Charles Dickens’ Hard TimesThere are a huge variety of characters in Hard Times, ranging from thegood to the unnaturally cruel. The novel is full of extremity in itscharacterisation; cruel, bitter and selfish characters such as Mrs.Sparsit contrast dramatically with characters such as StephenBlackpool and Rachael, who are benevolent and altruistic. Among thecruellest and most villainous characters in the novel is JamesHarthouse, who is completely ammoral, and therefore rendered verydangerous by Dickens. Josiah Bounderby, is another particularly cruelcharacter. He is utterly self-centred and prejudiced against theworking-class of the novel (he categorizes them all as being greedyand materialistic:
“You [Stephen] don’t expect to be set up in a coach andsix, and to be fed on turtle soup and venison, with agold spoon as a good many of ’em do!”)
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Bounderby is almost a caricature and is satirised by Dickens for hisconstant emphasizing of his climb to success, after supposedlybeginning his life in a ditch. Both Bounderby and Harthouse contrastwith the honourable characters of the novel, who are venerated byDickens.
Stephen Blackpool is the character who, it could be argued appears’too good to be true’. We are initially introduced to Stephen as beingsomeone who has had a hard, unfair life. A representation of theworking-class known collectively as the ‘Hands’, Stephen has suffereda life of hardship, both in his work and in his marriage to anunfaithful drunkard. It is somewhat shocking then, when we first meetStephen, that he is immediately portrayed as a kind, complacent man,who seems to show no hostility towards Mr. Bounberby or resentmenttowards the social system which has de…
…, who is clearly reluctant,has been forced into a marriage by the expectations of the same society.
Some characters in the novel are often sentimentalized and thereforesometimes do not seem believable. However, the novel is ultimately asatirical one, which is meant to make a point, and it is perhapstherefore more fitting that the ‘good’ characters are slightlyexaggerated, in order to emphasize the dishonourable characteristicsof people such as Harthouse. They are a kind of rebellion against themonotony of the utilitarian system, and Dickens uses them as anexample. He uses Stephen in particular to promote character andintegrity over learning. The good characters are not necessarily meantto be a naturalistic rendition of human personalities, but are insteaduse to provide the novel with interest in the form of contrastingattitudes and beliefs.
