Women, Social Class, and their Relation as Individuals in Hard Times

Arceiz Cortés, Marta
García Landa, José Ángel (dir.)

Universidad de Zaragoza, FFYL, 2016

Graduado en Estudios Ingleses

Resumen: Abstract Hard Times exposes different female characters belonging to different social classes, as in the Victorian period the difference of classes was something prominent. Moreover, in that period, women were relegated to subordinate positions in each of the social classes they shared with men. This essay focuses on the personal development of some female characters portrayed in this novel, showing their individuality, their internal conflicts, their relations as individuals. The essay is divided in four different sections. It begins with an introduction to the novel Hard Times and an introduction to the period when it was written – a framework of the situation of England in the Victorian period, Dickens's own time, which is the period in which the novel is set too. This part focuses on the real image of an England affected by the social changes it was undergoing at that time as a consequence of the Industrialization. The second part of the essay could be considered as a second introduction as it is the one that focuses on women’s roles in the Victorian period. This part deals with the differences existing between men's and women’s spheres and the role women played. Following the introduction, the analysis is focused on three female characters showing their role in the novel, their evolution, their reactions. I have followed a historical, sociological and feminist approach in this essay in order to reflect the period I am dealing with, and to show how society was established regarding gender, but focusing mainly in the roles played by women at that moment.

Tipo de Trabajo Académico: Trabajo Fin de Grado