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RAJA BIRENDRA CHANDRA COLLEGE
Kandi Rajbati, Kandi , Murshidabad, West Bengal
ENGLISH [HONS.], SEM- IV, CC-T-XI
TOPIC- Dickens’ “Hard Times”
Prepared by- TITAS MONDAL [Dept. of English]
[N.B.-Digital resource for remote Learning during Pandemic COVID - 19]
CONTENTS
1. About “Hard Times”
2. Background of the Novel
3. Who is Who
4. The Outline Story
5. Select Literary Criticism
6. Important Questions
7. Select Bibliography
About “Hard Times”
Serial Publication: Hard Times was originally published in serial form, in a magazine called
Household Words beginning on April 1, 1854. The last time that Dickens had
published a work in serial from was in 1841 and when publication of Hard Times
had begun, Dickens was barely halfway through the writing. In the end, Hard
Times is among the shortest of Dickens's novels and the material was arranged so
that it would "divide well", prolonging suspense at all of the weekly conclusions.
(2)
A Great but Not a Popular Novel:
Hard Times appeared in 1854 in weekly installments in a periodical called
"Household Words" of which Dickens himself was the editor. Soon after its first
appearance, Dickens's great contemporary, John Ruskin, expressed the view that in
several respects it was Dickens's greatest work and that it should especially be
studied with close and earnest care by persons interested in social questions. Many
years later, G.B. Shaw also gave high praise to this novel. Still later, F.R. Leavis
described it as a work of genius. Neverthless, it has never been one of Dickens's
most popular novels. One reason for its lack of popularity probably is that it has a
slender plot, and that there is in it a dearth of the kind of incidents and episodes
which appeal to the popular mind. Secondly, it is an "intellectual" novel, a novel
which would appeal only to thinking readers and not those who merely expect
entertainment.
Tightly Organised Structure:
Hard Times is somewhat deficient in plot-interest. But the story of this novel can
by no means be described as tedious or dull. The various threads of the plot are
successfully interwoven, and the various strands properly integrated. The novel
tells the story of Gradgrind and his two children, Louisa, and Tom; it tells the story
of Bounderby, his wife, and his housekeeper; it tells the story of Stephan and
Rachel; it tells the story of Louisa, Harthouse, and Mrs. Sparsit; it tells the story of
Gradgrind, Sissy, Louisa, and Tom; and of course it tells the story of the circus-
folk. Modern critics have especially praised this novel for its tightly organised
structure. There is nothing superfluous in the book; there is no padding; there are
no digressions; and there are no characters who are not in one or the other way
closely related to the plot.
The Meaning of the Title:
Hard Times is a novel with a distinct social purpose. The expression "hard times"
generally means a period of slump or depression when food is scanty, when wages
are low, and when unemployment is widespread. However, Dickens has not used
this phrase in that sense. What Dickens means by this phrase is a general state of
affairs in which the lives of people are inhibited or restricted and in which people
are prevented from giving a free and spontaneous outlet to their natural feelings
and sentiments. The phrase implies a kind of bondage to routine and calculation
which result from mechanisation and industrialism.
(3)
Inspired by the Utilitarian Schools of Thought:
Hard Times is considered to be a revision of an earlier novella entitled The
Chimes. The characters of Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby are more developed.
While Coketown represents the typical manufacturing town of the English
midlands, the Manchester aspects of the town come largely from the similarities
between the utilitarianism espoused by Gradgrind and Bounderby and the
utilitarianism expounded by the "Manchester" school of thought.
Social Commentary and Class Issues:
Hard Times reveals Dickens' increased interest in class issues and social
commentary. In contrast to the earliest work, like the more "playful" novel, The
Pickwick Papers, Hard Times is seen by critics as being more in line with the
novels published immediately before it: Martin Chuzzlewit, Dombey and Son, and
Bleak House. While Hard Times does not have the epic proportions of some of
Dickens's other work, the concern for the plight of the poor and the hypocrisy of
the leisure class is more explicit than it had been previously.
Targets of Attack in This Novel:
Hard Times is a novel in which Dickens fiercely attacks what he regarded as some
of the evils afflicting Victorian society. He attacks an educational theory which
was based upon "facts" and "statistics"; he attacks the motive of self-interest
promoted by industrialism and utilitarianism; he attacks the unsatisfactory
relationship between labour and capital; he attacks the callousness of factory-
owners and the pig-headedness and aggressiveness of trade unionism; he attacks
the ferverish but futile routine followed by members of Parliament and the sterility
of Parliament itself.
