"Now," he murmured, "I am happy." [Page 313] by Charles Stanley Reinhart (1875), in Charles Dickens's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Harper & Bros. New York Household Edition, for Chapter LVIII. 9.1 x 13.5 cm (3 ½ by 5 ⅜ inches), framed. Running head: "The Dying Boy's Love" (313). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Passage Illustrated: Smike Dies in the Arms of Nicholas
Phiz's original serial illustration of Smike's final moments reveals his devotion to Nicholas and his delusions of persecution: The Recognition (September 1839), Chapter 58.
"I am not afraid to die," he said. "I am quite contented. I almost think that if I could rise from this bed quite well I would not wish to do so, now. You have so often told me we shall meet again — so very often lately, and now I feel the truth of that so strongly — that I can even bear to part from you."
The trembling voice and tearful eye, and the closer grasp of the arm which accompanied these latter words, showed how they filled the speaker’s heart; nor were there wanting indications of how deeply they had touched the heart of him to whom they were addressed.
"You say well," returned Nicholas at length, "and comfort me very much, dear fellow. Let me hear you say you are happy, if you can."
"I must tell you something, first. I should not have a secret from you. You would not blame me, at a time like this, I know."
"I blame you!" exclaimed Nicholas.
"I am sure you would not. You asked me why I was so changed, and — and sat so much alone. Shall I tell you why?"
"Not if it pains you," said Nicholas. "I only asked that I might make you happier, if I could."
"I know. I felt that, at the time." He drew his friend closer to him. "You will forgive me; I could not help it, but though I would have died to make her happy, it broke my heart to see — I know he loves her dearly — Oh! who could find that out so soon as I?"
Furniss's revision of Phiz's original serial illustration of Smike's paranoia about Brooker makes it clear that the meanacing figure is the product of his diseased imagination: Smike's Delusion (1910).
The words which followed were feebly and faintly uttered, and broken by long pauses; but, from them, Nicholas learnt, for the first time, that the dying boy, with all the ardour of a nature concentrated on one absorbing, hopeless, secret passion, loved his sister Kate.
He had procured a lock of her hair, which hung at his breast, folded in one or two slight ribbons she had worn. He prayed that, when he was dead, Nicholas would take it off, so that no eyes but his might see it, and that when he was laid in his coffin and about to be placed in the earth, he would hang it round his neck again, that it might rest with him in the grave.
Upon his knees Nicholas gave him this pledge, and promised again that he should rest in the spot he had pointed out. They embraced, and kissed each other on the cheek.
"Now," he murmured, "I am happy."
He fell into a light slumber, and waking smiled as before; then, spoke of beautiful gardens, which he said stretched out before him, and were filled with figures of men, women, and many children, all with light upon their faces; then, whispered that it was Eden — and so died. [Chapter LVIII, "In which one Scene of this History is closed," 312-313]
Commentary
Whereas Phiz in his illustration for this chapter had described the outdoor scene in which Smike starts awake, believing he has seen Ralph Nickleby's agent, Brooker, who took him to Dotheboys' Hall, Greta Bridge, Yorkshire, all those years ago, in the American Household Edition Reinhart depicts an entirely different scene in Chapter 58. It is now fall, and Smike is too ill to be wheeled outside on his couch. Rather, Nicholas is tending him in his room in the Devonshire farmhouse where the pair have fled after Ralph Nickleby's attempt to re-apprehend Smike through the perjured testimony and fraudulent documents proffered by another minion, Snawley. The sixties illustrator avoids the caricature of Brooker as a boogeyman, and depicts the scene in which, at the very close of the chapter, Smike expires in Nicholas's arms. The emaciated boy here confesses his infatuation with Nicholas's sister, whom he knows will be happy with Frank Cheeryble. He inbstructs Nicholas to bury him near the grave of Nicholas's father, and to include in his coffin a tress of Kate's hair. After the drama of Ralph's being confronted by his accusers, and the sombre nemesis of his suicide in the front garret, this sentimental illustration shifts the tone of the novel once again, and prepares us for the romantic closures of Tim Linkwater and Miss La Creevy, and of Kate and Frank.
Related material by other illustrators (1838 through 1910)
- Nineteenth-Century Britain, a Nation of Debtors
- Convicted Debtors in Charles Dickens's Life and Work
- 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 18 Illustrations for the Diamond Edition (1867)
- Fred Barnard's 59 Illustrations for the British Household Edition (1875)
- Harry Furniss's 29 illustrations for Nicholas Nickleby in the Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910)
- Kyd's four Player's Cigarette Cards (1910).
Scanned image, colour correction, sizing, caption, and commentary by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose, as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Barnard, J. "Fred" (il.). Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, with fifty-nine illustrations. The Works of Charles Dickens: The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1875. Volume 15. Rpt. 1890.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Illustrated by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne). London: Chapman and Hall, 1839.
__________. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Ed. Andrew Lang. Illustrated by 'Phiz' (Hablot Knight Browne). The Gadshill Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1897. 2 vols.
__________. 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. 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.
Created 24 September 2021