Scarica Critical Analysis of Charles Dickens' Novels: Hard Times and Oliver Twist e più Appunti in PDF di Inglese solo su Docsity! INGLESE 1.1 C. DICKENS (1812-1870) - 1812, near Portsmouth and early movement to London (his father was imprisoned there for debt) - 1824, employment in a blacking factory since his father’s financial position improved (he goes back to school) and he becomes a parliamentary reporter and then a journalist - 1832, employment as a newspaper reporter - 1836, marriage with Catherine Hogarth and full time career as novelist - 1842, 5-month lecture tour of USA with his wife - 1858, separation from his wife - 1870, London (stroke) 1.1.1 Hard Times - 1854 (published in instalments of magazines and newspapers), last period of his literary production, so more critique of Victorian ideas and view ➔ Critique of positivism, pragmatism, materialism and mostly view of education (children’s education) - Setting: Coketown, fiction town named after coke (type of coal, source of energy) and modelled on the real industrial town of Preston, it shows the poverty that oppresses the working classes (only literary work that Dickens doesn’t set in London) Plot: Thomas Gradgrind is the school headmaster and in the same severe way he teaches his pupils he brings up his children Louisa and Tom, suppressing their imagination. According to his father desire (money, no interest in love and feelings), Louisa marries the rich man (factory owner and banker) Josiah Bounderby (unhappy marriage), in order to help his brother finding a job. When James Harthouse seduces Louisa she’s very confused and goes to her father, blaming him for not giving her what she needed (marry someone she loved) and for not teaching her how to choose and how to find solutions to a problem. She divorces JB and Tom, losing his job, becomes a thief and rob the bank, for which gesture he blames an innocent craftsman (Stephen Blackpool); when they discovery the real responsible of the robbery he runs away and the only ones that accept and help him are the circus folks. One of the circus folks is Sissy, a generous, creative and imaginative Gradgrind’s pupil, whose father was a horse breaker (after his death she’s adopted by TG and is very supportive of Louisa). Bounderby dies and Mr Gradgrind understands his failure, however Tom dies in his way back from America and Louisa never marries again ➔ Children can teach something: TG understands the failure as father and teacher and changes his mind thanks to Sissy (TG as round character) (The romance is divided into 3 sections/books, named after Mr Gradgrind’s mindset: “Sowing” semina, “Reaping” raccogli and “Garnering” conserva, meaning that you’ll rape what you sour) TG is the target of Dickens criticism, because he represents the education of the time, reflected even through his symbolic name: Grand (from grade: evaluation) + grind (from to grind: to crush into powder), meaning that he grinds human mind (imagination and creativity) and everything results into numbers. The education he gave his students was in order to let them become great workers, like machines, unable to think and to be creative. Other symbolic names are the ones of Mr Bounderby: bounder, meaning that he behaves unfairly; and Mr M’Choakumchild (teacher): choak (from to choke: to suffocate), meaning that he chokes children’s minds. As Hardy, there is a critique to the Victorian mindset (not only the city is pulled but also life): - Critique of industrialization (mass society lifestyle, humans have no interest between each other but only in production), which had caused alienated and the gap between rich/poor and factory owners/workers - Critique of the materialism and Bentham’s utilitarianism, for which human nature is motivated by a self- interest and it was duty of the state to support it through education ➔ J. Bentham’s utilitarianism: every human choice should be based on utility; a useful action is so if brings advantages in the greatest number of people (no space for altruism, passions…). Schools were made on these kinds of principles, so classes were big and teaching was the same for everyone As for the narration, there is an obtrusive narrator, who leads the reader to interfere with the narration (he says what is wrong and right and sends messages to the reader, high sense of humour), despite that there no physiological insight in the characters, which are flat, except for Mr Gradgrind’s round character. INGLESE 1.1.1.1 A man of realities - Narrator that presents TG in the same way he would have introduced himself, as an assertive (that doesn’t change his mind, self-confident,) and pragmatic man (comic description) - Facts taught by TG that clean out children’s creativity and imagination (regions of childhood, L18) - TG disappointed of Sissy’s father job, he considers circus environment as not reliable (that kind of people work with imagination, entertainment…) and uses other words (veterinary surgeon, farrier, horse breaker) to give more importance to this job - Sissy as the opposite of Bitzer (example of a product of TG’s education) ➔ Sunlight on Sissy that emphases her vitality; sunlight on Bitzer that emphases his lack of vitality (effect of TG’s education, that draw them out of childhood vitality) - Bitzer’s pale skin referred to industrialization (coke and pollution) ➔ Unhealthy and polluted air of the environment = pollution coming from education 1.1.1.2 Coketown - Goods produces in Coketown destined for the rich people, who don’t even want to know where they came from (critique of the hypocrisy) - Symbolic language (similes and metaphors) which alludes to a systematic and repetitive lifestyle (alienation)
