Hard Times, a novel by Dickens, published 1854
Thomas Gradgrind, a citizen of Coketown, a northern industrial city (based on impressions of Preston, which Dickens visited in 1854), is a misguided exponent of Utilitarianism, an 'eminently practical man', who believes in facts and statistics and brings up his children Louisa and Tom accordingly, ruthlessly suppressing the imaginative sides of their nature. He marries Louisa to Josiah Bounderby, a manufacturer 30 years older than herself. Louisa consents partly from the indifference and cynicism engendered by her father's treatment, partly from a desire to help her brother, who is employed by Bounderby and who is the only person she loves. James Harthouse, a young politician without heart or principles, comes to Coketown and, taking advantage of her unhappy life with Bounderby, attempts to seduce her. The better side of her nature is awakened at this experience, and at the crisis she flees for protection to her father, who in turn is awakened to the folly of his system. He shelters her from Bounderby and the couple are permanently separated. But further trouble is in store for Gradgrind. Tom has robbed the bank of his employer, and though he contrives for a time to throw suspicion on a blameless artisan, Stephen Blackpool, is finally detected and hustled out of the country. Among the notable minor characters are Sleary, the proprietor of a circus, and Cissy Jupe, whose father had been a performer in his troupe, whose generous hearts are contrasted with the harshness of Gradgrind's régime; also Mrs Sparsit, Bounderby's venomous and intriguing housekeeper.
from The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature
