Discussion Forum
After
analysis of Mrs Sparsit and Louisa and their descent down the Staircase, what
Social and Economic roles do women play in Hard Times? What does Dickens see as
“appropriate” and “inappropriate” roles for women in the Victorian society and
how does he show this?
To answer your question about what social roles women play in Hard Times, I think that Dickins suggests that women must marry in order to move up in the social classes of Coketown. I found this through the contrast in Louisa's and Tom's roles; after their "fact-based education," Tom was promoted a job in the industry while Louisa was pressured to marry Bounderby instead of having any sort of employment. Tom even spoke of this realization when he and Mr. Harthouse were conversing in Book 2 Chapter 3 about Louisa, saying, "she's a regular girl. A girl can get on anywhere. She has settled down to the life, and she don't mind. It does just as well as any other" (134). Here, Dickins reveals how Tom views women to have this one role of getting married and "settled down;" this makes her as well off as "any other" woman in Coketown society.
ReplyDeleteFor Mrs. Sparsit, she has difficulty moving up socially due to her lack of a husband --Dickins suggests her jealousy of Louisa's marriage at the end of Book 2 (she tried to expose Louisa and Harthouse thinking the result would ruin her marriage to Bounderby), which shows how Sparsit wants an advantageous marriage in order to move up in the social classes.
I agree with you, Katherine in that in Coketown, women tend to consistently be at a disadvantage and that the proposed solution to this is to be - unhappily - married off to some powerful man. I think it could be proved even a little further in that Mrs. Sparsit fell from grace to a subservient position after the loss of her husband. I do, however, believe Dickens' view of women is antithetical to those practices of Coketown. As I read Hard Times I picked up on many subtleties that I think spoke volumes to the importance of women is a functional society. Due to the context of these cases, I believe that Dickens was proving that women are far superior to men in emotional intelligence. Note that it was Sissy who essentially rescues Louisa from her drab, emotionless lifestyle she had grown to hate so furiously; it was Sissy who rescued Louisa from the ulterior motivated Harthouse; and it was Sissy who resolved the conflict with Tom at the end of the book with the help of her old friends. There are also more faint instances of this emotional acuity. On page 146 and 147, when Stephen is defending his fellow hands from Bounderby's unjust qualifications, Stephen "instinctively" begins to address Louisa. On page 147 we are told Stephen does this because he finds "natural refuge in Louisa's face. The fact that Dickens chose to say that Stephen "instinctively" turns to Louisa and that her face is a "natural refuge", speaks to the power of femininity. I think it makes it that much more shameful that those types of natural strengths that Sissy and Louisa contain are stifled and smothered in a place like Coketown.
ReplyDeleteI meant to say "from Bounderby's unjust accusations" I don't know where the "qualifications" came from.
ReplyDelete