Dickens (1812-1870)

 Happy childhood
 At the age of 12 his father was sent to prison (for a year).
Precarity situation. The whole family went to prison except
Dickens.
 Dickens found a job in a factory (10h a day) (of bitumen).
The factory was located near a river (very polluted).
 He lived without parents.
 All these things are in his novels.
 When his father was relief, he went to school (2-3 years) (no
university)
 Job in a lawyer office.
 Job as a journalist. He learnt how to write.
 He became very successful.
 Critical component in his novel (people thought that he was
a socialist).
 He became a bestselling author.
 Dickens want to cause an impact in the society (transform
the system).
 He was married and he divorce (9 children)
 Lover – She was 18 and he was 45.
 Traffic accident (traumatic for Dickens)
 He died at the age of 58.
Style
 Flat characters – E.M. Foster
Raymond Williams said that flat character can be realistic. There
are a good representation of alienated individuals.
 Marxist critics – defects of the capitalist society ends
 Implausibility – Raymond Williams and Ernest Bloch –
 Novels with miracles – reader hope (“magical things can
happen)
 Sentimentality / melodrama. Society must be emphatic.
 Caricature / Exaggeration to make visible the things that are
invisible. Disturbs the reality
 Closure – resolution of the problem (Modernist novel
doesn’t have closure) Dickens – typical closure + hope.
 Manichean. – Good or evil (nothing in between)
 Omniscient narrator – Dickens – subjectivity very present
(impact the reader)
Terry Egoleton – The reality that Dickens present in his novels –
revolution.
Fredrick Tameson – critics fairy-tales

Summary of the plot

  What is the Gradgrind’s philosophy?
His philosophy is based on facts.
Unilitarism
Self interest

 What kind of school did he found?

 Summarise the personal features of Tom and Louisa and

the main incidents in which they are involved.
There is no ethical
Make money - be practical.
Louisa:
She marries to the owner of the factory (not in love with him) –
practical.
Luoisa struggles with deep confusion.
Luisa is a complex character. Dickens can make complex
characters.
She is unhappy – Dickens – importance of traumas.
Flat characters represent the reality.

 What kind of person is Josiah Bounderby?

He represents capitalism.
He acts in accorder to his own interests.
Readers hate this man.
 Who is Slackbidge?
Represent trade unions. The power of trade union.
Symbolism on the name – Slack – no – Bridge – connection
Dickens – relation between workers and capitalism must
have communication. That’s why the character has this
name.
Crook – torcido.
  Who is Stephen Blackpool? What is his relationship with
Slackbridge and Bounderby? What happens to him?
He is a worker. He rejects the trade unions. He has principles.
He had a hard life. No work – dies on a well.
Symbolism – Blackpool -- aguas negras (his destiny)
He represents change – ideological stands – harmonious –
good relationship between capitalism and workers. He dies –
there is no harmonious – he fails.
Reader move by the death of this man.
 Does Gradgrind change his mind concerning his fanatic
utilitarianism?
Flat character – the happiness of the children changes his mind.
Emotional shook – what Dickens wants to do with society.
Every individual has the capacity to feel.
Change no concern the phycological evolution.
 Who is Mr. Sleary? What role does he play in the plot?
Manager – owner of the circus.
Help Tom to scape.
Represents the antisystem.

 What do you think about the closure of the novel? Is it a

happy ending?
Depends on the reader.
Bad characters are vanished.
Louisa doesn’t have a happy ending.
Happy ending for Dickens is essential. Principle of hope.
Only way to the society change. – If Gradgrind can change
his mind, the society can change.
Sissy – she represents the middle point -- she is happy at the
end of the novel. She has had a happy childhood. The circus
is a metaphor of an

Text 1
1. What philosophy underlies Gradgrind' s speech? What
connotations do you find in the expression "reasoning
animals"?
His philosophy is based on facts, he believes in utilitarianism The
connotations of reasoning animals are that
Humans are fundamentally emotional.
2. Is Gradgrind's description by the narrator objective or
subjective? Are there any connections between the character's
physical description and his personality? Explain the meaning
and the connotations of the word "square"? As a reader of
Dickens's novel do you like this way of presenting the
characters?
The description of Gradgrind is subjective, because is a physical
description combined with the description of his personality based
on the emphasis of his speech.
Dickens want to show the reader how the character is.
He compares the form of his head with his ideas.
Square person – inflexible

3. Can Gradgrind be considered a flat character according to

what you have read about him in the passage?
The fact that the writer describes the character according to his
physical appearance, means that if he changes, the body must
change too. For this reason, Gradgrind is a flat character.

4. What have you learnt about the typical classroom in a

utilitarian school and about utilitarian pedagogy?
Students in order. Monotonous. Students focused. Children have
no chance to think by themselves.
5. Describe the narrator's stylistic devices. What is the
purpose of Dickens's style?
Repetitions. Metaphors or symbolism

6. What kind of narrator do you identify in the passage?

Omniscient, subjective.
7. Do you find in Dickens's style some strategies similar to
those used in the utilitarian school?