OPIS
“Hard Times” is both a tragic story of human oppression and a dazzling work of political satire. The story of Louisa Gradgrind and her father is one of Dickens`s triumphs. When Louisa, trapped in a loveless marriage, falls prey to an idle seducer, the crisis forces her father to reconsider his cherished system. Yet even as the development of the story reflects Dickens`s growing pessimism about human nature and society, :”Hard Times” marks his return to the theme which had made his early works so popular: the amusements of the people.