An Introduction to Hard Times

1. An Introduction to Hard Times Charles Dickens

2. Charles Dickens • Born February 7th 1812 • Dickens’ father was the child of a butler in an aristocratic home, thus received a fine education and went to London to work as a clerk • He married and began his family. Charles was the oldest boy • Charles had a volatile childhood, reflected in his fiction

3. Dickens’ Biography, cont. • He was the first novelist to treat with dignity and respect the life of children • His father was a spendthrift, living beyond his means and eventually landed in debtor’s prison. • While his family was in prison Dickens worked as a child laborer and eventually lived on his own in rooms near to the prison • He eventually became a newspaper reporter and then of course a novelist

4. Jeremy Bentham and Utilitarianism A system of philosophy propounded by Bentham in the late 18th century.

5. Two main components of Utilitarianism Self-interest is the basis for all human action The greatest good for the greatest number • Bentham believed that laws must be created to attack the individual’s tendency to self-interest • How much pleasure or pain supersedes issues of morality • This philosophy became the basis for an acceptance of greed and self-indulgence

6. Dangers of Utilitarianism • Over-reliance on statistics • Dickens saw this as a danger as statistics can be used to prove anything • He also pointed to the ludicrous tendency to attempt to measure human emotions • The philosophy infected the arts • Art could only reflect fact…no flowers on carpets…words used only to reflect “truth” • Dickens saw this as an attack on the imagination

7. Dickens’ Style

8. Themes and Concerns In Hard Times

10. Hard Times Discussion Questions: Chapter One

12. Hard Times Discussion Questions: Chapter Two