This Presentation is about a Thematic study of the novel 'Hard Times' by Charles Dickens.

1. Thematic study of
‘Hard Times’

3. Name : Anjali Rathod
Sem : 1
Roll No : 2
Enrollment No : 4069206420220024
Subject : Thematic study of ‘Hard Times’
Subject code : 22395
Submitted to : S. B. Gardi Department of
English , MK Bhavnagar University

4. Introduction of the Author
❏ Born : February 7, 1812 ,Portsmouth
❏ Died : June 9 , 1870, Chatham
❏ Occupation : An English Novelist,
writer and Social Critic
❏ Works : Hard Times,
David Copperfield,
The Pickwick Papers,
Oliver Twist,
A Christmas Carol,
Bleak House,
Great Expectations

5. Characters
➢ Thomas Gradgrind
➢ Louisa
➢ Tom
➢ Mr. Josiah Bounderby
➢ Mrs. Sparsit
➢ Stephen Blackpool
➢ James Harthouse
➢ Sissy

6. Theme of the Novel
❏ Surveillance and Discipline : “I shall have the satisfaction of
causing you to be strictly educated”, Thomas Gradgrind tells
sissy type in hard times”, “Any you will be a living proof to all
who come into communication with you, of the advantages
of the training you will receive. You will be reclaimed and
forced”.
❏ The novel intronically subverts this complacent picture of an
invincible Gradgrindian system. A.P. Donajgrodzki has
argued that utilitarians and their opponents often shared “
Near-identified presuppositions and social values.

7. ❖ Fact and Fancy : In Hard Times, Dickens introduces a way to
resist the humiliating effects of the Industrial Revolution by
writing the novel for and about ordinary people. He also realizes
that people In need fantasy and fancy by reading books, and by
going to theaters and circuses. The novel is about the idea that
there is more in life than pure facts to rely on.
❖ Negative effect in Industrial Society : However Industrialism has
been evaluated , it has been recognized as Dickens Distinctive
attempt to grips with the phenomenon of the industrial city and with
the more hidden economic and social structures which that city
visibly represents.
❖ The Imaginative constraint of Hard Times is the symbolic expression
of Dickens critique of the interlocking structure economic , social
and political of Industrial capitalism.

8. ❖ Femininity : Hearing that her husband has
apprehended Tom and Louisa peeping into sleary’s circus
, Mrs. Gradgrind Exclaims : “I declare you’re enough to
make one regret ever having had a family at all. I have a
great mind to say I wish I Hadn’t”, “Then what would you
have done , I should like to know”.
❖ Mechanization of human : Human Beings portrayed as
machines is clearly portrayed as Dickens describes Louisa
and Thomas looking through a peephole at the circus.
❖ With Mr. Gradgrind’s philosophy in Fact and Fancy; Fact is
only thing useful for a child and “Nothing else with ever be
of ant service to over them”while dismissing any
development of their emotions as well as imaginations ,
clearly depicts Dickens theme of Human Mechanization.

9. “There is a wisdom of the head, and...
there is a wisdom of the heart.”
― Charles Dickens, Hard Times

10. Collins, Philip. "Charles Dickens". Encyclopaedia Britannica, 20 Aug. 2022,
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Dickens-British-novelist. Accessed 18 October 2022.
MALONE, CYNTHIA NORTHCUTT. “THE FIXED EYE AND THE ROLLING EYE: SURVEILLANCE AND
DISCIPLINE IN ‘HARD TIMES.’” Studies in the Novel, vol. 21, no. 1, 1989, pp. 14–26. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/29532615. Accessed 17 Oct. 2022.
https://www.academia.edu/2394260/The_theme_of_FACT_and_FANCY_in_Hard_Times
JOHNSON, PATRICIA E. “‘HARD TIMES’ AND THE STRUCTURE OF INDUSTRIALISM: THE NOVEL AS
FACTORY.” Studies in the Novel, vol. 21, no. 2, 1989, pp. 128–37. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29532632.
Accessed 18 Oct. 2022.
COWLES, DAVID L. “HAVING IT BOTH WAYS: GENDER AND PARADOX IN ‘HARD TIMES.’” Dickens Quarterly,
vol. 8, no. 2, 1991, pp. 79–84. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/45291349. Accessed 18 Oct. 2022
WriteWork contributors. "Charles Dickens "Hard Times": Human Mechanization." WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 10
November, 2005. Web. 17 Oct. 2022.

11. Thank You