VICTORIAN AGE

The Victorian Age [E2] [E3] [I1] [F1] encompasses the years from 1837 to 1901. In
the first part of XIX century, Britain had become more powerful in the international
context.

This period is normally called “Victorian” because it corresponds with the reign
of queen Victoria [S1] [I1] [F2], who was very loved by her people. She was able to
become the very symbol of Britain and of the glorious years of British
colonialism [F1] [I1] [S1].

However, the Parliament, too, was very powerful at the time and a system of
parliamentary democracy was constructed which assured stability and cohesion in
English society.

The Victorian also marked the rapid development of Industrialism and the growth of
factories all over the country, though mainly in urban contexts.

The more succesful sectors of economy were linked to machine tool production, to
cotton and wool industries and to heavy engineering. British trade was, in those years,
the most powerful of the world.

QUEEN VICTORIA'S LIFE

Her reign was the longest of the British history until Queen Elizabeth II broke her
record; Victoria became Queen at 18 and she died at 81, so she reigned for 63 years
She married Prince Albert at 21, it was a very happy marriage and they had 9
children. Unfortunately Albert died at 42, Victoria never married again and she wore
black clothes until her death to remember her husband.
Her exemplary life and her strict morality made her beloved by the English people,
especially by the middle class who shared her moral and religious ideas. She was the
symbol of Great Britain in this period that was characterized by strict moral values.
 VICTORIAN VALUES
RESPECTABILITY: A respectable Victorian man had a good job, good manners, a
beautiful house and servants, a nice family, a good wife who stayed at home taking
care of their children and he went to the church regularly. This respectability was
usually mixed with hypocrisy because the same respectable men often had hidden
vices (they had lovers, they gambled and drank...)
MORALITY: Women had to get married and had children and then they had to stay
at home, they couldn't work. Women who had a child without being married were
rejected by their families and by the society and they were called "fallen women".
Sexuality was strongly repressed and considered something bad and sinful. Also many
forms of entertainment were considered dangerous and sinful.
PHILANTHROPY: In this period a lot of poor people lived in the industrial towns in
terrible conditions, they had to work 14/16 hours a day, they lived in the so called
"slums", suburbs full of overcrowded, squalid and very dirty houses without any
service. Diseases such as cholera and tuberculosis were common and the mortality
rate among these people was very high. Many of these people became alcoholic or
drug-addicted to try to forget their situations. In this period the richer classes
(especially the middle class) started considering a duty to improve the condition of
the society in general and of the weakest people in particular.
In this period the first modern hospitals were built and a lot of charities were
founded to help the poor, the sick, the disabled, the unemployed, the orphans etc.
and to redeem prostitutes, drunkards and so on. There were also the so called
"ragged schools" that gave poor children a rudimentary education.
 THE WORKHOUSES

In this period a lot of workhouses were built in the towns, they were run mainly by
the church and they gave a home to people who couldn't survive alone (orphans,
unemployed, single women...). The conditions in the workhouses were terrible, families
were usually separated, everyone had to work for free and rations of food and
clothing were poor and small. The workhouses were based on the idea that poverty
was a consequence of laziness and that these horrible conditions would convince the
people to do anything to leave these places. However the workhouses didn't give any
real means for social or economic improvements, for example they didn't teach the
children a job or to read and write, they only exploited them.

