"Mr. Snawley Enlarges on Parental Instinct" by "Phiz"

Mr. Snawley Enlarges on Parental Instinct

Phiz (Hablot K. Browne)

Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby

May 1839

steel engraving

Source: J. A. Hammerton, The Dickens Picture-Book, p. 164.

While Phiz continues to delight in the physical and character comedy of Snawley and Squeers, Dickens develops the plot secret surrounding Smike, unmasking Snawley as a compound of meanness, hypocrisy, and brutality through his own words and actions. [Continued below]

Image scan and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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The large, tall, well-made figure on the right in this scene set in the Nicklebys' cottage is the valiant, noble-hearted Yorkshireman John Browdie; Smike and Snawley are the centre, the twin focal points of the letterpress and illustration; to the far left, leaning on a chair back, is Ralph Nickleby, whose forged papers attest to Smike's being Snawley's son. The disposition of the characters in the background, the shape of the room, and the principals in the foreground all suggest the somewhat theatrical nature of the composition.

"Got him! Oh, haven't I got him! Have I got him, though?" cried Mr. Snawley, scarcely able to believe it. "Yes, here he is, flesh and blood, flesh and blood."

"Vary little flesh," said John Browdie.

Mr. Snawley was too much occupied by his parental feelings to notice this remark; and, to assure himself more completely of the restoration of his child, tucked his head under his arm again, and kept it there.

"What was it," said Snawley, "that made me take such a strong interest in him, when that worthy instructor of youth brought him to my house? What was it that made me burn all over with a wish to chastise him severely for cutting away from his best friends, his pastors and masters?"

"It was parental instinct, sir," observed Squeers.

"That's what it was, sir," rejoined Snawley; "the elevated feeling, the feeling of the ancient Romans and Grecians, and of the beasts of the field and birds of the air, with the exception of rabbits and tom-cats, which sometimes devour their offspring. My heart yearned towards him. I could have — I don't know what I couldn't have done to him in the anger of a father." [Chapter 45, "Containing Matter of a surprising Kind," Part 14, May 1839]

Reference

Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture-Book. London: Educational Book, 1910.

Last modified 14 May 2009