"In Hard Times Dickens presents a convincing analysis of the social problems that have arisen in 19th Century industrial society" - To what extent do you agree with this statement?

"In Hard Times Dickens presents a convincing analysis of the social problems that have arisen in 19th Century industrial society." To what extent do you agree with this statement? Dickens was clearly strongly influenced by many contemporary issues when writing Hard Times, as such, the book has strong political themes which are analysed in detail. We can see in Hard Times that Stephen Blackpool is intended to represent the honest hard-working, working class person. He has no aspirations to be what he is not and is not out to cause trouble. All he wants is to lead an ordinary fair life which however, he knows is almost impossible. Dickens presents many of the social problems covered in the novel through Stephen Blackpool. His problems with the divorce laws for example highlight the unfairness of the laws at the time. One could only divorce if you had the money to do so. Therefore it was the preserve of the middle and upper classes. " 'and it would cost you...I suppose from a thousand to fifteen hundred pound,' said Mr Bounderby... 'Why then, sir,' said Stephen... 'tis a muddle.'" This idea of presenting the lower classes as decent people ay have contradicted middle class beliefs of the time. Dickens seems to be attempting to dispel the myth which Bounderby perpetuates that they all crave rewards without work; and are lazy idle and selfish. "You don't expect to be set up

  • Word count: 1484
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Hard Times - Would you agree, from your reading of the novel so far thatthere are some characters who are simply too good to be true?

Would you Agree, From your Reading of the Novel So Far that There are Some Characters Who are Simply Too Good to be True? There are a huge variety of characters in Hard Times, ranging from the good to the unnaturally cruel. The novel is full of extremity in its characterisation; cruel, bitter and selfish characters such as Mrs. Sparsit contrast dramatically with characters such as Stephen Blackpool and Rachael, who are benevolent and altruistic. Among the cruellest and most villainous characters in the novel is James Harthouse, who is completely ammoral, and therefore rendered very dangerous by Dickens. Josiah Bounderby, is another particularly cruel character. He is utterly self-centred and prejudiced against the working-class of the novel (he categorizes them all as being greedy and materialistic: "You [Stephen] don't expect to be set up in a coach and six, and to be fed on turtle soup and venison, with a gold spoon as a good many of 'em do!") Bounderby is almost a caricature and is satirised by Dickens for his constant emphasizing of his climb to success, after supposedly beginning his life in a ditch. Both Bounderby and Harthouse contrast with the honourable characters of the novel, who are venerated by Dickens. Stephen Blackpool is the character who, it could be argued appears 'too good to be true'. We are initially introduced to Stephen as being someone

  • Word count: 1136
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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English/English Literature Coursework Joint Folder

English/English Literature Coursework Joint Folder Wide Reading Assignment: 9th Century Prose: "Hard Times" (Charles Dickens) 20th Century Prose: "Nice work" (David Lodge) Compare and Contrast Dickens's picture of Coketown with Lodge's introduction to the industrial environment in his novel. ----"Fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact everywhere in the immaterial." - Charles Dickens In the early 1851, London staged the Great Exhibition to show the world, the achievements and inventions of the Industrial Revolution. Many people believed that this showed how much better, safer and healthier Britain was than its neighbours in Europe. People living in mansions amid lawns and fountains, with horse drawn carriages certainly felt that life couldn't be better. However behind the publicity and the royal occasions there was another England, not so glorious. Benjamin Disraeli wrote that Britain was really "two nations", Dickens wanted to show his readers what was behind the glittering façade of Victorian industry. He wanted to show his readers the factual monotony behind the sulky blotch towns of industrial Britain. As the essay title suggests, both Lodge and Dickens have portrayed their format of an industrial landscape. Both authors' coddle in a crestfallen environment of the industrial world: one at the height of a revolution, the

  • Word count: 2530
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Analysis of Hard Times Chapter 2