THE VICTORIAN COMPROMISE

The Victorian age was a period of contradiction: as a consequence of the Industrial
Revolution the middle class became richer and richer whereas the exploited working
class suffered from deprivation and injustice.
The change brought about by the Industrial Revolution was ruthless: slums grew at an
incredible pace as people moved to the cities to work in mines, factories and
industries. New inventions prompted developments and new industries started. The
upper and classes prospered whereas the lower classes became poorer and poorer.
The typical Victorian values further marked this contrast. Especially for the upper
and middle classes, the values of the Church, family and home were fundamental.
Authoritarian fathers and submissive mothers were at the basis of the patriarchal
family. Morality and respectability were key but the other side of the coin showed
disease, deprivation and a high mortality rate. So if, one the one hand society became
almost puritanical and philanthropy and charity became a duty, on the other hand the
lower classes were forced to live in overcrowded and degraded slums lacking any form
of hygiene.
Children worked long hours in textile mills, in mines and as chimney sweepers.
Poverty was almost considered a crime and people were imprisoned for debts.
The moral ideals and beliefs of the upper and middle classes appeared as
hypocritical, as the origin of their wealth was the very heart of the degraded
conditions the working classes were to suffer.
However, no revolution took place, on the contrary, many reforms were passed
particularly in areas such as health and education.
A sort of a silent pact between the wealthy and the poor ones contributed to
maintain a certain order and this is the sense of the word "compromise". The working
class generally accepted the structure of society imposed by the dominant
classes, they supported their privileges, accepted their (all too often)
hypocritical ideals and, in return, the upper classes often (moralistically) helped
the poor ones with donations, volunteer work and a general acceptance of new
reforms.
Philantropy was somehow a hypocritical way of making up for debt the wealthy
had contracted with the poor ones.
The figure of the benefactor is typical of this period and is often to be found in the
literature of the time. Certainly often in Dickens.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE

During the Victorian age, Great Britain became a very large and powerful empire that
included a lot of countries in Africa, Asia and Oceania.
Some of the territories which went under British dominion were Australia, New
Zealand, Canada, New Guinea, Sudan, Burma, Uganda, Kenya. India became one of the
greates symbols of the Empire and queen Victoria was declared Empress of India in
1876.

Colonialism was a typical phenomenon of this age and it was based on the idea of
racial superiority. The British (and the Europeans in general) thought that they were
a superior race that was destined by God to lead the others. They were convinced it
was even a duty for them (they called it "The white man's burden") to spread their
superior way of life, culture, laws and institutions on native peoples all over the world.

THE PROGRESS IN THE VICTORIAN AGE

However, Britain was seen from the outside as the country of progress and success.
The Great Exhibition [F1] [S1] (May 1851, London) showed to millions of people from
all over the world all the artistic and industrial achievements of British culture and
society.
SOCIAL REFORMS

The Victorian Age was also a period of important social and political reforms, which
affected people’s daily lives in several ways. A cheap postal system was introduced
for the first time, education became compulsory up to the age of 13, though it was
still not free.

A Health Commission was established to improve the quality of health services and a
greater number of people could vote thanks to the Second Reform Bill of 1867.
Women, however, were still excluded.

Despite all these social improvements, the lowest ranks of society still lived in very
poor conditions. Slums in the cities were full of poor families and the level of
deliquency was quite high. Many children were obliged to work in factories and
manufactories.

Only a few movements of dissent were heard at the time. One of them
was Chartism [S1] [F1] [S2], which asked for the right of vote for all men. Though it
never achieved this goal, it succeeded in stirring the consciousness of working classes
and encouraged them to get involved in politics.

In the second half of XIX century, a very big strike was supported by the Trade
Union Congress in favour of thousands of workers who protested against their
worsened working conditions during recession. This also brought to the birth of the
Independent Labour Party.

Slowly, in the years following the Irish famine (1845), the Victorian period – with all
its splendours and stability – draw to a close and a totally different age of turmoil
began.
Charles Dickens, Hard Times, Coketown
Textual analysis
The text is an extract from the novel ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens. Published in
1854, the same year in which Dickens visited Preston, Lancashire to report on a
workers’ strike, it is thought that his descriptions of Coketown are based on Preston.
Coketown is an industrial nightmare – a ‘triumph of fact’ and utilitarianism. Dickens is
very critical of the town, which has completely ignored the individual and the spiritual
needs of its community. He also mocks the ruling classes who cannot understand the
workers’ dissatisfaction.

DISCOURSE

GENRE

 Written in the third person, the text satirises and criticises nineteenth century
life.

