Sparsit the news of his coming marriage, she wishes him happiness, but with condescension and compassion. She feels a pity for this aging man who is foolish enough to believe that a woman as young as Louisa can make him a satisfactory wife.
When he announces to Mrs. Sparsit the forthcoming nuptials, Bounderby makes plans for her welfare. He offers her an apartment over the bank and her regular stipend for being a keeper of the bank. Sparsit realizes that he is doing this only because of her former position with him. Being deposed from her position does not agree with the lady; nevertheless, she accepted the offer rather than eat the bread of dependency.
The courtship was not one of love but one of facts. Dresses were made, jewelry was ordered, all preparations went forward.
A church wedding, naturally in the New Church, the only one of the eighteen that differed slightly in architecture, took place. Only once during the entire proceedings did Louisa lose her composure: that was upon parting from her brother, Tom, who was an inadequate support for the occasion.
Her brother, whose whole concern in the matter was his own welfare, made light of her fears and sent her to the waiting Bounderby. Tom speaker , Louisa Gradgrind. Related Themes: Industrialism and Its Evils.
Page Number and Citation : 70 Cite this Quote. Book 1, Chapter 15 Quotes. Page Number and Citation : 72 Cite this Quote. Book 2, Chapter 3 Quotes. Tom speaker , Louisa Gradgrind , James Harthouse. Page Number and Citation : Cite this Quote. Book 2, Chapter 7 Quotes. My young friend Tom — ' Her colour brightened, and she turned to him with a look of interest. Related Themes: Unhappy Marriages. Book 2, Chapter 9 Quotes. Sparsit , James Harthouse.
Book 2, Chapter 12 Quotes. Book 3, Chapter 1 Quotes. Book 3, Chapter 9 Quotes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Book 1, Chapter 3. But he cannot believe his eyes when he sees his two children, Louisa Gradgrind and Tom Gradgrind, peeping into a circus tent. This circus, by the way, features Louisa , who is sixteen and a good deal older than Tom, speaks clearly in defense of Book 1, Chapter 4.
He is a close family friend, and takes an interest in the children, particularly Louisa. Gradgrind returns with Louisa and Thomas, having dragged them from the circus, and indignantly exposes the misbehavior of his As they leave, Mr.
Bounderby plants a kiss on Louisa 's cheek, who is disgusted by this show of affection from him. Book 1, Chapter 7. As the two breakfast, Bounderby expresses his disapproval of Louisa associating with the likes of Sissy. Sparsit, though she out loud agrees with Bounderby's Gradgrind, Louisa , and Sissy enter the room. Upon questioning, Sissy lets slip that she and her father Book 1, Chapter 8. Tom and Louisa are at home, moodily discussing their unhappy existence and resenting their education of facts.
Book 1, Chapter 9. McChoakumchild's questions the way he wants her She also tells Louisa how desperate her father was in his misery when he couldn't please the crowds, and Book 1, Chapter Louisa and Sissy have grown into young women, and Tom is now a young man, apprenticed Louisa , as melancholic and reserved as ever, seems to be the subject of both her father Gradgrind summons Louisa to his room, and informs her that Mr.
Bounderby has asked for her hand in The day of the wedding comes, and Louisa and Mr. Bounderby are married. Tom thinks only of all the advantages he will gain Book 2, Chapter 1. Upon the young man's Book 2, Chapter 2.
Jem Harthouse finally snaps out of his boredom when he meets handsome, proud, cold Louisa. He senses that there is much more to this fascinating woman than meets the eye His efforts are finally rewarded when Tom comes home, and Louisa 's impassive face breaks into a warm, beautiful smile.
Harthouse inwardly takes note of this; apparently Book 2, Chapter 3. He learns that Louisa married Bounderby not out of love but for Tom's sake, to Book 2, Chapter 5. Stephen joins Mr. Bounderby, Louisa , Tom, and Mr. Harthouse in the Bounderbys' drawing room. Bounderby demands that Stephen reveal details Book 2, Chapter 6.
Louisa and Tom Gradgrind enter. From the look on his face, it is clear that Tom Stephen is confused, but says he will. Tom seems nervous and jumpy.
Louisa and Tom then take their leave of Stephen, and Rachael does likewise. Louisa's life is so wasted on a loveless read: really, really repulsive marriage and a would-be affair with a cynical opportunist read: soulless jerk that she is not even allowed to have a second chance at a more fulfilling existence.
Think about it — Dickens could have made her story end any way he wanted to. She's only 22 years old at the end of the novel, after all! But no, she dies a lonely and childless spinster. Louisa is denied the kind of domestic and maternal life that was for Dickens the height of what women should aspire to.
There is a pretty direct and awful connection between her childhood and adulthood here. She is damaged by her father's desire to remove her from the world of emotions, morality, and anything else that can't be put into numbers. By the time she's an adult, she's lost a large part of her humanity, the part that makes her a woman or was considered to, back in the day. Why finish her plot line this way? Why give Louisa such a sad ending? We'll suggest a couple of possibilities, and you see what you think.
Perhaps the idea is that she is such a one-note embodiment of the Gradgrind philosophy that she really can't be allowed to reproduce. To save the rest of the world, this philosophy and its products must die out with her and with her brother Tom, who also dies childless.
Or maybe the key is the way the novel's last paragraph name-checks the reader directly — maybe the best way to motivate some kind of action is this kind of no-holds-barred heartstring tugging.
Are there other possible explanations? OK, that's probably enough about Louisa as a person. Let's take a step back and check out the way she fits into the novel's structure.
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