Summary
Hard Times is set in the fictional industrial town of Coketown, a grim reflection of Victorian England during the height of the Industrial Revolution.
The novel follows Thomas Gradgrind, a strict advocate of facts over imagination, who raises his children, Louisa and Tom, in a world devoid of emotion, creativity, or empathy.
Gradgrind’s philosophy is challenged when the consequences of his utilitarian outlook unfold—Louisa is trapped in a loveless marriage to the wealthy and odious industrialist Josiah Bounderby, while Tom descends into moral corruption and criminality. Meanwhile, Sissy Jupe, a circus girl taken in by the Gradgrinds, represents the importance of compassion, imagination, and humanity.
Dickens critiques the dehumanizing effects of industrialization, class division, and an education system obsessed with cold reason.