SATIRE is a literary technique of writing, which mocks it subjects (for example,

individuals, organisations, or states), often as an intended means of provoking or
preventing change. Satirists may use irony, deadpan humour or take a more aggressive
stance in their criticisms.
 Although the text is written in the third person, Dickens does include direct
authorial statements to comment on Coketown. We can hear Dickens’ own mocking
voice very clearly in the lines, as he pretends to be surprised that the town is not a
success: 'A town so sacred to fact, and so triumphant in its assertion, of course got
on well? Why no, not quite well. No? Dear me!' Here Dickens steps outside his
description and offers his own thoughts on Coketown – as suggested by his use of
minor sentences, informal lexis and exclamations ( Dear me!). Dickens guides the
reader’s response carefully – he wants the reader to share his feelings of scorn for
Coketown.
PURPOSE

The purpose of the text is to both describe Coketown and criticise its founders (e.g.
Mr. Bounderby and Mr. Gradgrind) and the principles on which it was built –
utilitarianism. The text also acts as a WARNING against utilitarianism. Dickens is
scathing in his evaluation of Coketown and uses a number of techniques to suggest his
antipathy (dislike) of the town:

1. IRONY:
2.
‘COKETOWN, to which Messrs Bounderby and Gradgrind now walked, was a triumph
of fact; it had no greater taint of fancy in it than Mrs Gradgrind herself. Let us
strike the key-note, Coketown, before pursuing our tune.’
Dickens begins the extract with mock praise of a town devoid of fancy (imagination,
creativity). The term ‘triumph’, is shown to be absurd in the description of Coketown
which follows – Coketown is far from a triumph; it is dirty, monotonous and inadequate
to its inhabitants’ needs. Note the ironic references to tunes – surely an inspiring
tune depends on the composer’s ‘fancy’ and creative flair?

2. REPETITION

The extract uses repetition in a number of ways to mock and criticise the town

 Parallelism

‘It contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets
still more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went
in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same pavements, to do
the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and tomorrow, and
every year the counterpart of the last and the next.’
The repetitive sentence structure and clauses creates a very tedious effect. Here,
Dickens shows that utilitarianism, which insists on treating everyone the same and
ignoring the individual, leads to a system, which is supremely monotonous.

 Pattern of three - ‘Fact, fact, fact’.

The repetition of these words, which could be considered the key note of the text,
has the effect of being heavy-handed, as Dickens hammers home the message that
the town is based on fact. There is no subtlety here – just as there is no subtlety in
the town. As the teacher, Mr. Gradgrind, gradually grinds down the imagination of his
students, so Dickens uses similar methods (of simple, monotonous repetition) to
suggest the way in which the inhabitants of Coketown are ground down.

3. PARODY (Where a literary style is imitated, copied, to create comedy or satire)

 Imitating a biblical style

‘The M‘Choakumchild school was all fact, and the school of design was all fact, and the
relations between master and man were all fact, and everything was fact between the
lying-in hospital and the cemetery, and what you couldn’t state in figures, or show to
be purchasable in the cheapest market and saleable in the dearest, was not, and
never should be, world without end, Amen.’

In this parody of the style of the Bible:

- Dickens is suggesting that Fact (and utilitarianism) is a new religion

- Dickens is asking the reader to consider the suitability and appropriateness of fact
as an object of worship. In the Bible, the simplicity of the language and repetitive use
of ‘and’ creates a sense of gravity, seriousness and authority, which is appropriate to
the subject matter – God and His glory etc.
Here, the style simply serves to show the inadequacy and immorality of a system,
which is not dedicated to the glory of spiritual life, but to profit, numbers, and death
with no mention of the after-life or salvation.
- Dickens is also warning the reader that utilitarianism and materialism could replace
Christianity and encourages the reader to imagine the nature of a world ‘without end’
where fact reigned.

 Imitating parliamentary speeches

Dickens reports the speeches made in the House of Commons by the ruling classes:
‘in short, it was the only clear thing in the case — that these same people were a bad
lot altogether, gentlemen; that do what you would for them they were never thankful
for it, gentlemen; that they were restless, gentlemen; that they never knew what
they wanted; that they lived upon the best, and bought fresh butter; and insisted on
Mocha coffee, and rejected all but prime parts of meat, and yet were eternally
dissatisfied and unmanageable.’

Here, Dickens uses parallelism (repetitive sentence structures) and the repetition of
the term of address ‘gentlemen’ to parody the ruling classes. The gentlemen are
completely puzzled by the workers’ attitudes in Coketown and cannot understand why
the people are dissatisfied. In this parody, Dickens shows that the gentlemen (both
speakers and listeners) are blind to the needs of the people. The comment that the
people live on the ‘best’ is grossly exaggerated, and also show that whilst the ruling
classes may have considered the physical needs of the people, they have
misunderstood their spiritual needs. The people are dissatisfied because their
churches are ‘pious warehouses’ and their lives are monotonous. The extract ends
with a nursery rhyme that summarises the confusion of the ruling classes and
suggests that their views are childish and unsophisticated.

