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Edition:	Oxford University Press, USA (Paperback)
Author:	Charles Dickens
Published:	April 2009
Pages:	672
ISBN 10:	0199538239
New:	$7.34 (27)
Used:	$4.30 (16)
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Introduction

The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens The plot follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London.

The Old Curiosity Shop was one of two novels (the other being Barnaby Rudge:A Tale of the Riots of Eighty which Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial Master Humphrey's Clock, which lasted from 1840 to 1841. The Old Curiosity Shop was printed as a separate book in 1841.

Plot summary

The Old Curiosity Shop tells the story of Nell Trent, a beautiful and virtuous young girl of 'not quite fourteen.' An orphan, she lives with her maternal grandfather (whose name is never revealed) in his shop of odds and ends. Her grandfather loves her dearly, and Nell does not complain, but she lives a lonely existence with almost no friends her own age. Her only friend is Kit, an honest boy employed at the shop, and whom she is teaching to write. Secretly obsessed with ensuring that Nell does not die in poverty as her parents did, her grandfather attempts to make Nell a good inheritance through gambling at cards. He keeps his nocturnal games a secret, but borrows heavily from the evil Daniel Quilp, a malicious, grotesquely deformed, hunchbacked dwarf moneylender. In the end, he gambles away what little money they have, and Quilp seizes the opportunity to take possession of the shop and evict Nell and her grandfather. Her grandfather suffers a nervous breakdown|breakdown that leaves him bereft of his wits, and Nell takes him away to the English Midlands|Midlands of England, to live as beggars.

Convinced that the old man has stored up a fortune for Nell, her wastrel brother Frederick convinces the good-natured but easily-led Dick Swiveller to help him track Nell down so that Swiveller can marry her and the two can share Nell's supposed inheritance. To this end, they join forces with Quilp, who knows full well that there is no fortune, but sadistically chooses to 'help' in order to enjoy the misery it will inflict on all concerned. Quilp begins to try to track Nell down, but the fugitives are not easily discovered. To keep Dick Swiveller under his eye, Quilp arranges for him to be taken as a clerk by Quilp's lawyer, Mr. Brass. At the Brass firm, Dick befriends the mistreated servant maid and nicknames her 'the Marchioness'. Nell, having fallen in with a number of characters, some villainous and some kind, succeeds in leading her grandfather to safe haven in a far off village (identified by Dickens as Tong, Shropshire), but this has come at a considerable cost to Nell's health.

Meanwhile, Kit, having lost his job at the curiosity shop, has found new employment with the kind Mr and Mrs Garland. Here he is contacted by a mysterious 'single gentleman' who is looking for news of Nell and her grandfather. The 'single gentleman' and Kit's mother go after them unsuccessfully, and encounter Quilp, who is also hunting for the runaways. Quilp forms a grudge against Kit and has him framed as a thief. Kit is sentenced to penal transportation|transportation. However, Dick Swiveller proves Kit's innocence with the help of his friend the Marchioness. Quilp is hunted down and dies trying to escape his pursuers. At the same time, a coincidence leads Mr Garland to knowledge of Nell's whereabouts, and he, Kit, and the single gentleman (who turns out to be the younger brother of Nell's grandfather) go to find her. Sadly, by the time they arrive, Nell has died as a result of her arduous journey. Her grandfather, already mentally infirm, refuses to admit she is dead and sits every day by her grave waiting for her to come back, until a few months later, he dies himself.

BACKGROUND

The events of the book seem to take place around 1825. In Chapter 29, Miss Monflathers refers to the death of George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Lord Byron, who died on April 19, 1824. When the inquest rules (incorrectly) that Quilp committed suicide, his corpse is ordered to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through its heart, a practice banned in 1826. And Nell's grandfather, after his breakdown, fears that he shall be sent to a madhouse, and there chained to a wall and whipped; these practices went out of use after about 1830. In Chapter 13, the lawyer Mr. Brass is described as "one of Her Majesty's attornies" sic, putting him in the reign of Queen Victoria, which began in 1837, but given all the other evidence, and the fact that Kit, at his trial, is charged with acting "against the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King" (referring to George IV of the United Kingdom|George IV), this must be a slip of the pen.

