Criticism of Industrial England Essay Example for Free

Criticism of Industrial England Essay In Hard Times Charles Dickens criticizes several aspects of life among the lower classes working in factories in England during the nineteenth century. This paper will examine three of the subject Dickens condemns in Hard Times: Grandgrindism, the divorce laws in England at the time and bad education for children. Hard Times is set in Coketown, England. It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it . . . It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents* of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, . . . It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye (Dickens, 28). Coketown is typical of the industrialized factory towns that grew under the concept of Grandridnism, a term Dickens coined from a composite of popular philosophies of the day: utilitarianism, cutthroat capitalism, and self-interest among members of the upper classes. Dickens uses his character Stephen Blackpool to censure both the unions and the laws in England. Blackpool refuses to join the union that has formed in Coketown, consequently he is blackballed by the union and unable to find work even though he is an excellent worker. Here Dickens seems to be replacing one taskmaster, the company owners with another, the union, both of whom are more interested in their own interests than that of the workers. Blackpools troubles are increased because of his marriage. His wife went bad and took to drinking, left off working, sold the furniture, pawned the clothes, and played old Gooseberry (Dickens, 95). Unfortunately Blackpool is unable to get a divorce. To do so he would have to go to Doctors Common with a suit, and youd have to go to a court of Common Law with a suit, and youd have to go to the House of Lords with a suit, and youd have to get an Act of Parliament to enable you to marry again, and it would cost you (if it was a case of very plain sailing), I suppose from a thousand to fifteen hundred pound (Dickens, 99). Each of these tasks was beyond the means of Blackpool the combination of them was staggering. Clearly only the rich can get a divorce. When Blackpool expresses dismay at the legal requirements, Tis just a muddle atoogether, an the sooner I am dead, the better (Dickens, 99), he is chastised. Pooh, pooh! Dont you talk nonsense, my good fellow, said Mr. Bounderby, about things you dont understand; and dont you call the institutions of your country a muddle, or youll get yourself into a real muddle one of these fine Here Dickens is criticizing not only the divorce laws, but any laws that unfairly discriminate against the lower classes so much that they would rather die soon than have to live under the laws. Dickens disapproves of the education of the day with its emphasis on utility and absence creativity and concern for the individual student. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, Sir! (Dickens, 1). While Hard Times offers pertinent criticism of the living conditions of industrial workers in industrialized England, unfortunately Dickens fails to do is provide solutions for these problems. That is not to say his efforts were and are in vain. Change will only come after issues have been made known to the public at large and the ruling class in particular. Due to the increasing prosperity of people in the United States early in the twenty-first century it is difficult to identify with the characters in Hard Times. However its relevance is recently more significant as difficulties as an increasing amount of working conditions for factory workers in the third world reveals conditions similar to and even more harsh than those experienced by the people in Dickens novel. Hard Times is a valuable book for today just as it was when published. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.