Hard Times
Hard Times by Charles Dickens displays ideas of gender, class, politic of the Victorian Age but also it represents the importance of education, social categorization, and social impacts of the individuals. The novel has relevant ideas in those perspectives. Dickens portrays a misleading society.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is an English author and critic. Not only for his time but also today, he is a well-known author. He mainly defines the Victorian age. 1854 is the year when he publishes Hard Times. There are necessary characteristics of the Victorian Age in the book. The first significant point is that the location of the book is Manchester where the working-class lives. The industrial social life's effects are apparent in the book. The book begins with a girl whose name is Sissy Jupe. She likes illusions of the world, imaginations, etc. But she does not match with the Thomas Gradgrind’s analytic ideas who support that ‘’this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!’’. Because in his idea there is only black and white or two plus two always four. Another notable concern is that ‘The school children are treated as numbers from an early age, just as the workers'. The beliefs are required to place in their minds. Sissy comes from the working class and her father can not afford the economical obstacles. He lefts her daughter and she has to stay with Gradginds and she always waits for a letter from her father. The conditions here are related to the Victorian Period working-class difficulties. It is because of the political, social, and economical circumstances of the time which require people to work extremely hard and survive in horrifying conditions. Why people work extremely in the working-class is related to the
