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The Dual Nature of Dickens May 19, 2008 By Alison
Andrews Nicholas Nickleby By Charles Dickens Barnes and Noble
Classics, 2005 ed. 796 pp. Nicholas
Nickleby is the third novel written by Charles Dickens, following
The Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist. Published when
he was 27, it used both his gifts for comic writing and social criticism.
As Jill Muller states in her introduction to this edition, “His
first two novels, so markedly dissimilar in mood, express the two
sides of his personality. Pickwick Papers, crowded with
tall stories, overflowing tables, and raucous jollity, reflects
the gregarious and self-assured public Dickens….Oliver Twist
revisits childhood trauma through helpless Oliver, abandoned in
the workhouse….” She argues that in Nicholas Nickleby, Dickens
combines the dark and bright visions of his two earlier works. In
fact, the dual nature of Nicholas Nickleby is obvious to
any reader even if he or she is unfamiliar with the earlier books.
The Novel Inspires Social Reforms The novel opens
with the death of Nicholas' father, who lost his fortune by taking
his wife's investment advice. Left penniless, Nicholas, along with
his mother and sister, seeks assistance from his uncle Ralph. Ralph,
a hard-hearted usurer, takes an instant dislike to Nicholas and
will only help Mrs. Nickleby and Kate if Nicholas takes a teaching
position at a school run by Wackford Squeers. Ralph knows, though
Nicholas does not, that the school is one of the infamous “Yorkshire
schools,” in which the students are abused and neglected rather
than educated. The most abused boy at the school is Smike, who was
abandoned there years earlier and has suffered at the hands of the
Squeers family ever since. After a while, Nicholas runs away, taking
Smike with him--but not before he gives Mr. Squeers a beating he'll
never forget. While it may
seem far-fetched that children were starved, beaten, and even died
at the Yorkshire schools, sadly, it was far from unusual. Dickens
visited one such school, and said that the character of Smike came
to him while he was standing before the graves of students who had
not had a Nicholas to rescue them. Fortunately, Nicholas Nickleby
raised the public's awareness of the abuses occurring at the Yorkshire
schools, and as parents and guardians withdrew children, the schools
were forced to close. Dickens' intention of social reform came to
fruition with this novel. Melodrama and Comedy The plot of
Nicholas Nickleby is pure melodrama, with the noble young
hero set against the greedy, heartless villains. It's immediately
clear which side Ralph Nickleby is on, since he requires Kate to
serve as hostess for him even though he knows she will be subjected
to the drunken advances of the men who owe him money. Once Ralph
knows about Nicholas's escape from Dotheboys Hall, his dislike hardens
into a desire for revenge that fuels the rest of the plot, which
is full of improbable coincidences. In addition, the novel's insistence
on the unsullied goodness of its hero (and heroines) gives it an
old-fashioned feel. A book like this could not achieve critical
acclaim today; it would be criticized (as I'm sure it still is)
as being unsubtle and simplistic. In Nicholas Nickleby, good
and evil never mingle in one character's heart, and good will inevitably
triumph over evil, even if it involves the unlikely help of an elderly
pair of benefactors whose goodwill knows no bounds. Furthermore,
the female characters in particular are undeveloped and passive.
That might not have been considered a fault when the novel was published,
but it is certainly noticeable today. For every heroine
who blushes and weeps too often, however, Dickens gives us a comic
character that almost leaps off the page in his or her vividness.
We meet Madame Mantalini and her philandering, spendthrift husband;
the members of Vincent Crummles' theatre troupe, including his daughter
“the infant phenomenon” whose size belies her true age, among others.
Even Mr. Squeers, as awful as he is, fascinates with the lies he
tells about his school. No one can top Dickens when it comes to
developing characters with dialogue: let his characters start talking
and we soon know everything about them. Nowhere is this more true
than with Mrs. Nickleby, a scatterbrained woman whose world revolves
around herself--but somehow Dickens shapes her monologues into something
interesting and funny, until he is forced to advance the plot by
increasing the danger faced by his main characters. The Greatness of Dickens This is the
dual nature of Dickens: his comic genius delights the reader and
makes the book a quick read despite its length. In the comic scenes
we see Dickens at play, making fun of human nature but enjoying
their foibles at the same time. Yet he also feels compelled by his
vision to create outrage and compassion in our hearts for the dreadful
conditions that existed in the Victorian era. Very few writers could
have united both styles into one book, let alone created the many
novels that have remained classics. It is the measure of Dickens'
greatness that he was able to succeed in his task. © 2008, Alison
Andrews --------- Alison Andrews
lives near Ft. Worth, Texas, with her husband and two young children.
She is always looking for a new favorite book.
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