Who among the following in 1854 authored the ‘Hard Times’ critiquing the rapid…
2023
Who among the following in 1854 authored the ‘Hard Times’ critiquing the rapid industrialization in Europe and its negative effect on people's lives?
- A.
Leo Tolstoy
- B.
Thomas Hardy
- C.
Charles Dickens
- D.
William Shakespeare
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Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Key fact: 'Hard Times' was written by Charles Dickens and published in 1854.
Why this is the correct answer:
Author and date: Charles Dickens, 1854.
Setting: the fictional industrial town of Coketown, used to represent rapid industrialisation in 19th-century England.
Main theme: a critique of industrialisation and utilitarianism, showing how an overemphasis on facts, efficiency and profit damages human relationships, education and workers' lives.
Representative characters: Thomas Gradgrind (symbolising rigid utilitarian education), Josiah Bounderby (the industrialist), and Sissy Jupe (the humane alternative).
Effect on people's lives: Dickens illustrates the dehumanising effects of factory life, poor working conditions and an education system that ignores imagination and compassion.
Takeaway: If asked who wrote a novel critiquing rapid industrialisation and its negative effects on ordinary people in 1854, the correct answer is Charles Dickens, author of 'Hard Times'.