Squeers Character Analysis in Nicholas Nickleby

Squeers is Mrs. Squeers’s husband and Fanny’s father. He is one of the main antagonists of the novel. He runs Dotheboys Hall, a school where parents, stepparents, and guardians send unwanted children so they do not have to care for them. Though Squeers tells parents and guardians their children will be well cared for, he abuses those children and forces them to work without pay. Squeers serves as an example of how loudly proclaiming one’s own benevolence and generosity is often a sign that one’s motives are actually selfish. Ultimately, Squeers is undone by his selfish motives. His self-serving behavior leaves him alone and isolated, while people like Nicholas and Smike—because they act with true benevolence and loyalty—have become friends who band together to collectively take down Squeers. After Squeers is arrested for burning legal documents with Peg, he promises Ralph that if he goes down, he’ll bring Ralph with him. In that way, Squeers again demonstrates his inherent selfishness and lack of loyalty and shows that Ralph surrounds himself with people who, like Ralph, have no capacity for loyalty.

Squeers Quotes in Nicholas Nickleby

The Nicholas Nickleby quotes below are all either spoken by Squeers or refer to Squeers . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

My dear young Man.

I know the world. Your father did not, or he would not have done me a kindness when there was no hope of return. You do not, or you would not be bound on such a journey.

If ever you want a shelter in London (don't be angry at this, I once thought I never should), they know where I live, at the sign of the Crown, in Silver Street, Golden Square. It is at the corner of Silver Street and James Street, with a bar door both ways. You can come at night. Once, nobody was ashamed—never mind that. It's all over.

Related Characters: Newman (speaker), Nicholas, Nicholas Sr., Ralph, Squeers

Page Number and Citation: 93

Explanation and Analysis:

'If it's fated that listeners are never to hear any good of themselves,' said Mrs. Browdie, 'I can't help it, and I am very sorry for it. But I will say, Fanny, that times out of number I have spoken so kindly of you behind your back, that even you could have found no fault with what I said.'

Related Characters: Matilda (speaker), John, Nicholas, Squeers , Fanny

Page Number and Citation: 520

Explanation and Analysis:

Squeers Character Timeline in Nicholas Nickleby

The timeline below shows where the character Squeers appears in Nicholas Nickleby. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...at a boarding school in Yorkshire called Dotheboys Hall, which is run by Mr. Wackford Squeers. The ad says they would prefer if the candidate had a Master of Arts degree.... (full context)

Squeers waits at an inn in London for pupils to arrive. He’ll travel with them tomorrow... (full context)

...man named Mr. Snawley arrives with two children. He says that he’s the boys’ stepfather. Squeers says that many of the boys at the school are from families where the mother... (full context)

Ralph and Nicholas arrive to speak to Squeers. Ralph asks if Squeers remembers him, and Squeers recalls that Ralph paid him on behalf... (full context)

...he’s not successful, then Ralph will stop supporting his mother and sister. Ralph then takes Squeers aside. When they return, Squeers says he’s excited to hire Nicholas. Nicholas is overjoyed. He... (full context)

...Miss La Creevy, who is generally good-natured, says she will. Nicholas then goes to meet Squeers at the inn so they can leave for Yorkshire. At the inn, the five pupils... (full context)

Nicholas helps wrangle the horses of the overturned carriage. Afterward, Squeers commends him for looking after the horses. The man with the brother with six children... (full context)

Injustice, Complicity, and Moral Integrity Theme Icon

Nicholas, Squeers, and the students arrive at the school. Squeers tells Nicholas that he calls the school... (full context)

Inside, Mrs. Squeers tells Squeers that one of the students has caught a cold. Mrs. Squeers is convinced... (full context)

Nicholas eats dinner with Mrs. Squeers and Squeers. The Squeerses buy premium meat for themselves but buy meat from animals that... (full context)

Nicholas wakes up late the next morning, and Squeers tells him he doesn’t have time to wash. Mrs. Squeers looks for a spoon to... (full context)

Squeers reads letters from the parents of the boys and confiscates any money contained in those... (full context)

Squeers and Mrs. Squeers’s 23-year-old daughter, Fanny, returns home after spending a few days at a... (full context)

After the tea party in Yorkshire, Squeers is drunk. He gets violent when he drinks, so Fanny sends a student in his... (full context)