The Moral:
In reality the novels of Dickens can all be reduced to one simple statement. Be
good, and love; there is genuine joy only in the emotions of the heart; sensibility is
the whole man. Leave science to the wise, pride to the nobles, luxury to the rich;
and have compassion on humble wretchedness; the smallest and most despised
being may in himself be worth as much as thousands of the powerful and the
proud. Humanity, pity, forgiveness, are the finest things in man; intimacy,
tenderness, tears, are the sweetest things in the world.
(4)
The Conflict Between the Head and the Heart:
In Hard Times, Dickens fully acknowledges the tragic extent to which intellect and
affections may clash. The painful conflict between reason and emotion had been
insisted upon throughout a long Christian tradition. Eighteenth-century rationalism
seriously under-estimated the affective side in this conflict and the utilitarianism of
the early nineteenth century retreated even further into unreality. The conception of
"economic man" is a prime instance of this retreat. Utilitarianism is partly a
development of eighteenth-century rationalism and partly a reaction against the
romanticism which came to dominate the first decades of the nineteenth century
and which stressed the importance of instincts, feelings, and imagination, of all that
was spontaneous, natural, and creative in the life of man. James Mill, in particular,
sets his face against the feelings, believing that the rational in man might solve all
human problems; both he and Jeremy Bentham committed themselves to a narrow,
rigid and determinist theory of the association of ideas as the sole explanation of
human psychology. Dickens, therefore, in upholding the case for affections and
imagination in man is also sharing the general romantic view-point.
Dickens's Scorn for Utilitarian Economists:
The angry scorn for utilitarian economists, says this critic, was derived directly
from Carlyle. (And to Carlyle was the novel dedicated). Gradgrind, with his
theory of facts and statistics, is a complete embodiment of what Carlyle hated with
all his heart, namely the ruthless "logic grinder". And Dickens is caught in the
same dilemma that troubles much of Carlyle's thinking. Both were strong believers
in individual responsibility and freedom of choice as were the champions of the
theory of laissez-faire; and yet both had no faith in any organised system for
promoting human welfare. In the past Dickens had attacked charitable institutions
and the Poor Laws; and in this novel he assails the new phenomenon of the labour
unions which he saw as an unjustified denial of the worker's right to choose his
job. Perhaps the least convincing character in the story is the demagogic trade
union organiser. Almost equally lacking in truth to life is the nominal hero,
Stephen Blackpool, the honest workman who is sacrificed between the conflicting
interests of the union and the employers.
The Three Divisions of the Novel
The division of the novel into three parts, headed respectively by Sowing,
Reaping, Garnering, and the prefixing of a title to each chapter, help to give
additional sharpness to the outline of the story, and to make its purpose more
distinct to every reader.
(5)
BACKGROUND OF THE NOVEL
The Industrial Revolution took place in England between 1760 and 1820. It left
in its trail several good as well as bad effects. One effect was the emergence of the
factory towns. The workers employed in the factories had to suffer untold
hardships. The dangerous machinery was not fenced and there was no insurance
against the loss of life. The factories and mines were ill-ventilated, and thus the
working conditions were far from satisfactory. Living conditions were horrible.
The workers lived in shanty towns under insanitary and unhygienic conditions. The
entrepreneurs were only keen on promoting their own interests. The government
followed the laissez-faire policy, which gave a free hand to the private
industrialists whose profits reached the maximum. They employed 'hands'-persons
who provided cheap labour. The labourers were paid a very low wage; but the
hours of work were too many, as many as fifteen hours a day. The government was
shy of passing any legislation; for fear that it might impair the industrial prosperity
of England.
How long could the workers suffer this state of affairs? They turned to political
action. Factory legislation came into being, and the various Factory Acts reduced
the working hours to ten a day, despite the severe protests lodged by factory
owners. It was also enacted that machinery had to be protected by a fence. The
trade unions, in their infancy, were not organised on systematic lines though strikes
were government not uncommon.
Dickens in this novel has shown one aspect of Coketown. A typical factory is run
by Bounderby and the workers resort to a strike organised under the leadership of
Slackbridge. Bounderby is a typical entrepreneur when he remarks that the factory
workers want 'a gold spoon and a turtle soup’.
