to compromise both the employees and employers moral integrity, Moreover, the way he is implicated by young Tom in the bank robbery invites the sympathy of the readers. (one code per order). him away. Stephen is not a rich member of Coketown society, but he is instead one of the "Hands" in Bounderby's factory whose life consists of poverty and relentless labour. Even though they love each other, their marriage has been a difficult one, mostly due to Bettys alcoholism. Stephen works on Mr. Bounderbys factory and faces all the limitations of the industrial system. Thats the way I spent my tenth birthday. Sissy goes to see Harthouse and demands that he leave town. Stephen Blackpool represented the most abundant and least represented caste in industrial England, the lower class (also called the hands) in Charles Dickens' novel. Not that a ditch was new to me, for I was born in a ditch (27). When her father deserts her, Sissy is taken in by Gradgrind, but Sissy does not excel at Gradgrind's school. poverty and virtue contrast with Bounderbys wealth and self-interest, Web. He and Rachael sit by the woman's bedside, watching over her while Rachael treats her injuries. In other words, he regards the Hands as people desiring the best of life without working for it. Compare Stephen Blackpool to the characters we experience in the works of Austin (Darcy and Wickham). Bounderby does not have very much advice though he does agree that Blackpool is in a very bad situation. The unmarried companion of Stephen Blackpool. Mrs. Sparsit is a malicious old woman who takes a dislike to Louisa, because Louisa usurps her position at Bounderby's house. The death comes too early, is usually protracted (you know, for a lot of meaningful death scenes and sad speeches), and can usually be blamed on The System in some loose way. The Online Library of Liberty. Bounderby and his men pick up Stephen and take him to the police station. CliffsNotes study guides are written by real teachers and professors, so no matter what you're studying, CliffsNotes can ease your homework headaches and help you score high on exams. At one of these meetings he denounces Stephen Blackpool for refusing to join the union. . Want 100 or more? Truth in Hard Times and Howard's End. in Baird 403). The seeds of his misery begin to grow as he watches stupor-like, knowing that if she drinks the poisonous preparation she will die. When the truth comes out, Tom is packed off to America by his father as a way of avoiding the consequences of his crime. These chapters present a picture of the struggles, the desperation, and the momentary joys of the working class. Why do you think he makes Stephen, who seems to be the worker hero of this novel, refuse to unionize? The twelfth chapter, entitled "The Old Woman," introduces mystery into the novel. You can view our. When he realizes that the object of his misery has re-entered his life, he sinks into despair; tied to this disreputable creature, he can never marry Rachael. Kidder, Paulette. Capturing the northwest & beyond. She would drink four teens in breakfast. Bounderby terminates the interview with his favorite comment: "I see traces of turtle soup, and venison, and gold spoon in this." 13 Feb. 2016. Her marriage with Mr. Bounderby is soon dissolved and she never remarries. She visits Coketown just to get a glimpse of her son, who has always claimed that she abandoned him as a child. all sides, Stephen becomes a martyr, or Christ figure, ultimately from your Reading List will also remove any As a result, little is known about his parents other than the fact that they worked in a factory. Again, through satire, Dickens censures the machine age by referring to the towering smoke pipes as Towers of Babel, speaking without being understood. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. James Harthouse James Harthouse is a young upper class gentlemen who, bored by his life of pleasure and adventure, attaches himself to Thomas Gradgrind and the "hard facts" school in parliament. Throughout her life, she takes care of Stephens widow. His Bio: Wife, Parents, Naked Truth Of Lisa Vicari - Height, Boyfriend, Ne DJ Akademiks Biography: Age, Net Worth, Girlfriend Park Jihyo (Twice) age, body, weight. