Literature of the Victorians

Class assignment 

Discuss the summary of the novel"Hard Times"by "Charles Dickens".

Introduction 

Hard Times is an 1854 novel by English author Charles Dickens. Taking place in three parts named after a Biblical verse, “Sowing,” “Reaping,” and “Garnering,” it satirizes English society by picking apart the social and economic ironies of its contemporary life. The novel takes place in a fictional industrial town in Northern England called Coketown, modeled partially on Manchester. The novel is best known for its pessimism regarding the state of trade unions and the exploitation of the working class by capitalist elites.

About the Author 

Charles Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, Landport, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.Charles

John Huffam Dickens FRSA was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the

world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of theVictorian era.

Summary 

The novel starts with Mr. Thomas Gradgrind giving a strict lecture to a group of school children about the importance of facts. He believes that facts, not imagination or feelings, are the foundation of a good education. He raises both his own children, Louisa and Tom, and the schoolchildren this way. When Sissy Jupe, one of his worst students, is abandoned by her father,a circus performer, Mr. Gradgrind takes her in to educate her with his "facts-only" approach.

                   Because Louisa and Tom have been taught to ignore their emotions and imagination, they grow up emotionally stunted. They don’t know how to love or find happiness and feel something is missing in their lives. Louisa ends up marrying Mr. Josiah Bounderby, an older, wealthy factory owner, not out of love but to help her brother, Tom. Tom is selfish and manipulative, convincing Louisa to marry Bounderby for his benefit. After the marriage, Louisa and Tom live with Mr. Bounderby, while Sissy remains with Mr. Gradgrind’s family.

                 Meanwhile, the factory workers under Mr. Bounderby’s harsh rule are unhappy. One worker,Stephen Blackpool, is miserable because of his terrible marriage to a drunken wife. He wishes to marry Rachael, a kind woman, but cannot legally divorce his wife. Bounderby refuses to help him, saying only a wealthy man could afford to fix his situation. As Stephen leaves, he meets an old woman who is very curious about Mr. Bounderby’s life.

Tom, now lazy and heavily in debt, becomes friends with Mr. James Harthouse, a rich and bored young man who comes to work with Bounderby. Harthouse is interested in Louisa and tries to win her over by pretending to care about Tom, knowing she deeply cares for her brother. Mrs.Sparsit, who used to live with Bounderby before he married Louisa, watches Harthouse’s attempts to seduce Louisa with delight.

                 The factory workers decide to form a union, led by a shady speakernamedSlackbridge. Stephen refuses to join because of a promise he made, and as a result, the town shuns him. Bounderby fires him after questioning him about the union. Before Stephen leaves town, Tom secretly tells

him to hang around the bank for a few nights for a mysterious reason. Soon after, the bank is

robbed, and Stephen is blamed because of his suspicious behavior.

                 Harthouse declares his love to Louisa and asks her to run away with him. Though Louisa doesn’t plan to elope, Mrs. Sparsit overhears and tells Bounderby. Louisa, instead of running away, goes to her father’s house and breaks down. She blames her father’s strict “facts-only” education for

ruining her life and making her miserable. Mr. Gradgrind feels guilty as Louisa collapses.

                   Sissy helps Louisa recover and persuades Harthouse to leave town. Bounderby, angry over the near-elopement, separates from Louisa. Meanwhile, Stephen falls into a pit while returning to clear his name. Sissy and Rachael find him, but he dies after being rescued, asking Mr.Gradgrind to clear his name. Before dying, Stephen reveals that Tom was the real bank robber.

               Sissy helps Tom hide with her father’s circus troupe, and Mr. Gradgrind and Louisa plan to help him escape the country. Bitzer, another of Mr. Gradgrind’s former students, almost stops Tom’s escape, but with the help of the circus master, Tom manages to flee the country.

Conclusion 

                     This to conclude we can say that the summary of novel "Hard Times"is well constructed with unique storyline plot and characters.It is a lesson for all who believes in practical thinking and thinks that life is lived on  the basis fact only.

Home Assignment 

Write a detailed note on the characters of the novel "Hard Times"by"Charles Dickens".

Introduction 

Hard Times is an 1854 novel by English author Charles Dickens. Taking place in three parts

named after a Biblical verse, “Sowing,” “Reaping,” and “Garnering,” it satirizes English society by picking apart the social and economic ironies of its contemporary life. The novel takes place in a fictional industrial town in Northern England called Coketown, modeled partially on Manchester. The novel is best known for its pessimism regarding the state of trade unions and the exploitation of the working class by capitalist elites.

About the Author 

Charles Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, Landport, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.Charles

John Huffam Dickens FRSA was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the

world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of theVictorian era.

Major Characters 

Thomas Gradgrind

Mr. Gradgrind is a school superintendent who promotes an education based on facts alone (no talk of imagination or emotions, please) and later becomes a Member of Parliament. His two eldest children, Louisa and Tom, suffer greatly from being brought up under this philosophy, and Gradgrind eventually comes to learn the error of his ways and dedicates his life to fostering faith,hope, and charity.

