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Chapter 62
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
Frank hasn’t stopped by the Nicklebys’ house in several weeks, and Madeline has gone to live elsewhere. Charles sends a letter inviting Kate, Nicholas, and Mrs. Nickleby to dinner. He invites Miss La Creevy as well. Mrs. Nickleby tells Kate and Nicholas that the Cheeryble Brothers must have some business for them to attend to. That would account, she says, for the early hour of the dinner. Privately, Mrs. Nickleby believes the Cheeryble Brothers are planning to make Nicholas a partner in their business, though she doesn’t say that to Nicholas.
After talking to Nicholas, Charles moves Madeline out of the Nicklebys’ house and ensures that Frank visits less frequently. Those actions show again how seriously Charles has taken Nicholas’s concerns about the lower status that he and Kate occupy in comparison to Madeline and Frank. With that in mind, Dickens describes a world in which one’s outcomes in life are often determined by one’s socioeconomic status.
Themes
At dinner, Charles announces that he must speak to Nicholas about some business matters before they eat. He takes Nicholas into another room. Nicholas is surprised to find Frank in the room too. Nicholas had thought Frank was abroad. Charles explains that a will from Madeline’s maternal grandfather recently came to light. That grandfather had initially pledged his money to charity because he wanted Madeline to distance herself from her father. He had an apparent change of heart, though, and made a second will, naming Madeline as the recipient of 12,000 pounds. Charles has been working behind the scenes to ensure that Madeline receives the money. Considering that change in circumstance, Charles asks Frank if he might be interested in becoming betrothed to Madeline. Frank says he’s not because he believes Madeline’s heart belongs to another.
This passage details where Madeline’s mysterious fortune came from and why she had previously been deprived of it. Again, much of the novel revolves around wealth. The book begins with Nicholas and the Nickleby family in dire poverty and charts how that poverty leaves them in a state of relative powerlessness, as Kate, Nicholas, and Mrs. Nickleby are forced to rely on untrustworthy people like Ralph to survive, and Nicholas had to work at Dotheboys Hall even though he found that work morally repugnant. In that context, Madeline’s inheritance of 12,000 pounds shows that the money will liberate her from the kinds of concerns the Nicklebys have faced throughout the novel.
Themes
Charles says that Frank is correct. Madeline is in love with Nicholas. Charles says that he also knows that Frank is in love with Kate. He tells Nicholas that he understands why Nicholas tried to distance himself from Madeline and why Kate declined Frank’s initial proposal. But, he says, he and his brother once had nothing, and their recent wealth hasn’t changed them. He explains that he and Ned would like to give their blessings to both Nicholas and Frank to marry Madeline and Kate, respectively.
Charles reveals that while he took Nicholas’s concerns about socioeconomic status seriously, he and Ned ultimately rejected those concerns. That demonstrates the novel’s view that socioeconomic status should not be a determining factor for one’s outcome in life. Instead, one’s outcomes should be determined by one’s character. Considering that Kate and Nicholas are both honest, generous, and virtuous, the novel argues that they deserve all the best things in life, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
Themes
When Charles, Frank, and Nicholas leave the room, everyone is overjoyed with the news. Mrs. Nickleby and Miss La Creevy begin weeping. At one point, Tim and Miss La Creevy begin talking. They have met several times before. Tim asks Miss La Creevy if it wouldn’t be better for the two of them to get together rather than spend their days alone. Miss La Creevy asks if Tim is serious, and Tim says he is. He proposes to Miss La Creevy, and Miss La Creevy accepts. Mrs. Nickleby is put off by that proposal. She believes that Miss La Creevy is too old to become engaged and thinks she should have declined the proposal. Newman arrives at the party dressed in his finest clothes. The rest of the night passes in a mood of profound joy and peace.
This passage shows that the novel is headed toward a happy ending. All of the novel’s protagonists are rewarded for their kindness and generosity with good fortune. That doesn’t happen because the universe rewards justice. Instead, the novel argues that acting with kindness and generosity will lead one to form meaningful relationships with both friends and family members. Those relationships then become the basis for a meaningfully fulfilling life. Nicholas represents that approach, while Ralph represents the opposite approach of prioritizing greed and selfishness over kindness and generosity.
Themes
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