Thinkers of this period spoke of the advantages of private property and free trade.
Labour was regarded as a 'commodity' governed by the laws of demand and
supply. The policy of industrialisation gave a setback to agriculture, with the result
that many farmers left their villages and sought employment in factory towns. As
there were 'too many hands and too few vacancies’, the lot of the labourers
became worse. The government did not interfere with the wage policies of the
entrepreneurs, as it felt that any move in the direction would result in the misery
and ruin of the working classes.
A system of social and economic reform known as Utilitarianism emerged, its
founder being Jeremy Bentham. According to the Utilitarians, no human action is
action unless it produces utility. Every action must have some utility. An act of
(6)
charity might give mental satisfaction but not utility, so it does more harm than
good. As everything is governed by the principle of utility, men and women have
to produce utility, if they are to be employed and paid their wages. Maximum
utility must be obtained from labour. This system fell heavily on the poorer classes,
particularly on orphaned children, old men and women and disabled men and
women. The humanitarian aspect was totally absent in this system. Such human
aspects as virtue, love, passion, fancy-were done away with by the Utilitarians.
The system of education should aim at the realisation of maximum utility.
Individuals should be trained to identify their own interests with those of the
community. Before the Education Act of 1870, there were a number of schools
which did not interfere with the working of children on weekdays. There were
schools run by private individuals such as Mr. Gradgrind. Others were run for
profit. It was difficult for the government to set up more schools. The existing
schools did not provide teacher-training facilities. Teachers-trainees were sent to
private schools. The new syllabus had been framed and this had been very
vehemently criticised. The system emphasised the need for cramming and
memorising everything. In order to achieve the desired results, strict regimentation
was introduced, Pupils were given numbers and they were not called by their
names but by their numbers. Facts, facts, facts-were all that they were required to
learn. Prepared by- TITAS MONDAL [Dept. of English]
WHO IS WHO:
Josiah Bounderby - represents Victorian capitalism. He very often boasts of
having raised himself from the gutters, though he was helped and assisted by
loving and humble parents. Nevertheless he is a self-made man, who has risen by
hard work, material self-denial and ambition. Yet none of this avails him in the
final analysis, because of the exploiting soulless system of work and education of
which he is a leading champion.
His attitude towards Sissy is deplorable. He wants her to be removed from the
school as she is a bad influence on others. He has a few admirers, the chief of
whom is Thomas Gradgrind.
Louisa falls a victim to his system of education and hence her life becomes
miserable. Sissy is spared and hence her life is happy.
(7)
Bounderby is a typical entrepreneur, a bully, as far as the running of the factory is
concerned. His treatment of Stephen Blackpool deserves condemnation. He
believes in false prestige and his attitude towards Mrs. Sparsit proves it more than
once. In his present position, he has disowned his mother, Mrs. Pegler, whose
presence has exposed him, towards the close of the novel.
Thomas Gradgrind - is an admirer of Mr. Bounderby. He views things from
Bounderby's angle. He is more concerned with what Bounderby has to say about
his attitude or his children's attitudes. He does not have the courage to question the
authority of Bounderby and in his thoughtless following of Bounderby, he has
sacrificed the happiness of his beloved daughter, Louisa.
It is only towards the close of the novel that he realises that his system of education
has failed totally. Louisa tells him that his system has been the cause of her ruin
and unhappiness.
Gradgrind has some love for Sissy. He acknowledges with thanks her help in
letting Tom escape. He is greatly relieved when Mr. Sleary plans the escape of
Tom.
Louisa Gradgrind - is one of Dickens's most successfully depicted women
characters. In the beginning she is presented as a girl deadened by her father's
education based on facts. But the natural instinct in her has drawn her to the circus.
She is not brought up in a normal way.
Her views on life are different from those of other girls of her age. As she is not
aware of the world around her-she does not have the power of imagination-she has
been forced on too early to a vision of life at once priggish and materialistic. She
consents to marry a coarse brute at her father's dictation. She is a loving sister and
she feels that marrying Bounderby would definitely advance her brother's material
prospects.
She has no awakened response to life and so almost succumbs to an empty, witty
London seducer, James Harthouse. She thinks that in his cynicism, she finds for
the first time, an honest statement of the meaninglessness of life as she sees it.
