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| Plot Summary of Nicholas Nickleby |
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"Nicholas Nickleby is Dickens' commentary on the educational system in place in England when he was growing up. In it he uses "Dotheboys Hall" (get it?) as the school setting where his main character, who is a teacher's aide, finally rebels at the evil of his boss and strikes out on his own. Another powerful social commentary, and one that led directly to legislation to correct the perceptions/situations Dickens' identifies."
Kelly Whiting, Resident Scholar
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"Nicholas Nickleby, an 18-year-old gentleman's son, is left to take care of his mother and his beautiful sister Kate after his father's death. His father left them no money, and his dying wish was that the family goes to London and turns to help to his brother Ralph, a well-to-do businessman.
Uncle Ralph is not at all happy about Nicholas, Kate, and Mrs. Nickleby showing up on his doorstep, but he feels obligated to do something for them. He finds them a place to live and helps Nicholas to get a job as a headmaster's assistant at Dotheboys Hall, a boarding school for boys in Yorkshire. Mr. Squeers, the headmaster, turns out to be a monster terribly abusing the students, especially one older boy, a poor cripple named Smike. One day, when the boy is once again being beaten, Nicholas interferes, thrashes the headmaster, and runs away from the school. Smike joins him.
They travel to Portsmouth, where they are unexpectedly invited to join a theater as actors. Things seem to go well, until Nicholas learns that his sister Kate is in trouble. Uncle Ralph, under whose protection the young lady was left, is using her to entertain his rich clients, caring little for her discomfort when those clients' advances go too far. Nicholas rushes back to London to defend the honor of his sister."
Laura Southcombe, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Nicholas Nickleby |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 19th century
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Family, struggle with
Yes
Struggle with:
- Uncle
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Parents/lack of parents problem?
- boarding school! (wack wack!)
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Physique
- average physique
Subject of Biography
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- teacher/professor
Age:
- 20's-30's
How sensitive is this person?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other people
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
- an organization
Age:
- 60's-90's
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
- an above average amount
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 4 ()
- 3 ()
Europe
Yes
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
- England/UK
City?
Yes
City:
- London
Century:
- 19th century
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- explicit references to torture
- explicit references to torture
Book makes you feel?
- angry
Commentary on society?
Yes
Commentary on
- decency
- selfishness
- wicked men
- wicked women
Story of entire life, or part?
- story of set of events during life
Amount of dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
How much dialogue in bio?
- mostly dialog
How much is philosophy rather than life story?
- 26-50% of book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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