AUDIENCE
 The audience for the text is middle class Victorian Britain, who may be expected to
share Dickens’ concern over the erosion of religion and ‘fancy’. Dickens presents a
sympathetic view of the working classes, and sharply criticises those members of the
ruling and middle class who support utilitarianism (such as Mr Gradgrind) or the ‘fine
lady’ who, whilst prepared to enjoy the ‘comforts of life’ produced by places such as
Coketown, could ‘scarcely bear to hear the place mentioned.’

STRUCTURE
 The text begins by striking the key note – the major theme of the novel –
monotonous fact. The tone of the writing is highly ironic, as Dickens promises to show
the reader a ‘triumph’, but actually demonstrates that the town is dreary and ugly.
The theme of monotony is continued as Dickens goes onto describe the various
buildings in Coketown, culminating in a mock prayer to fact.
 Having established the nature of the town as anything other than a triumph,
Dickens contrasts the dissatisfaction of the workers – as a logical and natural
response to their soulless environment – and the confusion and outrage of the ruling
classes who cannot understand the failure of the town. The extract finishes with a
nursery rhyme, which serves to mock the shallow and naïve understanding of the
ruling classes.

PRAGMATICS

ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Dickens’ view of Coketown and utilitarianism is that it is wholly unsatisfactory. In
brief.

 THE LACK OF CONCERN FOR THE INDIVIDUAL.

Dickens felt that utilitarianism ignored the right of the individual, as seen here
where everything is monotonous.
‘The jail might have been the infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail, the
town-hall might have been either, or both, or anything else, for anything that
appeared to the contrary in the graces of their construction.'
There is no differentiation between the public amenities in the town, suggesting a
lack of concern for the functions of the jail, the church and hospitals. The implication
is that people are treated the same by all of these institutions, whether they are ill
and in need of compassion and recovery, criminals or seeking spiritual guidance. The
fact that all inscriptions are ‘black and white’ suggests a naïve and unsophisticated
attitude towards the people – there are no subtleties, no shades of grey, no account
made for the needs of the individual.

 THE LACK OF PROVISION FOR THE SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF THE WORKING

CLASSES

Dickens felt that utilitarianism was undermining the role of religion in Britain:
‘First, the perplexing mystery of the place was, Who belonged to the eighteen
denominations? Because, whoever did, the labouring people did not.'
Dickens’ question shows mock surprise, but there is no real mystery: the lack of
attendance to church lies not the people’s lack of religious belief but in the nature of
the churches – which were built on fact, rather than love, glory and reverence of God.
The churches, in short, were not built for the people; they are ‘a thing with which
they had no manner of concern.’ The use of the vague noun ‘thing’ suggests that the
churches are so far removed from their intended purpose that they cannot be called
churches and even defy description.

 THE IGNORANCE OF THE RULING CLASSES.

Dickens felt that the ruling classes were out of touch with the needs of the people.
In a description charged with irony, Dickens describes how the ruling classes attempt
to explain the behaviour of the working classes using ‘tabular statements’ (i.e.
statistics). However, these statistics do not help – the ruling classes are completely
mystified as to the behaviour of people who ‘would get drunk . . .the same people
would resort to low haunts, hidden from the public eye, where they heard low singing
and saw low dancing’. The use of italics for the modal verb ‘would’:
- serves to emphasise the ruling classes’ amazement and indignation at the behaviour
of the working classes
- reveals the root of the ruling classes’ ignorance - the people of Coketown have free
will and cannot be reduced to a series of statistics or forced to conform to a
regimented and soulless system.
The ruling classes accumulate a wealth of evidence against the working classes.
Dickens emphasises this through repetitive sentence structure (‘Then came . . .’) as
more and more evidence is piled up. And yet, for all of this evidence, the irony is that
the ruling classes move no nearer to understanding the working classes and their
confusion is expressed in a simple nursery rhyme.

