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Chapter 29
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
When Mr. Crummles learns that Nicholas is leaving, he decides that they’ll have three farewell performances for Nicholas as a means of trying to increase profits. At the theater, Mr. Folair tells Nicholas that many people are wondering how he and Smike ended up together and how they arrived at the theater company. Nicholas objects to the rumors swirling around, which say that they’re fugitives. Nicholas and Smike then go to dinner at Miss Snevellicci’s house. Mr. Lillyvick and Henrietta are there along with Miss Snevellicci’s parents.
Mr. Crummles has the same inclination as characters like Squeers and Ralph to increase profits at all opportunities, including having three farewell performances instead of just one. One of the differences between Mr. Crummles on the one hand and Squeers and Ralph on the other, though, is that Mr. Crummles genuinely cares about others, while Squeers and Ralph pursue profits strictly for themselves.
Themes
Mr. Snevellicci (Miss Snevellicci’s father) is addicted to alcohol. During the dinner, he learns that Miss Snevellicci is disheartened that a man she likes will be leaving soon. Unaware that the man in question is Nicholas, Mr. Snevellicci says he wants to beat up whoever that person might be. By the time he has another drink, he forgets what he was angry about. He then winks and blows kisses to Henrietta. Mr. Lillyvick takes offense and moves to strike Mr. Snevellicci, who hides under the table. Nicholas takes hold of Mr. Lillyvick while Smike takes hold of Mr. Snevellicci. Henrietta declares her husband, Mr. Lillyvick, in the wrong. She says there was no offense meant, and who can say what’s improper or not concerning her better than she can? Mr. Lillyvick apologizes, and Mr. Snevellicci carries on in good spirits.
This passage represents a kind of comedy of manners as it plays out in relationships between men and women, specifically between Nicholas and Miss Snevellicci as well as Mr. Lillyvick and Henrietta. Though Nicholas and Miss Snevellicci don’t have a relationship, the romantic tension between the two leads to the possibility of confusion. A similar kind of confusion and negotiation of manners presents itself in the altercation between Mr. Lillyvick and Mr. Snevellicci. Ultimately, Henrietta has the last word when she says she is the best person to determine what’s inappropriate concerning herself, thereby making it clear to Mr. Lillyvick that she holds an equal amount of power to him in their relationship.
Themes
On the night of Nicholas’s farewell performance, Mr. Crummles announces to the company that a London theater manager will be in the audience. That causes a significant amount of anxiety among the cast. Mr. Crummles is sure that the manager is there to see his daughter, Ninetta. Every actor directs his or her performance to the London manager that night, but the manager doesn’t seem impressed. Nicholas is amused when the manager leaves the play early before he (Nicholas) has taken the stage.
This scene of the actors fruitlessly directing their performances to a single audience member is played for laughs, but it also shows how systems of power and entrenched power dynamics alter people’s behavior. Only Nicholas remains unaltered by the theater manager’s presence, a testament, the novel argues, to Nicholas’s inherent integrity.
Themes
The next morning, Nicholas gets a letter from Newman urging him to return to London immediately. Nicholas rushes to make arrangements to go. He runs to the Crummleses’ apartment and bursts in to say goodbye. Mr. Crummles is taken off guard and asks if Nicholas might be able to stay for one or two more performances. Nicholas says he can’t do it and leaves. Smike gathers their things. As they’re about to board a coach to leave, Mr. Crummles appears. Never one to miss an opportunity for publicity, he gives Nicholas and Smike a rousing public farewell that attracts the attention of passersby. Nicholas and Smike then depart for London.
When Mr. Crummles makes a public scene out of Nicholas’s departure, Mr. Crummles again displays tendencies toward self-advertisement and self-interest that show that he is somewhat similar to Ralph and Squeers. The difference between those characters again, though, is that Mr. Crummles genuinely cares about people like Nicholas, Smike, and the actors in his theater company, while Squeers and Ralph are motivated only by self-interest.
Themes
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