Analysis of Chapter 2 Bitzer is a pupil at Mr Gradgrind's school. As we learn in later chapters, he is a bully and is quite offensive to other children. In chapter 2 Gradgrind asks Bitzer for his definition of a horse after Sissy is unable to define it exactly how Gradgrind has taught it. We learn that Bitzer is described as very pale and in the classroom at the time he sits in sunlight, making him even paler. This makes Bitzer seem angelic and innocent. As the title of the chapter is "Murdering the Innocents" the reader may be wandering if Bitzer is to be murdered. However, when Bitzer speaks, he defines the horse like a dictionary. This tells us immediately that Bitzer has learnt definitions, giving the impression of a studious pupil. He gives exactly what is required of him by his teacher. Also, Bitzer's name is like the name of a horse. This is ironic and adds to the sense of the pupils being like animals; required to learn these "facts." Sissy Jupe is the first girl mentioned in the novel. Previously, all the men have been very strict and authoritarian. When Gradrgrind first refers to her, he calls her "Girl number twenty." He does not know her name, perhaps because she is new to the school. This would explain why she is uninformed about the definition of the horse. When Sissy stands up, she blushes and curtseys. This shows sensitivity which had not appeared in the

  • Word count: 653
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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To What Extent Is Stephen Blackpool Representative Of A Hand? in Dickens' "Hard Times?"

To What Extent Is Stephen Blackpool Representative Of A Hand? Stephen represents the "Hands", and is supposed to seem typical in some respects and not in others. His dignity, patience and courtesy are all qualities that Dickens reported finding among the Preston strikers during his visit there in January 1854. He shares these qualities with the resolute Rachael, and depends on her support at critical moments, most notably when he is tempted to let his wife die, in Book I Chapter 13. In other respects, "Old Stephen" (so called, although only in his forties) is very much unusual. He is exceptionally awkward and stubborn. He irritates not only Bounderby and the trade unionists, but also many critics of the novel. Some critics think that he is stupid. There can be no doubt that asking Bounderby for help is a stupid thing to do, however this action may be explained by saying that Stephen does not know Bounderby, and believes that he may be good and ready to help those below him. Socialists have objected to the mildness of his criticism of capitalism, as well as to his refusal to join the union. In his second scene with Bounderby, in Book II Chapter 5, he lays responsibility for reform on the employers, and here once again he says that society is "a muddle". "Muddle", always stubbornly repeated, is characteristic of Stephen's slow, unbending outlook of the world. Other weavers

  • Word count: 760
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Dickens calls his novel Hard Times. How does Dickens communicate a sense of the hard times which the working classes experienced due to industrialisation and Victorian attitudes to education? In your answer you should consider how Dickens uses characteris

"Dickens calls his novel Hard Times. How does Dickens communicate a sense of the hard times which the working classes experienced due to industrialisation and Victorian attitudes to education? In your answer you should consider how Dickens uses characterisation and language to explore his themes." During the Industrial Revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, there was a mass rise in employment as a large number of heavy industrial factories were established all over cities. This resulted in widespread pollution and appalling overall working conditions, which are the 'hard times' that Dickens tries to express through characterisation and language in his novel. In doing this, Dickens is criticising the pursuit of Bentham's doctrine of utilitarianism in his contemporary society. Utilitarianism is the concept that "the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct" and that "what the majority agrees to is correct" (Bentham 1748-1832). Dickens argues, however, that this ideal is highly immoral as the working masses are subjected to such 'hard times' whilst the rich simply enjoy their own wealth. Dickens identifies the application of these corrupt beliefs in the Victorian attitudes to education as a fundamental part of the problem. Dickens effectively illustrates the hard times experienced by the working classes due to industrialisation

  • Word count: 2309
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Explain how the theme of education is presented in Hard Times. What comments do you think Dickens might be making about his own times?

GCSE English Coursework: Explain how the theme of education is presented in Hard Times. What comments do you think Dickens might be making about his own times? Remember to comment on: * The presentation of Gradgrind * The presentation of the classroom * The presentation of the children * The presentation of the teacher, M'Choakumchild and his teaching method In this piece I intend to explain how Dickens is trying to represent education in the Victorian era and how he feels about the style of teaching that is widely used during his times. I also intend to make references to how the representation of Victorian schools by Dickens compares, historically to the actual conditions in a school from the Victorian era. As soon as the book begins we are introduced to a style of teaching that is dependent only on facts. One of the main characters of the novel is Thomas Gradgrind and he is the enforcer of this utilitarian style of education and is described as a man who is very strict. Dickens introduces us to this character with a description of his most central feature: his monotone appearance and attitude. "Stick to facts, sir!" This exclamation suggests that the character likes to shout and sound firm. The short, punchy sentence suggests an assertive and strong character. Dickens also makes Gradgrind seem boring and grating by the gravelly and rough sound of his name and how

