Freedom and Restriction in Charles Dickens’ Hard Times
While some critics have argued that ‘like the circus, the novel stands on the side of Fancy, in apparent opposition to dry, dull Fact’ (Malone 16), I believe that the novel changes its position from Fact to Fancy as the story progresses. More importantly, some of the characters even undergo this shift, including Louisa Gradgrind: throughout the novel, she has a change of heart. What triggers this change is the appearance of Sissy Jupe in her life. Sissy, who is of the working class, serves as a contrast to Louisa. By comparing her own upbringing and marriage with Sissy’s, Louisa sees how much her class restricted her in making important decisions. So, it is the merging of the two families, one from the working and one from the middle class, which makes Louisa realise the difference in freedom between the two classes; while the working class has always been free in making decisions for themselves, the middle class has always been much more restricted.
To be able to explain how the working class differs from the middle class based on the degree of freedom/restriction, I will first explain how Sissy represents the working class. Sissy personifies Mr Sleary’s circus where her father worked as a clown. One critic argued that ‘the circus mirrors society’ (Malone 15); however, the circus shows inhabitants how different the lives of the working class are compared to the lives of the middle class by showing them the imagination present at the circus. The circus does not ‘mirror society’ at all; instead, the circus operates as an escape from society; an escape from social status, Facts, and rationalism. Sissy personifies the circus as she carries the same imagination and compassion that the circus stands for. The stance that Sissy represents the lower class and is different from Coketown’s middle-class society, is supported by several critics: Philip Rogers argues that ‘in contrast to the starved imaginations of Gradgrind’s children, [Sissy’s] fancy has been developed by reading to her father (a circus clown) about ‘fairies and genies’ (406); John F. Lincks says that ‘Sissy’s insight is not a product of formal schooling. It is born from an innate sympathy for other human beings; Sissy thinks with her heart’ (216). It was the growing up in the circus that enabled Sissy to develop her imagination and become a compassionate woman, and thus, the circus, and thus Sissy, represents the complete opposite of Coketown’s middle-class society, where imagination and compassion are suppressed.
This suppression of imagination and compassion stems from Louisa’s father, Mr Gradgrind, who believes in facts and rationalism and spreads his philosophy among the middle class of Coketown. Gradgrind is a strong believer of approaching everything with knowledge and reason and founded a school to spread his philosophy: ‘Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life’ (Dickens 7). He did not only impose this philosophy upon his students, but also upon his children: ‘He intended every child in [the school] to be a model – just as the young Gradgrinds were all models’ (Dickens 14). Thus, Louisa learned to approach everything in life with facts, and as such, she represents the middle class of Coketown. So, Louisa had a completely different upbringing compared to Sissy, who was taught to think with emotions and feelings, as mentioned in the previous paragraph. Rogers states that ‘Sissy’s opaqueness to Gradgrindian ticking-off is directly associated with her origins in the circus (for Dickens, quintessentially the realm of imagination)’ (406). In other words, when comparing Louisa’s and Sissy’s upbringing, it already becomes apparent that there are vast differences between the two classes: whereas the middle class was forced to approach everything with facts, the working class had much more freedom and developed a much richer imagination.
The difference between the degree of freedom is also seen when comparing both women’s choice of whom to marry, and for what reasons. Louisa marries Mr Bounderby, who is ‘a rich man: banker, merchant, manufacturer, and what not’ (Dickens 19). He father has always pressured the idea of marrying this rich man upon her, even when she was a child. For instance, after Tom and Louisa were caught at the circus, Gradgrind says: ‘What would your best friends say, Louisa? Do you attach no value to their good opinion? What would Mr Bounderby say?’ (Dickens 18). Gradgrind implies that Bounderby is an important man, as she is inclined to value his opinions. Moreover, when Bounderby proposed, Gradgrind told Louisa to look at the facts at hand and ignore her feelings as feelings are for the giddy: ‘I would advise you to consider this question (…) simply as a one of tangible Fact. The ignorant and the giddy may embarrass such subjects with irrelevant fancies, and other absurdities that have no existence (…) Now, what are the Facts of this case?’ (Dickens 95). Louisa marries Bounderby because of the facts that he is rich and important and would secure her future. In contrast, Sissy is not forced by anyone to marry someone of importance; instead, she marries someone she loves. David Sonstroem also acknowledges this, stating that ‘the happy and fruitful marriage forecast for Sissy at the end of the book shows the ultimate might of the values that she represents’ (526). In summary, Louisa was pressured to marry someone of high status, while Louisa could choose to marry whom she loved, and this comparison again shows the degree of freedom in the lower class and the degree of restriction in the middle class.
Sissy makes Louisa become aware of this difference in freedom by not giving in to the philosophy of Gradgrind and following her own path. Gradgrind adopts Sissy at the beginning of the novel, but despite Gradgrind who tries to force his philosophy upon her, she slowly but surely spreads her imagination and compassion among the Gradgrind family. This makes Louisa wonder about things, even though this is something that she has always been taught not to do. She shares all her thoughts with Tom as they are sitting by the fire, and Tom asks: ‘What do you see in it? Not a circus?’ (Dickens 55). This is a direct reference to Sissy’s life in the working class, and Tom admits that the circus brings about feelings and imagination. Sissy also makes Louisa realise that marriage should come from a place of love, not fact. Eventually, Sissy has so much impact on Louisa that after a period of feeling miserable with Bounderby she decided to commit adultery with James Harthouse, whom she does have feelings for. So, Louisa needed Sissy in her life to show her how important emotions and imagination are.
In conclusion, it is the merging of the two families that makes Louisa realise how restricted the middle class is and how free the lower class is. Sissy shows her that important decisions should not be based on facts, but on feelings. Slowly but surely, as Sissy spreads her ideals and beliefs within the Gradgrind family, Louisa sees how much her father and the rest of the middle class have restricted her all her life. In Sissy, Louisa sees someone who has always been able to choose for herself and realises how much happier that can make you.
Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Oxford University Press, New York, 1989.
Lincks, John F. The Close Reading of Hard Times. The English Journal, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 212-218. National Council of Teachers of English. 1969. https://www.jstor.org/stable/812596
Malone, Cynthia N. The Fixed Eye and the Rolling Eye: Surveillance and Discipline in ‘Hard Times’. Studies in the Novel. Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 14-26. John Hopkins University Press, 1989. https://www.jstor.org/stable/29532615
Rogers, Philips. Dystopian Intertexts: Dickens’ ‘Hard Times’ and Zamiatin’s ‘We’. Comparative Literature Studies, Vol. 35, No. 4. Penn State University Press, 1998. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40247165
Sonstroem, David. Fettered Fancy in Hard Times. Modern Language Association, Vol. 84, No 3, pp. 520-529. 1969. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1261140
Iris Elske 