That he wrote such an old view into it, however historically correct, is something to think about. I know that whilst reading I was wondering ‘what sort of message is this?’ before Dickens asked the very same question. What is most striking about the tale of the five sisters, an average story by itself, is the way Dickens includes with it the morals that would’ve been acceptable at the time (my assumption was earlier than the Dissolution given the monk in the story) and then, when he reverts to Nickleby, it’s viewed in Dickens’ own more modern view. It could certainly be said that I’m over thinking things, but as the same could be said for Dickens I’d wager we should give his thoughts a thought of our own. The story doesn’t have much of a baring on the book as a whole, though there is a minor similarity in the themes. There’s no denying that the story is told by a random passenger who happens to be on the coach with Nickleby, on a journey that is unnecessarily drawn out. Of course the actual reason, so to speak, was to meet a word count. I want to look at the reason Dickens included it, why he wrote it. I’d like to explore the short story that is part of Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. It took me, a slow reader, ten minutes to read, perhaps fifteen including the commentary. Here is the link to said chapter on Project Gutenberg.

If you’d like to read this story before continuing, it can be found in chapter 6.

Dickens nicholas