Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times in 1854, it was a political novel used to portray the situation in the Victorian times. The main issues in the novel are education, imagination, the Industrial Revolution and the void between the social classes.

Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times in 1854, it was a political novel used to portray the situation in the Victorian times. The main issues in the novel are education, imagination, the Industrial Revolution and the void between the social classes. He uses the story to tell people his feelings on the situation, by using different groups of people to show the difference between social classes. The situation he portrays shows that the rich were getting richer and the poor were getting poorer, with the combined effort from the industrial revolution, this made the country economically spiral out of control. This was because the rich were taking advantage of the fact that the poor were getting poorer. So the poor needed to get money from any way, shape, or form, so the rich were hiring them, and paying them pittance, this ended up turned the country into economic chaos. Dickens starts the novel off by starting in the school with the teacher Mr. Gradgrind, at the front of the class. The name Gradgrind gives the reader the image put into their heads of what he might look like I thought that he takes the children in and grinds them down. The school is described as 'plain, bare, a monotonous vault of a schoolroom,' which gives the image that the school is like the inside of a prison. At the start Gradgrind is bombarded with huge amounts of imagery and similes from Dickens, 'his head

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Basing your answer on a detailed discussion of two episodes from hard times - book the first sewing - discuss Thomas gradgrind's role and significance in the novel.

BASING YOUR ANSWER ON A DETAILED DISCUSSION OF TWO EPISODES FROM HARD TIMES - BOOK THE FIRST SEWING - DISCUSS THOMAS GRADGRIND'S ROLE AND SIGNIFICANCE IN THE NOVEL "Hard Times" is a book written by Charles Dickens and is set in the fictional city of Coketown. In the book Dickens puts across his views about Victorian society through his characterisation of the individuals in the story. The two episodes I will discuss in this essay are, chapter one and chapter six when Gradgrind informs Louisa of a marriage proposal from Bounderby. I have chosen these two episodes to draw from when discussing Gradgind's nature and his portrayal in the novel as they show a progression in his character. In chapter one, Gradgrind, who is not yet named, is shown as a harsh, unattractive figure with a, "square forehead". His angular face with its', "cave" shaped eyes, square, "wall" of a forehead and, "a plantation of firs" for hair reflects the, "plain, bare, monotonous schoolroom" which stands before him. This shows him to be full of facts just as the schoolroom is. The emphasis of the contrast between fact and imagination is portrayed in this chapter through the speaker, Gradgrind, and the narrator. The narrator's speech is full of imaginative language and uses plenty of metaphors and similes, for example, "while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves". This strongly contrasts

  • Word count: 1165
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Dickens published his tenth novel, without illustrations, in Household Words hoping to bolster lagging sales of his weekly jou

Dickens published his tenth novel, without illustrations, in Household Words hoping to bolster lagging sales of his weekly journal. He had not published in weekly parts since Barnaby Rudge in 1841 and found the format "Crushing". As a result of the demands of weekly serialization Hard Times is stripped of most of Dickens trademark humor, rich characterization, and subplot. What remains is Dickens stripped down to the bare essentials, what novelist Angus Wilson called "a menu card for a meal rather than one of Dickens' rich feasts". Dickens again flies the banner of social reform, touching on themes of industrialization, education, and Utilitarianism in the sweeping Industrial Revolution of the 1850's. Dismissed initially as "sullen socialism", the novel gained new life with F.R. Leavis' positive critical treatment in The Great Tradition (1948). Leavis considered Hard Times Dickens' "masterpiece" and "his only serious work of art". Since then it has been one of Dickens' best-sellers, widely taught in school, partly due to the fact that it is Dickens' shortest major work. Thomas Gradgrind runs a school of hard fact in the industrial city of Coketown. He happens to see his children, Louisa and Tom, peering into a circus in direct opposition to his views on things of fancy. The cause for the offense, suggested by Gradgrind's friend Josiah Bounderby, a "self-made man"

  • Word count: 808
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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'What are the reasons which Dickens gives for the hard times described in the novel?'

