Hard Times Essays

  • Hard Times: Literally

    678 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although times now are very different from the times that Charles Dickens lived in for example there are many things that remain the same. School is still a require place to be for all of us under the age of eighteen with the requirements to stay in the school system for twelve years and finally graduate… it’s not done though then we are headed to university for even more education. The times of Charles Dickens weren’t all that easy and as it becomes apparent in his novel titled Form Hard Times the times

  • Hard Times Essay

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hard Times by Charles Dickens was written during the mid-1800s, a time in which industrial society was causing severe class division and poverty. Dickens’ used the novel, and many others, to voice his social theories. In the first book of Hard Times, “Sowing”, Dickens sows, or plants the seeds, of the novel. The characters are introduced and the plot begins to develop. The main theme of the first book is the important difference between fact and fancy. The second book, “Reaping”, describes the harvest

  • Redemption in Hard Times

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    Redemption in Hard Times Now, it is to be approached the redemption aspect in Hard Times. The main character, which will be in redemption, is Grandgrind. He is introduced at the beginning of the novel as: The speaker's square finger emphasized his observations by underscoring every sentence with a line on the schoolmaster's sleeve. The emphasis was helped by the speaker's square wall of forehead, which had his eyebrows for its base, while his eyes found commodious cellarage in two dark caves

  • Hard Times Themes

    1146 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hard Times Charles Dickens was known to be very controversial and outspoken in his books and Hard Times was no exception. Hard Times takes place in the industrial-centered city of Coketown, England where Dickens’ clearly attempts to expose the massive inequality between economic/social classes as well as the outright narcissism of the middle to upper classes who are only concerned with making a profit in the most practical/efficient way. Charles Dickens is in no way subtle throughout this book and

  • Introduction To Hard Times

    1985 Words  | 4 Pages

    The shortest of Dickens' novels, Hard Times, was also, until quite recently, the least regarded of them. The comedy is savagely and scornfully sardonic, to the virtual exclusion of the humour - that delighted apprehension of and rejoicing in idiosyncrasy and absurdity for their own sakes, which often cuts right across moral considerations and which we normally take for granted in Dickens. Then, too, the novel is curiously skeletal. There are four separate plots, or at least four separate centres

  • Hard Times Essay

    1896 Words  | 4 Pages

    The book Hard Times written by Charles Dickens is a story about a Lancashire Mill Town in the 1840’s. The novel is divided into three books. Dickens titles the books accordingly to prepare the reader for what is about to come, and throughout the novel he shows the effects of the education system, the setup of the caste system, and the Industrial Revolution had on society through this small town of Coketown. The main characters of the novel show the English caste system of the 19th century by showing

  • Hard Times and Wuthering Heights

    2280 Words  | 5 Pages

    overshadowed by the male gender who were considered dominant leaders. In a Victorian household, the male was head of the family; his wife and children respected him and obeyed him without question. This critical analysis of two nineteenth century novels - Hard Times by Charles Dickens and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, will discuss the representation of the two female protagonists in the context of the Victorian period and question whether they do indeed portray an endless struggle for survival and independence

  • Hard Times – Charles Dickens

    1646 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hard Times – Charles Dickens ‘Discuss the theme of education in Hard Times’ Charles Dickens was a great author of the 19th Century and his books are recognised and loved nation wide. Many people understand the meaning to his books, as they are not just plain fiction. In the novel Hard Times Dickens intensely criticises the British system of education and how it has evolved over the years: the 19th Century philosophy of ‘Utilitarianism’. Dickens believed this system was a failure, as it

  • Charles Dickens' Hard Times

    2080 Words  | 5 Pages

    Charles Dickens' Hard Times The book "Hard Times" was written in 1854. It was written in weekly instalments in a magazine called Household Words. This is like a normal soap but was weekly. The magazine was owned by Charles Dickens as he was a journalist. The book was written at the time of the Industrial Revolution. This was when factories were being built near major towns and cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. The Industrial Revolution was a time when there were big

  • Theme Of Fire In Hard Times

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    to convey certain ideas without directly stating them. As a history major, I find it fascinating to discover the deeper meaning to the motifs in Hard Times, as it was written during the industrial revolution, one of the most significant turning points in English history. A notable recurring motif in Charles Dickens’ novel is that of fire. In Hard Times, Dickens uses the symbol of fire to convey messages of despair, wonder, fancy, and hope surrounding the main character,

