A Comparison of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen Essay -- English Liter

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. In the world depicted in Hard Times, workers are treated as little more than interchangeable parts in the factory's machinery, given just enough wages to keep them alive and just enough rest to make it possible for them to stand in front of their machines the next day. The town in which the story is set is called Coketown, taking its name from the ‘Coke’, or treated coal, powering the factories and blackening the town's skies. It is a large fictional industrial community in the north of England during the mid-nineteenth century. In Chapter 5 of the novel, Dickens describes the town as having buildings and streets that looked the same with red brick but were forever masked with smoke. The reader is told that the town looked like the ‘painted face of a savage’ and ‘serpents of smoke’ trailed out of its factories. It is easy to imagine the sunshine struggling to break through the thick smoke. The lives of the workers were monotonous and hard as they lived in ‘a town so sacred to ... ...ast, Miss Austen’s very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with.’ (Watt, 1963). BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, W. (1954) The English Novel, Dutton, New York Allen, W. (1960) The English Novel, Pelican, London Bygrave, S. ed. (1996) Approaching Literature: Romantic Writings, The Open University Gray, M. and Gray, L. (2001) York Notes Advanced: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, York Press, London Page, N. (1985) Macmillan Master Guides: Hard Times by Charles Dickens, Macmillan Education Ltd, London ("Romanticism (literature)," Microsoft ® Encarta ® 98 Encyclopedia.  © 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation.) Watt, I. Ed. (1963) Jane Austen: A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice-Hall Inc, USA A Comparison of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen Essay -- English Liter 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. In the world depicted in Hard Times, workers are treated as little more than interchangeable parts in the factory's machinery, given just enough wages to keep them alive and just enough rest to make it possible for them to stand in front of their machines the next day. The town in which the story is set is called Coketown, taking its name from the ‘Coke’, or treated coal, powering the factories and blackening the town's skies. It is a large fictional industrial community in the north of England during the mid-nineteenth century. In Chapter 5 of the novel, Dickens describes the town as having buildings and streets that looked the same with red brick but were forever masked with smoke. The reader is told that the town looked like the ‘painted face of a savage’ and ‘serpents of smoke’ trailed out of its factories. It is easy to imagine the sunshine struggling to break through the thick smoke. The lives of the workers were monotonous and hard as they lived in ‘a town so sacred to ... ...ast, Miss Austen’s very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with.’ (Watt, 1963). BIBLIOGRAPHY Allen, W. (1954) The English Novel, Dutton, New York Allen, W. (1960) The English Novel, Pelican, London Bygrave, S. ed. (1996) Approaching Literature: Romantic Writings, The Open University Gray, M. and Gray, L. (2001) York Notes Advanced: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, York Press, London Page, N. (1985) Macmillan Master Guides: Hard Times by Charles Dickens, Macmillan Education Ltd, London ("Romanticism (literature)," Microsoft ® Encarta ® 98 Encyclopedia.  © 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation.) Watt, I. Ed. (1963) Jane Austen: A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice-Hall Inc, USA