CHARLES DICKENS "Hard Times"

CHARLES DICKENS AND WOMEN IN "HARD TIMES" :

"Very well, said Bounderby,.

I was born in a ditch and  my mother ran away from me.

Do I excuse her for it ? 

No. 

Have I ever excused her for it ? 

Not I. 

What do I call her for it ? 

I call her probably the very worst woman that ever lived in the world, except my drunken grandmother" (p.39)


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"Such a woman. 

A disabled, drunken creature...

A creature so foul to look at, in her tatters, stains and splashes...

that it was shameful thing even to see her..." (p.73)

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"You observe, Mr Harthouse,

 that my wife is my junior. 

I don't know what she saw in me to marry me, 

but she saw something in me,

 I suppose, 

or she wouldn't have married me" (p.134)

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"If Romulus and Remus could wait, 

Josiah Bounderby can wait. 

They were better off in their youth than I was, however. 

They had a she-wolf for a nurse;

 I had only a she-wolf for a grandmother. She didn't give  any milk, ma'am; she gave bruises..." (p.205)

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CHARLES DICKENS AND THE GOSPEL IN "HARD TIMES" :

"He sat writing in the room with the deadly statistical clock,

 proving something no doubt - probably,

in the main,

 that the Good Samaritan was a Bad Economist..."

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CHARLES DICKENS AND THE HEART IN "HARD TIMES" :

"Bitzer, said Mr.Gradgrind, 

broken down and miserably submissive to him, 

HAVE YOU A HEART ?"

"The circulation, sir, returned Bitser,

smiling at the oddity of the question, 

couldn't be carried on without one. 

No man, sir, acquainted with the facts established by HARVEY 

relating to the circulation of the blood

can dout that i have a heart" (p.288)

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CHARLES DICKENS "A tale of two cities"

CHARLES DICKENS, A TALE OF TWO CITIES

ABOUT AMERICA :

"Did he say anything about America, Miss Manette ? 

Be particular.


He added, in a jesting way, that perhaps George Washington might gain almost as great a name in history as George the Third...
...at that tremendous heresy about George Washington...
...with the exception of that reference to George Washington, which was altogether too extravagant and impossible to be regarded in any other light than as a monstrous joke..."(p.73,74,76)

ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION :


"...a woman was kneeling. She turned her head as the carriage came up to her, rose quickly, and presented herself at the carriagedoor. It is you, Monseigneur, Monseigneur, a petition. 
With an exclamation of impatience, but with his unchangeable face, Monseigneur looked out.
How then, what is it ? Always petitions.
Monseigneur, for the love of the great god, my husband, the forrester. 
What of your husband, the forrester ? Always the same with you people. He cannot pay something ?
He has paid all, Monseigneur. He is dead. 
Well, he is quiet. Can I restore him to You ?
Monseigneur, hear me, Monseigneur , hear my petition. My husband died of want; so many more will die of want. 
Again,well ? Can I feed them ? 
Monseigneur, the good God knows; but I don't ask it. My petition is that a morsel of stone or wood, with my husband's name, may be placed over him to show  where he lies. Otherwise the place will be quickly forgotten, it will never be found when I am dead of the same malady, I shall be laid under some other heap of poor grass. (...) The valet had put her away... (p.122)

CHARLES DICKENS "Oliver Twist"

OLIVER TWIST, 

among the ten best novels ever written :

"...and forasmuch 

as the freedom of the subject 

and the liberty of the individual 

are among the first 

and 

proudest boasts of a true-hearted Englishman..." (p.82).

"...But even if he has been wicked, pursued Rose,

Think how young he is;

think that he may never have known a mother's love,

or the comfort of a home;

that ill-usage and blows,

or the want of bread,

may have driven him to herd with men who have forced him to guilt.

 Aunt, dear aunt, for mercy's sake,

 think of this, before you let them drag this sick child to a prison..." (p.217)

"...Why, what evil wind has blowed you here ?

he asked Fagin.

No evil wind at all, my dear, for evil winds blow nobody any good..."  (p.289).

CHARLES DICKENS, "Great Expectations"

GREAT EXPECTATIONS, 

a story about a blacksmith and composer Georg Friedrich Handel :

"...We are so harmonious, and you have been a blacksmith - would you mind it ? 

I shouldn't mind anything that you propose, 

I answered, but I don't understand you. 

Would you mind Handel for a familiar name ? 

There's a charming piece  of music by Handel, called the Harmonious Blacksmith.

I should like it very much. 

Then, my dear Handel, said he, turning roud as the door opend, here is the dinner..." (p.164). 

"We believe that Quintin Matsys was the Blacksmith of Antwerp. Verb.Sap." (p.212)

"Far into the night, 

Miss Havisham's words, 

Love her, love her, love her, sounded in my ears.

I adapted them for my own repitition, 

and said to my pillow : 

I love her, I love her, I love her, hundreds of times. 

Then, a burst of gratitude came upon me,

 that she should be destined for me, 

once the blacksmith's boy..." (p.224).

"I have never left of adoring her. 

And she has come back,

a most beautiful and most elegant creature. 

And I saw her yesterday (...)

Patience, my dear Handel : time enough, time enough. 

But you have something more to say ? 

You call me a lucky fellow. 

Of course, I am. I was a blacksmith's boy but yesterday; 

I am- what shall I say I am- to-day ?" (p.228)

"When I woke up in the night,

I used to think, that I should have been happier and better 

if I had never seen Miss Havisham's face, 

and had risen to manhood

content to be partners with Joe 

in the honest old forge. 

Many a time of an evening, 

when I sat alone looking at the fire,

 I thought, after all, 

there was no fire like 

the forge fire and the kitchen fire at home..." (p.250)