Introduction to Marriages in Hard Times
The advent of the Industrial Revolution not only played havoc with human emotions but also with conjugal lives as marriages in Hard Times show. The family lives and characters faced disruption in the shape of incompatible marriages as well as spoiled marriages along with heartless and emotional flirtations. Although some people emerged as prosperous and well-to-do with newly earned wealth, the moral values lost their strength. The major thematic strand of marriages in Hard Times by Charles Dickens is the devastation of the conjugal lie, relationships, and matches as well as the elimination of human emotions even outside of married lives.
Marriages in Hard Times and Wealth
The first attack of the newly acquired wealth is on the conjugal life. This includes the existing marriages as well as the marriages that are yet to take place, new marriages, and divorces to get rid of unhappy marriages. The example of the existing marriage is that of Mr. Gradgrind with Mrs. Gradgrind where there is no love and no emotion. Mr. Gradgrind’s philosophy of “nothing but Facts!” (Dickens 06) runs in his married life including his relationships with his kids to whom he does not want to learn poetry when Mrs. Gradgrind suggests about it. His reply is that it must be the bad influence of the presence of circus girl, Sissy Jupe. He is so much blinded by his mantra of facts that he is ready to marry his daughter Louisa to Mr. Bounderby, the man more than double of her age, merely because he is a self-styled wealthy bachelor. However, what he fails to understand is that he has not taught humanistic feelings to his children, the reason that his daughter fails to adjust to new married life with Mr. Bounderby, and his son becomes rather a thief. This shows the impact of wealth on marriages in Hard Times.
Common Marriages in Hard Times
The second example of marriage, devastated by the onslaught of industrialism and newly acquired wealth leading to exploitation of others, is of Stephen Blackpool who, despite finding a very good and compassionate friend Rachael, cannot get rid of his old wife. It also counts among the worst marriages in Hard Times. It is because divorce was very difficult to get during the Victorian period, for the laws are legislated to benefit the rich, while the poor are reeling under the debt. Mrs. Blackpool is not only very lascivious but also bad-tempered, and this Hand, who works hard and honestly, has no way out except her death or his own death, which happens in any case before he could experience the blissful conjugal life with Rachael. Still another example is the marriage of Louisa with Bounderby which is based on the convenience of the business world but proves disastrous for Louisa, for she does not have any feelings for the old self-made factory owner who claims to have “born in a ditch” (47). Although it shows another disastrous or must-have-been disastrous marriage, for his claim that his mother “ran away from me” (47) proved wrong by the end when it is proved that the old beggar lady is his mother, Mrs. Pegler and that she has not left him; rather he has thrown her out after acquiring wealth. However, this marriage has not been shown in the novel.
Other Marriages in Hard Times
The example of Louisa’s marriage with Bounderby proves disastrous. She does not know romance and passions involved in conjugal life, as she does not express her emotions when she is told, “you are subject of a proposal of marriage” (132), but then the subject of love is debated in such a hard-facts manner that it proves entirely useless until Mr. Gradgrind has to ask her to “consider this question” (133). The interesting thing is that even after living for sometime together, Louisa is devoid of any emotions to her husband. That is why she is lured to Mr. James Harthouse to whom she goes to meet and is implicated by Mrs. Sparsity. By the end, she is so much devasted that Mr. Gradgrind refuses to send her to Mr. Bounderby, showing utter failure of the marriage.
The episode of Mr. Harthouse showing and showering love on Louisa is an example of emotionless and amoral youths of the Victorian period who are hellbent on enjoying life instead of establishing the institution of married life. He himself is not aware of this flirtation with Louis and leaves after required by Sissy Jupe. Therefore, his example of love is the example of not-happened marriages in Hard Times.
On the other hand, the circus people and Sissy Jupe has been placed in contrast to marriages in Hard Times. Sissy Jupe displays not only compassion and understanding of emotions, but also munificence and generosity in forgiving. Her marrying somebody and having children to be taken care by Louisa shows that circus life represents a world of human beings devoid of “facts” (06) and money represented by Mr. Gradgrind and Bounderby. Her arrangement for Tom to leave the town and the help she gets from the circus people Mr. Sleary to make his escape possible shows that salvation lies not in hard facts, money and mechanized life. It rather lies in helping and being helped and loving and being loved. Initially hated and spurned in the household of Mr. Gradgrind, Sissy Jupe becomes a cynosure of the eyes of all the characters whom she saves in the end from going to the prison and helping to have feelings. For both of his children, Mr. Gradgrind finds a helping hand which he has spurned his entire life.
Conclusion
To cut the argument short, almost all marriages in Hard Times ar based on money, social status, lasciviousness and greed produced by the ravishing industrialism utterly fail. However, the poor fellows who are spurned, exploited and even tortured prove successful in marriage and having children, which is an example that life lived in wealth and devoid of feelings is an utter disaster. However, those who have exploited the poor but lived a seemingly successful married life prove utter failure in making their children’s conjugal lives or careers a success. Tom and Louisa’s lives are a case in point. Louisa ends up serving Sissy Jupe and Tom ends up living abroad, away from his homeland as well as his parents. Bounderby proves a hoax, having left his mother after getting wealth. In short, only the circus people seems to have succeeded in winning hearts of the readers due to their help and service in saving the prime institution, the married life.
Works Cited
Relevant Question about Marriages in Hard Times by Dickens
- How do the different marriages in “Hard Times” reflect the societal norms and values of the Victorian era, and what commentary does Dickens provide on the institution of marriage during that time?
- The marriage of Mr. Bounderby and Louisa Gradgrind is central to the novel’s plot. How does this marriage serve as a critique of utilitarianism and its impact on personal relationships, and what consequences does it have on the characters involved?
- In “Hard Times,” there is a stark contrast between the marriages of the factory workers, such as Stephen Blackpool and Rachael, and those of the upper classes, like Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind. How does Dickens use these different marriages to highlight the class divide and the struggles of working-class individuals in matters of love and family?
