Hard Times is a novel by the English author Charles Dickens that criticizes the philosophy of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the belief that all ideas, actions, and institutions should be judged by how useful they are to the greatest number of people. Dickens believed that Utilitarianism reduced social relations to a cold-hearted general interest, stifling individuality and imagination. The novel, one of Dickens’s shortest in length, was first published in 1854.
Hard Times centers on the character of Thomas Gradgrind, a schoolmaster in Coketown, who follows the Utilitarian philosophy. He accepts only facts and statistics as a valid way of looking at the world. The classroom scene early in the novel is memorable and brilliantly crafted, as Gradgrind seeks to humiliate a young girl incapable of providing a Utilitarian definition of the word “horse.” Gradgrind has brought up his two children, Louisa and Tom, to believe in the Utilitarian philosophy, and has suppressed their youthful imaginations. Following his philosophy, he marries Louisa to a manufacturer named Josiah Bounderby, who is much older than she is. Louisa agrees to the marriage, partly because she is indifferent and partly because she believes it will help her brother, who works for Bounderby. She is unhappy in the marriage. A young politician, James Harthouse, takes advantage of her misery and tries to seduce her. She is horrified and goes home to her father for protection.
Gradgrind realizes his mistake in arranging the marriage, and Louisa and Bounderby are formally separated. But the family’s problems continue, centering on Bounderby’s bank and union politics in the mill works of Coketown. Tom has robbed Bounderby but tries to put the blame on Stephen Blackpool, a workman. Tom’s crime is discovered, and he is smuggled out of the country.
Although Hard Times was not among the most successful of Dickens’s novels at the time, its reputation increased during the 1900’s. The novel has a number of memorable characters. These include Sissy Jupe and the circus owner Sleary, who are warm and generous, in contrast with the grotesque Mrs. Sparsit, Bounderby’s vicious housekeeper.
