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Hard Times The spirit of Victorian England is now being discussed in terms of cultural phenomenon. Rapid development of technology in 19 th century resulted in mechanization of peoples outlook on life, which became especially apparent in developed capitalist countries. People began to rationalize every aspect of their existence, in order to gain social prominence. However, it did not take long for them to realize that their existential efficiency could never help in them to attain happiness. Charles Dickens novel Hard Times corresponds to the contemporary realities of 19 th century England, by giving reader an opportunity to observe the full specter of characters motivations to act in one way or another, under specific set of circumstances. Author analyses the Victorian society with mean of exposing its inconsistencies, where social satire plays the role of important tool.
Dickens novel is a story of peoples sense of idealism being unable to adjust to the realities of industrial world, where there is only one universal value money. Novels characters belong to the different strata of English society and they often expose inner qualities that do not correspond to their social status. For example, Stephen Blackpool is shown to us as the aristocrat of spirit, even though that he is a proletarian, who should not have any concerns except for the material ones. Yet, such things as loyalty, willingness to help his friends and the spiritual idealism, for Stephen are not just empty words. At the same time, novels another major character Thomas Gradgrind appears to be deprived of any idealistic qualities. According to him, it is only hard work that can improve ones social status, while all other aspects of human life are thought of as being secondary.
In fact, Gradgrinds ideas sound as pure Marxism: 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.
Prior to the rise of this obscure doctrine, Dickens was able to show that Marxism could never originate among workers. Only those who had gained a higher social status, by getting rid of unnecessary qualities, such as kindness, taste for adventure and romanticism, could design a philosophy of class struggle. Josiah Boundary is novels another important character, who helps us to understand the social dynamics within English society of the time. He tries to gain peoples respect by making them to believe that he is a self-made man. Later in the novel he is revealed to be a fake, nevertheless, he never changes his worldview, which is based on social Darwinism. Hard Times can certainly be described as historical document.
Dickens is known for being the advocate of social realism in literature. The main feature of his novels is a high degree of authenticity. Many of them also contain biographical motives. This is why we can learn a great deal about Victorian England, by reading Dickens books. The reason why English empire became so vast and powerful in 19 th century is because many Englishmen had no choice but to impose English authority in different parts of the world, while being unable to become socially successful in England. Stephen Blackpool could never break out of poverty's clutches, because the socio-political reality in England at the time.
If he managed to get to India, for example, he would become rich within a few years, but instead he had to die in the abandoned mines shaft. In 19 th century England, just as in America, peoples industriousness was allowing them to gain social prominence, regardless of whether they were nobility or simple working men. Therefore, in the mind of many middle class citizens, the ability to rise from mud to princes, constituted the ultimate worthiness. Many of them lacked the strength of character to become rich and powerful, by getting involved in some risky enterprise. Nevertheless, they wanted other people to think of them as new money, even though that their true nature was showing up, because of the excessive rationalizing, on their part.
Today many people feel as if they were born in wrong time, because contemporary society is too structural ized and does not allow them to fully exploit their qualities. There are too many laws that limit peoples activity. This is why these adventurers rightly suggest that they would be able to advance much further in life, if they were born in colonial times, for example. On the contrary, many of Hard Times characters would be able to feel more comfortable, if they were born nowadays. Their mechanical ways of thinking, their inability to break out of working routine, their unwillingness to open up their minds to the new ideas these are the qualities that allow individual to become successful in todays politically-correct world. In his novel, Dickens was able to define the essence of Victorian mindset.
We can say that industrialization and the rise of capitalism caused many people to try to stump out important qualities of their character. Still, as it shown in the novel, this could not result in making them happier. Even back than, it is only on the surface that English society could appear as being based on conservative principles. Conservatism in England serves as cover, which conceals the fact that this society is ruled by the economical greed, just like any other. In Victorian England, the social customs were only being followed, for as long as they did not stand on the way of progress. The problem of social stratification in 19 th century England was very acute.
The union movement among workers was only gaining a momentum. There virtually no laws to regulate the relations between employer and employees. In its turn, it led to the rise of class antagonism among people of the same nation, which was later exploited by Communists. Various scientific discoveries of the time made Englishmen to become much more pragmatic, but at the same time, they were slowly loosing their human qualities. This is the novels main idea.
It is known, to the force of a single pound weight, what the engine will do; but not all the calculators of the National debt can tell me the capacity for good or evil, for love or hatred, for patriotism or discontent, for the decomposition of virtue into vice, or the reverse, at any single moment in the soul of one of these quiet servants, with the composed faces and the regulated actions says Dickens and, as history of 20 th century had shown, he was absolutely right. Bibliography: Dickens, Charles Hard Times. 1997. Etext # 786. Project Gutenberg. 3 Mar. 2007. web Daniels, Barbara Poverty and Families in the Victorian Era. 2003. Hidden Lives Revealed. 3 Mar. 2007.
web Outline: Introduction and characters description. Pp. 1 - 2 Hard Times as historical document. Pp. 2 - 3 Conclusion. P. 3
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Research essay sample on 19 Th Century England Stephen Blackpool
