Hard Times Critics Flashcards
When was it published?
Serially in 1854
How many people lived in cities?
just over 50%
What conflict does Dickens explore?
The conflict between imagination and utilitarianism
Dickens was critical for not looking at the individual
What is utilitarianism?
Criticism of the utilitarianism of Gradgrind and Bounderby.
It is the belief that humans act in a way that benefits their own self interest.
Advocates for actions that cause happiness rather than actions that cause harm.
Includes the work of Bentham
What was the work of Bentham?
He was a utilitarian who wanted the greatest happiness of the greatest number. He believed that people should pursue their own best interests. He calculated each action for the amount of pain or pleasure that it caused
Poor laws?
1838 poor laws ended poor relief and funded workhouses, but these workhouses were deliberately made as unpleasant as possible
The English economist?
Thomas Robert Malthus wrote in his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population that the population has the ability to increase exponentially but resources grow in a linear way, resulting in the population decreasing again. This is know as a Malthusian Trap
What is the panopticon prison?
Design of an institutional building with an inbuilt system of control that was originally developed by Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. This allows all prisoners to be observed by a single corrections officer without the inmates knowing whether they are being watched. This motivates an inmate to behave as they do not know if they are being observed
Who was educated in the Gradgrindian fashion?
John Stuart Mills. He believed in liberalism, and he was in opposition to unlimited state and social control, and he was an advocate for labour organisations
Meritocracy?
People hold power according to ability rather than social class and wealth. This was praised by Dickens but presented as not accessible
How did Ruskin describe himself?
As both a tory and a communist at different times
Socialist criticism?
Socialist critic Williams states that this is a critique of the way of seeing
What was Chartism?
A working class movement for more representation in parliament. They believed that MPs should be paid, constituencies should be the same size, annual parliamentary elections, all men should be able to vote and that ballots should be secret.
Erupted in 1838, with support from Northern England and the East Midlands
Marx’s theory of alienation?
You do not put your own thought into the products that you make, and all your hard work creates wealth for someone else
Criticism of Dickens?
Raymond Williams - Dickens levels a critique without imagining any means for improvement.
‘The work of a man who has ‘seen through’ society’ - this implies a distance from the institutions
How to confront the dehumanising force of utilitarianism?
Evan Horowitz - ‘by embracing the unreal, the irrational, and the imaginary’
What image of the urban economy is presented?
Martin Dauton - ‘workers were reduced to cogs, their independence and individuality destroyed by industrial capitalism’
