Dickens's Hard Times as a Social Novel

 Hard Times

Charles Dickens

 

Dickens's Hard Times as a Social Novel

Answer: The Victorian era in Britain was during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Although it was a peaceful and prosperous time, there were still problems within the social structure. Among the social classes of this era were the upper class, the middle class and the lower class. Those who were lucky enough to study in the upper class did not usually do manual labor. All things considered, they claimed land and recruited lower-class laborers to work for them, or contributed to make a benefit.

Among the working class were unskilled workers who worked in cruel and unhealthy conditions (Victorian England Social Hierarchy). They didn't approach clean water and food, schooling to their youngsters, or appropriate attire.Often, they lived on the streets and were far from the jobs they could get, so they had to walk wherever they could. Unfortunately, many workers use drugs like opium and alcohol to cope with their suffering.

Charles Dickens's novel, Hard Times in the Victorian era is determined mainly by attacking the existing social problems, education system, caste system, economic system and many more. The Victorian era was dominated by an aristocratic population whose power later faded and lost its influence. The state of the faded aristocracy in the novel is presented through the characters of Gradegrind and Boundaryby.

Dickens has clearly expressed his hatred of the divorce law, which remains a privilege of the rich. Stephen Blackpool, an industrialist who was drunk and had a British wife, wanted a divorce from her, but could not afford the expensive fees due to his poor financial condition and divorce law. The operation of the poor working class by rich industrialists is at the heart of the novel's outrage. Hardworking workers are turned into mere ‘Hands’ without any emotion, which shows that they are only counted in terms of work, production and manufacture. They are not treated as human. The novel is a fundamental critique against the economic inequality of an age where the rich are extremely rich and the poor are poor, they can’t even eat a square meal. All measures against blue collar workers. ‘Hands’ have always been suppressed by the law, trade unions and their employers.

Industrial workers are paid less and do not get adequate and satisfactory benefits to make a living, which eventually leads to protests against the industrialists. Dickens expressed his displeasure at the evolving system of industrialism in England.

The novel is a great example of an attack on the usefulness of the Victorian era, not counting high emotions and feelings but focusing only on work skills, information, numbers and calculations. Reality has replaced love and feelings. ‘Love’ is the wrong expression for Gradgrind. The Victorian era was characterized by the same features. This situation is clearly shown by Dickens.

Also the children of Gradgrind were not allowed to wander, imagine and ask questions about emotions and even they were not told any story and no rhyme was heard. For, Gradgrind was true to all and everything. He even turned the relationship into numbers and truth and persuaded his daughter Louisa to marry a man twice her age.

Dickens also satirizes the education system in his novels. The curriculum, the school environment and the teachers were deeply influenced by the useful values. Students were taught to follow what teachers were told, but not to think or wonder about the lessons they were given. Tom, for example, faced a problem and could not cope with the situation, even though he was highly educated at the time and Lucia could not understand his own emotions due to the weak Victorian-era education system.

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👉  Character of Louisa Gradegrind