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E212: British Literature since 1760 Charles Dickens Study Questions: Hard Times Alfred J. Drake. Office: 423 University Hall 1. Critics have generally said that Dickens' characters are caricature-like. Do you find that description accurate? In what sense might a "caricature" actually be more realistic than a the usual kind of "true-to-life' character delineation we find in realistic novels? 2. People who dislike Dickens sometimes say that his novels are too sentimental, too "pat." Be that as it may, what is unsentimental about Hard Times, with respect to its plot, its character treatment, and its conclusion? 3. What is Dicken's basic criticism of Utilitarian philosophy in this novel? How would you compare and contrast the novel's criticisms with those offered by John Stuart Mill in the Norton selection from his Autobiography? 4. Working-class character Stephen Blackpool is among the more appealing characters in the novel--to what extent, if at all, do his insights go beyond the limitations placed upon him by poverty and class discrimination? 5. What is the difference between Louisa and the brother upon whom she dotes? In what sense is Louise better than he is? 6. To what extent is Josiah Bounderby's conduct an indictment on Dickens' part of the widespread "laissez-faire" ideology of the mid-Victorian Era? What are the basic tenets of that ideology, and how does Bounderby claim to exemplify them? How does he in fact betray them? 7. On the whole, do you think that Dicken's social novel Hard Times advocates direct changes in British life? Is it reasonable to expect a novel to do that? What is the value in the kind of hard-hitting criticism and characterization that we find in Hard Times? Edition: Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. New York: Dover, 2001. ISBN: 0486419207.
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