        

Josiah Bounderby

He is a friend and a business partner to Mr. Gradgrind, and marries Gradgrind's daughter Louisa, who is much younger. Dickens's description of Bounderby is worth quoting: 'A man with a great puffed head and forehead, swelled veins in his temples, and such a strained skin to his face that it

seemed to hold his eyes open, and lift his eyebrows up. A man with a pervading appearance on him of being inflated like a balloon, and ready to start.'

Louisa Gradgrind

Louisa, Mr. Gradgrind's eldest daughter, could be said to be the protagonist of the book. From a young age she resents the education of facts, which she finds thoroughly unenjoyable and which represses her imagination and emotions, deforming her heart. Led by her education, she marries a man she doesn't love, and then nearly runs away with another man, James Harthouse, who finally makes her feel as if she is understood. With the help of her gentle friend, Sissy, her heart and her humanity are gradually resuscitated.

Tom Gradgrind

Tom is also referred to as "the whelp." He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind and an employee of Mr. Bounderby. He is resentful towards his sister, Louisa, though she is only kind towards him. His ultimate misdeed comes when he steals money from his safe in the bank and then announces the loss as a true theft. In the end, Tom is forced to flee the country to escape punishment. He dies overseas and is full of regret.

Cecilia "Sissy" Jupe

Sissy is abandoned by her father who is a well-meaning circus performer. He feels that she will have a better life if he is not able to hinder her progress in society. Sissy lives with the Gradgrind family but she is a poor pupil at their school. In contrast to Mr. Gradgrind, Sissy lives by the philosophy of emotion, fancy, hope and benevolence. In the end, her kindhearted nature softens the rough edges of the Gradgrind family and they come to be grateful for what she has done for them. At the end of the novel, Dickens writes that Sissy grows ever more happy and she eventually has children of her own to care for.

Stephen Blackpool

Stephen Blackpool is a worker at one of Bounderby's mills. He has a drunken wife who no longer lives with him but who appears from time to time. He forms a close bond with Rachael, a co-worker, whom he wishes to marry. After a dispute with Bounderby, he is dismissed from his work at the Coketown mills and, shunned by his former fellow workers, is forced to look for work elsewhere. While absent from Coketown, he is wrongly accused of robbing Bounderby's bank. On his way back to vindicate himself, he falls down a mine-shaft. He is rescued but dies of

his injuries.

Minor characters

Bitzer

Bitzer is a classmate of Tom, Louisa and Sissy. As a young adult he works as a clerk in

Bounderby's bank and he unsuccessfully apprehends Tom as the thief.

Mrs. Gradgrind

Mrs. Gradgrind is the ignorant wife of Thomas Gradgrind and the mother of Louisa, Tom and the other Gradgrind children. She dies in the middle of the novel.

 

Rachael

The unmarried companion of Stephen Blackpool. She keeps his spirits up while he is suffering and after he has left Coketown, she takes it as her responsibility to defend his honor.

Mr. Sleary

Is the manager of a traveling circus. After providing for Sissy at the beginning of the novel he assists Tom's escape at the novel's end.Mrs. Sparsit is a widow who has fallen on hard times. She is retained in Mr. Bounderby's service until her snooping gets her fired.

Mrs. Pegler

 Mrs old woman who makes a yearly pilgrimage to Coketown. At the end of the novel, she is discovered to be the mother of Mr. Josiah Bounderby.

Conclusion 

                      

                     This to conclude we can say that Charles Dickens has well crafted the characters in his novel"Hard Times"that  makes story more interesting and captive for the readers.

Essay

Disscus in detail themes of novel "Hard Times" by"Charles Dickens".

Introduction 

Hard Times is an 1854 novel by English author Charles Dickens. Taking place in three parts

named after a Biblical verse, “Sowing,” “Reaping,” and “Garnering,” it satirizes English society by picking apart the social and economic ironies of its contemporary life. The novel takes place in a fictional industrial town in Northern England called Coketown, modeled partially on Manchester. The novel is best known for its pessimism regarding the state of trade unions and the exploitation of the working class by capitalist elites.

About the Author 

Charles Dickens was born on 7 February 1812, Landport, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.Charles

John Huffam Dickens FRSA was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the

world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of theVictorian era.

Themes

Fact v/s Fancy

         Dickens depicts a terrifying system of education where facts, facts, and nothing but facts are pounded into the schoolchildren all day, and where memorization of information is valued over art, imagination, or anything creative. This results in some very warped human beings. Mr. Thomas Gradgrind believes completely in this system, and as a superintendent of schools and a father, he makes sure that all the children at the schools he is responsible for and especially his

own children are brought up knowing nothing but data and "-ologies".

         As a result, things go very badly for his children, Tom Gradgrind and Louisa Gradgrind. Since they, as children, were always treated as if they had minds and not hearts, their adulthoods are warped, as they have no way to access their feelings or connect with others. Tom is a sulky good-for-nothing and gets involved in a crime in an effort to pay off gambling debts. Louisa is unhappy when she follows her mind, not her heart, and marries Mr. Bounderby, her father's friend. As a result of her unhappy marriage, she is later swept off her feet by a young gentleman, Mr. James "Jem" Harthouse, who comes to stay with them and who seems to understand and love her. Louisa nearly comes to ruin by running off with Harthouse.