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007. SparkNotes PLUS GradeSaver, 9 September 2001 Web. Charles Dickenss (1812-1870) Hard Times (1954) deftly weaves a gripping narrative dealing with industrial growth; huddled human lives devoid of warmth and love; a persistent tussle between fact and fancy; life and mechanisation; deteriorating familial relations between husbands and wives; son/daughter and father; friends-turned-relatives/strangers; and crushed childhood, in a society based on Jeremy Benthams (1748-1832) doctrine of Utilitarianism. He gained the throne by usurpation but failed to consolidate his power during the ensuing civil strife. Later, when he insults his friend-cum-father-in-law, he again puts on airs of being the most important man: Your daughter dont properly know her husbands merits, and is not impressed with such a sense as would become her, by George! Stephen represents completely another layer of society than, for instance, Mr. Bounderby or Mr. Gradgrind. I'm hard down crying. As Dickens character demonstrates, he is as pure of a Christian as Piers Ploughman from the medieval era or Saint Stephen from the modern era. Stephen is virtuous, honest, and a man of principles and integrity; while Bounderby is full of vanity and deceit. They have For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! Sicher, Efraim. Stephen is an almost saintly character who never speaks ill of others. Mr. Sleary Mr. Sleary is the owner of the circus. His wife is poor and has committed adultery which can be discerned from the fact that she suffers from syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease, making her weaker each day and causing sores on her skin. As a poor judge of human nature, he fails to understand Stephen Blackpool's honesty and good intentions, and nor can he communicate with his young wife Louisa. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. He knows that it will be a hard road ahead, but he is hopeful that he and his children will be better off in the long run. Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? Web. Tom Ford. Perhaps that may be so. Tom makes another offer of assistance as Stephen stands outside. Our advisors are experts in the As an organization dedicated to facilitating the sharing of information among collaborative professionals, providing training opportunities, educating the public, and promoting professional standards, we also represent collaborative law in government and regulatory institutions. You might have then lawfully married again. In the process, he died, as a result of falling into a giant hole in the ground. and compassion. This chapter also contains imagery that adds to the tone of the story. He refused, however, pointing out that she could make a case in court to invalidate the agreement by claiming that she signed under the duress. Rachael, with unflinching faith in the virtue of Stephen, pleads for his innocence : The masters against him on one hand, the men against him on the other, he only wantin [sic] to work hard in peace and do what he felt right. Stephen "I break down crying," he claimed. After being framed for bank robbery, Stephen ends up dying from falling into a giant hole in the ground. 5 March 2016. Judith Baxter. Stephen Blackpool A Hand in Bounderby's factory. Near the end of the novel he tries to take the miscreant Tom back to Coketown so that he, Bitzer, will be promoted by Bounderby to Tom's position. The character was portrayed by Justine Lupe in the Audience show Mr. Mercedes and by Cynthia Erivo in the HBO series The Outsider. A poor worker at Mr. Bounderby 's factory, Stephen is a victim both of the industrial system and of society's restrictions on marriage. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. OK, so Stephen is obviously in a hellacious marriage. . The Life of Saint Stephen . Stephen Blackpool is a perfect person who shares both passion and integrity. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. Both groups, rich and poor, respond in the same self-interested, More books than SparkNotes. Therefore, he can live separately as the Ecclesiastical Court would grant him permission but cannot remarry as the House of Lords would not permit it. I see you would tell me these proceedings would cost you 1000, and that your small-stock-in-trade is not worth 100. Abrams, M.H., ed. back to Coketown to clear his name of the charge of robbing Bounderbys bank, Stephen Blackpool represents the plight of the working class during the Industrial Revolution. JSTOR. Renews January 25, 2023 WebStephen Blackpool is introduced after we have met the Gradgrind family and Bounderby, and Blackpool provides a stark contrast to these earlier characters. Dickens could have researched a bunch of facts about how badly factories treated their workers. He dies overseas and full of regret. Louisa like Rachael believes fully in Stephens honesty and feels pity for him when he is fired by her husband: By the prejudice of his own class, and by the prejudices of the other, he is sacrificed alike? Rachel is Stephens childhood friend and a factory worker. The former being haughty, being twice his spouses age, fails to fathom her emotions. Stephen is a poor laborer in one of Josiah Bounderby's factories. Not affiliated with Harvard College. Show how Dickens represents the importance of escape in Hard Times. Stephen Laine was born in 1949 in the United States. She has also been unfaithful to him on several occasions. WebThis is because the unusual status of the Isle of Man meant that he would have to be tried there for crimes committed there. He is a good-natured old man who suffers from asthma, and he is also somewhat depleted by too much drink. The younger brother of a member of Parliament, Harthouse has agreed to spend some time teaching in the Gradgrind's school. the importance of imagination, which enables him to escape the cold, As a child she is imaginative and reflective, but these qualities are stifled by the restrictive education she receives. