| Nicholas Nickleby |
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Information AboutNicholas Nickleby |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY | |
| 1839 novels | |
| nicholas nickleby | |
| british novels | |
| novels by charles dickens | |
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The lengthy novel centres around the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies. His Uncle Ralph, who thinks Nicholas will never amount to anything, plays the role of an antagonist. Like nearly all of Dickens' works, the novel has a contemporary setting. Much of the action takes place in London , with the exception of several chapters taking place in Dickens' hometown of Portsmouth , as well as settings in Yorkshire and Devon . The tone of the work is burlesque, with Dickens taking aim at what he perceives to be social injustices. Many memorable characters are introduced, including Nicholas' malevolent uncle Ralph, and the villainous Wackford Squeers, who operates a squalid Boarding School at which Nicholas temporarily serves as a tutor. While some consider the book to be among the finest works of 19th Century comedy, ''Nicholas Nickleby'' is occasionally criticized for its lack of character development. It has been adapted for stage, film or television at least seven times. Perhaps the most extraordinary version was produced in 1980 when a large-scale stage production of the novel was produced on Broadway by Nelle Nugent . It was a theatrical experience which lasted more than ten hours with intermissions and a dinner break. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and in 1982 the RSC had the show recorded for Channel 4 , with it becoming the channel's first drama. The production received both critical and popular acclaim. All of the actors played multiple roles because of the huge number of characters, except for Roger Rees , who played Nicholas (due to the large amount of time he was on stage). PUBLICATION ''Nicholas Nickleby'' was originally issued in 19 monthly numbers; the last was a double-number and cost two Shilling s instead of one. Each number comprised 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Phiz :
EXTERNAL LINKS Analysis of central theme
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