In history, a woman was the one who would nurture the bodies and minds of her children and husband. Dickens story takes a turn when he makes Mr. Gradgrind take on this role. Mrs. Gradgrind is barely mentioned but continues to have a strong message in her character. Through hard facts Gradgrind teaches both his students and children the same things and removes the burden of ideal femininity from his daughter, Louisa. Unfortunately, this leaves her unprepared for entering the world outside her own progressive family. She is unable to fulfill the idealized roles of wife and mother, and has no other options for adulthood outside of these. This book shows the constant need of a female role model in the household but fails to show it’s proceed through the story. Through satiric elements, Charles Dickens demonstrates the limited rights women had in the household in the 1800s. Mrs. Gradgrind, Rachael, and Louisa are perfect examples of women who faced this in society during this time.
Mrs. Gradgrind is the woman that faces inequality the most in her relationship with Mr. Gradgrind. Throughout their relationship she has no say in the way their children were raised. Through hard facts Mr. Gradgrind raised his children the way he wanted to. Dickens says
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“Mrs. Gradgrind was not a scientific character, and usually dismissed her children to their studies with this general injunction to choose their pursuit. In truth, Mrs. Gradgrind's stock of facts in general was woefully defective; but Mr. Gradgrind in raising her to her high matrimonial position, had been influenced by two reasons. Firstly, she was most satisfactory as a question of figures; and, secondly, she had 'no nonsense' about her. By nonsense he meant fancy; and truly ...
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...is engaged to Mr. Bounderby; the man the doesn’t love. Her future has been set. “From that moment she was impassive, proud, and cold” (102). Dickens later on goes to describe Louisa as “stone.” This is an example of the rights women had in the 1800s. Louisa had no say in whether she wanted to marry Bounderby or not. She had to face a miserable life next to the man she hated and just like her mother she just had to be submissive.
The characters in Hard Times were based off of people in Dickens’ life. This book is one of those books that will never die. It shows the reader amazing examples of satire throughout the whole book and through those elements helps the reader understand his plot and the whole book. We saw as Mrs.
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Gradgrind, Rachael, and Louisa all suffered through limited rights in the 1800s and we see this theme develop throughout the book.
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre may be superficially read as simply a sweet romance in which Jane ends up with the man of her dreams after overcoming many obstacles and challenges. But doing so misses the much deeper—richer—messages of Bronte's lasting masterpiece. A more thoughtful reading reveals this novel, especially its heroine Jane, challenging centuries-old gender roles which assume male supremacy, characterizing men as the dominant, more privileged gender, while women are oppressed into inferior and submissive roles. Of course this Victorian novel portrays the expected gender roles of both men and women in 19th century England, but Jane rises out of the patriarchy challenging the social roles assigned her with a personality marked by sass and self-assurance . Ms. Bronte, through Jane, ultimately demonstrates that women can live their lives on equal terms with—or independent of—men.
Understanding the experiences of one’s past may inspire the decisions that will lead the course of one’s life. Charles Dickens’s childhood was overwhelming and had many difficult phases. It is truly impressive for a young boy to support his family, mostly on his own, and be able to maintain a suitable education. These hardship episodes may have been difficult for him, but it made him who he had always wanted to be. Eventually, he had been known as one of the most significant writers since Shakespeare.
Jane does not experience a typical family life throughout the novel. Her various living arrangements led her through different households, yet none were a representation of the norm of family life in the nineteenth century. Through research of families in the nineteenth century, it is clear that Jane’s life does not follow with the stereotypical family made up of a patriarchal father and nurturing mother, both whose primary focus was in raising their children. Jane’s life was void of this true family experience so common during the nineteenth century. Yet, Jane is surrounded by men, who in giving an accurate portrayal of fathers and masculinity in the nineteenth century, fulfill on one hand the father role that had never been present in her life, and on the other hand the husband portrait that Jane seeks out throughout the novel.
Charles Dickens’ novels criticize the injustices of his time, especially the brutal treatment of the poor in a society sharply divided by differences of wealth. He lived through that world at an early age; he saw the bitter side of the social class system and had wanted it to be exposed, so people could see the exploitation that the system rests on. But he presents these criticisms through the lives of characters, Pip and Magwitch.
When considering representation, the ways in which the authors choose to portray their characters can have a great impact on their accessibility. A firm character basis is the foundation for any believable novel. It is arguable that for an allegorical novel - in which Hard Times takes its structure, Dickens uses an unusually complex character basis. The characters in Hard Times combine both the simplistic characteristics of a character developed for allegorical purposes, as well as the concise qualities of ‘real’ people (McLucas, 1995). These characters are portrayed to think and feel like we as readers do and react to their situations in the same way that most of us would. Such attributes are what give the characters life and allow us to relate to their decisions.