'What are the reasons which Dickens gives for the hard times described in the novel?' Many characters in the novel are victims of hard times as a result of many factors. These include the lack of money, the education system, the industrialisation in the area and the social injustices of the Victorian era. The novel is divided into three books: sowing, reaping and garnering. The names of these books have biblical references. 'Ae ye sow, so shall ye reap' New Testament This means that there are consequences to all your actions, this idea features strongly in the novel. In the first book 'sowing', the actions of the characters were described for example the pragmatic education system. In the second book 'reaping', the consequences of these actions are described, and in the third book 'garnering', the consequences are explored more, along with the final outcome of these events. In the novel, Mr Gradgrind causes and suffers from hard times. He is a very rigid character in addition to being 'a man of fact and calculations'. He causes hard times for others, including his family, with his pragmatic education system. We discover his attitudes to schooling from the very first chapter when he says: 'In this life, we want nothing but facts, sir; nothing but Facts' This concept is based upon utilitarianism. This is the idea that nothing except useful and practical things are wanted

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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How Does Dickens explore the conflict between "The Wisdom of the Heart and the wisdom of the Head"?

How Does Dickens explore the conflict between "The Wisdom of the Heart and the wisdom of the Head"? Throughout the novel "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens, there is an underlying theme, of the "wisdom of the head" and "the wisdom of the heart." Dickens brings across these ideas using the characters of his novel. For example, in the beginning, it appears as though characters (such as Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby) functioning on the belief of the wisdom of the head, whereas contradicting characters, (such as Sissy, and Louisa) appear to believe in the wisdom of the heart. For example, the start of the novel opens in a classroom, which is where children are taught how to think. In this particular class, the students are being told that they are to learn nothing, but straightforward facts. In the book, the word "fact" has been emphasized by always spelling it with a capital later. We later learn that the man speaking these words is none other then Mr. Gradgrind. The character of Thomas Gradgrind undergoes a dramatic change throughout the course of the novel, and it is he that suggests to the reader, the concept of "the wisdom of the heart, and the wisdom of the head". As I previously stated, in the beginning of the novel, (the first two books), Gradgrind comes across, as having the philosophy that logical thinking is the only way things can be understood. (Namely believing

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What impression does Dickens give the reader of Gradgrind and his schooling methods?

Lemise Elsden What impression does Dickens give the reader of Gradgrind and his schooling methods? 'Now, what I want is, Facts....Facts....Facts....Facts' this is how the reader is introduced to Thomas Gradgrind. I myself can picture him saying this poised and stiff with a hard unyielding presence. Gradgrind is described as having a 'square forehead', a mouth 'which was wide thin and hard set', a 'voice, which was inflexible, dry and dictational' and 'hair which bristled on the skirts of his bald head'. His clothes and poise are like his face, looking composed and collected with a 'square coat, square legs' and 'square shoulders'. Thomas Gradgrind is a man of no imagination as he only believes in fact, in his school fancy is not tolerated and education rules supreme. Even in his home and with his children Gradgrind believes in ruling and teaching with an iron fist of fact. In Gradgrind's opinion, to submit to fancy is as bad as committing a crime. Not only is Gradgrind as a whole an inflexible man but the place he lived, Coketown, was also the same. If Coketown was a person it would take the shape of a man not dissimilar to Gradgrind as it was 'a triumph of fact; it had no greater taint of fancy in it than Mrs. Gradgrind herself' and like Gradgrind, Coketown was never changing and had always been the same, very practical and always doing its job to the best of its

  • Word count: 482
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comment on the way Dickens presents the characters of Gradgrind, Sissy and Bitzer in the opening chapters of 'Hard Times'

Pre 1914 Prose Coursework Comment on the way Dickens presents the characters of Gradgrind, Sissy and Bitzer in the opening chapters of 'Hard Times' Dickens was born on February 7th 1812, during the Victorian era. He wrote of the conditions and the people of his time while working as a reporter (for a paper called 'Household Words') being sent around the country. He spent much of his time exploring in the streets of London and wrote from experience and deep knowledge of his city, drawing character from his life and placing them in familiar situations and surroundings. As a young boy, Dickens began work in a factory, which scarred his childhood. There were no health and safety laws and many working class children had to leave school at the age of twelve and child labour was commonplace. At the time of writing 'Hard Times' Dickens was separated from his wife, he was trapped, like Stephen Blackpool, the mill worker in an unhappy marriage. 'Hard Times' is one of Dickens' shortest novels, it was first serialised in 'Household Words' and can be linked to his disturbed youth. The Industrial Revolution had transformed England from an agricultural nation into one that contained places like Coketown (used instead of Manchester). 'Hard Times' refers to the changes made by the Industrial Revolution. The nineteenth century was one of expansion and change in almost every activity.