CONTEXT

 Utilitarianism is a doctrine which Dickens attacked specifically in the novel Hard

Times. Based on the principle of "The greatest good for the greatest number,"
philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1747-1832) founded the school, although John Stuart
Mills (1806-73) actually coined the term. Theoretical Utilitarian ethics hold that self
interest is to what one should appeal. Dickens was appalled by this selfish philosophy,
and thought that it trampled upon the rights and feelings of the individual and
seemed fundamentally opposed in spirit to "fancy" and works of the imagination.

SEMANTICS

THE TOWN

 Dickens uses words that are strongly collocated

(linked) 'dyes', 'painted', 'purple' etc. to extend a simile of a town which has
the ‘painted face of a savage’. The effect, combined with onomatopoeia (‘rattling’),
alliteration (‘melancholy madness’) and smells, combines to create a HIGHLY
SENSUOUS description inviting the reader to imagine the sights and smells of the
town and conveying Dickens’ attitude that the town is uncivilised and unnatural (the
colours and dyes are manufactured).
 ‘interminable serpents of smoke’ – ‘interminable’ is the first of a number of
references to the idea that the town, and its principles, will never end. The effect is
depressing and perhaps serves as a warning that the audience needs to be aware of
the potential threat to their liberties that utilitarianism represents. The ‘serpents’
describes the snaking motion of the smoke but may also hint at the inherent evil of
utilitarianism (and industrialisation?). Genesis, the first book of the Bible, describes
how the devil, disguised as a snake, tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the Tree of
Knowledge, thus displeasing God and leading to their ejection from the Garden of
Eden (an earthly paradise).

 THE CHURCHES

1. ‘Pious warehouse’ – essentially this description is an oxymoron since ‘pious’ refers to

spirituality and a warehouse is a building designed to store material goods. Coketown
has no respect for the spiritual as further shown in the line ‘Fact, fact, fact,
everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the
immaterial.’ Immaterial has two meanings:
- Unimportant, trivial
- Spiritual
The implication here is that the immaterial, spiritual side of life was regarded as
unimportant.
2. Churches, which were ‘highly ornamental’, had ‘a bell in a birdcage on the top of it’.
Traditionally churches are ornamental to reflect man’s reverence for God etc. here,
there is no love of God. The birdcage image suggests that the spirituality of the
church has been encased and the sounds from the bells have been muted and stifled.
The birdcage image may also remind us of doves – the symbol for the Holy Spirit,
which has been imprisoned here!
3. The folly (foolishness) of basing churches on fact is seen in the sounds created by
Coketown’s churches: ‘The ‘barbarous jangling’ of bells relates back to the ‘Key Note’
of the title - here the key note, the tune by which the town is set, is harsh (because
of the plosive ‘b’ of ‘barbarous’ and the hard sounds of the onomatopoeic ‘jangling’),
discordant and unpleasant to the ear. Dickens makes it clear that building churches
on facts, on materialism, is absurd, uncivilised and essentially disastrous.’

 THE WORKING CLASSES

‘the same people would resort to low haunts, hidden from the public eye, where they
heard low singing and saw low dancing’. Singing and dancing are here collocated
(linked) with the adjective ‘low’ through repetition. The implication is that activities
performed purely for pleasure are unworthy and unimportant. Note also the meanings
of resort:
- to go somewhere frequently
- to seek aid or relief
There is a sense that these ‘low haunts’ are not just places the people frequently
visit, but are also places essential to relief from the prying eyes of the scrutiny of
politicians etc.

 APTONYMS
Dickens uses aptonyms to satirise Coketown and some of its inhabitants. Aptonyms
are names chosen to reflect the character of the person place described, such as
Grad grind, Bounderby, Coketown, M’Choakumchild school.

Coketown= The name “Coketown”, which appears at the very beginning of the passage,
reminds the reader of coal, the most important fuel during the Industrial Revolution,
since it was used to power up steam engines and other machineries.

UTILITARIANISM

"A moral theory according to which an action is right if and only if it conforms to the
principle of utility. Bentham formulated the principle of utility as part of such a
theory in Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation in 1789. An action
conforms to the principle of utility if and only if its performance will be more
productive of pleasure or happiness, or more preventive of pain or unhappiness, than
any alternative. Instead of 'pleasure' and 'happiness' the word 'welfare' is also apt:
the value of the consequences of an action is determined solely by the welfare of
individuals.