.... Equality was not a forefront topic during the time, and Dickens was outspoken and intelligent to the extent of pointing out flaws that many members of the current time never pondered. Social issues tend to become increasingly important as time persists, even more so than economic issues. This account completely disregards the social standings of specific members and focuses more on ones morality. If equality is not reached, and a 'Scrooge-like' transformation does not occur, even in today's society, the social system may collapse upon itself, and an entire "middle class" may be entirely disregarded. A solution is always at arms reach, but it all begins with the individual. Each human being is in its own respect, much like Scrooge. Moral changes are needed, and the decisions one makes today could potentially affect the lives of many for generations to come.
In many novels, the society created by the author is surrounded by wealth and corruption. Numerous amount of times these settings are produced based on the life in which the author lives. Charles Dickens is no different. In the midst of most of his novels, Dickens exposes the deception of Victorian England and the strict society that holds everything together. In Dickens' novel Our Mutual Friend, a satire is created where the basis of the novel is the mockery against money and morals. Throughout this novel, multiple symbols and depictions of the characters display the corruption of the mind that surrounds social classes in Victorian England.
Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Ed. Fred Kaplan and Sylvere Monod. A Norton Critical Edition. 3rd ed. New York: Norton, 2001. 5-222
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
As a child, Dickens becomes a subject to poverty. When Dickens is twelve years of age, he is sent to work at a warehouse. He is forced to live away from his family for months while his father is in debtors’ prison. Dickens’s life and experiences are his sole inspiration in advocating for the poor ("Charles John Huffam Dickens”). Charles Dickens is responsible for plenty of charitable acts in his lifetime. His books depict his character and his love for people. He is able to sympathize with people struck with poverty because he deals with the same situation in his life. Later in Dickens life, he is gifted with wealth, but never keeps much of the money. He is forced to pay alimony and gives the rest away (Orwell).
“Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else” (Dickens 5). So says Mr. Thomas Gradgrind, the proponent of a Utilitarian educational philosophy in Charles Dickens’ Hard Times. Cold, hard facts are what Mr. Thomas Gradgrind’s philosophy consists of, and cold hard facts are exactly what Tom and Louisa Gradgrind are raised on. They are taught by their father and by society to live their lives based on these facts. They are instructed to conduct themselves in accordance to them and nothing else. As stated by Taylor Stoehr, “Tom and Louisa Gradgrind are products of the Gradgrindian system, raised in Stone Lodge, taught in the school of hard facts, model grindings off the parent stone” (Stoehr 171). As a result of being raised in the loveless atmosphere of Stone Lodge and in accordance with the strictly enforced rules of the Gradgrindian system, Tom and Louisa are deprived of opportunities to cultivate imagination, emotions, and “fancy” (Dickens 5). The children are themselves fragmented and insufficient fragments who have been formed by a hard system of hard facts. By blocking every available outlet for the interplay of fantasy and emotion, Mr. Gradgrind unintentionally generates two extreme outcomes for his children. Even though the Gradgrind philosophy has completely different effects on Tom and Louisa Gradgrind, it ultimately deprives them both of the happiness that only a balance between the wisdom of the Head and the wisdom of the Heart can create.
Mr. Gradgrind was a prominent school head that believed in “realities, facts, and calculations.” He is described as a cold-hearted man that strictly forbids the fostering of imagination and emotion, especially in his two children: Tom and Louisa (Dickens 5). Mr. Gradgrind raises his children in Coketown, a Capitalistic industrial town that Dickens calls, a waste-yard with “litter of barrels and old iron, the shining heaps of coals, the ashes everywhere, shrouded in a veil of mist and rain” (128). In this town that seems to be impenetrable to the sun’s rays, his children grow up lacking social connections, mor...
This classic English novel focuses on Jane’s struggle against societal expectations of class and of gender. Jane had many struggles with many characters throughout the novel, and this essay focused on some of the most important characters and the most important instances. Those struggles helped her become a smart, independent woman.
Mr. Bounderby is yet another man in Louisa's life who expects her to conform to the system implemented by men in society. This young girl, more than half his junior, appeals to Josiah Bounderby and soon they wed.
Dickens uses Thomas Gradgrind to demonstrate exactly how a basic philosophy of rationality self-interest. Thomas Gradgrind has faith that human nature can be restrained, calculated, and ruled completely by facts. Certainly, his schooling attempts to turn young children into tiny machines. Dickens’s main goal in Hard Times was to exemplify the risks of letting humans become nothing but machines, signifying that the lack of kindness and imagination in life would be intolerable. Louisa balms her father for only teaching her lessons on facts and nothing on life, she feels that that’s the reason she is unhappy in her marriage. “All that I know is, your philosophy and your teaching will not save me. How, father,...