Nicholas Nickleby
Nicholas Nickleby (also: "Nikolas Nickleby" or "Nikolaus Nickleby"; English original title: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby ) is a novel by Charles Dickens from 1838/1839. Thanks to Dickens' personal contact with the publisher George Westermann , the novel was quickly translated by Karl Heinrich Hermes and also published in Braunschweig from 1838–1839 . Other German translations are by Carl Kolb (1855), Julius Seybt (1898), Gustav Meyrink and Maria von Schweinitz (1966).
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The socially critical social novel takes place around 1830 and begins with the death of Nicholas Nickleby's father of the same name. He had speculated on stock deals and couldn't take the ruin. After his death, the family has to leave the property in Devonshire and seeks support from the wealthy and stingy brother of the father, Ralph Nickleby, in London. Ralph Nickleby becomes Nicholas' main antagonist. He gets Nicholas to accept a position as an assistant teacher at the distant Dotheboys Hall Education Center.
The alleged benefit soon turns out to be a cunning attempt to get rid of the unloved nephew. Nicholas notes that students are viewed and abused as a means of making money. The Principal Wackford Squeers and his family make only personal profit from the students. Nicholas is the only one who stands up for the needs of the students, is accordingly loved by the students and hated by Mrs. Squeers. A former student named Smike, who now has to work in dire conditions for his food, is particularly attached to Nicholas. One day Smike escapes from Dotheboys Hall, but is picked up again after a short time and badly mistreated and almost beaten to death by the head of the institution in front of the other students. Nicholas prevents this and beats up Squeers. Then Nicholas leaves the institution with Smike for London.
On their escape, the two friends find accommodation at the Vincent Crummles theater in Portsmouth. Nicholas appears on this stage under the stage name “Mr. Johnson "became a celebrated actor and playwright, but left the theater world when he learned that his sister Kate and his mother had been harassed in various ways by Uncle Ralph in the meantime. So at Ralph's insistence they had to give up their accommodation with Miss La Creevy, who had become a friend of the family, and move to cheaper accommodation. Kate loses her job with the hatter Mrs. Mantalini through intrigues by the clerk Miss Knag (an early literary example of bullying). Eventually, Ralph exposes his niece to the stalking and sexual harassment of Sir Mulberry Hawks, with whom Ralph Nickleby has a business connection - although Ralph himself has had an eye on Kate.
When Nicholas arrives in London, the first thing he comes across is Sir Mulberry. During this dispute over Kate, Sir Mulberry is seriously injured by a pulling-up carriage. The news of this, as well as the knowledge of Nicholas' violent behavior towards headmaster Squeers, increasingly exacerbate the conflict between uncle and nephew. Nicholas gets help from Newman Noggs, his uncle's clerk, who becomes Nicholas' closest friend alongside Smike.
By lucky coincidence, Nicholas receives a well-paid position of trust with the brothers Charles and Ned Cheeryble. Through them, Nicholas and his sister Kate get to know their great loved ones: While Nicholas falls in love with Madeline Bray, a favorite of the Cheeryble brothers, Kate gets closer to their nephew Frank Cheeryble.
The conflict between Ralph and Nicholas intensifies when Ralph and Headmaster Squeers present Smike's supposed father, a Mr. Snawley. The false father demands the boy be released, which Nicholas refuses. Even if the intrigue fails, Smike is so overwhelmed by shock that he becomes seriously ill. The climax of the conflict comes when Ralph assists his windy business colleague Arthur Gride in pressuring Madeline's self-centered father, Walter Bray, to force Madeline into a wedding with the elderly Arthur Gride. The actual goal is to get an inheritance from Madeline Bray, about which nobody except Ralph Nickleby and Arthur Gride knows anything. By chance, Newmann Nogg's ear-witness of the plot, and at the last minute the wedding is prevented.
Meanwhile, Smike gets sicker and eventually dies. Like Nicholas' father, he finds his final resting place under a huge tree above the family estate. After his death it turns out that Smike was the son of Ralph Nickleby, believed to be dead. The mysterious Brooker reveals this family bond. It was once he who had carried the boy away on Ralph's behalf when Ralph was abandoned by his wife. This surprising turn of events and major financial problems ultimately drive the uncle to suicide. The story ends happily for Nicholas. He marries Madeline Bray. Kate marries Frank Cheeryble. And a third wedding is announced at the end: Miss La Creevy, the family friend, marries Tim Linkinwater, the Cheerybles' loyal accountant and fatherly friend of Nicholas.
Film adaptations
The novel was filmed in 1947 under the direction of Alberto Cavalcanti with Cedric Hardwicke in the lead role.
In the 1970s, the musical Smike , based on the novel, was performed for the first time and later also made into a film.
A British miniseries was produced in 1982 and aired in the United States in early 1983; the film was then awarded the Emmy for "Best Miniseries".
In 2001, ITV (television station) produced The Life and Adventures by Nicholas Nickleby , which received BAFTA and RTS (Royal Television Society Awards) for costume design. Starring: James D'Arcy , Charles Dance , Pam Ferris , Lee Ingleby , Gregor Fischer , Tom Hollander , Tom Hiddleston .
In 2002 was directed by Douglas McGrath , who also wrote the screenplay, the further feature film Nicholas Nickleby with Charlie Hunnam in the lead role. In addition to Jamie Bell as Smike, Jim Broadbent , Tom Courtenay , Alan Cumming , Edward Fox , Anne Hathaway , Barry Humphries , Nathan Lane , Christopher Plummer , Timothy Spall and Juliet Stevenson can be seen.
Web links
- Film adaptations of Nicholas Nickleby in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby, by Charles Dickens English text