Nicholas Nickleby · Chapter
The Crisis of the Project and Its Result explained
On the morning of Arthur Gride's forced marriage to Madeline Bray, Gride nervously prepares while his housekeeper Peg Sliderskew grumbles resentfully.
What happens
On the morning of Arthur Gride's forced marriage to Madeline Bray, Gride nervously prepares while his housekeeper Peg Sliderskew grumbles resentfully. Gride meets with Ralph Nickleby, recounting how Nicholas tried to intimidate him the previous night. Ralph taunts Gride about jealousy and the risk of losing his bride. They proceed to the Bray residence, where Madeline's father, Mr. Bray, expresses guilt but is persuaded by Ralph that the marriage is advantageous. The household is mournful and silent, contrasting with the intended wedding.
Themes in this chapter
Love and Marriage
The forced marriage of Madeline Bray to Arthur Gride highlights the transactional and coercive nature of marriage in the novel.
Social Injustice and Corruption
Ralph Nickleby and Mr. Bray's manipulation of Madeline for financial gain exemplifies systemic corruption.
Hypocrisy and Appearance vs. Reality
Mr. Bray expresses pity for Madeline while actively forcing her into a miserable marriage, revealing his hypocrisy.
Characters to notice
- Arthur Gride
Nervously prepares for his wedding, fears Ralph, and is jealous of Nicholas's interference.
- Ralph Nickleby
Manipulates Gride and Bray, taunts Gride about jealousy, and orchestrates the marriage.
- Peg Sliderskew
Grumbles resentfully about Gride's marriage, feeling slighted and suspicious.
- Mr. Bray
Guilt-ridden but persuaded by Ralph; reports Madeline's distress and tries to justify the marriage.
- Madeline Bray
Described as crying bitterly and ill; the unwilling bride.
- Nicholas Nickleby
Referenced as the young man who confronted Gride to intimidate him from the marriage.
Key passages
““Faugh!” said Peg, grubbing, in the discharge of her domestic functions, among a scanty heap of ashes in the rusty grate. “Wedding indeed! A precious wedding! He wants somebody better than his old Peg to take care of him, does he? And what has he said to me, many and many a time, to keep me content with short food, small wages, and little fire? ‘My will, Peg! my will!’ says he: ‘I’m a bachelor—no friends—no relations, Peg.’ Lies! And now he’s to bring home a new mistress, a baby-faced chit of a girl! If he wanted a wife, the fool, why couldn’t he have one suitable to his age, and that knew his ways? She won’t come in my way, he says. No, that she won’t, but you little think why, Arthur boy!””
Peg Sliderskew bitterly complains about Gride's wedding, feeling betrayed after years of being promised inheritance and now being replaced by a young bride.
Reveals Peg's resentment and hints at her potential scheming against the marriage.
““You see what a dry, shrivelled, withered old chip it is,” returned Ralph, when the other was at length silent. “If he were younger, it might be cruel, but as it is—harkee, Mr. Bray, he’ll die soon, and leave her a rich young widow! Miss Madeline consults your tastes this time; let her consult her own next.””
Ralph cynically argues that the marriage is not cruel because Gride is old and will die soon, leaving Madeline a wealthy widow.
Highlights Ralph's manipulative reasoning and the theme of marriage as a financial transaction.
““One would think,” said Ralph, speaking, in spite of himself, in a low and subdued voice, “that there was a funeral going on here, and not a wedding.””
Ralph observes that the atmosphere in the Bray house is mournful, more like a funeral than a wedding.
Contrasts the intended celebration with the grim reality of Madeline's coercion.