The realisation that she has been cheated by the system of education, as advocated
by her father and Bounderby, comes to her later. She is a victim of
experimentation. She is good to Sissy and extends her sympathy to Stephen
Blackpool.
(8)
Sissy (Cecilia) Jupe - is the most beloved of all the characters in the novel.
From the beginning till the end, she has won our admiration and sympathy. She has
been portrayed as an affectionate child. She brings nine oils for her father. She
preserves it till the end, thinking that her father would come back.
We are drawn towards Sissy as she stands prominently human. She has
imagination. She has natural shyness. She has a sense of attachment even as a
child.
In the Gradgrind household, she carves out a place for herself. She consoles Louisa
when Louisa is in trouble. It is Sissy who goes on a mission to James Harthouse,
whose later departure from Coketown saves the situation for Louisa. But for Sissy,
Tom's escape would not have been possible. Gradgrind acknowledges this with
gratitude. Her clear moral vision and loving imagination intervene at the right
moment to solve several problems.
Stephen Blackpool - represents the hardworking factory workers. He is always
'in a muddle’. He is disowned by the 'Combination' (the Union). However, he
goes to the house of Bounderby to plead for the sake of 'the hands' Bounderby
treats him shabbily and all the anger that Bounderby has towards the factory
workers is directed against him.
Stephen is a bundle of difficulties. His wife poses a problem. He is extremely
unhappily married, but finds it difficult to extricate himself from the marriage on
account of stringent divorce laws. He seeks Bounderby's advice.
Stephen and Rachael are made for each other. She has as much concern for him as
he has for her. She stands by him in all his difficulties and is an angel to him.
Rachael - is one of the noblest characters in the novel. She is closely associated
with Stephen and she stands by him in all his trials and tribulations. She attends on
Stephen's drunken wife when she is gravely sick. Hers is a life of sacrifice and
concern for Stephen. At least one person knows that Stephen has nothing to do
with the bank robbery and that is Rachael. She goes out of the way to prove that
Stephen is innocent.
James Harthouse - is portrayed by Dickens as the aristocratic counterpart of
the Utilitarians. He is an affected dandy and he tries to exploit Louisa's love for her
brother Tom. He plans an elopement with Louisa; but Louisa's better sense
prevents his plan of elopement.
(9)
Mrs Sparsit: As Bounderby says, “This lady acts as a mistres this house and
she is a highly connected lady”. In this capacity she controls the entire
establishment and she moves to another place only when Bounderby brings Louisa
to his house. Her main motivation is to bring down Louisa to disgrace, as she
dislikes and envies her. She wants to prove to Bounderby that she is protecting his
interests, but instead exposes Bounderby's vanity and proves to the world that
Bounderby is a liar.
Tom Gradgrind - is the son of Mr. Gradgrind. He has been warped by the
repressive training which he has received under Gradgrind and Bounderby. Tom
has developed cynical selfishness. He is in the employ of Bounderby. He is a
gambler. He has been helped on many occasions by Louisa. In fact she marries
Bounderby so that Tom's position should be secure. He has stolen money from
Bounderby's safe and at last is saved by Sissy's influence.
Mr Sleary - represents a way of life, different from that of the harsh theories of
Bounderby. He is the circus man who pleads for the education of Sissy. He helps
Tom in his escape from the clutches of the law. His saying, 'Do the withe thing
and the kind thing too and make the and not the wurtht' remains with us long
after we finish reading the novel.
THE OUTLINE STORY
BOOK THE FIRST – “SOWING”
Gradgrind's Principle of Education
Thomas Gradgrind is the owner of an experimental private school in Coketown. He
insists on teaching 'Facts' only. He feels that fancy and imagination are worthless,
they have no place in the world and fact is everything. His own children are
models of this principle of education-'facts'. These children are never allowed to
learn anything related to humanities, they are ignorant of literature, to sentiments
of heart or graces of the soul. Even they are not allowed to learn nursery-rhymes
and fairy-tales.
Prepared by- TITAS MONDAL [Dept. of English]
(10)
Peering through the Canvas Wall of a Circus Tent
One day, as Gradgrind is coming back to his home from the school, he is greatly
hurt and displeased to see his children Louisa and Tom trying to peer through the
canvas-wall of a circus tent. He finds it shocking and painful that his children are
not sorry for going against the principles which is taught to them and under which
they have been brought up. Thereafter, Gradgrind and his industrialist friend Mr.