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Who in the novel do you think had the hardest time? (Charles Dickens' Novel "Hard Times").

Richard Jefferis 11D Who in the novel do you think had the hardest time? As far as I can see there is only one character in Charles Dickens' Novel "Hard Times" how actually has an easy life, and that is James Harthouse this is because he is bored with life and has don't most things. In this essay I will study three main characters from this novel that have a hard time in life and they are Stephan Blackpool, Sissy Jupe and Lousia Gradgrind. I have chosen these characters because they are from three different arrears of social groups. First comes Stephan Blackpool and in the novel Stephan has a hard time because he is working class and is not paid as much as other people. His wife is a drunkard and keeps leaving and them coming back he paid her to go and during the novel she comes back and that's where his life takes a migration south because he is in love with some one else. Part way through the novel he goes to see Mr Bounderby for advice on how he might be able to get rid of he and during their convocation Stephan starts to lose hope. "If I do her any hurt, Sir there's a law to punish me? ...Show me a law to help me" When Mr Bounderby tells him that there is know way to get rid of his wife he realises, as the chapter is named, there is know way out for him. Another reason his life is hard is because he loses his job because he refuses to join a union because he

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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What is Dickens Attitude to the Working Classes in Chapter XX (Book 2, Chapter 4)?Does Dickens portray the Unions with as much Sympathy as the Workers? Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times in 1854.

What is Dickens Attitude to the Working Classes in Chapter XX (Book 2, Chapter 4)? Does Dickens portray the Unions with as much Sympathy as the Workers? Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times in 1854. He lived in London and because he was writing about industrialisation in the North at that time he went up to Preston in 1852 to explore the industrialisation there and to witness the strike of the weavers. He was horrified by the oppressing industrialists he witnessed and also horrified by seeing the way the common people were made to work. His experiences in Preston and the characters he met were very much portrayed in Hard Times. Chapter 20 in Hard Times shows Dickens' attitude to the different classes of people that were involved in industrialisation. The chapter is about the mill workers who are debating whether or not to go on strike because they are tired of the bad treatment they are receiving from their oppressor, Bounderby. The two main characters who are speaking in this Chapter of the book are Stephen and Slackbridge. Stephen is one of the workers in the mill who has sworn to the woman that he is in love with, Rachel, that he would not join the Union because of reasons not explained in the book. The main point that Dickens is putting across through what Stephen is saying is that if they strike and join the Union then it will result in even more harsh treatment and a

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Hard times shows women as powerless and trapped with in a patriarchate society. How far do you agree with this statement? Discuss at least three female characters.

Hard times shows women as powerless and trapped with in a patriarchate society. How far do you agree with this statement? Discuss at least three female characters. Dickens show women as repressed and powerless, especially through their dependence on men, we see this especially in the character Louisa. On the other hand, Dickens portrays women as havin power within their emotions, such as emphasis and perception, as we see in Sissy. Although women arnt shown to have power, and shown to have power, I The women in "Hard Times" are shown to have no power. Louisa is forced into marrying Mr Bounderby because he is rich and the main thing is POWER. Dickens shows her reaction: "She closed her hand as if upon a solid object and slowly opened it as if realising dust or ash". The use of "dust or ash" compares to her life as they are both seen as worthless. "Realising" compares her being released to Bounderby because she has no say in what she wants to do. To summarise this quote she is trying to stay away from Bounderby: "She closed her hand" this shows she's trying to be realised to him. It could also show that she is refusing to take Bounderby's hand in marriage but in the end "realising" shows she has given up and can't handle the pressure given to her feel Dickens has presented women as powerless figures rather then having power, this may be because they are effected by the

  • Word count: 1009
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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