Hard times Flashcards
Who is Thomas Gradgrind?
a school superintendent who promotes an education based on facts alone, with no imagination or emotions, and later becomes a member of parliament, his two eldest children Louisa and Tom suffer greatly from being brought up under this philosophy, and Gradgrind eventually comes to learn the error of his ways and dedicates his life to fostering faith, hope and charity
Who is Louisa Gradgrind?
Gradgrind’s eldest daughter, resents the education of facts from a young age, which she finds unenjoyable and represses her imagination and emotions, deforming her heart. Led by her education she marries Bounderby who she does not love, and then nearly runs away with James Harthouse, who finally makes her feel understood. With the help of Sissy, her heart and humanity are gradually resuscitated
Who is Tom Gradgrind Jr. ?
the second oldest Gradgrind child, fares worse than Louisa in that his character is almost irrevocably deformed by his education of facts. He turns into a grumpy, sulky young man who ends up robbing a bank to pay off his debts and nearly breaks the heart of his father and sister in the process
Who is Josiah Bounderby?
A pompous, arrogant, and successful factory owner who constantly boasts about how he is a self made man, although it is later revealed that he isn’t. He is good friends with Gradgrind and lives with Mrs Sparsit until he marries Louisa. He does not make Louisa happy, driving her to be emotionally vulnerable to Harthouse.
Who is Sissy Jupe?
the daughter of a circus performer, lowest quality background, but her imagination and heart are of the highest quality, thanks to her father’s care. Her father deserts her when she is young, leaving her to be adopted by the Gradgrind’s but his education has made a mark on her and nothing that Gradgrind teaches her will undo it. She becomes the saviour of the Gradgrind’s; when Louisa almost succumbs to Harthouse’s proposal and when Tom is nearly arrested she saves the day, saving their lives and hearts
Who is Mrs Sparsit?
An old widow who is of high class descent but has fallen from this status, she keeps Bounderby company before he is married, she is jealous of Louisa as she wanted to marry Bounderby for the money so sets out to expose her relationship with Harthouse, however Louisa returns to her father instead of eloping. She earns Bounderby’s unceasing when she accidentally reveals his mother to be alive and therefore that he had not built himself up from the gutter
Who is Stephen Blackpool?
a poor worker at Bounderby’s factory, a victim of the industrial system and society’s restrictions on marriage. his face and body are much aged due to to the gruelling work he must do at the factory and his heart is aged since his wife became a drunken prostitute and left him, occasionally returning for money. He no longer loves his wife but now loves Rachael but cannot marry her due to his existing marriage. His fellow workers shun him when he refuses to join the union, and Bounderby fires him after he refuses to give him details about the union. Tom frames him in the bank robbery and he dies in a hole on his way back to defend his good name
Who is Rachael?
Rachael is a good, gentle woman who works at Bounderby’s factory with Stephen and is his best friend and only consolation in the hard times he goes through. She helps care for Stephen’s wife, and is the sole defender of his innocence when he is framed for the bank robbery. Stephen dies holding her hand and she continues to look after his wife after his death.
Who is James Harthouse?
A young, wealthy London gentleman, as bored and pleasing as most men of his class tend to be, and he uses all of his powers of pleasing and persuasion to try and seduce Louisa, when he sees what a fascinating, repressed, beautiful woman she is. His plans are thwarted when she goes to her father’s rather than rendezvousing with him to elope, and Sissy confronts him the next day and succeeds in making him leave Coketown forever
Who is Mr Sleary?
the proprietor of the circus of which Signor Jupe and his daughter Sissy were members, he is a good hearted man and helps the Gradgrinds smuggle Tom out of England when it is discovered that he is the bank robber
Who is Bitzer?
a model pupil of Mr Gradgrind’s education system of facts, he later becomes the porter of Bounderby’s bank. Cold hearted and analytical, he almost prevents Tom from leaving England to escape his crime
Who is Mr McChoakumchild?
a schoolmaster at one of Gradgrind’s schools of fact
Who is Mrs Pegler?
Bounderby’s mother who took as much care of her son as the most loving mothers of the world ever did, Bounderby tells her to never contact him in public and tells everyone that she deserted him with a drunken grandmother to perpetuate the lie that he is an entirely self made man, she spends most of the novel as a mysterious old woman who hangs around the bank occasionally and inquiring about her son, her true identity is accidentally revealed by Mrs Sparsit at the end of the book
Who is Mrs Gradgrind?
the feeble, infirm wife of Mr Gradgrind, spends most of her days in a chair by the fire, pettishly telling her children to follow their father’s system of facts, until as she lies dying realises there was something missing in her and their lives
who is Slackbridge?
the union leader who rouses the workers to rebel and unionise against Bounderby, also responsible for Stephen’s alienation from all the other workers when he refuses to unionise, although he is on the side of the workers he is not much better than Bounderby