Josiah Bounderby start discussing what have made the children to betray the
principle of facts. They conclude that Louisa's schoolmate Sissy Jupe whose father
is a stroller in the circus might have influenced the children and allured them to see
circus.
Gradgrind's Milk-Heartedness
Now it is decided to dismiss Sissy Jupe from the school under the precaution that
other students may not be affected. Gradgrind and Bounderby set out to meet
Sissy's father. When they reach where Sissy's father stays they find the stroller
(10)
missing and later have learnt that he has deserted his daughter and gone away.
Gradgrind's heart is moved to see Sissy's poor condition and he decides to keep the
girl under his protection and educate her. He puts condition that no one from the
circus troupe will try to meet Sissy. Bounderby does not consent because he thinks
that Sissy would lay adverse effect upon Gradgrind's children.
Bounderby's Marriage
Time passes and Louisa and Tom grow up. Bounderby puts a proposal to marry
Louisa. Louisa agrees to marry him in front of her father because she does not
want to disappoint him though she has never liked Bounderby. Tom feels happy to
find to his sister ready to marry his employer. He is employed in Bounderby's
bank. Thus Louisa agrees to marry Bounderby because of the happiness of his
brother and father.
BOOK THE SECOND – “REAPING”
Appearance of Harthouse
Bounderby is very happy to marry Louisa. After his marriage he shifts his elderly
housekeeper, Mrs. Sparsit to the apartments of bank building. Mrs. Sparsit does not
like Louisa and always keep an eye on her. After their marriage everything is going
(11)
on peacefully at Gradgrind's and Bounderby's home. Meantime, Gradgrind has
been elected as M.P. from his Coketown. Harthouse comes to meet Bounderby
with the letter of introduction by Gradgrind. Harthouse thinks Bounderby a fool
but Louisa, seems to him a remarkable lady. He feels that Louisa is not happy and
in perpetual distress. Only her brother Tom is close to her, to whom she gives her
precious smile.
Harthouse's Evil Designs
One day when Harthouse comes to visit Bounderby's residence he meets Tom
there. Harthouse starts flattering him and Tom feels much proud of being
important. Harthouse takes the advantage Tom's love for drinking and extracts
from him more information about Louisa's life. When he learns that she has been
subjected to an inhuman education, Harthouse thinks that Louisa cannot easily
seduced because of her marriage without love. But first he has to win her favour.
No one is realizing it that angry and jealous Mrs. Sparsit is spying on them
constantly. Harthouse, once seeks Louisa's permission to talk to her something
personal. He says that Tom is extremely ungrateful in spite of her endless affection
and favours to him. Later on, in the evening when Louisa finds her brother too
caring and loving, she has easily understood Horthouse's mind behind. She gives a
smile to Harthouse and he reflects that his trick has worked.
Bounderby's Bank is Robbed
One day when Harthouse is going back to his room, he meets Bounderby greatly
troubled. He informs him in shocking tone that front his bank is robbed. Everyone
suspect Stephen Blackpool, the culprit, who has been ill-treated by Bounderby.
Stephen Blackpool, who has been seen outside the bank after his duty for two or
three days, is disappeared on the night of robbery. Suspicion also falls on an old
woman seen in Stephen's company. The curious search for Stephen Blackpool and
the old lady Mrs. Pegler meet no success. Bounderby is now waiting for the culprit
to turn up anytime.
Prepared by- TITAS MONDAL [Dept. of English]
BOOK THE THIRD – “GARNERING”
Louisa reaches Gradgrind's House (Stone Lodge)
Louisa and Harthouse have reached very close to each other, they are often seen as
talking in whisper on lonely places. Harthouse decides to elope with Louisa. A
plan is made to meet in Coketown and then depart to some unknown place. But
(12)
Louisa's conscience leads her to Gradgrind's house instead of running away with
her lover. She tells her father that his principle of education under which she is
brought up has made her life chaotic. She has married for the happiness of her
father and brother though she has always been contemptuous to Bounderby. Now
she has gone very close to Harthouse, her lover who wants her to rush away with
him. She is confused. After that Louisa faints. Meantime Mrs. Sparsit, after hearing
the secret conversation between Harthouse and Louisa, thinks that now they will
flee away. She tells everything to Bounderby and thus situation gets more
complicated. Bounderby immediately rushes to Gradgrind's house and insists
Louisa to return to his home. Gradgrind suggests that Louisa should be allowed to
say with him until she recovers her nerves but Bounderby leaves the sight stating
that she has to return before noon, on the following day. Harthouse being
disappointed and everything made clear by Sissy, disappears after writing three
notes-to his brother, Gradgrind and Bounderby.