One day when Nicholas wakes up, Smike is missing. Squeers questions Nicholas and is convinced that Nicholas knows where Smike is or told him to... (full context)

Squeers drags Smike in front of the other students and begins beating him with a cane.... (full context)

Nicholas explains to John that he beat up the schoolmaster Squeers and now intends to walk to London. John reacts ecstatically to that news. He says... (full context)

...that Fanny wrote to Ralph. In the letter, Fanny says that Nicholas beat her father (Squeers) to the point that he may never regain the use of his legs. He also... (full context)

Mr. Squeers then arrives to see Ralph. He has his son in tow. In the course of... (full context)

Ralph asks Squeers if he wants revenge against Nicholas, and Squeers says that he very much does. He... (full context)

...for a long time in a jewelry store window. Suddenly, he hears the voice of Squeers’s son. After that, Squeers hooks Smike by the collar using the handle of his umbrella.... (full context)

...there. The waiter has no idea who she’s talking about. She says his name is Squeers, and the waiter still doesn’t know who she means. Fanny had intended to show John... (full context)

Squeers tells John, Matilda, and Fanny that he has Smike locked in a room at his... (full context)

On Squeers’s bed, John stuffs sheets in his mouth to keep himself from laughing. When the coast... (full context)

Smike runs away from Squeers and Mr. Snawley’s house so fast that he’s not sure exactly where he’s going. Eventually,... (full context)

...dinner. John and Matilda suggested this time to meet because Fanny will be occupied with Squeers, and they know Nicholas won’t want to run into either of them. John and Nicholas... (full context)

Matilda and John say they can’t stand Squeers. Matilda says she thinks Fanny had been genuinely fond of Nicholas. The three of them... (full context)

Matilda and Fanny get into a shouting match. Squeers joins in and accuses John of helping Smike escape. John says it’s true. He helped... (full context)

...leaves the Mantalinis’ house and returns to his office. Once there, Newman tells him that Squeers and another man Newman doesn’t recognize are waiting for Ralph. Ralph tells Newman to get... (full context)

Ralph enters accompanied by Squeers and Mr. Snawley. John steps between Ralph and Nicholas to stop either from advancing toward... (full context)

...chosen to stay with the Nicklebys. Mr. Snawley says that Smike is ungrateful and unlovable. Squeers adds that Smike has never loved anyone. Ralph says that he never expected Nicholas to... (full context)

...Arthur says he’s ruined. Ralph returns to his house. He gives Newman a letter summoning Squeers to his (Ralph’s) office. (full context)

When Squeers arrives at Ralph’s office, Ralph sends Newman to lunch. Ralph tells Squeers he has reason... (full context)

Ralph then tells Squeers that there’s another pressing matter. He explains the story of Arthur and Madeline and says... (full context)

Squeers is tired of following around Peg for Ralph. He’s been trying to accomplish the mission... (full context)

Squeers goes to Peg’s apartment. It’s not the first time they’ve met. Squeers tells Peg that... (full context)

As Peg and Squeers go through Arthur’s papers, Squeers tells her which papers to burn and which to hold... (full context)

Ralph then tries to find Squeers. At Squeers’s lodging, Ralph learns that Squeers hasn’t been seen for 10 days. Ralph then... (full context)

...his role in the fraud of claiming that Smike was his son and said that Squeers and Ralph put him up to it. Squeers had been brought before a magistrate. Since... (full context)

Ralph goes to the police station where Squeers is being held. Squeers says he was taken into custody because he was in the... (full context)

Ralph goes home after seeing Squeers. Tim visits him and says that Squeers must come with him at once to see... (full context)

...Nicholas that several parents took their sons out of Dotheboys Hall when they heard about Squeers’s legal troubles. John worries that there might be a full-scale rebellion and goes to the... (full context)

...rebel. John encourages them to run away but tells them to refrain from attacking Mrs. Squeers and Fanny. After the boys leave, Fanny says that she and her family don’t plan... (full context)

...though, robbers murder him in his bed. They had been tempted by Arthur’s vast wealth. Squeers and Peg go to prison overseas. Neither ever returns to England. Brooker dies, having confessed... (full context)

Nicholas Nickleby

Squeers Character Analysis

Squeers Quotes in Nicholas Nickleby

Chapter 7 Quotes

Chapter 42 Quotes

Squeers Character Timeline in Nicholas Nickleby