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. Removing #book# Mr. Gradgrind is the intellectual founder of the Gradgrind educational system and he is also a member of Parliament. When returning to Coketown to defend his honor, Stephen falls into a pit and injures himself. Not much is known about Saint Stephen's origin. Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. However, Bounderby cannot get divorce as his wife has not committed adultery. 1953. Bitzer absorbs all the lessons he is taught about hard practicality. [After filing a suit in the Ecclesiastical Court] you had only to obtain a Private Act of Parliament to dissolve your marriage. As to his personal life, it goes without saying that he was unhappy because Stephens wife left him and chose to be the night butterfly but not his spouse. result, he is cast out of the workers group. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. As the night lengthens, Stephen falls into a troubled sleep and is wakened just in time to see his wife reach for one of the bottles of antiseptic. At the end of his long day, Stephen turns his feet homeward, walking slowly, dreading to re-enter the small apartment where his wife lies in a drunken stupor. Web. Representative of Dickens' picture of the Hands, Stephen, a man of integrity, is forty years of age. However, it seems that Bettys drinking problem is only getting worse, and Stephen is running out of patience. Are you sure you want to remove #bookConfirmation# Stephen is the only Hand who refuses to join a union, because he believes striking is ineffective in improving working relations between factory owners and employees; he also wants to earn an honest living. The tenth chapter injects some of Dickens' philosophy into the character sketch of Stephen Blackpool, a power-loom weaver in the Bounderby mill. He claims that his mother abandoned him, but it later turns out that he simply made this story up. Bounderby affirms to Blackpool that only the rich can afford to divorce, so he must accept the state of his life and stay unhappily married. Louisa Bounderby Louisa Bounderby is the daughter of Thomas Gradgrind. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gradgrind and an employee of Mr. Bounderby. Through Stephen, Dickens expresses the thought that during the nineteenth century there was no equality among people except at birth and death. "We didn't really smoke during the wedding.". This cumbersome process made divorce a luxury, beyond the reach of the common people as well as the rich in some cases. something that many middle class members did to imitate the upper classes. California: Greenwood, 2014. She married Stephen when they were both young, but she quickly turned to drink. It lucidly corroborates Stephens case where law was the biggest obstacle to get a divorce. Stephen Boys, Kelly Caton, Jordan Robinson and James Austin-Beddoes were convicted of a number of fraud offences. hard facts of his miserable existence. When she grows older, her father arranges her marriage to Mr. Bounderby. Ace Bail Bonds. We see this when Stephen comes to ask Bounderby how to ditch his wife. He worked in a factory from a young age and was married to a woman named Betty. lives a life of drudgery and poverty. Stephen is a power loom operator in Bounderby's factory. He's not just a "Hand," he is an individual and a human being. Stephen Blackpool, a worker or a "hand" at Mr. Bounderby's factory, is waiting for a woman by the name of Rachael on a dark and wet night after work. It looks like the novel may just be using marriage to show us yet another disparity between the rich and the poor. 208-743-BAIL document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Copyright He is an older, grey-haired man who has evidently suffered a lot. As a result, Stephen has been considering divorcing Betty for some time now. John Baird, therefore, views this novel as a protest against the inhumanity of social attitudes which find expression in the law. Please help me out with an answer, which could be equivalent to 10 marks. 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