Education, Marriage and Industrialism in 'Hard Times'

  Hello, 

     I am Nidhi Jethava and today in this blog I am going to discuss Education, Marriage and Industrialism. 

Hard Times: For These Times (commonly known as Hard Times) is the tenth novel by Charles Dickens, first published in 1854. The book surveys English society and satirises the social and economic conditions of the era.

(1)Education - as discussed in Hard Times - how do you see it in today's context?

The Theme of education in the ‘ Hard Times ‘ is very significant and it is probably concerned with our own times education system. Character of Thomas Gradgrind and Mr. McChoakumchild reflect the educational institutional system of that time Mr.Gradgrind espouses a philosophy of rationalism,self-interest, and cold, hard fact. He is forbidding the development of imagination and emotion. In the same way we can connect our contemporary educational system. Today a large number of education institutes come on the front and we can say that these all reflect the education system of Hardy's novel ‘ Hard Times’.  Many films are made on this topic especially ‘ 3 idiots ‘ . Rationality is good but when it is over power then it will create chaotic scenes and people become like machines. 

(2)Marriage - as discussed in Hard Times - how do you see it in today's context?

There are many unhappy marriages in Hard Times and none of them are resolved happily by the end. Mr. Gradgrind's marriage to his feeble, complaining wife is not exactly a source of misery for either of them, but neither are they or their children happy. The Gradgrind family is not a loving or affectionate one. The main unhappy marriage showcased by the novel is between Louisa Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby. Louisa marries him not out of love but out of a sense of duty to her brother, Tom, the only person in the world she loves and who wheedles her into saying "yes" because he works for Bounderby and wants to improve his chances at rising in the world. Bounderby's intentions regarding Louisa seem a bit creepy at first, but he turns out to mean no harm to her (except that he deprives her of any marital affection). The only solution to this bad marriage, once Louisa has escaped the hands of Jem Harthouse, is for Louisa to live at home the rest of her days. She will never be happy with another man or have the joy of children, though Dickens hints she will find joy in playing with Sissy's future children.

 Nowadays we can connect the marriage with the time of Hardy. So many times marriage becomes a one kind of business deal. I am not saying that there is no love but so many times it may be a one kind of business deal. But on another side marriage is the universal truth. Marriage is the basic fundamental of society.

Industrialism - How do you see it today in the times of Digital Era?

Industrialism plays the most significant role in contemporary  time. This era we can say that the most powerful development of industrialism. The important thing is that mang. Lots of competition in society and marketing, simultaneously affected the education system. This competition mostly affected the children.

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