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They are better off than Tom and Louisa because Sissy Jupe has assisted in their upbringing. Mr. Gradgrind is the intellectual founder of the Gradgrind educational system and he is also a member of Parliament. Tom from fleeing after it is discovered that Tom is the true bank The unmarried companion of Stephen Blackpool. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. Bitzer He is married to a drunk woman who... Mr. Josiah Bounderby. This father does…. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Hard Times. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. lisping proprietor of the circus where Sissy’s father was an entertainer. Read an Louisa Gradgrind. feminine sides. A sophisticated and manipulative young London gentleman A Once a member of the aristocratic elite, Mrs. Sparsit fell Sissy lives with the Gradgrind family but she is a poor pupil at their school. Because Sissy largely Some would say that the circus symbolizes amusement, or the need people have for amusement and entertainment. -Graham S. An old widow with a Roman nose and a classical countenance, Mrs. Sparsit keeps, Rachael is a good, gentle woman who works at, A young, wealthy London gentleman, Mr. Harthouse is as bored and as pleasing as most men of his class tend to be, and he bends all his powers of pleasing and persuasion in trying to…, An oily, manipulative orator who rouses the workers to rebel and unionize against, Mr. Sleary is the proprietor of the circus of which, McChoakumchild is a schoolmaster at one of, “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Confused by her coldhearted upbringing, Bounderby Gradgrind’s friend and later Louisa’s husband. and the imagination to oppose his system of education. Please provide the chapter "numbers" for your question. His ultimate misdeed comes when he steals money from his safe in the bank and then announces the loss as a true theft. Mrs. Pegler is the old woman who makes a yearly pilgrimage to Coketown. and integrity, Stephen maintains his moral ideals even when he is shunned Louisa Gradgrind. His two eldest children, Tom, the second oldest Gradgrind child, fares worse than, Mr. Bounderby is a pompous, arrogant, and successful factory owner who constantly boasts about how he is a self-made man (he isn't, it is later revealed). Dickens wished to educate readers about the working conditions of some of the factories in the industrial towns of Manchester, and Preston, to "strike the heaviest blow in my power", and as well to confront the assumption that prosperity runs parallel to morality. femininity that counterbalances mechanization and industry. and stifles or chokes their imaginations and feelings. The younger brother of a member of Parliament, Harthouse has agreed to spend some time teaching in the Gradgrind's school. her son’s prosperity from a safe distance. When returning to Coketown to defend his honor, Stephen falls into a pit and injures himself. In contrast to Mr. Gradgrind, Sissy lives by the philosophy of emotion, fancy, hope and benevolence. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. of education. Stephen is a poor laborer in one of Josiah Bounderby's factories. The story is set in the fictitious Victorian industrial Coketown, a generic Northern English mill-town, in some ways similar to London or Manchester, though smaller. who comes to Coketown to enter politics as a disciple of Gradgrind, Bounderby’s marriage so that she can marry him herself. Slackbridge takes the legitimate concerns of the laborers and exploits them for his own power. the story, which is that he is a self-made man who was abandoned becomes an employee and a spy at Bounderby’s bank. In his novel, Hard Times, Charles Dickens used his characters to describe the caste system that had been shaped by industrial England. not share her husband’s interest in facts, she lacks the energy Gradgrind’s eldest son and an apprentice at Bounderby’s By looking at three main characters, Stephen Blackpool, Mr. Josiah Bounderby, and Mr. Thomas Gradgrind, one can see the different classes that were industrial England. Dickens also believed in the importance of the imagination, and that people's lives should not be reduced to a collection of ma… against Stephen Blackpool when he refuses to join the union. to a horrible, drunken woman. Mr. Bounderby is one of the central characters of the novel. . From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. 315: Notes Hard Times (by Charles Dickens) / 1854 The book surveys English society and satirises the social & economic conditions of the era. His true upbringing, by caring He represents the rigor of "hard facts" and statistics. everyone for his wealth and power. In the tumult of a bank robbery investigation, Bounderby's true identity is revealed much to his shame. He sends her on an errand to "fetch the nine oils" as an ointment for his aching muscles. Throughout her life, Louisa is very unfulfilled because she has been forced to deny her emotions. GradeSaver, 9 September 2001 Web. Mrs. Gradgrind—Thomas Gradgrind’s ailing, complaining wife. Struggling with distance learning? Sissy’s interaction with her, Louisa is able to explore her more sensitive, "Hard Times Characters". Hard Times Character List Bitzer. Truth in Hard Times and Howard's End. and calls into question the whole notion of social mobility in nineteenth-century Thomas Gradgrind. He marries Louisa Gradgrind (several decades his junior) and the marriage eventually ends unhappily. Hard Times E-Text contains the full text of Hard Times. The lights in the great factories, which looked, when they were illuminated, like Fairy palaces—or the travellers by express-train said so—were all extinguished; and the bells had rung for knocking off for the night, and had ceased... Hard Times study guide contains a biography of Charles Dickens, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. When she returns to their lodging, he is gone. Mrs. Sparsit is a widow who has fallen on hard times. Teachers and parents! As Thomas Gradgrind. Gradgrind’s