Re: Hard Times
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Fri, 8 May 1998 17:14:30 -0100
My dear Miss Katz,
Class struggle, as you put it, was something I tried to protest against,
in my book "Hard Times." That there were struggles between the classes I
didn't doubt but, unlike some of my contemporaries, I felt them to be by no
means inevitable. Indeed, I sought to expose the intransigence of both
masters and men, which
planted the seeds and nourished the shoots of class struggle. Nor do I feel
that class had much to do with emotional vitality. Stephen and Rachael, I
submit, are no less repressed than Mr Gradgrind and Mrs Sparsit.
Emotional deficiency, I sought to suggest, was more likely to be the
result of an educational theory which disallowed fancy, than of station in
life. Bitzer, don't you feel, is even more emotionally deficient than Tom?
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
____________________________________________________________________________
________
>Dear Mr. Dickens,
>
> I am a second year university student writing a paper on Hard Times.
>I have already written on the juxtaposition of Gradgrind's "Facts" and
>feelings in the novel, with particular reference to Louisa's breakdown
>(for lack of a better word) about Bounderby. I am now connecting the
>emotional deficiency with the class struggle in the novel. I was hoping
>that you could help me a little bit on the issues of economic status and
>emotional vitality in your novel. Thank you very much.
>
> Sincerely,
> Naomi Katz
>
>
======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author