Hard Times
by Charles Dickens
to be sympathetic to each other, in contrast to Tom’s
exploitation of Louisa’s love for him.
The focus shifts to Coketown and the weaving
works owned by Bounderby. We are introduced to
one of the workers (or “Hands”), Stephen Blackpool, who is portrayed as a man of great integrity
and kindness. He returns home after a long day’s
work to find a woman, whom we later discover is
his alcoholic wife, in his room. She is contrasted
with Stephen’s friend, Rachel, whom he clearly
loves but regards as unattainable because he is
married. The following day, Stephen goes to his
employer to find out how to get a divorce, but he
is treated unsympathetically by Bounderby and his
housekeeper, Mrs. Sparsit, and it is made clear to
him that divorce is possible for rich people only.
Bounderby is revealed as a snob and the marriage laws are shown to be unjust. As he leaves
Bounderby’s house, Stephen meets a mysterious old
woman who shows a great deal of curiosity about
his employer. He reaches his home to find Rachel
looking after his drunken wife, and falling asleep
in the chair, he has a troubled dream in which marriage, death, and condemnation are intermixed. He
awakens as his wife is about to drink from a bottle
of poison that has been used to dress her wounds.
Although he does nothing to stop her, Rachel awakens in time to snatch the bottle. Stephen declares
Rachel to be an angel who makes him a better man
than he would otherwise be.
Content Synopsis
Book 1: Sowing
The novel begins in the school owned by
Mr. Gradgrind, a retired hardware merchant who
is about to enter politics, and we see that in this
school, education consists of filling the children
with facts and limiting their imagination as much
as possible. The star pupil, Bitzer, is the product of
this process and he is contrasted with Sissy Jupe,
who has just come to the school and who represents a natural child, for whom imagination is
more important that facts.
On his way home from his model school,
Gradgrind finds two of his own children, Tom and
Louisa, trying to see into Sleary’s circus. This is
where Sissy’s father works as a clown. He has discussed the situation with his friend, Josiah Bounderby, a self-made industrialist and Gradgrind decides
Sissy’s influence is responsible for his children’s
actions. She must be expelled from school. The two
men go to the circus to inform Sissy’s father of their
decision, but they learn that he has abandoned Sissy
believing that she will have a better chance in life
without him. The circus people are portrayed as
warm-hearted and well meaning, in contrast to the
emotional coldness in Gradgrind’s family and the
harshness of Bounderby’s attitude. Gradgrind agrees
to take Sissy into his family on condition that she
severs all ties with the circus. Although Louisa and
Sissy do not become close friends, they are shown
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76 | Introduction to Literary Context: English Literature
Time passes and we learn that Sissy is still with
the Gradgrinds and is still resistant to learning the
facts which pass for education, but that Tom has
gone to work for Bounderby in his bank. Bounderby’s proposal of marriage to Louisa is relayed
to her by her father. Despite their disparity in age
and the fact that she does not love him, Louisa
accepts the proposal. On hearing this news, Sissy
gives Louisa a look “in wonder, in pity, in sorrow”
(106) but this offends Louisa, bringing the sympathy between the two young women to an end. Book
1 ends with the wedding of Louisa and Bounderby.
Book 2: Reaping
Mrs. Sparsit and Bitzer, now both residential workers in the bank, express their disapproval of the
action of the factory hands in “Combining” or joining together in a trade union. They do this in terms
that reveal their hypocrisy, for they approve of the
union of the masters: “‘It is much to be regretted,’
said Mrs. Sparsit ‘that the united masters allow of
any such class-combinations. Being united themselves they ought one and all to set their faces
against employing any man who is united with any
other man’” (119). They also reveal their disapproval of Tom Gradgrind as a “dissipated, extravagant idler” (121) who is tolerated mainly because
he is Bounderby’s brother-in-law. James Harthouse appears with a letter of introduction from
Mr. Gradgrind and is accepted into the Bounderby
family circle. Clearly intrigued by Louisa, Harthouse recognizes her emotional links with Tom
and sets about getting to know him, aware that this
could be to his advantage.
The scene shifts once more to Bounderby’s
­factory where the trade union leader, Slackbridge,
is addressing the workers. Stephen refuses to join
their action and the other Hands vote to ostracize
him as a result. Stephen is called into Bounderby’s
presence and questioned about the action and the
workers’ decision to cut all ties with him. His
answers being unsatisfactory, Stephen is classified
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as a troublemaker and loses his job. As he leaves
Bounderby’s house, he meets the mysterious old
woman again, this time in Rachel’s company. They
return to Stephen’s lodgings for tea, where they are
visited by Louisa and Tom. Louisa offers Stephen
financial help and he reluctantly borrows some
money from her until he can find work. Tom draws
Stephen aside and offers to do him a “good turn”
(164) which involves hanging around outside the
bank for an hour each night until he leaves Coketown. Stephen does this, but nothing comes of it.
Harthouse decides to engage Louisa’s emotions if possible, and discovers that Tom is in debt
and has been borrowing money from her. When
the bank is robbed soon afterwards, Louisa half
suspects Tom has been involved somehow, but
everyone else believes Stephen, in league with the
mysterious old woman, is the culprit. After the robbery, Mrs. ­Sparsit lives with the Bounderbys, and
begins spying on Louisa and Harthouse as part of
her strategy for estranging Louisa and Bounderby.
When she hears an assignation being arranged
between Harthouse and Louisa, she follows Louisa but loses her somewhere in Coketown. Louisa
returns to her father’s house to ask his advice in
dealing with a situation for which her education in
his system has left her totally unprepared. At the
end of an emotionally draining meeting between
father and daughter, Louisa faints.
Book 3: Garnering
Louisa awakens in her old home, overcomes her
resentment of Sissy, and accepts her help in dealing
with Harthouse, who is persuaded to leave Coketown immediately. In the meantime, Mrs. Sparsit has
reported to Bounderby the conversation she overheard, and together they go to inform Gradgrind of
his daughter’s behavior but are disconcerted to find
her there. Gradgrind asks that Louisa be allowed to
recover in her old home for a few days, Bounderby
refuses, stating that she must return to him within 24
hours or not at all. When that time has elapsed, he
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