Little Nell

a child character in Dickens' Old Curiosity Shop. Brought up without the care of a mother or other woman, she is protected in her innocence and purity by her grandfather, who is finally led into gambling through his poverty and his fears for the child's future. Having lost his little all, the two wander forth penniless. During their travels on foot from place to place the little girl is utterly unselfish in her devotion to the weak and broken old man. The account of the death of little Nell has been a favorite with public readers, and is one of the best known passages in all of Dickens' works.