A characteristic feature of Bentham's theory is the idea that the rightness of an

action entirely depends on the value of its consequences. This is why the theory is
also described as consequentialist. Bentham's theory differs from certain other
varieties of utilitarianism (or consequentialism) by its distinctive assumption that the
standard of value is pleasure and the absence of pain; by being an act-utilitarian; and
by its maximising assumption that an action is not right unless it tends towards the
optimal outcome.

The view that utilitarianism is unable to accommodate any values except the crass,
gross or materialistic ones is mistaken.

Since the 1960s, many writers have used consequentialism instead

of utilitarianism for the view that the rightness of an action entirely depends on the
value of its consequences. Many writers now restrict the word utilitarianism to
denote certain kinds of consequentialism, especially Bentham's and Mill's. Currently
there is terminological diversity, and the varieties of utilitarianism mentioned
elsewhere are varieties of consequentialism."

2.Analysis of the description of Coketown from Dickens’ Hard Times

Charles Dickens’ Hard Times is one of the most relevant novels about industrialization
and its consequences in England. In particular, a large part of chapter 5 is dedicated
to the description of Coketown, an imaginary city which becomes the archetype of
the industrialized town of the 19th century, very similarly to Manchester, the
greatest English industrial town.
The name “Coketown”, which appears at the very beginning of the passage, reminds
the reader of coal, the most important fuel during the Industrial Revolution, since it
was used to power up steam engines and other machineries. The writer also describes
the town as a “triumph of fact”, thus showing an apparently positive point of view;
however, in the same paragraph, it is said that “it had no fancy in it”, so the reader
becomes aware that there is a contrast between materiality and fantasy, and in
Coketown the first has killed the latter. The intelligent reader may also interpret
this sentence as an attack towards all the systems which advocate massification and
the destruction of the individual to keep people under control, while they pretend to
do that for the “good of society”. Dickens probably thought that fancy would have
destroyed the system of production in Coketown, making workmen conscious of their
unbearable working conditions.
Two colours dominate in Coketown: red, due to bricks, and black, due to smoke and
ashes. These colours immediately remind of Hell and damnation, which were highly
taken into consideration in a Puritan world. Moreover, black and red are defined
“unnatural”, since nature has been completely removed from Coketown, and they
create a sense of repulsion in the inhabitants.
The third paragraph consists in a very strong description of the town, based on sight,
hearing, and even sense of smell: the landscape is filled with chimneys which eject
black crawled columns of smoke, the rivers flow purple emitting an insupportable
stink, the noise of pistons and steam engines is clearly audible everywhere. Moreover,
in the same paragraph, it is interesting to notice that the description of streets in
Coketown, which appear one like the other, is put cheek by jowl to the description of
people, who also appear one like the other; thus people seem just like an appendix of
Coketown, an element that is negligible in the greater picture, a collection of insects
which are indistinguishable from each other, as Dickens magisterially shows in the
repetition of the word “same” (“same hours”, “same sound”, “same work”), which also
gives the idea of an obsessive rhythm. The rawness of Coketown is put into sharp
contrast with the “fine lady”, who will probably “scarcely bear to hear the place
mentioned”, even if all the products she uses are produced in Coketown; again there is
a separation between product and producer: the product is something without life,
which does not remind us of the tears, the sweat and the fatigue people put in
producing it.
The fanatic devotion to “facts” is hyperbolically and sarcastically described in the
following paragraph: even religion cannot do without this mad system of thought, and
if a chapel was built, it was “a pious warehouse of red brick”, where the words “pious”
and “warehouse” are ironically put together to show how religion was an ulterior way
to remind people of their earthly mission, which was not earning the right to access
Heaven by good actions, but producing in industries. The chapel itself had to remind
people of a factory; Dickens is very explicitly saying that people were put under
brainwashing.
The paragraph is preposterously closed by the word “amen”, which causes a sad smile
on the reader’s face, since it is a dejected “let it be” which gives no hope in a change,
unlike a prayer, where the word “amen” contains the hope of the churchgoer in God’s
intervention.
Going on reading, the writer pretends to hear a question from the reader; it is asked
if Coketown, which was “triumphant in its assertion”, “got on well” too. The reader
may ingenuously think so, but Dickens denies it, and he also emulates the reader’s
surprise in reading what sounds like a blasphemy (“Why not, not quite well. No? Dear
me!”).
It follows a dismal description of the conditions of men and women in Coketown. They
seem alienated and almost dead; in a Sunday morning, when people are usually happy
because they have a day off, in Coketown the workers are nervous and mad, they look
at the churchgoing as something “with which they had no manner of concern”, and
even the jangling of the bells is a “barbarous jangling”. The writer also relates that
there was a group of representatives of Coketown who was heard in the House of
Commons, and these people proposed to the MPs some solutions to the problems
affecting Coketown, but Dickens seems to think that the problems of Coketown were
without solution, since the people, probably to avoid depression or suicide intentions,
got drunk, looked for opium or went to brothels.
In the end, Dickens goes back to Mr Bounderby and Mr. Gradgrind, the two gentlemen
he had introduced at the beginning of the chapter, stating that they could have
produced “tabular statements” (as the ones produced by the representatives of
Coketown) where it resulted that people in Coketown had lot of products (“they lived
upon the best, and bought fresh butter; and insisted on Mocha coffee, and rejected
all but prime parts of meat”), but they were anyway “eternally unsatisfied and
unmanageable”. Thus the passage is sadly concluded by the image of a town where
people have everything, but inside they have nothing.
OLIVER TWIST

