# Wackford Squeers — Nicholas Nickleby character guide > Wackford Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Mr. Squeers, Squeers, Mr. Wackford Squeers **First appearance:** 0005-iii ## Snapshot The one-eyed Yorkshire schoolmaster of Dotheboys Hall, who starves, fleeces, and flogs his forgotten boys while pocketing fees for lessons never taught. ## Who they are Squeers runs a boarding school built on fraud: parents pay, boys vanish into neglect, and he pockets the difference. When Smike disappears, he beats a small boy in his nightshirt to silence any talk of running away, then turns his malice on Nicholas, whose quiet disgust he cannot bully down. His cruelty is the engine that drives Nicholas out of Yorkshire and into the wider world. ## Relationships ### [Ralph Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/ralph_nickleby) _professional_ Ralph collaborates with the cruel schoolmaster Squeers for mutual financial gain. ### [Nicholas Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/nicholas_nickleby) _rivalry_ Nicholas despises Squeers for his brutal treatment of students and becomes his enemy. ### [Sir Mulberry Hawk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/sir_mulberry_hawk) _social_ They are connected through Ralph Nickleby's circle, sharing a mutual disdain for Nicholas. ### [John Browdie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/john_browdie) _rivalry_ John Browdie openly opposes and mocks Squeers, defending those he abuses. ### [Sir Mulberry Hawk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/sir_mulberry_hawk) _social_ They are connected through Ralph Nickleby's circle, sharing a mutual disdain for Nicholas. ### [Nicholas Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/nicholas_nickleby) _rivalry_ Nicholas despises Squeers for his brutal treatment of students and becomes his enemy. ### [Ralph Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/ralph_nickleby) _professional_ Ralph collaborates with the cruel schoolmaster Squeers for mutual financial gain. ### [Ralph Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/ralph_nickleby) _professional_ Ralph collaborates with the cruel schoolmaster Squeers for mutual financial gain. ### [John Browdie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/john_browdie) _rivalry_ John Browdie openly opposes and mocks Squeers, defending those he abuses. ### [Nicholas Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/nicholas_nickleby) _rivalry_ Nicholas despises Squeers for his brutal treatment of students and becomes his enemy. ### [John Browdie](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/john_browdie) _rivalry_ John Browdie openly opposes and mocks Squeers, defending those he abuses. ## In the story ### [Preface to the First Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/preface-to-the-first-edition) Dickens defends Squeers as a representative of a class of brutal schoolmasters, not a specific individual, despite claims from Yorkshire schoolmasters. ### [Preface to the First Cheap Edition](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/preface-to-the-first-cheap-edition) Squeers is described as the representative of a class of ignorant, brutal schoolmasters, and Dickens notes that several real Yorkshire schoolmasters claimed to be his original. ### [Chapter IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/iv) Portrayed as a cruel and hypocritical schoolmaster, negotiating with Snawley and abusing a young boy. ### [Nicholas starts for Yorkshire. Of his leave-taking and his fellow-travellers, and what befell them on the road.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/v) Breakfasts heartily while doling out watered milk and scant bread to his pupils; prepares to depart for Yorkshire with Nicholas. ### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/vi) Travels with Nicholas and the boys, using the opportunity to advertise his school and hand out cards. ### [Mr. and Mrs. Squeers at Home](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/vii) Shows Nicholas around the school, treats the boys cruelly, and reveals the school is not actually a hall. ### [Of the internal economy of Dotheboys Hall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/viii) Reveals his deceitful nature, praising his wife's 'saving' ways while covering his own rascality with a veneer of respectability. ### [Of Miss Squeers, Mrs. Squeers, Master Squeers, and Mr. Squeers; and of various matters and persons connected no less with the Squeerses than Nicholas Nickleby](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/ix) Mr. Squeers defends keeping Nicholas as a cheap assistant and discusses his plan to have Nicholas manage the boys until his son is old enough. He flatters Mrs. Squeers for her ability to break spirits. ### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xii) Jealous of Nicholas's influence over Smike; continues to mistreat Smike. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xiii) Discovers Smike's escape, recaptures him, prepares a severe flogging, and is beaten by Nicholas. ### [XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xv) Subject of the letter; described as having been beaten by Nicholas and left with bruises and injuries. ### [XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xxxiv) Squeers discusses Smike's origins with Ralph, revealing the boy was left at Dotheboys Hall years ago. ### [Chapter XXXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xxxix) Meets the party in London; boasts of capturing Smike and plans to take him back to Yorkshire. ### [XL](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xl) Implied to be the mastermind behind the attempt to carry off Smike. ### [XLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xlii) Arrives with his family, threatens Nicholas and John, and notes John's confession for legal action. ### [XLV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/xlv) Capers and grimaces triumphantly after Ralph's threats, showing his malicious glee. ### [LVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/lvi) Greedy and opportunistic, Squeers is recruited by Ralph to retrieve the stolen deed from Mrs. Sliderskew. ### [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) Disguised in a large coat, Squeers waits in a mean Lambeth attic, drinking and soliloquizing about Ralph Nickleby's cunning and his own mission to extract information and deeds from Peg Sliderskew. ### [LIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/lix) Mentioned as part of the conspiracy with Ralph and Snawley regarding the false claim on Smike. ### [LX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/lx) Imprisoned, drunk, and defiant; reveals the secret of Smike's parentage and the will, and threatens to expose Ralph. ### [An Old Acquaintance is Recognised Under Melancholy Circumstances, and Dotheboys Hall Breaks Up Forever](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/chapters/lxiv) His downfall is announced, leading to the rebellion at Dotheboys Hall. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters/wackford_squeers - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/nicholas_nickleby_se/characters