Tom is Rescued and Stephen's Death Sparsit is trying to win the favour of Bounderby in Louisa's absence. She forcibly
drags Mrs. Pegler to Bounderby because she is suspected to assist Stephen in the
bank robbery. But Mrs. Pegler turns out to be Bounderby's mother. Bounderby
bursts into fur because his mother has made his designed story false that she has
left him in the hands of his drunken grandmother in his very infancy and through
the power and courage he has become a prosperous man.
Meanwhile, Louisa and Sissy Jupe have accidently found Stephen Blackpool into a
chasm who might have fallen into it while coming back to Coketown in response
to Rachel's letter to clear himself from all the charges. After his rescue but on the
edge of dying he says to Gradgrind that he (Stephen) is innocent and he
(Gradgrind) should interrogate his own son about the robbery. After that Tom
disappears. With the help of Sissy, Louisa and Gradgrind reaches to Sleary where
Tom is staying as directed by Sissy Gradgrind has decided to shift Tom to some
foreign place in order to defend him from any adverse consequences of law.
The Last Scene
Before Tom can leave, he is caught by Bitzer with all the evidences to present him
as a culprit. Mr. Sleary's mind works at this moment quickly and by his assistance
Tom is rescued. Mrs. Sparsit is dismissed by Bounderby because he is badly
disgraced by her act of carrying Mrs. Pegler in front of everybody. Bounderby dies
after few years. Gradgrind becomes wiser after realizing the demerits of his
principle of education. Sissy gets married and stare living happily with her
(13)
children. She is the great source of comfort and delight to Louisa whose own
married life has proved a failure.
Prepared by- TITAS MONDAL [Dept. of English]
Select Literary Criticism:
❖ “Hard Times” was a savage attack on Captalism and on those who kept it
working in the general disadvantage and in defiance of the laws of charity. -
Percy Marshall
❖ The adult mind doesn't, as a rule, find in Dickens a challenge to an unusual and
sustained seriousness. It (Hard Times) has a kind of perfection as a work of art
that we don't associate with Dickens-a perfection that is one with the sustained
and complete seriousness for which among his productions it is unique. -F. R.
Leavis
❖ The leading idea of the book (Hard Times) is proclaimed in the contrast
between its subject, industrial society, and the titles of its three sections-
Sowing, Reapin, Garnering. The intention carried out at times with great
subtlety and at time with a rather weary obviousness, was to show inherent life
and growth conquering theory and calculation. This approach tends to break
down the stock distinctions between town and country, between industry and
agriculture, between science and intuition. It remains a work of great distinction
which performed for the first time the very important imaginative task of
integrating the factory world into the world of nature and of humanity. -A.O.J.
Cockshutt
❖ Hard Times is of all Dickens' books the clearest in its statement of his
economic belief. It has been enthusiastically praised by Bernard Shaw and
critics of the stature of Leaves think it is Dickens masterpiece. Its thesis is a
satire on Utilitarian economy. Dickens felt that a dependence upon capitalistic
practicality without reference to sympathy and brotherly understanding causes
continued difficulties in the relations of capital and labour. -Earle Davis
❖ Dickens's criticism of the economic system is quite plain. He is obviously
opposed to the excess of selfish capitalism; he knows that too many workers are
underpaid. If something is not done to organize our economy so that labourers
have a fair chance to make a reasonable living, he states, there will be trouble. -
Earle Davis
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❖ It is most significant that Hard Times opens and closes in the world of children,
the world of the unformed, adults, representing two conflicting attitudes
towards life itself, have injected themselves into these two worlds of the school
and the circus. Oddly enough, while the school room is seen to dehumanize its
little scholars, the circus, all fancy and love, gives humanity back. It is in the
journey between the two worlds that we have presented the grown- up actuality
of an industrial town whose frightening hard pragmatic values, almost a parody
of utilitarianism, are being transmitted- undistilled-to the children. -Charles
Shapiro
❖ Dickens contributed a unique picture of the elementary school of his day,
marking public exposures as the intolerable abuses which were current or the
vestage of them which remained. The drudgery of the lesson as a result of the
system of the Revised Code which forced children to memorize too meant
useless facts, instead of permitting them to develop character and imagination is
recognizable in the system of Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Chokumchild. -Joh
Manning Dickens
❖ The message of Hard Times remains primarily on a personal level, despite the
force of the social criticism. Dickens the moralist, always distinguishes between
good and bad and he always indicates some evil of his era of rapid industrial
expansion, but in no other book as harshly and always points his moral through
a good human story. In Hard Times it is pruned to the bone. - Hard Times:
Study Aid Series (Macmillan)
❖ Here at the very centre of the dominion of Fact are people indulging in fancy.