Oliver Twist is a so called bildungsroman (romanzo di formazione) which appeared

in instalments in 1837.
•It is largely autobiographical and refers to the humiliations Dickens went through
during his childhood.
•The protagonist is depicted as thoroughly innocent and pure and remains
incorruptible throughout the novel.
•The novel has a happy ending in which Oliver is saved from a life of villainies by
a well-to-do family.
•It is set in London.
Through Oliver Twist Dickens denounced:
• some of the social problems of his age such as poverty, corruption, an unfair legal
system and an underworld of thieves.
• the hypocrisy of the world of the workhouses which saw poverty as the
consequence of laziness.
• the hypocrisy of its officials because they were disrespectful of the rights of
children and of poor people in general and caused them further misery instead of
helping them.

READING COMPREHENSION (OLIVER WANTS MORE)

The room in which the boys were fed, was a large stone hall, with a copper at one end:

out of which the master, dressed in an apron for the purpose, and assisted by one or

two women, ladled the gruel at mealtimes. Of this festive composition each boy had
one porringer, and no more—except on occasions of great public rejoicing, when he

had two ounces and a quarter of bread besides.

The bowls never wanted washing. The boys polished them with their spoons till they

shone again; and when they had performed this operation (which never took very long,

the spoons being nearly as large as the bowls), they would sit staring at the copper,

with such eager eyes, as if they could have devoured the very bricks of which it was

composed; employing themselves, meanwhile, in sucking their fingers most assiduously,

with the view of catching up any stray splashes of gruel that might have been cast

thereon. Boys have generally excellent appetites. Oliver Twist and his companions

suffered the tortures of slow starvation for three months: at last they got so

voracious and wild with hunger, that one boy, who was tall for his age, and hadn't

been used to that sort of thing (for his father had kept a small cook-shop), hinted

darkly to his companions, that unless he had another basin of gruel per diem, he was

afraid he might some night happen to eat the boy who slept next him, who happened

to be a weakly youth of tender age. He had a wild, hungry eye; and they implicitly

believed him. A council was held; lots were cast who should walk up to the master

after supper that evening, and ask for more; and it fell to Oliver Twist.

The evening arrived; the boys took their places. The master, in his cook's uniform,

stationed himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him;

the gruel was served out; and a long grace was said over the short commons. The

gruel disappeared; the boys whispered each other, and winked at Oliver; while his

next neighbours nudged him. Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and

reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and

spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity:

'Please, sir, I want some more.'

The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupified

astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the

copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear.
'What!' said the master at length, in a faint voice.

'Please, sir,' replied Oliver, 'I want some more.'

The master aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle; pinioned him in his arm; and

shrieked aloud for the beadle.

