Re: Hard Times
Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Mon, 28 Sep 1998 09:44:28 -0100
My dear Mr John,
My immediate inspiration for"Hard Times" was a visit to the Lancashire
town of Preston, where workers in the cotton mills there were on strike.
Observing the workers, observing the union officials, observing the masters
fed my imagination.
But I had also long been concerned about relations in Britain between the
rich and powerful on the one hand, the poor and powerless on the other, and
concerned too about doctrines which I felt did little to improve those
relations. I had some of the doctrines associated with the term
"utilitarianism" in mind when I was writing "Hard Times."
As I see it, today the sufferings of the poor are less severe, the
obfuscations of the unions less grotesque, the exactions of the masters less
ruthless, than they were in the 1850s. But vigilance is none the less
necessary, and there are doctrines popular today equally capable of blinding
subscribers to the humanity of others.
Faithfully yours,
Charles Dickens
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>Daer Mr. Dickens,
> What inspired you to write hard times, and how does it relate to your
life? I was also wondereing how you think Hard Times compares to today's
society in the 20th century?
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>Thank you for your time and great novels.
>
>John
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Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author