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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Nicholas Nickleby, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Greed and Selfishness
Power and Abuse
Altruism and Humility
Family and Loyalty
Injustice, Complicity, and Moral Integrity
Summary
Analysis
In London, Kate sits for a portrait that Miss La Creevy paints. Miss La Creevy tells Kate about the different people who come in for portraits, including clerks who dress as military officers when they’re painted. Miss La Creevy says that Kate’s uncle Ralph must be a wealthy man. Kate says that she believes he is, but that he’s not the warmest man she’s met. Miss La Creevy says that’s an understatement—he’s closer to a beast than a man. They hear a knock at the door, and Ralph walks in. He says that they were talking so loudly they didn’t hear him. Kate and Miss La Creevy are sure that he overheard part of, or perhaps all of, their conversation.
Miss La Creevy’s description of clerks who dress as military officers for portraits establishes the idea of people who present themselves as something they’re not to try and gain approbation and respect. Ralph seems to use his wealth in the same sort of way. He thinks he can use his wealth and the power it affords him as a kind of disguise to obscure his flaws. Miss La Creevy sees through that disguise, though, when she says that Ralph is more of a beast than a man.
Themes
Ralph tells Kate and Mrs. Nickleby that he’s found a position for Kate to work for a milliner (a hatmaker) and dressmaker. The dressmaker’s name is Madame Mantalini, and she’s an acquaintance of Ralph. He says that dressmakers are wealthy in London. As Kate and Ralph walk to the dressmaker’s, Kate thanks him for finding her a job before bursting into tears. Ralph curtly tells her to stop crying. Kate asks if she’ll live at home, as she doesn’t want to leave her mother. Ralph says that she’ll work morning to night and eat all her meals at the dressmaker’s. But, he allows, she’ll be able to sleep at a home shared with her mother. At the dressmaker’s, Ralph and Kate are greeted by Madame Mantalini’s husband, Mr. Mantalini. He’s much younger than Madame Mantalini. He tells Ralph he’ll find Madame Mantalini and stares at Kate.
Again, Ralph comes off as powerful and well-connected, as he’s able to secure jobs for both Nicholas and Kate in a relatively short period of time. While Ralph got Nicholas a job in Yorkshire so he (Ralph) wouldn’t have to deal with him, Ralph’s motivations for finding Kate a job seem to be more genuine, as Ralph apparently feels a grudging kind of affection for his niece. Kate’s tears about the job show how painful the last few weeks have been. That includes the pain of losing her father and the more recent pain of being separated from her family when Nicholas left for Yorkshire.
Themes
When Madame Mantalini arrives, she discusses with Kate the conditions of the job. Kate will work from 9 in the morning until 9 at night and will occasionally work overtime, for which she’ll be paid. Twenty other women work at the dressmaker’s. Mr. Mantalini says that the women who work there are beautiful. Madame Mantalini says he's never seen them and assures Kate that her husband is not allowed in the workers’ quarters when the women are present. Kate agrees to begin on Monday. When Ralph and Kate leave, Ralph says they’ll have to move from their current apartment by Saturday. For the time being, Kate and her mother can stay at a vacant house that Ralph owns until someone else rents it.
This passage characterizes Ralph as perhaps more complex than he initially seemed. Up to this point, Ralph has come across as a villain with few redeeming qualities. However, in this passage, Ralph successfully secures a job for Kate and provides a home for Kate and Mrs. Nickleby where they can stay. At this point, he’s making good on his deal with Nicholas and doesn’t seem to be mistreating Kate and Mrs. Nickleby. The rest of the novel will examine the question of whether Ralph is villainous to the core or if he can change.
Themes
