Industrial Revolution

Amidst the so-called "Industrial Revolution," England became a theater of economic upheaval, driven by the surge of capitalism across the vast lands of the British Empire. Although Adam Smith unveiled his groundbreaking work, Wealth of Nations, in 1776, it took almost a century for the "invisible hand" he described — individuals chasing personal gain — to manifest a tangible impact on both the economy and the daily lives of British citizens. By the time Charles Dickens penned his vivid narratives, bustling mills, industrious factories, and diligent workshops had mushroomed across major cities, drawing laborers from the rural tapestry into urban environments brimming with dreams of prosperity. Yet, as Dickens poignantly illustrated, those dreams often faded into stark reality. The factory magnates and overseers basked in the prosperity inspired by Smith's capitalist vision, while the common worker grappled with hardships unimaginable in pastoral life. Dickens and like-minded reformers championed the establishment of schools and workhouses to uplift the working classes, while Parliament sought to enshrine humanitarian standards in law. Over time, circumstances did improve, and women began to carve out a semblance of independence by earning wages, providing an alternative to the traditional path of marriage.

Women in Victorian England

In the era of Queen Victoria, the seeds of the women's suffrage movement took root, striving to secure the right to vote for women, with momentum building particularly after 1867. Yet, the prevailing image of the "Home Goddess," a term Dickens coined, dominated societal expectations. This vision painted women as delicate mistresses of the household, managing affairs with gentle grace, avoiding encroachment into their husbands' domains. This portrait existed alongside a pervasive belief in women's intellectual inferiority compared to men. Women were prized not for their reasoning but for their adeptness in domestic roles and their unflinching adherence to decorum. Thus, characters like Kate Nickleby found themselves unable to directly challenge aggressors like Sir Mulberry Hawk, relying on male relatives for protection, while epitomizing the nurturing, angelic roles within their family and community. Women were shackled by scant political or economic liberties: the inability to vote, initiate divorce, or pursue formal education, with property and children held under the husband's authority. It would not be until the aftermath of World War I, when women stepped into roles left vacant by men fighting in the trenches, that they would finally obtain the vote in 1918, with full political equality arriving a decade later.

Social Reform

The nineteenth century unfolded with a slew of legislative efforts aimed at addressing the societal woes born of the Industrial Revolution and the influx of low-paid workers into the urban sprawl. The Poor Law of 1834 abolished government relief for the indigent, consigning them to workhouses segregated by gender and age. This measure intended to encourage self-reliance and ensure the male head of a family provided for his kin. However, the harsh conditions within these workhouses often propagated illness, exhaustion, and accidents, forcing wives into these institutions when their spouses failed to support them, thereby ensnaring families in a relentless cycle of poverty. The Marriage Act of 1836 facilitated the legal union of the impoverished, promoting familial responsibility, while the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 democratized divorce, previously the preserve of the wealthy. However, the law still permitted men to dissolve marriages on the grounds of adultery while women could only seek divorce under the most severe conditions. Two significant Factory Acts (1842, 1847) curtailed working hours and barred women and children from laboring in mines. The Matrimonial Property Acts (1870, 1882) granted women the right to manage their property, and the Reform Bills...

Filmic Staging

Edgar masterfully crafted an array of stagecraft techniques that mirror cinematic styles, like the "zoom lens" illusion, seamless scene transitions, and layered visuals. By ingeniously blending stage configurations, lighting artistry, and strategic contrasts, Nicholas Nickleby transforms into a film-like experience. This is vividly portrayed when distinct episodes unfold concurrently, suggesting that various events are transpiring across London simultaneously. These deliberate overlays often highlight thematic links. For instance, in a pivotal scene, Noggs eavesdrops on Ralph conspiring with Arthur Gride to secure Madeline's inheritance through marriage deception, while the benevolent Mr. Charles and Mr. Ned Cheeryble plot to rescue her from destitution. The Cheerybles’ generosity starkly contrasts Ralph's unscrupulous greed, a dynamic vividly amplified through shifts in lighting and sound that fluidly guide the audience’s focus between scenes. This duality intensifies the thematic contrasts, hammering home the juxtaposition. In another moment, Nicholas and Smike rehearse lines from Romeo and Juliet as Ralph mercilessly retracts his funding from two failing entrepreneurs, concurrently, Mrs. Nickleby informs Kate of an obligatory dinner with her uncle. Smike’s line, "My poverty and not my will consents," referring to the apothecary’s reluctant sale of poison to Romeo, resonates deeply with Kate's predicament, compelled by poverty to heed her uncle’s wishes. David Edgar christened this nuanced layering "referential irony," a sophisticated form of dramatic irony where the audience perceives the gravity of words the characters remain blissfully unaware of. Such dual meanings gain depth through Edgar's carefully interwoven narrative threads.