The board were sitting in solemn conclave, when Mr. Bumble rushed into the room in

great excitement, and addressing the gentleman in the high chair, said,

'Mr. Limbkins, I beg your pardon, sir! Oliver Twist has asked for more!'

There was a general start. Horror was depicted on every countenance.

'For MORE!' said Mr. Limbkins. 'Compose yourself, Bumble, and answer me distinctly.

Do I understand that he asked for more, after he had eaten the supper allotted by

the dietary?'

'He did, sir,' replied Bumble.

'That boy will be hung,' said the gentleman in the white waistcoat. 'I know that boy

will be hung.'

Nobody controverted the prophetic gentleman's opinion. An animated discussion took

place. Oliver was ordered into instant confinement; and a bill was next morning pasted

on the outside of the gate, offering a reward of five pounds to anybody who would

take Oliver Twist off the hands of the parish. In other words, five pounds and Oliver

Twist were offered to any man or woman who wanted an apprentice to any trade,

business, or calling.

ACTIVITIES ON THE EXTRACT: "Oliver Twist"

1. Understanding of vocabulary

a) Why the children are defined with the adjective “wild” at the beginning of the
chapter? Circle the word you find more suitable to understand the meaning of the
above mentioned one.

- unhappy
- violent

- crazy

- sad

- offended

b) “Lots were CAST who should walk up to the master after supper that evening”. Can
you re-write the sentence using another word for “cast” but meaning the same thing
in the sentence?

Choose among these verbs: to forgive, to throw, to chose, to condemn

c) Can you guess the meaning of ‘pauper’ to indicate the master’s “pauper assistants”?
Write your answer.

Pauper =

2.“And a long grace was said over the short commons”.

Say whether the following statements are true or false by circling ‘T’ or ‘F’:

- A “grace” is a miracle = T F

- A “grace” is a prayer said before a meal to thank God = T F

- “Short commons” are small rations of food

- “Short commons” are qualities you have in common with others = T F

3.What is a “basin of gruel”?

Choose the right answer by circling the one you think is correct.

a) A utensil in the kitchen

b) A bowl of broth

c) A refined dish

4. “The boys whispered to each other and winked at Oliver, while his next
neighbours nudged him”.
What is the meaning of “to nudge”? What do you think Oliver’s companions did to
prompt him into going to ask for more gruel? Circle the right answer:

a) They whispered something to him

b) They kicked his chair

c) They pushed him with their elbow

5. Mr. Bumble and Mr. Limbkins are very important men. They belong to the
board.

What is a board? Circle the right answer:

a) A club

b) A group of people who take important decisions

c) A secret society

READING COMPREHENSION ACTIVITIES (WHILE READING)

1) At the beginning of the chapter, the narrator describes Oliver’s and his
companions’ physical and psychological conditions. Can you make a list of the words
which help you understand how the children felt? Divide them into the following
categories:

ADJECTIVES =

NOUNS =

VERBS =

ADVERBS =

2) Look at the second paragraph (from « The evening arrived » to « commons »).

What main differences can you notice between the children and the master? Reflect
particularly on how the Master dresses and on the distance between him and the
children.

3) “Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery”. What
adjectives could you employ to define the feelings expressed by Dicken’s description
of Oliver in this passage?
4) “Please, sir, I want some more”. This is what Oliver asks to the master and divides
the scene into two blocks: ‘before’ and ‘after’ the request. Why? Can you notice any
difference between the two parts?

5) How can you define Oliver’s request? Do you think he has been brave? Find
adjectives to define what he did.

6) Describe the Master’s reaction. Why is he so surprised?

7) How does he threatens Oliver?

1. COMPREHENSION

READ the passage and answer the questions.

1 Where does the scene take place?

2 What is the boys’ greatest problem?

3 What is the main event of the passage?

4 What are the consequences of Oliver’s request?

2. ANALYSIS

ANSWER the following questions.

1 Is the narrator a voice outside or inside the novel? Whose point of view is adopted?

2 How is the story developed?

3 Is the description detailed or vague? What is its function?

4 What is the function of the narration? And that of the dialogues?

5 Which feelings characterise the two worlds presented in the text?

6 What antithetical images and ideas can you find in the passage?