         Cecilia (Sissy) Jupe was encouraged when she was little to dream and imagine and loved her father dearly, and therefore she is in touch with her heart and feelings, and has empathy and emotional strength the other children lack. Sissy, adopted by the Gradgrinds when her fatherabandons her, ultimately is the savior of the family in the end.

Industrialism and Its Evils

         Hand in hand with the glorification of data and numbers and facts in the schoolhouse is the treatment of the workers in the factories of Coketown as nothing more than machines, which produce so much per day and are not thought of as having feelings or families or dreams.Dickens depicts this situation as a result of the industrialization of England; now that towns like Coketown are focused on producing more and more, more dirty factories are built, more smoke pollutes the air and water, and the factory owners only see their workers as part of the machines that bring them profit. In fact, the workers are only called "Hands", an indication of how objectified they are by the owners. Similarly, Mr. Gradgrind's children were brought up to be "minds". None of them are people or "hearts".

         As the book progresses, it portrays how industrialism creates conditions in which owners treat workers as machines and workers respond by unionizing to resist and fight back against the owners. In the meantime, those in Parliament (like Mr. Gradgrind, who winds up elected to office) work for the benefit of the country but not its people. In short, industrialization creates an environment in which people cease to treat either others or themselves as people. Even the unions, the groups of factory workers who fight against the injustices of the factory owners, are

not shown in a good light. Stephen Blackpool, a poor worker at Bounderby's factory, is rejected

by his fellow workers for his refusal to join the union because of a promise made to the sweet,

good woman he loves, Rachael. His factory union then treats him as an outcast.

         The remedy to industrialism and its evils in the novel is found in Sissy Jupe, the little girl who was brought up among circus performers and fairy tales. Letting loose the imagination of

children lets loose their hearts as well, and, as Sissy does, they can combat and undo what a Gradgrind education produces.

Unhappy Marriages

        There are many unhappy marriages in Hard Times and none of them are resolved happily by the end. Mr. Gradgrind's marriage to his feeble, complaining wife is not exactly a source of misery for either of them, but neither are they or their children happy. The Gradgrind family is not a loving or affectionate one. The main unhappy marriage showcased by the novel is between Louisa Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby. Louisa marries him not out of love but out of a sense of duty to her brother, Tom, the only person in the world she loves and who wheedles her into saying "yes" because he works for Bounderby and wants to improve his chances at rising in the world. Bounderby's intentions regarding Louisa seem a bit creepy at first, but he turns out to mean no harm to her (except that he deprives her of any marital affection). The only solution to this bad marriage, once Louisa has escaped the hands of Jem Harthouse, is for Louisa to live at

home the rest of her days. She will never be happy with another man or have the joy of children,though Dickens hints she will find joy in playing with Sissy's future children.

        Stephen Blackpool, too, is damned to unhappiness in this life as a result of his marriage. The girl who seemed so sweet when he married her many years ago becomes, by a gradual process, a depraved drunk who is the misery of his life. She periodically returns to Coketown to haunt Stephen and is, as he sees it, the sole barrier to the happiness he might have had in marrying Rachael. Mrs. Sparsit (an elderly lady who lives with Mr. Bounderby for some time) was also unhappily married, which is how she came to be Mr. Bounderby's companion before he married Louisa.

Femininity

          The best, most good characters of Hard Times are women. Stephen Blackpool is a good man, but his love, Rachael, is an "Angel". Sissy Jupe can overcome even the worst intentions of Jem Harthouse with her firm and powerfully pure gaze. Louisa, as disadvantaged as she is by her terrible upbringing, manages to get out of her crisis at the last minute by fleeing home to her father for shelter, in contrast to her brother, Tom, who chooses to commit a life-changing crime in his moment of crisis. Through these examples, the novel suggests that the kindness and compassion of the female heart can improve what an education of "facts" and the industrialization has done to children and to the working middle class.

          Still, not all the women in the novel are paragons of goodness. Far from it. Mrs. Sparsit is a comic example of femininity gone wrong. She cannot stand being replaced by Louisa when Bounderby marries, and watches the progression of the affair between Louisa and Jem Harthouse with glee. As she attempts to catch them in the act of eloping (and ultimately fails), she is portrayed as a cruel, ridiculous figure. Stephen Blackpool's wife, meanwhile, is bleakly portrayed as a hideous drunken prostitute.

          So while the novel holds women up as potentially able to overcome the dehumanizing effects of industrialization and fact-based education, those women in the novel who do not fill this role,who have slipped from the purity embodied by Sissy and Rachael beyond even the empty-heartedness of Louisa, are presented as both pathetically comic and almost demonic.Women in the novel seem like a potential cure to the perils of industrialization, but also the mostat peril from its corruption. 

Conclusion 

          Thus to conclude we can say that themes in the novel add deeper meaning to it helping readers understanding depth and hidden meanings in novel.