Reading Order
Nicholas NicklebyCharles Dickens Early Novels Reading Order
Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39) is one of his most energetic and entertaining early novels — the story of young Nicholas Nickleby, who must support his widowed mother and his sister after his father's death leaves them penniless, and who encounters along the way the villainous moneylender Ralph Nickleby, the vicious schoolmaster Wackford Squeers, and the eccentric theatrical troupe of Mr. Crummles. The novel's portrait of the Yorkshire schools ('cheap schools' where unwanted children were warehoused and abused) prompted a public outcry that led to the closure of several real schools.
Where to start
Nicholas Nickleby
Complete Nicholas Nickleby Book List
- 1Buy
Nicholas Nickleby
Charles Dickens·1839·Start here — Dickens's third novel and the one that first showed his full range: comedy, melodrama, social criticism, and theatrical energy combined in a hero's journey through the underside of Victorian England. - 2Buy
The Pickwick Papers
Charles Dickens·1837·Dickens's debut novel — the picaresque adventures of Mr. Pickwick and his friends; more purely comic than Nicholas Nickleby and the best introduction to Dickens's early style. - 3Buy
David Copperfield
Charles Dickens·1850·The more psychologically sophisticated heir to Nicholas Nickleby — another young man making his way through the world, but with the benefit of Dickens's full autobiographical honesty and his mature novelistic technique. - 4Buy
Oliver Twist
Charles Dickens·1838·Published at the same time as Nicholas Nickleby — both show Dickens using the novel to attack specific social evils (the Yorkshire schools, the London underworld) while organizing the attack around a young protagonist of exceptional virtue; reading them together gives the fullest picture of the early Dickens. - 5Buy
Tom Jones
Henry Fielding·1749·Fielding's novel about the adventures of a foundling who makes his way through 18th-century England is the formal and tonal ancestor of Nicholas Nickleby — the picaresque hero who encounters representatives of all social classes and keeps his moral integrity through misadventure; Dickens knew it well.
Nicholas Nickleby — Frequently Asked Questions
Is Nicholas Nickleby a good first Dickens novel?
It's an excellent first Dickens for readers who want the full Dickensian experience — the theatrical energy, the comic villains, the sentimental heroines, the social criticism — in a more conventional narrative form than Bleak House or Our Mutual Friend. The Yorkshire schools episode (Dotheboys Hall) gives readers Dickens at his most socially engaged, while the Crummles theatrical troupe gives them Dickens at his most purely comic. Great Expectations is more psychologically sophisticated, but Nicholas Nickleby is more immediately entertaining.
What are the Yorkshire schools in Nicholas Nickleby?
The 'Yorkshire schools' were real boarding schools in Yorkshire that advertised in London newspapers as cheap places for unwanted children — illegitimate children, children of second marriages, or simply children whose families wanted to be rid of them. The schools were notorious for starvation, abuse, and neglect; Dickens investigated them before writing the novel and based Dotheboys Hall and the vile Wackford Squeers on real institutions. The public outcry following Nicholas Nickleby's publication helped lead to the closure of many of these schools and contributed to Victorian educational reform.
Who are the Crummles in Nicholas Nickleby?
The theatrical company of Mr. Vincent Crummles — the pompous actor-manager, his wife, and their daughters (including the 'Infant Phenomenon' who has been a child prodigy for ten years) — is one of Dickens's most affectionate and comic creations. Nicholas joins the company when he needs employment and spends several chapters performing in provincial theatres; the theatrical world offers him not just work but a form of community and fellowship that stands in contrast to the cruelty of Dotheboys Hall. The Crummles episodes show Dickens's lifelong love of the theatre at its most exuberant.
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