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Passage Illustrated: Nicholas inducts Smike into his Minor Role

"Who calls so loud?" repeated Nicholas.

"Who calls so loud?" cried Smike.

Thus they continued to ask each other who called so loud, over and over again; and  when Smike had that by heart Nicholas went to another sentence, and then to two at a  time, and then to three, and so on, until at midnight poor Smike found to his unspeakable  joy that he really began to remember something about the text.

Early in the morning they went to it again, and Smike, rendered more confident by the progress he had already made, got on faster and with better heart. As soon as he began to acquire the words pretty freely, Nicholas showed him how he must come in with both hands spread out upon his stomach, and how he must occasionally rub it, in compliance with the established form by which people on the stage always denote that they want something to eat. After the morning’s rehearsal they went to work again, nor did they stop, except for a hasty dinner, until it was time to repair to the theatre at night.

Never had master a more anxious, humble, docile pupil. Never had pupil a more patient, unwearying, considerate, kindhearted master.

As soon as they were dressed, and at every interval when he was not upon the stage, Nicholas renewed his instructions. They prospered well. The Romeo was received with hearty plaudits and unbounded favour, and Smike was pronounced unanimously, alike by audience and actors, the very prince and prodigy of Apothecaries. [Chapter XXV, "Concerning a young Lady from London, who joins the Company, and an elderly Admirer who follows in her Train; with an affecting Ceremony consequent on their Arrival," 335-336]

Other​ Artists' Renderrings of the Theatrical Nicholas and Smike: 1838, 1867, and 1875

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Left: Nicholas instructs Smike in the Art of Acting (September 1838), in which Phiz pursues the subplot of Kate's fortunes while her brother is absent. Centre: Fred Barnard's British Household Edition realisation of the theatrical context in Ch. 24: "As an exquisite embodiment of the poet's visions, and a realisation of human intellectuality, gilding with a refulgent light our dreamy moments, and laying open a new and magic world before the mental eye, the drama is gone, perfectly gone," said Mr. Curdle. (1875). Right: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s frontispiece of Nicholas consoling Smike at Dotheboys' Hall: Nicholas and Smike (1867).

Related material, including front matter and sketches, by other illustrators

• Nicholas Nickleby (homepage)
• Phiz's 38 monthly illustrations for the novel, April 1838-October 1839.
• Cover for monthly parts
• Charles Dickens by Daniel Maclise, engraved by Finden
• "Hush!" said Nicholas, laying his hand upon his shoulder. (Vol. 1, 1861)
• The Rehearsal (Vol. 2, 1861)
• "My son, sir, little Wackford. What do you think of him, sir?" (Vol. 3, 1861)
• Newman had caught up by the nozzle an old pair of bellows . . . (Vol. 4, 1861).
• Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s 16 illustrations for The Diamond Edition (1867)
• C. S. Reinhart's 52 Illustrations for the American Household Edution (1875)
• Fred Barnard's 59 Illustrations for the Household Edution (1877)
• Kyd's four Player's Cigarette Cards (1910).

Bibliography

Barnard, J. "Fred" (illustrator). Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, with fifty-eight illustrations. The Works of Charles Dickens: The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1875. Volume 15. Rpt. 1890.

Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford U. P., 1988.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.

Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. With fifty-two illustrations by C. S. Reinhart. The Household Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1872. I.

__________. Nicholas Nickleby. With 39 illustrations by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). London: Chapman & Hall, 1839.

__________. Nicholas Nickleby. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. IV.

__________. "Nicholas Nickleby." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, being eight hundred and sixty-six drawings by Fred Barnard et al.. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1908.

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Created 31 July 2021