# Madeline Bray — Nicholas Nickleby character guide

> Madeline Bray in Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Miss Bray, Madeline, Bray, Miss Madeline, little Madeline

**First appearance:** 0028-xxvi

## Snapshot

A gentle, self-sacrificing young woman bound to a sick father's whims and a fortune she cannot touch, quietly carrying the weight of everyone's schemes.

## Who they are

Madeline Bray lives in shabby gentility with her ailing father, Walter Bray, whose debts and self-pity make him eager to trade her hand for his own relief. She is dutiful to the point of self-erasure, and her beauty and virtue attract both Nicholas's love and the cold calculations of Ralph Nickleby and others. Her situation gives the middle of the novel its central emotional stake: whether goodness can be protected from the marketplace.

## Relationships

### [Nicholas Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/nicholas_nickleby)

_romantic_

Madeline Bray is the virtuous woman Nicholas falls in love with and eventually marries.

### [Nicholas Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/nicholas_nickleby)

_romantic_

Madeline Bray is the virtuous woman Nicholas falls in love with and eventually marries.

### [Nicholas Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/nicholas_nickleby)

_romantic_

Madeline Bray is the virtuous woman Nicholas falls in love with and eventually marries.

## In the story

### [Throws some light upon Nicholas's Love; but whether for good or evil the reader must determine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xlvi)

Visited by Nicholas at her home in the King's Bench Rules; she cares for her sick father and supports herself through artwork.

### [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)

The intended bride in Gride's scheme, though she is not present in the chapter; her fate is discussed by the conspirators.

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

The intended bride in Gride and Ralph's scheme, referred to as 'little Madeline' in the toast.

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

Resolute in her decision to marry Arthur Gride to save her father, despite Nicholas's pleas and her own tears.

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

Described as crying bitterly and ill; the unwilling bride.

### [LV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/lv)

Brought to the Nickleby home after her father's death; falls dangerously ill and is nursed by Kate.

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

Referenced as the young lady whom Nicholas has secured in marriage, and whose inheritance is at stake.

## Links

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