LIII explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Social Injustice and Corruption

  The plot to force Madeline into marriage with Arthur Gride highlights the exploitation of vulnerable women and the corrupt use of financial power.

• Love and Marriage

  Madeline's decision to marry for duty rather than love, and Nicholas's desperate attempts to prevent the union, underscore the theme of marriage as a transaction rather than a romantic bond.

• Resilience and Moral Integrity

  Nicholas's steadfast determination to save Madeline, despite the odds, exemplifies moral integrity and resilience in the face of injustice.

Characters to notice

• Nicholas Nickleby

  Desperate and determined to save Madeline, he confronts Arthur Gride and pleads with Madeline to reconsider.

• Madeline Bray

  Resolute in her decision to marry Arthur Gride to save her father, despite Nicholas's pleas and her own tears.

• Arthur Gride

  Triumphant and malicious, he taunts Nicholas and threatens to raise an alarm to drive him away.

• Ralph Nickleby

  Mentioned as the co-conspirator in the plot to marry Madeline to Gride.

Key passages

• “With that settled resolution, and steadiness of purpose to which extreme circumstances so often give birth, acting upon far less excitable and more sluggish temperaments than that which was the lot of Madeline Bray’s admirer, Nicholas started, at dawn of day, from the restless couch which no sleep had visited on the previous night, and prepared to make that last appeal, by whose slight and fragile thread her only remaining hope of escape depended.”

  Driven by a firm resolve born of desperate circumstances, Nicholas rose at dawn from a sleepless bed to make a final plea, the last fragile chance for Madeline's escape.

  Describes Nicholas's determination and the urgency of his mission.

• “Shrink from the loathsome companionship of this wretch as you would from corruption and disease. Suffer toil and labour if you will, but shun him, shun him, and be happy.”

  Avoid this vile man as you would avoid disease; endure hardship if you must, but stay away from him to find happiness.

  Nicholas's passionate warning to Madeline about Arthur Gride.

• “I will not disguise from you, sir⁠—though perhaps I ought⁠—that I have undergone great pain of mind, and have been nearly brokenhearted since I saw you last. I do not love this gentleman. The difference between our ages, tastes, and habits, forbids it.”

  I admit I have suffered greatly and am nearly heartbroken. I do not love this man; our differences in age, tastes, and habits make it impossible.

  Madeline confesses her true feelings to Nicholas.