The Influence of Epic Theater

Drawing inspiration from Bertolt Brecht’s pioneering "epic theater," Edgar ingeniously shatters the illusion of performance, inviting the audience to observe the play with a critical eye. This self-aware theatrical approach frequently surfaces in Nicholas Nickleby through self-referential narration, where actors momentarily step out of their roles to address the audience directly, providing insight into the unfolding drama. Characters frequently "step out front" to weave narrative summaries, echoing the novel’s origins by integrating Dickens’s own prose. Moreover, characters, notably Nicholas, occasionally refer to themselves in the third person, reinforcing the play’s artifice. Brecht's approach aimed to awaken the audience to societal flaws depicted on stage, steering them away from passive consumption toward "complex seeing." This encourages viewers to not only follow the plot but also critically assess the playwright's intentions. David Edgar acknowledges Brecht’s profound influence on his work, describing it as "part of the air we breathe." Before embarking on Nicholas Nickleby, Edgar crafted "agitprop" plays aimed at social reform, staged in intimate theaters. However, recognizing agitprop’s limitations, he pivoted to producing grand "spectacles" that vividly illustrate societal mechanisms, presenting multifaceted social issues to a broader audience.

Nicholas Nickleby confronts a tapestry of significant social themes. In dialogue with theater critic Elizabeth Swain, Edgar elaborates on the play’s perspective, describing it as "highly ambivalent about riches, vehemently critical of moneymaking, advocating for students against teachers, employees over employers, often siding with actors against directors, women over men, and servants over masters." While many themes originate from Dickens's narrative, Edgar casts a skeptical eye on Dickens's moralistic tone. Employing the art of "disillusion," Edgar challenges the overt optimism of Dickens's tale. He articulates, "One key reason for preserving a distance between the adaptation and the original is to suggest that Dickens is perhaps overly optimistic." Through Brechtian techniques that disrupt viewer immersion, Nickleby emerges as both captivating entertainment and a vehicle for insight. Unlike Brecht, whose works appealed primarily to a niche audience, Edgar broadened his reach, achieving both popular and serious theater simultaneously with a grandiose production featuring over one hundred and thirty roles, scores of elaborate costumes, and wigs. This ambitious divergence from traditional Brechtian methods was deemed worthwhile by Edgar, who discovered that his work could be "popular, serious, and socially relevant all at once."

Early Nineteenth Century: The shackles of poverty are almost unbreakable for those who are born into it. However, the burgeoning allure of expanding cities and the promise of factory employment ignite the hopes of many who dream of rising above their desolate conditions. Lacking protective employment laws, these opportunities thrust men, women, and children into perilous work environments, where their very survival is jeopardized. The Poor Law amendment of 1834 extinguishes the earlier system of governmental aid for the impoverished, compelling them into grim and oppressive state-run workhouses.

1980: The social fabric of Great Britain, woven with threads of collective responsibility, has ushered in a largely socialist government. This administration supports businesses and extends a safety net through social services. However, the recent election of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in 1979 heralds a pivotal shift. Her policies champion the privatization of these social services, steering England back towards a more capitalistic framework.

Today: Despite the retreat from socialism seen in the 1980s, Britain still maintains a robust system of social services for the underprivileged. Yet, this framework faces mounting pressures from a significant influx of low-income immigrants, each seeking refuge within England's equitable and democratic society.

