Peter wrote: "Why do you think Kate did not ... recount her own knowledge of how horrid Ralph Nickleby is?..."

I had this question. I guess the revelation would have made the book much shorter. :-..."

Peter, thanks for pointing out that we continue to get a wage statement every time somebody receives a job offer. This makes Mary Lou's question about whether the Nicklebys understand they have to work for a living all the more interesting, as we watch Nicholas turn down a job that pays 15 shillings but accept a job that pays 5.

I find it difficult to wrap my head around the 19th century notion that people who didn't work for their living because they inherited their money were superior to people who had to work, and I'm interested in how Dickens, who worked for a living, is handling this in a story about gentlefolk short on cash. It's interesting that both Nicholas and Kate are prepared to work and see it as a way to maintain their pride and independence, but with Nicholas it's almost as if he doesn't want to be dependent on working either: he'll work, but it has to be at something that suits him. Pride beats money.

As for Kate, I read somewhere, I think in this book The Female Malady: Women, Madness and English Culture 1830-1980, that illness was seen in Victorian women as a sign of gentility. So maybe Kate's absence from work is supposed to underscore that she's a lady, even though that social standing is jeopardized right now--just like Nicholas's selectivity about where he works maybe underscores that he's a gentleman?

Julie wrote: "This makes Mary Lou's question about whether the Nicklebys understand they have to work for a living all the more interesting, as we watch Nicholas turn down a job that pays 15 shillings but accept a job that pays 5. ..."

Yes, this! No doubt the MP would have worked Nicholas into the ground, but Nicholas can help his family on 15 shillings a week but not on 5 pounds a year or 5 shillings a week.

This brings me to a bigger point: I'm not liking Nicholas much. The narrative keeps telling me he's a wonderful young man, but what I see mostly is a kid who is quick to temper with little else to offer.

He's awfully arrogant for a 19-year-old in his position, insistent and demanding of Noggs while he, if not for Noggs' kindness, would be living in the gutter and not Noggs' bedroom, which Noggs offers to Nicholas and Nicholas accepts even though he is the far younger man.

Question: Does MP mean Member of Parliament?

Julie wrote: "This makes Mary Lou's question about whether the Nicklebys understand they have to work for a living all the more interesting, as we watch Nicholas turn down a job that pays 15 shillings but accept a job that pays 5."

Julie, I love your insights about work and the gentile class. Also, it's fascinating to learn what people's attitudes were towards illness, or what they even defined "illness" to be, in previous centuries.

It surprised me when Nicholas turned down 15 shillings a week for 5, given his desperate situation. I think Nicholas and Kate are learning how to balance worldly practicality with personal happiness. They want money and self-sufficiency, but they also want to be happy and to know they're working for good, not evil.

The tutoring job seems perfect for a sensitive guy like Nicholas, but the pay is low. We'll see what happens. I'm curious about Miss La Creevy, because she found a balance between paying the bills and doing something she likes.

I re-read the part about Nicholas's fake name. Mrs. Kenwigs kept asking Noggs who Nicholas was, and Noggs replied that he was a tutor named Johnson, "involved in some misfortunes which he was not at liberty to explain." Apparently, Noggs felt the need to cover for Nicholas, because beating up a schoolmaster would hurt his chances of getting another teaching job.

Chapter 18

Snow shoes in England?

The Lord and his bride to be: this is why I suck at customer service. My tolerance of lords and brides is non-existent.

Is it just me or are some of Dickens' sentences, like, really, really long? Is that particular to his early works or did I miss that in BH, LD, and GE.

Chapter 18 Con't

Miss Knag is disgusted that after 15 years in the service of Madame Mantalini she was dismissed in favour of Kate. In short, the once-friendly Miss Knag claims that she now “detests and hate[s]�� Kate. As the chapter Kate is again reduced to tears.

How unfortunate Knag reacts the way she does so publicly to Kate. She was becoming one of the more sympathetic characters -- getting on in years, devoting her best years to the millner, having no savings or pension to rely on, and being dismissed so offhandedly by her boss of 15 years. All she has is her little island-room at work and her workers. How much better a character would she have been if she had suffered in silence? Seems a waste to turn her into a comedy prop.

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Is it just me or are some of Dickens' sentences, like, really, really long? Is that particular to his early works or did I miss that in BH, LD, and GE."

Some of the sentences are really really long. I seem to remember this doesn't stop with the later books.

This is my favorite section in the book so far--and the sentences are substantial:

There are many lives of much pain, hardship, and suffering, which, having no stirring interest for any but those who lead them, are disregarded by persons who do not want thought or feeling, but who pamper their compassion and need high stimulants to rouse it.

There are not a few among the disciples of charity who require, in their vocation, scarcely less excitement than the votaries of pleasure in theirs; and hence it is that diseased sympathy and compassion are every day expended on out-of-the-way objects, when only too many demands upon the legitimate exercise of the same virtues in a healthy state, are constantly within the sight and hearing of the most unobservant person alive. In short, charity must have its romance, as the novelist or playwright must have his.

Xan Shadowflutter wrote: "Question: Does MP mean Member of Parliament?"

Yes, it does.

As to the Gregsbury episode, I don't really think that Dickens just wanted to fill the required pages, although it certainly does not add anything at all to the general plot of the novel. Nevertheless, it may serve two purposes:

1) It offers Dickens an opportunity to lambaste politicians who, once they have been elected into Parliament, no longer bother to listen to what their voters want but show their true colours as self-serving talking heads. Maybe, Dickens was so full of bitterness with regard to these people from his experience as a Parliamentary reporter that from time to time, he simply had to make fun of these humbugs. - I wonder what he would have said of our German politicians right now who are exactly of the Gregsbury stamp.

2) The episode also gives him a chance of showing that Nicholas, despite his financial need, is not ready to succumb to any kind of humiliation: He simply loathes Mr. Gregsbury and his hypocrisy, and it is quite interesting that while he refuses the salary of 15 shillings, he accepts the more humble one of 5 shillings from the Kenwigs family. Being a private tutor is not necessarily more prestigious than being the private secretary of an MP but it is less of a dishonest and degrading occupation.

One may argue that it would be better for Nicholas to draw on 15 than on merely 5 shillings, but one of the few things I like about Nicholas is that he would not work for a politician, let alone for somebody like Gregsbury ;-)