Hard Times
Hard Times,a novel by Dickens , published 1854 .
Thomas Gradgrind , a citizen of Coketown, a northern industrial city (based on impressions of Preston, which Dickens visited in 1854 ), is a misguided exponent of Utilitarianism , an ‘eminently practical man’, who believes in facts and statistics and brings up his children Louisa and Tom accordingly, ruthlessly suppressing the imaginative sides of their nature. He marries Louisa to Josiah Bounderby, a manufacturer 30 years older than herself. Louisa consents partly from the indifference and cynicism engendered by her father's treatment, partly from a desire to help her brother, who is employed by Bounderby and who is the only person she loves. James Harthouse, a young politician without heart or principles, comes to Coketown and, taking advantage of her unhappy life with Bounderby, attempts to seduce her. The better side of her nature is awakened at this experience, and at...
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