Customer center

We are a boutique essay service, not a mass production custom writing factory. Let us create a perfect paper for you today!

Example research essay topic: Wollstonecraft And Dickens Fight For Educational Reform - 1,194 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

... d there. Norrie Epstein, in The Friendly Dickens, states that, utilitarianism professes function over feeling, facts over fancy. Mr. Mcchoakumchild, who is brilliantly named (check-um-child), is not seen in action but we get a good description of him.

He is supposed to represent the ordinary teacher who had gone of to school and been stuffed with facts of all kinds but never asked to really think about them, only regurgitate the information. We see no signs of actual humanity in this man; he is the model teacher for Utilitarianism, and, in fact, we get the idea that if he werent as learned as he was that he may actually have some humanity. Next, we see Tom Gradgrind's own children Louisa and young Tom. They are caught peeping at a circus and severely reprimanded for it.

This is only the first of many illustrations of how these childrens lives have been without fairy tales, circuses, or anything else that would resemble a normal childhood activity, including idle wondering. After being scolded, Louisa and young Tom are sent up to their study to get back to their never-ending lessons of all the different ologies and somethingological facts. Louisa's response to her mothers command is our first clue that something is not right with this picture as well as Louisa. As if, with my head in its present throbbing state, you couldnt go look at the shells and minerals and things provided for you, instead of circuses! Said Mrs. Gradgrind.

You know as well as I do no young people have circus-masters, or keep circuses in cabinets, or attend lectures about circuses. What can you possibly want to know of circuses then? I am sure you have enough to do, if thats what you want. With my head in its present state, I couldnt remember the mere names of half the facts you have got to attend to. Thats the reason! pouted Louisa.

This thought deepens as she stares into the fire that her brother cannot see anything in. Several times throughout the book Louisa states the different things that were missing in her childhood and her sadness that she was unable to experience them, but we and she both know that it is too late for realizations like these. Unlike her brother, Louisa seems to have retained some humanity out of the lessons; this is her love for her brother. Young Tom seems to also have love for her but it has been perverted into a way for him to get what he wants. And is this surprising?

Not in the least. Love has no basis on fact. It is a subject of the heart not of the head and therefore not a subject entertained by a family such as the Gradgrind's or Mr. Bounderby. The heart is only an organ that pumps blood throughout the body in order for us to live, not the house of feelings.

This idea is more evident when Louisa marries Bounderby (even though she obviously detests even the sight of him). Her heart tells her no, but she is powerless to her fathers facts and statistics, as well as, her brothers need and want for her to be with him (so that he can use her for his own advantage). I think it is not a great surprise that Louisa ends up bursting with all the held in emotion later in the novel. Sissy, I feel, is a character worth mentioning when discussing education.

She simply fails at every attempt to fit into the nice neat model of a student. It is too late for them to suck the humanity and vitality out of her; she is too old and well taught. Mr. Gradgrind cannot make sense of her. He is unable to dissect her and put her into his nice, clean, safe, comfortable little charts.

He eventually pays little attention to her after she has completely failed at school, and he sort of pushes her off onto Mrs. Gradgrind. Although Dickens doesnt come right out and say that the school systems were bad and the utilitarian way was no good, he lets us know by the way he explains things; for example, the whole description of Mr. Mcchoakumchild is satirical. Dickens also pushes us toward his view with the way things turn out. Louisa almost has a mental breakdown, young Tom is a thief, and Better, the pride and joy of Mr.

Gradgrind's model school, is completely void of human sympathy and compassion. Sissy is the only one who isnt undone or seen unfavorably; she was never a model student. She actually helps some of the characters see the wrongs of their ways. Epstein writes, The tender ministrations of Sissy, the circus child, have given Mrs. Gradgrind a novel idea that she struggles to express before dying: But there is something not an Ology at all that your father has missed, or forgotten, Louisa.

I dont know what it isI shall never get its name now. Epstein also writes, she dies without ever having lived. Sadly, this is the case for several of the characters in this novel. These authors were very cunning about their arguments.

Wollstonecraft made her ideas more appealing by saying that womens education would improve society as a whole and allow it to evolve. Dickens never really came out and said that the educational system was bad. This left the final decision up to the reader whether or not things turned out all right even though it would be very difficult to come up with any other answer given the situation as it was. This gives the reader a feeling that he / she is not actually being pushed into believing anything and makes the persuasion more effective. Whether or not these two authors works contributed to the actual change of the educational systems is mainly left to speculation.

I personally feel that they, in combination with other great authors like them, helped persuade people that there was a problem to be fixed, which is the first step in reform. Even though Wollstonecraft only asked for women to be educated to an elementary level, I think she and Dickens both would be happy with the progress that has been made and the school systems today. Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Dickens. New York, New York: Penguin, 1998. Dickens, Charles.

Hard Times: For These Times. 1854. New York: Penguin, 1997. Simpson, Margaret. The Companion To Hard Times. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1997.

Wardle, Ralph M. Mary Wollstonecraft A Critical Biography. Lawrence: Kansas UP, 1951. Wollstonecraft, Mary.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 2. Ed. David Damrosch. New York: Longman, 1999. 208 - 235.

Bibliography: Epstein, Norrie. The Friendly Dickens. New York, New York: Penguin, 1998. Dickens, Charles. Hard Times: For These Times. 1854. New York: Penguin, 1997.

Simpson, Margaret. The Companion To Hard Times. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1997. Wardle, Ralph M. Mary Wollstonecraft A Critical Biography. Lawrence: Kansas UP, 1951.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. The Longman Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 2. Ed. David Damrosch.

New York: Longman, 1999. 208 - 235.


Free research essays on topics related to: dickens charles, york new york, hard times, mary wollstonecraft, british literature

Research essay sample on Wollstonecraft And Dickens Fight For Educational Reform

Writing service prices per page

  • $18.85 - in 14 days
  • $19.95 - in 3 days
  • $23.95 - within 48 hours
  • $26.95 - within 24 hours
  • $29.95 - within 12 hours
  • $34.95 - within 6 hours
  • $39.95 - within 3 hours
  • Calculate total price

Our guarantee

  • 100% money back guarantee
  • plagiarism-free authentic works
  • completely confidential service
  • timely revisions until completely satisfied
  • 24/7 customer support
  • payments protected by PayPal

Secure payment

With EssayChief you get

  • Strict plagiarism detection regulations
  • 300+ words per page
  • Times New Roman font 12 pts, double-spaced
  • FREE abstract, outline, bibliography
  • Money back guarantee for missed deadline
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Complete anonymity of all our clients
  • Custom essays
  • Writing service

EssayChief can handle your

  • essays, term papers
  • book and movie reports
  • Power Point presentations
  • annotated bibliographies
  • theses, dissertations
  • exam preparations
  • editing and proofreading of your texts
  • academic ghostwriting of any kind

Free essay samples

Browse essays by topic:

Stay with EssayChief! We offer 10% discount to all our return customers. Once you place your order you will receive an email with the password. You can use this password for unlimited period and you can share it with your friends!

Academic ghostwriting

About us

© 2002-2024 EssayChief.com