HARD TIMES (1854) by DICKENS

1. THEMES

1.1. criticism of the evils of Victorian

1.1.1. describes the plight of young characters growing up in a hostile adult world

1.1.2. the hardships of the working class and the terrible contrasts between the conditions of live of rich and poor in industrialized Victorian urban areas

2. CHARACTERS

2.1. Thomas Gradgrind: advocate

2.2. Louisa and Tom: sons

2.3. Josiah Bounderby: husband of luisa

3. PLOT

3.1. - Gradrind an advocate despies the idea that love

3.2. - Marry his daughter, Louisa, with Josiah Bounderby (a factory owner)

3.3. - Her brother Tom employed by her husband

3.4. - Louisa's marriage is unhappy. She back to her family

3.5. - Tom steals money from Bounderby's bank

3.6. - Gradgrind getting him out of the country, away from justice

3.7. THE END

3.7.1. - Gradgrind changed man (help poor)

3.7.2. - Tom dies without see his family again

3.7.3. - Bounderby dies alone

3.7.4. - Louisa finds happines with friends and family

4. SETTING

4.1. fictional town"Coketown", based in the north of England