  • Word count: 2804
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Childhood is an integral theme in both Hard Times and God of Small Things

How successful do you feel the authors are in portraying the world of childhood? Childhood is an integral theme in both Hard Times and God of Small Things but both authors have tackled the issue in a vastly different way. Arundhati Roy focuses her book very much on the way children relate to the world around them, while Dickens tends to look more at how children are treated by the rest of the world. This small change in perspective gives a vastly different view of children's lives, which are further enhanced by the writing styles of the two authors. Roy's greatest gift is her power of memory, the kind of memory Charles Dickens is famous for and a small number of other writers such as George Eliot and the poet Wordsworth, which can bring alive for the reader what most of us have forgotten but can recall if jogged. What it felt like to be a child, "a stranger and afraid in a world we never made", yet endowed with as much or more ability to experience the supposedly adult emotions of anxiety, jealousy, grief, despair, as well as what Rahel's uncle Chacko tells her are "possible in Human Nature. Love. Madness. Hope. Infinite Joy". The novel's lead characters, Rahel and her twin brother, Estha, become fit carriers for whatever the novel is saying about the human condition, because their very fragility, without the adult illusion of control over life's fluidity, makes it obvious

  • Word count: 2291
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How does Dickens shape the reader's impressions of the Gradgrind education system in the first three chapters of Hard Times

How does Dickens shape the reader's impressions of the Gradgrind education system in the first three chapters of Hard Times Hard Times is a powerful use of satire. The satire is aimed at the Victorian school system and some values of the Victorian period. The novel presents us a fictional town called 'Coketown'. It introduces us to a man called Thomas Gradgrind, a satirical character with the basis of a Victorian school master. Dickens wrote this novel to attack the Victorian school system because he did not believe that it was right. He uses satire a great deal in the novel to emphasise how it does not work and why it should change. The satire is directed 'The Gradgrind Philosophy', Thomas Gradgrind's belief system. Gradgrind greatly believes in his 'philosophy' even saying ''this is the principle on which I bring up my own children'' emphasising his believes in it. The Gradgrind philosophy is shown to be authoritarian, bullying and fanatical. He puts forwards these beliefs in an utterly rigid upfront and violent way. This philosophy reduces the children to products, practically de-humanising them. It destroys the children's imaginations, their innocence and their individuality. The system is only interested in measuring and is an exaggerated version on utilitarianism. Utilitarianism originated with the economist Adam Smith and then Jeremy Bentham built on it. Dickens

  • Word count: 2619
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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What literary techniques does Charles Dickens employ in order to satirise the education system of Victorian England in the opening chapters of Hard Times?

What literary techniques does Charles Dickens employ in order to satirise the education system of Victorian England in the opening chapters of Hard Times? On the 7th February 1812 Charles John Huffham Dickens was born to John and Elizabeth Dickens in Portsmouth, England. Charles had the good fortune of been sent to school at aged 9 was short-lived when his father, who was his inspiration for the character Mr. Micawber in 'David Copperfeild', was sent to jail for bad debt. Charles was sent to work in Warren's blacking factory and endured appalling conditions as well as loneliness and despair. Due to the passing of a wealthy family member 3 years later John Dickens inherited enough money to pay of his debts, so he was released and Charles was sent back to school. This experience was never forgotten and became fictionalised in two of his better-known novels 'David Copperfield' and 'Great Expectations' when Charles went on to become one of the most popular and beloved writers who ever lived. More than just a writer, Dickens used his enormous popularity to attack injustice and strengthen the sympathies of his readers for the poor and the helpless, for orphans and outcast people. He believed that many schools discouraged the development of the children's imaginations, and during a lecture he gave in 1857 stated schools "trained them as little parrots and small calculating

  • Word count: 1746
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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