Hard Times

Hard Times is an 1854 novel by Charles Dickens. The 10th book of Dickens’s career, Hard Times is notably shorter than his other works and is one of the few that isn’t set in London. Instead, Hard Times provides a satirical examination of the fictitious industrial city of Coketown, England. The novel has been adapted numerous times for radio, television, theater, and film.

This guide is written using an eBook edition of the 2003 Penguin Classics edition.

Content Warning: The source material features depictions of blackface, substance use, and exploitation.

Plot Summary

Coketown is a fictitious industrial city in northern England. Thomas Gradgrind is a wealthy merchant who lives there and who, following his retirement, has dedicated his life to promoting what he believes is a rational, fact-based philosophy. He lectures students about this philosophy of self-interest and brings up his own children, Tom and Louisa, to believe in this philosophy. He instructs them not to pursue fanciful ideas that don’t immediately benefit them. Gradgrind uses his wealth to establish a school based on his ideas. As part of the school’s charitable outreach, he offers a scholarship to a local girl named Cecilia Jupe, otherwise known as Sissy. Her father is a circus performer and has abandoned Sissy.