Early Nineteenth Century: Educational opportunities remain a distant dream for all but the sons of the affluent. These privileged few have access to advanced schooling, unlocking doors to financial independence. In stark contrast, women are denied similar educational avenues, as only a sparse number of institutions cater to their learning. Even within such establishments, the curriculum fails to equip them for practical career paths. Instead, their education is largely confined to the home, focusing on household management and, occasionally, classical literature.

1980: The feminist wave of the 1960s has transformed the academic landscape. Universities, once bastions of male dominance, now nearly equalize the number of women and men within their halls. This shift comes after decades of political and educational strides for women, following their post-World War I gains in equality.

Today: A just and inclusive public education system is within reach for children from every economic background. Nonetheless, the rising numbers of immigrants who do not speak English pose challenges, urging schools to innovate and ensure equitable educational opportunities that pave the way for societal integration.

Early Nineteenth Century: Society casts a harsh gaze upon illegitimate children, stigmatizing them with the perceived sins of their parents. Marginalized and often entrapped in cycles of poverty, many drift into lives of crime or rootlessness. The Yorkshire schools exploit the plight of these children's parents by offering remote locations with "no vacations," adding to their burdens as they strive to rebuild their lives.

1980: The taint of illegitimacy has largely faded from societal perception, thanks in part to the advent of the birth control pill, which has reduced the number of unintended births.

Today: In most progressive, developed nations, a child's legitimacy no longer incurs societal condemnation. Yet, in various fundamentalist enclaves across second and third world countries, punitive attitudes persist toward such children and their parents.

London

The bustling yet unforgiving capital of Great Britain, London, serves as a critical backdrop in Nicholas Nickleby’s journey. Following the death of his father, Nicholas brings his mother and sister to the city, seeking help from his uncle Ralph. However, Ralph, a miser driven by self-interest, forces the Nicklebys from their comfortable accommodations into squalid conditions and sends Nicholas to teach at Yorkshire's Dotheboys Hall. Initially portrayed as a place of illusion and hardship, London reflects Ralph's deceitful nature and his manipulative schemes.

Charles Dickens paints a dark picture of London through his descriptions of places like Snow Hill and the Manchester Buildings, home to corrupt politicians, which amplify the atmosphere of despair surrounding the Nicklebys. Despite his affluence, Ralph Nickleby lives in the ironically named Golden Square, a place as shabby as his morals. In stark contrast, the warmth and compassion of the Cheeryble Brothers, who offer the Nicklebys a cottage, highlight their belief in humanity’s inherent goodness. Through this mix of misery and hope, Nicholas must navigate a path to save his family from the encroaching darkness.

Dotheboys Hall

In the northern county of Yorkshire, notorious for its grim boarding schools, stands Dotheboys Hall, where Nicholas works under the cruel schoolmaster, Wackford Squeers. Dickens depicts the school as a nightmarish environment, filled with filth and desolation, serving as a metaphor for the torment each boy endures. While Dickens's satire of the school is fierce and unapologetic, the potential for redemption is embodied by the cheerful and welcoming John Browdie's farm nearby. Browdie aids Nicholas in dismantling Squeers’s oppressive reign, offering a glimmer of hope amidst despair.

Portsmouth

Portsmouth, the lively port city in southern England, offers a fresh start for Nicholas and Smike as they flee Squeers and Ralph’s clutches. Joining Vincent Crummles's acting troupe, Nicholas discovers a newfound sense of freedom and creativity within the world of theater. Portsmouth, with its seafaring freedom, becomes a sanctuary where Nicholas matures and becomes more responsible. Yet, despite the allure of theatrical illusions, Nicholas understands their superficial comfort and leaves this vital training ground to return to London, where unresolved challenges await.

Dawlish

The coastal town of Dawlish in Devonshire, where Nicholas spent his childhood, frames the narrative of Nicholas Nickleby. The story begins with the Nicklebys’ exile due to bankruptcy and concludes with their victorious return and repurchase of their family home. Dawlish symbolizes the regained paradise and the eventual triumph of good over evil, tempered by the inevitability of suffering and loss. This is poignantly represented by Smike’s grave, tenderly cared for by innocent children who mourn his tragic fate, reminding the reader of the enduring impact of kindness and loss.

