Coketown lay shrouded in a haze of its
own . . . suggestive of itself, though not a brick of it could be seen.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
Summary — Chapter 1: Effects in the Bank
On one of Coketown’s rare sunny days, Mrs. Sparsit sits
in her apartment in the bank and talks to Bitzer, a former pupil
at Gradgrind’s school, and now a porter at the bank. The two are
discussing the young Tom Gradgrind, who, although he still works
at the bank, has become a “dissipated, extravagant idler.” A very
well-dressed young gentleman interrupts their conversation by knocking
at the door. The stranger explains that he has come to Coketown
to enter politics as a disciple of Gradgrind. His suave manner and
genteel appearance please Mrs. Sparsit, and she attempts to flatter
him. The young man inquires about Louisa Bounderby, of whom he has heard
intimidating reports: he imagines that she must be middle-aged,
quick-witted, and formidable. When Mrs. Sparsit assures him that
Mrs. Bounderby is simply a lovely young woman, he seems very relieved
and interested.
Summary — Chapter 2: Mr. James Harthouse
We learn that the strange visitor’s name is James Harthouse
and that he is a disingenuous, wealthy young man who is only interested
in Gradgrind’s politics because he hopes they will alleviate his
pervasive boredom. He does not really share Gradgrind’s philosophy
of fact, but he is prepared to pretend that he does in order to
pass the time. Harthouse goes to dinner at Bounderby’s, where he
is very intrigued by Louisa.
Summary — Chapter 3: The Whelp
After dinner, Harthouse takes the caddish young Tom—who
is highly impressed with his new acquaintance’s amoral worldliness—back
to his apartment. Harthouse plies Tom with wine and tobacco and
then coaxes the story of Louisa’s marriage out of him. The drunken
Tom claims that Louisa only married Bounderby for Tom’s sake, so
that she could use Bounderby’s money to help her brother with his
own financial difficulties. Once Harthouse learns that Louisa does
not love her husband, he privately resolves to seduce her.
Summary — Chapter 4: Men and Brothers
Elsewhere in Coketown, the factory Hands, who have decided
to unionize in an attempt to improve their wretched conditions,
hold a meeting. An inflammatory orator named Slackbridge gives an impassioned
speech about the necessity of unionizing and of showing their sense
of fellowship. The only Hand who remains unconvinced is Stephen
Blackpool. Stephen says he does not believe that the union will
do any good because it will only aggravate the already tense relationship
between employers and workers. After he voices this opinion, he
is cast out of the meeting. The other Hands—his longtime friends
and companions—agree to shun him as a sign of their solidarity.
Stephen asks them only to allow him to continue working. He endures
four days of ostracism before Bitzer summons him to Bounderby’s
house.
Analysis — Book the Second: Reaping: Chapters
1–4
At the beginning of Book the Second, Dickens displays
his knack for using characterization to articulate his moral themes
with the character of Mrs. Sparsit. If Stephen represents the poor
and Bounderby and Gradgrind represent the wealthy middle class,
Mrs. Sparsit and Harthouse are satires of the aristocracy. Dependent
on Bounderby for her well-being, Mrs. Sparsit is adept at manipulating
her circumstances around her belief that she is a great lady wronged
by others. Much as Bounderby takes pride in his humble origins,
Mrs. Sparsit frequently brings up the fact that she descends from
one of the best families in the kingdom. Dickens often satirizes
her by describing her control over her features, claiming that she
makes her aristocratic Roman nose “more Roman” in a moment of outrage.
In this section, she uses Bitzer to gain useful information about
the other bank employees. She is clearly spying, but pretends to
be too ladylike to want to hear their names. Nevertheless, she manages
to ascertain that Bitzer believes young Tom to be a horrible employee.
The two main events in this section are the arrival of
James Harthouse, with his menacing amorality and his desire to seduce
Louisa, and the union meeting, with Stephen’s expulsion from the
company of his fellow Hands. Harthouse, with his worldly cynicism
and sophisticated boredom, is immediately presented as a foil to
the more provincial characters in Coketown. He is neither committed to
the philosophy of fact nor capable of any fancy; rather, he is simply
looking out of his aristocratic haze for something to pass the time.
He is perfectly equipped to capitalize on Louisa’s inner confusion
and capable of awakening her feelings without caring about the result.
Harthouse is a stereotypical aristocratic dandy—he is not motivated
by the desire for wealth or power, but rather by boredom and the
desire for some new form of entertainment. Louisa presents a special
source of interest because he has never met anyone like her before
and cannot fully understand her.