  • Utilitarian Logic in Hard Times

    1678 Words  | 4 Pages

    Utilitarian Logic in Hard Times Utilitarianism "Quadruped. Graminivorous. Forty teeth, namely twenty-four grinders, four eye-teeth, and twelve incisive. Sheds coat in spring......" A perfect example of a product of utilitarian education, Bitzer defines a horse off the top of his head in a split second. Utilitarianism is the assumption that human beings act in a way that highlights their own self interest. It is based on factuality and leaves little room for imagination. Dickens provides three

  • Hard Times - The Theme of Education

    2703 Words  | 6 Pages

    Hard Times - The Theme of Education 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

  • Fact and Fancy in Hard Times

    2831 Words  | 6 Pages

    accompanied it. In his novel Hard Times, an ongoing struggle ensues between the ideas of `fact' and `fancy'-- or the `head' and `heart.' The rivalry between these philosophies is a central theme to the Hard Times, not to mention a fundamental crux of human existence as well. Should an individual base his life on fact and rationality, or should he live by the whims of his imagination and fancy, following his heart? Dickens advances this theme persistently throughout the Hard Times, employing frequent use

  • Charles Dickens' Hard Times

    1751 Words  | 4 Pages

    Charles Dickens' Hard Times When we think of hard times in today’s world, our thoughts might consist of the number of days before we get paid, an argument with our spouse, or simply that our car is not operating so great these days. Most people today can not begin to imagine what hard times were like during the Industrial Revolution. In nineteenth century England, hard times to the factory workers may have consisted of watching one’s nine-year-old child tied to a machine in the mill for fourteen

  • Hard Times-Charles Dickens

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hard Times-Charles Dickens In “Hard Times” there is a teacher called Mr Gradgrind, Mr Gradgrind set up a school As a charity. Although this makes him sound like a kind man he is quite the opposite. He is very harsh and cruel man. I know this because of how he treats one of the members of his school. Her name is Sissy Jupe. One day Mr Gradgrind said “girl number 20, who is that girl. Sissy stood up and said “me sir”. Mr Gradgrind asked her name, when she replied he said “sissy is not a name and

  • Hard Times Literary Essay

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    Charles Dickens uses satire in his novel Hard Times as he attempts to bring to light social issues such as class division, education, and industrialization in nineteen-century English society. Hard Times was originally published in weekly segments in Dickens’ magazine, Household Words, from April 1854 to August 1854 (Cody 1). In order to better fit into the Libraries at the time, Charles Dickens divided Hard Times into three books: Sowing, Reaping, and Garnering. Each book with its own theme, guides

  • Characterization in Dickens' Hard Times

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Characterization in Dickens' Hard Times A firm character basis is the foundation upon which any good novel is built. For an allegorical novel, Dickens' has a surprisingly complex character foundation. The characters in Hard Times have both the simplistic characteristics of a character developed for allegorical purposes, as well as the intricate qualities of "real" people. These characters think and feel like we do and react to their situations in the same way that most of us would. These attributes

  • Hard Times By Charles Dickens

    2056 Words  | 5 Pages

    Consequences without an imagionation Hard Times by Charles Dickens is set out in three different books: The Sowing; The Reaping; The Garnering. They are named so as it has a special reference to the education and upbringing of children. The titles collectively underline the basic plot. It suggests that the grounding children received in their formative years would directly affect their adult lives. This comes evident as pupils of the Gradgrind system of education is not ready to tackle situations

  • North and South and Hard Times

    3011 Words  | 7 Pages

    North and South and Hard Times In  "Industrial" H Sussman states that "one of the most significant shifts created  by industrialism" was that of the "separation of the workplace from the home".  This "shift" created "new gender roles" with the "husband as breadwinner [and  the] wife as childcare giver" and led ultimately to the "19th century  ideology of the two separate spheres -  the masculine public sphere of work [and]  the private female sphere of domesticity". Is, however, this

  • Essay On Utilitarianism In Hard Times

    1614 Words  | 4 Pages

    Set in the ever changing world of the Industrial Revolution, Charles Dickens’ novel Hard Times begins with a description of a utilitarian paradise, a world that follows a prescribed set of logically laid-out facts, created by the illustrious and "eminently practical" Mr. Gradgrind. However, one soon realizes that Gradgrind's utopia is only a simulacrum, belied by the devastation of lives devoid of elements that "feed the heart and soul," as well as the mind. As the years fly by, the weaknesses of