Characters in The Old Curiosity Shop

Major characters

• Nell Trent, the novel's main character. Portrayed as infallibly good and angelic, she leads her grandfather on their journey to save them from misery. She gradually becomes weaker throughout the journey, and although she finds a home with the help of the schoolmaster, she does not recover and dies before her friends in London find her.
• Nell's grandfather, Nell's guardian. After losing both his wife and daughter, he sees Nell as the embodiment of their good spirits. His grandson Fred is seen as the successor to his son-in-law, who he felt unworthy of his daughter. As such, he shows him no affection. As his money runs out, he turns to loans from Quilp and a gambling addiction so Nell can continue in the life he feels she deserves. After believing Kit has revealed his secret addiction he falls ill, and is mentally unstable afterwards. Nell then protects him as he had done for her. He refuses to acknowledge Nell's death and does not recognize his brother whom he had protected in their childhood. He dies soon after Nell, and is buried beside her.
• Christopher 'Kit' Nubbles, Nell's friend and servant. He watches out for Nell when she is left in the shop alone at night, and offers her a place in his house when Quilp takes over. He is later given a position at the Garland's house, and becomes an important member of their household. His dedication to his family earns him the respect of many characters, and the resentment of Quilp. He is framed for robbery, but is later released and joins the party travelling to recover Nell.
• Daniel Quilp, is the novel's primary villain; he mistreats his wife and manipulates others to his own ends. He lends money to Nell's grandfather, and takes possession of the curiosity shop during the old man's illness (which he had caused by revealing his knowledge of Trent's bad gambling habit).
• Richard 'Dick' Swiveller, in turn is Frederick Trent's manipulated friend, Sampson Brass's clerk and the Marchioness's guardian. He delights in quoting and adapting literature to describe his situations. Following Fred's departure from the story, he becomes more independent and eventually is seen as a strong force for good, securing Kit's release from prison and the Marchioness's future. He comes into money from the death of a great-aunt, and later marries the Marchioness.
• The single gentleman, the estranged younger brother of Nell's grandfather. He leads the search for the travellers after taking lodging in Sampson Brass' rooms and befriending Dick, Kit and the Garlands.

Other characters

• Mr. Sampson Brass, an attorney (what would now be called a solicitor) of the Court of the King's Bench. A grovelling, obsequious man, he is an employee of Mr. Quilp, and at his urging he frames Kit for robbery.
• Miss Sarah ('Sally') Brass, Mr. Brass's sister and clerk; she is the real authority in the Brass firm.
• Mrs. Jarley, proprietor of a travelling waxworks show, who takes in Nell and her grandfather out of kindness.
• Frederick Trent, Nell's worthless older brother, who is convinced that his grandfather is secretly wealthy (when in actuality he was the primary cause of the old man's poverty, according to the single gentleman). Initially a major character in the novel and highly influential over Richard Swiveller, he is dropped from the narrative after chapter 23. Briefly mentioned as travelling Great Britain and the wider world following his disappearance from the story, before being found injured and drowned in the Seine|River Seine after the story's conclusion. The character was named after the novelist's younger brother, Frederick Dickens. Peter Ackroyd 'Dickens' Published by Sinclair-Stevenson (1990) pg 266</ref>
• Mr. Garland, a kind-hearted man, father of Abel Garland and employer of Kit.
• The 'small servant', Miss Brass's maidservant. Dick Swiveller befriends her and, finding that she does not know her age or name or parents, nicknames her 'The Marchioness' and later gives her the name Sophronia Sphynx. In the original manuscript it is made explicit that the Marchioness is in fact the illegitimate daughter of Miss Brass, possibly by Quilp, but only a suggestion of this survived in the published edition.
• Isaac List and Joe Jowl, professional gamblers. They lure Nell's grandfather back into his gambling ways. (One instance of Joe Jowl being called 'Mat' mistakenly remained in the published novel.)
• Mr. Chuckster, the dogsbody of the notary Mr. Witherden, who employs Mr. Abel Garland. He takes a strong dislike to Kit after Mr. Garland overpays Kit for a job and Kit returns to work off the difference; he shows his dislike at every opportunity, calling Kit 'Snobby'.
• Mr. Marton, a poor schoolmaster. He befriends Nell and later meets her on the roads when she is ill; he takes her to an inn and pays for the doctor, and then takes her and her grandfather to live with him in the distant village where he has been appointed parish clerk.
• Thomas Codlin, proprietor of a travelling Punch and Judy show.
• Mr. Harris, called 'Short Trotters', the puppeteer of the Punch and Judy show.
• Barbara, the maidservant of Mr. and Mrs. Garland and future wife of Kit.
• The Bachelor, brother of Mr. Garland. Lives in the village where Nell and her grandfather end their journey, and unknowingly alerts his brother of their presence through a letter.

Important real locations

• London Bridge
• Bevis Marks
• Finchley
• Tong, Shropshire
• Aylesbury
• Banbury
• Birmingham
• Black Country
• Warwick
• Wolverhampton

References

Wikipedia