The young Gradgrinds have been brought up on fact. But when we first meet
them they are contriving to satisfy their starved fancy by peeping through a hole
in a circus tent. Coketown too is "Fact, fact, fact everywhere in the material
aspect of the town:fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the immaterial." But in an
obscure corner of Coketown fancy is ensconced in the shape of the circus. -
John Butt and Kathleen Tillotson
❖ If we seek to assess the level of seriousness and insight at which Dickens is
working in the novel, it cannot be without significance to notice what he sets
against the world of "addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division" which
he rejects. His alternative is neither the determined individuality and in a certain
degree, genuine cultivation of the best masters; nor the desperate need,
communal feeling, and strengthening responsibility which he saw for himself
among the 'hands.' His alternative was something which lay altogether outside
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the major realities of the social situation which he dealt: the circus world of Mr.
Sleary. --John Holloway
Important Questions:
1. Write a brief essay on the importance of the circus troupe in the development of
the plot.
2. Write a brief note on the Bank robbery and the characters involved in it. How
are they able to clear their position?
3. Write in your own words about the Stephen-Rachael relationship.
4. Give a detailed description of Coketown and its symbolic importance.
5. Give an account of the model school of Gradgrind. OR Which is the bleak tenet
on which the Gradgrind model school dis run in ‘Hard Times’.
6. "Caryle never voiced a more burning denunciation of the dismal science of
classical economic theory." (Edgar Johnson) -Do you agree with this statement
about the novel “Hard Times”. OR Write an essay on the philosophical
background of the novel, “Hard Times”.
7. Sissy symbolizes the power of affection in human affairs. Do you agree with this
assessment of the character of Sissy. OR Write a character sketch of Sissy Jupe,
bringing therein the role played by her.
8. Josiah Bounderby of Coketown, the 'bully of humility strides across the pages of
the novel like a bull in a China shop. Do you agree with this remark about the
character of Bounderby? Give reasons. OR Write a character-sketch of Josiah
Bounderby.
9. Bitzer is the logical of the Gradgrind philosophy and brings out the worst
qualities of a climber. Do you agree with this assessment of the character of
Bitzer? OR Write a character sketch of Bitzer in your own words.
10. Write an essay on Fantasy and symbolism in “Hard Times”. OR Write an essay
on the different symbols used by Dickens in “Hard Times”.
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11. Write an essay on the historical and philosophical background of the novel
“Hard Times” OR Do you consider “Hard Times” as a soap box novel? Give
reason in support of your contention.
12. Write an essay on plot-construction of Dickens with special reference to Hard
Times. OR Do you agree with the view that the main characters of the novel
interact upon each plot of the novel “Hard Times”.
13. Do you agree with the view that Rachael is Stephen's ministering angel? OR
Write a brief essay on the love story of Stephen and Rachael.
14. What is the moral purpose which Dickens has in mind when he wrote the novel
Hard Times”? OR Do you agree with the view that Dickens was essentially a
moralist?
Prepared by- TITAS MONDAL [Dept. of English] RAJA BIRENDRA CHANDRA COLLEGE
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Edward Albert-History of English Literature
2. G B Shaw –Introduction to “Hard Times”
3. F R Leavis –“Hard Times” in The Great Tradition
4. Arunodoy Bhattachaeya -“Hard Times”
5. Dr. B S Goyal - “Hard Times”
6. R L Varshney - “Hard Times”
7. M C Saxena -“Hard Times”
8. Seetha Srinivasan -“Hard Times”
9. https://en.m.wikipedia.org