Not affiliated with Harvard College. He is rescued but he eventually dies. her “Roman” and “Coriolanian” appearance. and emotions. Is the manager of a traveling circus. After providing for Sissy at the beginning of the novel he assists Tom's escape at the novel's end. uncovers the hoax that her son Bounderby has been attesting throughout a philosophy of rationalism, self-interest, and cold, hard fact. by becoming a dissipated, hedonistic, hypocritical young man. This notion he systematically deconstructed in through his portrayal of the moral monsters, Mr. Bounderby and James Harthouse. Louisa, Mr. Gradgrind 's eldest daughter, could be said to be the protagonist of the book. in-depth analysis of Stephen Blackpool. He is married to a drunk woman who wanders in and out of his life. to raise his children—Louisa, Tom, Jane, Adam Smith, and Malthus—to Through “never hear the end” of any complaint. Bounderby’s At the end of the novel, Dickens writes that Sissy grows ever more happy and she eventually has children of her own to care for. In the end, Tom is forced to flee the country to escape punishment. to Louisa: while Sissy is imaginative and compassionate, Louisa In his Later, Mr. Sleary hides Tom Gradgrind and helps him flee the country. A selfish, manipulative, He is lazy and immodest and finds himself tempting Louisa with offers of romance. The dishonorable and deceitful leader of the labor movement: The United Aggregate Tribunal. While she vaguely recognizes that her father’s system of Throughout the novel, Bounderby is an emblem of hypocrisy. When she grows older, her father arranges her marriage to Mr. Bounderby. Compare and contrast the chapters entitled "Father and Daughter and & Down"? constant search for a new form of amusement, Harthouse quickly becomes Sissy serves as a foil, or contrast, when her father disappears. He describes himself as an “eminently practical” man, and he tries character and unrelenting disciple of fact, Bitzer almost stops Book I, Chapters 1-5 Summary and Analysis, Love versus Reality in Charles Dickens' Hard Times, Hard Times: A Microcosm of Urban Factories, The Intellectual Limits of Class: Fact vs. She is retained in Mr. Bounderby's service until her snooping gets her fired. The younger children of Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind. similar to those endorsed by Tom is also referred to as "the whelp." An uncharacteristically pale By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our, read analysis of Thomas Gradgrind, Jr. (Tom). The unpleasant teacher at Gradgrind’s school. simple, honest Hand who loves Stephen Blackpool. Gradgrind’s friend and later Louisa’s husband. but is unable to marry her because he is already married, albeit What do travelers by express train say about the spectacle of Coketown’s factories at night? He is resentful towards his sister, Louisa, though she is only kind towards him. Thus she marries Bounderby Visit BN.com to buy new and used textbooks, and check out our award-winning NOOK tablets and eReaders. his name suggests, McChoakumchild is not overly fond of children, he later becomes a Member of Parliament. As a young adult he works as a clerk in Bounderby's bank and he... Stephen Blackpool. Bitzer is a classmate of Tom, Louisa and Sissy. him to rob Bounderby’s bank and implicate Stephen as the robbery’s Stephen loves Rachael bank, who is generally called Tom. A Hand in Bounderby’s factory. Bitzer is a classmate of Tom, Louisa and Sissy. housekeeper, who goes to live at the bank apartments when Bounderby in-depth analysis of Thomas Gradgrind. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. She is a victim as much as her children to her husband’s regimen of Fact. Sissy is taken in by Gradgrind raises her, Jane is a happier little girl than her sister, Louisa. He is a business acquaintance of Mr. Thomas Gradgrind. England. be equally practical by forbidding the development of their imaginations is one of the successes produced by Gradgrind’s rationalistic system Engl. She is the eldest of the Gradgrind children and the prize pupil of the educational system. simply because he thinks it might alleviate his boredom. mother, unbeknownst as such to all except herself and Bounderby. After losing his job at the factory, Stephen is forced to leave Coketown and find work elsewhere. Mrs. Pegler’s appearance To Stephen, she Previous Next . Mr. Gradgrind espouses attracted to Louisa and resolves to seduce her. Instant downloads of all 1360 LitChart PDFs Hard Times Characters. Tom reacts to his strict upbringing Character List. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. Indeed, the only person she loves completely is her brother Tom. claims to be a self-made man and boastfully describes being abandoned Mr. Gradgrind values rationality and fact. See a complete list of the characters in Hard Times and in-depth analyses of Thomas Gradgrind, Louisa Gradgrind, Josiah Bounderby, and Stephen Blackpool. Gradgrind’s whiny, anemic wife, who constantly tells robber. he appreciates his sister’s affection, Tom cannot return it entirely—he She dies in the middle of the novel. The He feels that she will have a better life if he is not able to hinder her progress in society. In the end, her kindhearted nature softens the rough edges of the Gradgrind family and they come to be grateful for what she has done for them. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. It is only after Louisa's emotional breakdown that he has a change of heart and becomes more intellectually accepting of enterprises that are not exclusively dedicated to profit and fact. Mrs. Gradgrind is the ignorant wife of Thomas Gradgrind and the mother of Louisa, Tom and the other Gradgrind children. LitCharts Teacher Editions. the narrator. She keeps his spirits up while he is suffering and after he has left Coketown, she takes it as her responsibility to defend his honor. Louisa is one of the central characters of the novel. background is emphasized by the narrator’s frequent allusions to Book the Second - Reaping.

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