'Hard Times' by Charles Dickens

This presentation is on Hard Times by Charles Dickens. It is aimed at ALevel and undergraduate level university students exploring the work of Charles Dickens, the Industrial Revolution, and/or Victorian literature. The slides focus on how Dickens explores issues surrounding the Industrial Revolution in Hard Times. With particular focus on Dickens’s views on the rights of workers during Victorian Britain, this presentation draws on literary criticism to debate the two philosophies of that time: Utilitarianism (John Stuart Mill) and Political Economy (Adam Smith). The is resource also contains: key quotations, discussion points, and quotes from literary critics (including Mikhail Bakhtin). Perfect for preparing an essay on themes surrounding Dickens’s representation of the lower-class workforce in his novels, especially Hard Times.