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Chapter 11
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
After the tea party in Yorkshire, Squeers is drunk. He gets violent when he drinks, so Fanny sends a student in his direction so she can avoid his wrath. After Squeers beats the child, he goes to sleep. Fanny talks with a servant named Phoebe about the fight with Matilda. Phoebe tells Fanny that Matilda is plain and can’t compare to her. She also says that John likes Fanny more than Matilda. Fanny asks why she is so desirable that people who are engaged fall in love with her, and Phoebe says Fanny just can’t help how appealing she is. Fanny then announces that while she’s angry with Matilda, she doesn’t want to steal her fiancé, and Matilda can have him.
Squeers is again portrayed as a violent and abusive person who seems to use violence as a way to try and mollify his inner demons. He believes that the power he holds over students gives him unfettered license to treat those vulnerable and defenseless children however he pleases. That underlines the novel’s depiction of Dotheboys Hall as a kind of unregulated and chaotic place where unsuspecting boys are sent and then must try and survive.
Themes
Fanny knows that Phoebe is lying, and Phoebe knows she’s lying as well. But that flattery, and the condescension toward Matilda, make Fanny feel better. The next morning, Matilda comes to the house, and Fanny is in better spirits. Matilda apologizes for the fight, and Fanny forgives her. Matilda then says that she and John are going to be married in three weeks. Fanny is happy about that because it means that Matilda won’t try and steal Nicholas from her. But Fanny is also envious of Matilda because she’ll be married soon.
Fanny is depicted as capricious and petty. Instead of finding meaningful ways to address the problems in her life, she looks for superficial solutions, including pretending to believe Phoebe’s false flattery. The novel suggests that if Fanny tried to reckon with her issues in a deeper way, she might be able to make changes in her life that would lead her to be happier and more fulfilled.
Themes
Before long, Fanny and Matilda get into another fight about Nicholas and what happened when they had tea and played cards. Matilda says she can’t help it if men like her. Fanny gets angrier and angrier until they both decide it’s not worth fighting about and make up. Fighting and coming back together is a familiar pattern in their relationship. As Fanny and Matilda are walking, they see Nicholas coming toward them from the other direction. Fanny pretends to faint. While Nicholas thinks she is unconscious, he asks Matilda if Fanny believes he is in love with her. Matilda says she certainly does, and Nicholas responds that the idea is delusional. He’s only seen Fanny a handful of times, and even if he spent years with her, his feelings wouldn’t change. He has no interest in her whatsoever. After Nicholas leaves, Fanny tries to save face and tells Matilda that she’s not interested in Nicholas any longer because he’s odd and has a violent temper.
This passage shows that instead of seeking meaningful change, Fanny is engaged in a cycle that seems to endlessly repeat itself. That is true in her friendship with Matilda, which follows an apparently endless pattern of recriminations and reunions. It’s also true in Fanny’s response to Nicholas spurning her advances. Instead of reckoning with questions of whether she became infatuated with Nicholas too quickly or whether Nicholas was perhaps not a good match for her as a prospective romantic partner, she judges Nicholas harshly and impugns his character to avoid self-examination. Several characters will repeat similar patterns throughout the novel, often with dire consequences.
Themes
Smike begins to follow Nicholas around because he’s the only person to treat him with kindness. The Squeers family grows to despise Nicholas for various reasons, and they regularly take their anger out on Smike by hitting him. Nicholas tells Smike that if he left, perhaps Smike would fare better. Smike grows alarmed and asks Nicholas if he really plans to go. Nicholas says he isn’t sure, but he promises to help Smike no matter what happens.
Again, while the Squeerses are intent on making Nicholas an enemy, Nicholas is intent on finding friends. Unlike the Squeerses, Nicholas treats Smike with kindness and respect, a stark contrast to the Squeerses’ violent abuse. Nicholas again reckons with questions of complicity in wrongdoing when he wonders if his presence is exacerbating Smike’s suffering.
Themes
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