The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, (or Nicholas Nickleby for short) is a comic novel of Charles Dickens. Originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839, it was Dickens' third novel.

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. Most of the action takes place in London, with the notable exception of several chapters taking place in Dickens' hometown of Portsmouth.

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 often criticized for its lack of character development.

In 1980 a large-scale stage musical production of the novel was produced with words and music by Stephen Oliver. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and televised. Many of the actors played multiple roles because of the huge number of characters.

Publication

Nicholas Nickleby was originally issued in 19 monthly numbers; the last was a double-number and cost two shillings instead of one. Each number comprised 32 pages of text and two illustrations by Phiz:

• I - March 1838 (chapters 1-4);
• II - April 1838 (chapters 5-7);
• III - May 1838 (chapters 8-10);
• IV - June 1838 (chapters 11-14);
• V - July 1838 (chapters 15-17);
• VI - August 1838 (chapters 18-20);
• VII - September 1838 (chapters 21-3);
• VIII - October 1838 (chapters 24-6);
• IX - November 1838 (chapters 27-9);
• X - December 1838 (chapters 30-33);
• XI - January 1839 (chapters 34-6);
• XII - February 1839 (chapters 37-9);
• XIII - March 1839 (chapters 40-42);
• XIV - April 1839 (chapters 43-5);
• XV - May 1839 (chapters 46-8);
• XVI - June 1839 (chapters 49-51);
• XVII - July 1839 (chapters 52-54);
• XVIII - August 1839 (chapters 55-8);
• XIX-XX - September 1839 (chapters 59-65).

External links

• Free eBook of Nicholas Nickleby (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/967) at Project Gutenberg
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (http://www.charles-dickens.org/the-life-and-adventures-of-nicholas-nickleby/) - in easy to read HTML format.