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Chapter 47
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 the office, Nicholas thinks he must keep his feelings toward Madeline secret. He feels a duty toward Charles and Madeline as well to fulfill his role as the faux art dealer without complicating matters. Still, while Nicholas’s feelings remain a secret, that doesn’t mean that they diminish. Instead, Nicholas fans the flames of his feelings for Madeline while knowing he won’t disclose them anytime soon. While Nicholas is lost in these ruminations, he sees an ad in the newspaper for Mr. Crummles’s final show, which will take place in London.
Charles initially stated that he didn’t want to send Frank to pose as the art dealer because he was afraid that Frank would develop feelings for Madeline. That implies that Charles probably wouldn’t want Nicholas to develop feelings for Madeline either, perhaps because it might complicate their plan to ensure Madeline has a steady stream of income. Nicholas’s inability to tamp down those feelings, though, shows the tension between one’s perceived duty and one’s desires.
Themes
When Nicholas finds Mr. Crummles, Mr. Crummles shows him a newspaper clipping announcing that he and his family plan to travel to America. He says that Mrs. Crummles is expecting another child, which spurred their decision to leave. Mr. Crummles hopes this next child will become a successful actor in America. Mr. Crummles also tells Nicholas what has happened to other members of the theater troupe since Nicholas left and discusses the Lillyvicks’ marriage. Nicholas tells Mr. Crummles his real name. (Up to this point, Mr. Crummles has known Nicholas as Mr. Johnson.) Nicholas also tells Mr. Crummles about what led him and Smike to meet Mr. Crummles in the first place along with what has happened since they left Portsmouth. Mr. Crummles congratulates Nicholas on his change of fortune and invites him to dinner.
Nicholas reveals the truth about himself and Smike to Mr. Crummles. Notably, that information doesn’t change how Mr. Crummles feels about Nicholas, suggesting that Mr. Crummles, like the Cheeryble brothers, has faith in Nicholas and trusts him to do what is right. That relationship again shows Nicholas’s capacity to form meaningful friendships that are characterized by mutual respect and loyalty at every juncture in his life. That characteristic has helped him in each difficult situation he has encountered so far, including when he and Smike first met Mr. Crummles and were in desperate need of money with nowhere to go.
Themes
At dinner, most of the theater troupe is present. Mrs. Crummles is delighted to see Nicholas. She asks how Smike (who she knows as Digby) is doing. Nicholas says that he’s not doing well. Nicholas explains that his enemy, Ralph, has been persecuting Smike as a way to get back at Nicholas, which has caused Smike untold amounts of suffering. Nicholas then apologizes for burdening them with those issues. At the dinner, Nicholas discusses fame with a well-known writer. When Nicholas leaves, he and Mr. Crummles share a warm goodbye.
Nicholas's statement that Smike isn’t doing well makes it clear that Ralph’s persecution of Smike is taking a heavy toll on him. Smike has been subjected to years of abuse at Squeers’s hands, and a similar kind of abuse continues now that Ralph is intent on getting revenge against Nicholas and Smike. Mr. Crummles’s and Nicholas’s warm goodbye again highlights the meaningful friendship the two have.
Themes