In 1982, the Royal Shakespeare Company brought their theatrical magic to the screen with a televised production, now captured in a captivating nine-part video series, each installment a riveting hour long.

Dickens' Adaptations

The BBC has ventured twice into the world of Dickens' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, first under the direction of Vincent Tilsey in 1957, followed by Hugh Leonard's rendition in 1968. In 1973, Saxon Lucas and D. Corr took a bold creative leap with "pop opera" titled Smike for the BBC. Yet, none of these adaptations could match the grandeur and emotional depth of David Edgar's stage adaptation.

Classic Film Adaptation

Collectors and film enthusiasts might also explore the 1947 Ealing Studios film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, with a screenplay by John Dighton, featuring the distinguished Cedric Hardwicke. However, even this cinematic piece pales in comparison to the electrifying televised experience provided by the Royal Shakespeare Company's rendition.

Sources

Asquith, Ros, ‘‘A Dickens of a Play,’’ Review, in Time Out, June 20, 1980.

Billington, Michael, ‘‘ATriumph of Perversity,’’ Review, in Guardian, June 23, 1980.

Corliss, Richard, ‘‘The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby,'' Review of the televised production, in Time, Vol. 121, January 10, 1983, p. 62.

Davis, Paul, Charles Dickens A to Z, Facts on File, Inc., 1998, p. 265.

Dickens, Charles. ‘‘Author's Preface,’’ in Nicholas Nickleby, Everyman's Library, 1970, p. xvii.

----, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, 1839, reprint, Oxford University Press, 1957, pp. xviii & xix.

Edgar, David, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, in Plays from the Contemporary British Theater, edited by Brooks McNamara, Penguin, 1992.

Henry, William A., Ill, "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby,’’ Review, in Time, Vol. 128, July 14, 1986, p. 68.

Levin, Bernard, ‘‘The Truth about Dickens in Nine Joyous Hours,’’ in Sunday Times (London), July 8, 1980, p. 40.

Schlicke, Paul, ‘‘Nicholas Nickleby,’’ in the Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 404.

Swain, Elizabeth, David Edgar: Playwright and Politician, Peter Lang Publishing, 1986, pp. 65,145,221,263,268,277, 330-31,335,336.

Further Reading

Brockett, Oscar Gross, Century of Innovation: A History of European and American Theatre and Drama Since the Late Nineteenth Century, Allyn and Bacon, 1991.
This book provides a thematic overview of theatrical movements that have shaped modern theater.

Dickens, Charles, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, 1839, reprint, Oxford University Press, 1957.
This is the original Nicholas Nickleby novel by Dickens.

Edgar, David, ed., Playwrights on Playwriting, State of Play Series, Faber and Faber Limited, 1999. This anthology of essays on playwriting contains an introduction by the volume editor, David Edgar.

Matthew, Colin, ed., The Nineteenth Century: The British Isles: 1815-1901, Oxford University Press, 2000.
This book of essays by leading historians covers the economy, politics, society, gender, religious, and artistic world of nineteenth-century Britain.

Painter, Susan, Edgar, The Playwright, Methuen, 1996.
A study of Edgar's works, this book includes a chronology of his life and production dates as well as some photos.

Price, Martin, ed., Dickens: A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice-Hall, 1967.
This collection of essays, mostly focusing on one or another of Dickens's novels, includes an essay by Dickens Scholar Barbara Hardy entitled ‘‘Change of Heart in Dickens' Novels.’’

Rubin, Leon, The Nicholas Nickleby Story: The Making of the Historic Royal Shakespeare Company Production, Heinemann, 1981.
This book is a documentary of the first production of the play, including photos.

Swain, Elizabeth, David Edgar, Playwright and Politician, Peter Lang Publishing, 1986.
Swain examines the way in which, as she sees it, Edgar's political plays of the 1970s portray British history, post—World War II.

Tucker, Herbert, ed., A Companion to Victorian Literature, Polity Press, 1999.
The book is comprised of a collection of essays by recent Victorian scholars.

Williams, Raymond, Culture and Society 1780-1851, 1958, reprint, Columbia University Press, 1983.
This readable scholarly work on the literary and social history of industrialized Britain poses the hypothesis that culture became a commodity during this time.