# Arthur Gride — Nicholas Nickleby character guide

> Arthur Gride in Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gride, old Arthur Gride, old Arthur, Arthur

**First appearance:** 0012-x

## Snapshot

A withered, leering miser and moneylender whose greed makes him Ralph Nickleby's eager partner in a scheme to marry a young girl for her fortune.

## Who they are

Gride hoards money in secret and gloats over the prospect of a forced marriage, cackling and rubbing his hands while Ralph Nickleby needles him about his jealousy and his age. When a young man bursts in to warn him off, Gride's first instinct is to cry thieves and murder, then to haggle over the bond. His cowardice and avarice make him a fitting instrument for Ralph's worst designs.

## In the story

### [Mr. Ralph Nickleby has some confidential intercourse with another old friend. They concert between them a project, which promises well for both.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xlvii)

Proposes a scheme to marry Madeline Bray, offering to release her father from debt and revealing knowledge of a secret property she is entitled to.

### [Chapter LI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/li)

Old miser preparing for his wedding to Madeline Bray, singing a wedding song and selecting his bottle-green suit.

### [LIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/liii)

Triumphant and malicious, he taunts Nicholas and threatens to raise an alarm to drive him away.

### [The Crisis of the Project and Its Result](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/liv)

Nervously prepares for his wedding, fears Ralph, and is jealous of Nicholas's interference.

### [LVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/lvi)

Cowardly and trembling, Gride is present during Ralph's rage and later becomes an unwilling accomplice.

### [How Ralph Nickleby's auxiliary went about his work, and how he prospered with it.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/lvii)

Referenced as the old man whose wedding was disrupted and who was tricked by Peg; his defeat is a source of malicious glee for Peg.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/arthur_grinde
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters