A Comparison of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen Essay

A Comparison of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen ADVANCED ENGLISH LANGUAGE ESSAY Of the many authors to emerge during the nineteenth-century, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen were among the few who would make a lasting impression on the literary world for generations. Hard Times, often referred to as Dickens’ ‘Industrial novel’ and Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have been much read and well-loved classics for many years. It is the purpose of this essay to compare and contrast the different worlds depicted in both Hard Times and Pride and Prejudice. It will also look at the literary development between the early and late nineteenth-century. The essay will end with the examination of the stylistic characteristics of each author.†¦show more content†¦The churches were just as monotonous as the factories and rarely had a â€Å"bell in a bird-cage† on the roof. It may appear that Dickens was indirectly criticising the church for failing to respond to human needs. Stephen Blackpool was an example (but not entirely typical) of a member of the working class. Dickens tells us that he was a forty-year old power-loom weaver who looked older than his years due to a life filled with more than his share of trouble. Although he was uneducated and poor, he was ‘a man of perfect integrity.’ Stephen, however, is not only a victim of the factory system but has domestic problems that complicate and embitter his life. (Page, 1985) Boundary, a prominent man of business represents those from the higher social classes who wish to keep a division between themselves and the lower classes. He is portrayed by Dickens as the worst kind of employer at that time (exploiting the workers in order to make money for the ‘masters’) and his harsh treatment towards Stephen may be seen to represent many rich people’s intolerance for the poor. Dickens shows how the working classes are fighting for a say in the way they are treated at work by forming unions and how a bad negotiator can ruin things. During the 1850s, over 20,000 Preston weavers went on strike for a 10 per cent increase in wages; the event received a great deal of publicity. In order to gather material for Hard Times, Dickens chose to visit the townShow MoreRelated Criricism of Wilkie Collins’ Woman in White Essay1614 Words   |  7 Pagesbetween these two points are friends and correspondents of Mr. Wilkie Collins. Novelist George Meredith wrote to Collins himself saying, â€Å"The tension of the W[oman] in W[hite] is not exactly pleasant, though cleverly produced. One wearies of it...† Charles Dickens was reserved in his opinion. 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Until Helmut Hatzfeld brought out his bibiography the word â€Å"stylistics† had not appeared in the title of any English book about style although â€Å"stylistique† had appeared in French titles, beginning in 1905 with Charles Bally’s Traite de stylistique francaise. The distinction between the French â€Å"stylistique† (with implications of a system of thought) and the English â€Å"stylistics† ( with the connotation of science) reflects the trends manifested in the grouping of